Amazon’s Prime Day has the 8 quart version for 30 dollars off, which is a pretty good deal. Should I buy one?
YES
It was the one and only hit from last year’s Prime Day! I wasn’t surprised to see it again this year but surprised there’s not a buzz about it.
Once you get it come brag to us in this year’s Prime Day thread 
Yes, desperately. It will make your life exponentially better.
yes yes yes
OK - as ordered, I just ordered one. Explain how it will change my life now please :D.
What kind of food do you like to cook? It cuts cooking time for many things by around 2/3. I use ours constantly for cuts of meat that normally take 3 - 4 hours on the stove, beans and lentils, chicken stock in less than an hour, steel-cut oats in 6 minutes…the list goes on.
I do plan on using it for things like spaghetti sauce, and I imagine it will fix things like barley soup faster. I’ve gotten out of the habit of making steel cut oats but if this makes them faster (I used to do them either in the oven, or in the slow cooker overnight) I might do them more often.
The things we most often use ours for are bean/lentil recipes (lentil soup in 15 minutes!), meat stews (it makes a lamb tagine or a beef stew on a weeknight a real possibility) and meat/rice combo dishes like arroz con pollo. It’s also very handy for brown rice, and surprisingly awesome for risotto and polenta - no constant stirring!
Yeah, if you’re looking for those simmer-all-day types of spaghetti sauces like Sunday gravies, the Instapot is pretty perfect for that. I use it for stews and broth/stock most often (which is about 3 times a week, as broth is something I always like to have around, and the dog gets the meat in his bowl.)
The one thing about cooking in the Instapot, though, is that you should use a bit less liquid than you’re used to if you’re stovetop cooking, as it’s pretty much all contained within the pot and none of it boils off. Sometimes, I actually cook half in the Instapot and half on the stovetop to get the reduction of liquid I want for certain dishes. (This is being a bit fussier, though, than I think most people are.)
I’ve also found it quite good for rice. (It has a “rice” setting on it that works well, although a little bit different texture than my stovetop method). I haven’t tried the slow cooking mode yet.
But it’s worth it alone for the stocks and stews it makes (ETA: Oh, yes, and for beans. Definitely for beans.) I’ve had it for over a year now (though I had a stovetop pressure cooker before), and it’s really become the most regularly used gadget in the kitchen.
Just ordered mine. Got an earful from the missus about needing another appliance like we need blah blah blah something about a hole in our heads.
Can’t wait to break it in. Suggestions for my first project? Something sure to impress? (she would roll her eyes down the driveway and up the street if I presented a bowl of rice or a platter of hard-boiled eggs on the first go-'round).
mmm
Does she like cheesecake? Super-easy, and makes a manageable size cheesecake (I did mine in a 7" springform pan) without taking hours and hours.
Yes, but that’s already been shot down. She makes her own cheesecake, her own way.
I’m still not sure what to cook; I want to make something that could not have been done in the slow cooker (that is now destined for basement storage).
mmm
I just got mine about a month ago and haven’t done anything too fancy with it. It is great for rice and hard-boiled eggs. Can do a very easy teriyaki chicken (boneless thighs, cup of sauce, 8 min cooking time) that is perfectly cooked. The biggest hit so far was spare ribs I did last weekend. I overcooked them a little but they were still ridiculously tender. Finished them on the grill and while they don’t beat slow-smoked ribs, they definitely were much better than the oven-baked then grilled ribs I’ve made in the past.
I’ve had a few slight misses- it takes some adjusting time but nothing has been bad, just easy to go too far cooking. But when you get the time right, the results are really good.
Hmmm…that’s too bad because it’s really good for slow cooker types of dishes, except it does them in like 30 minutes instead of 8 hours. I do not own a slow cooker because, well, I can slow cook easy enough on the stove or in the oven (yes, yes, I know there are advantages to being able to put something in the slowcooker in the morning and not worrying about burning your house down, but I’m not one of these people who gets paranoid about leaving something in a slow oven and leaving the house.) For me, the whole point in getting the Instapot was to be able to take dishes that normally take 2-4 hours on the stovetop or oven to cook to finish in a reasonable (under one hour) amount of time.
Mine should arrive tomorrow. The first thing I’m going to do is master rice and then porridge, since it will replace my wife’s prized rice and porridge cooker.
Then, maybe some pork butt, just to see how it compares.
I’ve got a six quart and was tempted almost beyond reason by the eight quart. I’ve never run out of space in mine, but still, 33% more volume and 20% more wattage!
the posts on pintrest are endless…
I am on 2 or 3 facebook pages for instant pot.
Last 2 things I made were pulled pork…
and greek pork filled taco meat
Just a friendly note to know… everyone says cooks meat in 20 min etc etc, it does take a shorter time but it takes about 10 min to get up to pressure.
I want to cook a cheesecake next…
One of my favorite things is bean soup or stew. I’ve thrown in non-soaked dried black beans with a hamhock and spices and chopped veggies and had stunning soup in 35 minutes. I was skeptical that the beans would cook sufficiently, but they were perfect.
It’s kind of overkill for steel cut oats. I make mine in the morning. Boil three cos of water in a largish sauce pan. Stir in one cup of steel cut oats, turn down the heat to low, and go take a shower (or time for twenty minutes). Do not cover the pan. Go back to the kitchen and stir once. Turn off the heat. Come back in five minutes or so. Done. I divvy this up into four servings which I take to work. If you’re going to eat it right after cooking, stir in your milk and goodies after it sits for five minutes.
I use my instant pot for a lot of recipes with shredded chicken breast. Green salsa Verde chicken is really good and easy for a first dish. I make chicken wraps or a salad or add it to a soup.
That’s how I mostly use mine since I cook for one. Make shredded chicken or pork loin which I use in different dishes through the week.
I’ve found that a lot of the recipes call for more oil or liquid than necessary. You learn pretty quick to adjust.
I like the way out breaks down ground beef for sauce or taco meat, but the added oil isn’t necessary.
To help with oring odor, get denture tablets from the dollar store. After using your instant pot, clean the stainless pot and the oring, fill the pot about 2/3 with warm water, drop in three tablets, and add the ring. Soak overnight.