It would be the lack of an odor or sound that’s an indication of a problem, or that the cooking cycle has completed. And there won’t be a need to call 911 unless you expect the police, firemen, and EMTs to bring in some mops to clean up your kitchen. Your cat won’t consider itself saved when you take it away from the delicious food you spread all over your kitchen.
I think you might have some misconceptions about pressure cookers.
As usual, there’s an XKCD for this.
I love it! I use it mostly for roasts and stews. Meat and veggies come out VERY tender. Sometimes when using the slow cooker, carrots would still be kind of hard, but I’ve never had that problem with the pressure cooker. Yes, it does take a while for it to pressurize but who cares? It’s not like you have to do anything - just leave it. If I count prep, browning, pressurizing, cooking and pressure release - a huge pot of stew will be done in about 1-1/2 hours. With my labor being maybe a half hour of that time. It is big and clunky. I keep mine in the basement. But all of the big items that I don’t use all of the time are down there.
On the negative side of the cooker, its biggest problem is moisture.
You need a certain amount of liquid in the cooker to allow it to get up to pressure. Once it seals, though, verrrry little liquid gets lost to evaporation. I think I read somewhere that you might lose a tablespoon over the course of a typical pressure cook.
So if you’re making something saucy, like a curry, you’re going to have some work to do (reserve and reduce) after the pressure cooking is done. That’s the sort of thing that happens naturally in a dish that traditionally requires a long simmer.
You lose a lot during cooking because the unit isn’t sealed once it’s up to pressure, it’s constantly venting steam. And then you lose more when you release the pressure, or you can let it cool slowly to depressurize but you add a time to the process that way (although there are times when a slow cool produces a better result).
It is difficult to get just the right amount of liquid though. The Instant Pot can keep on reducing the liquid after the pressure cooking is done, just like when you cook at normal pressure in a pot on the stove, but any pressure cooker can do that, once you depressurize it’s just another pot.
I ditched my slow cooker because you can use the instant pot as a slow cooker, too. Just put the valve to vent instead of seal.
I try to eat lean cuts of meat which tend to be tough. The instant pot makes those tender.
I made red beans the other night from dry to done in 30 minutes including the time it took for the pressure to build.
It’s perfect for taco meat or spaghetti sauce where I want small bits of hamburger rather than big clumps.
One of my standards is chicken verde. I take a package of chicken breasts and douse it in green chili verde. No sauteing and no extra liquid. Cook for about 15 minutes and let the pressure dissipate naturally. Remove chicken from pot and shred with forks. But DON’T throw out all the liquid left. Add it back to the shredded chicken and stir it in. You’ll have much moister chicken. I’ll stick a serving of this under the broiler and add to a power bowl or a wrap or a pot of Mexican lime or tortilla soup. Pretty good in salads, too.
I find most recipes call for too much liquid. Also, a lot of sauteing that isn’t going to work at all. The bottom of the stock pot is too narrow to effectively saute six chicken breasts. If you’ve got to have that, do it in a larger pan on the stove and then add to the instant pot.
I don’t set the instant pot to come on at a certain time, but I will turn it on and leave it alone. It will hold foods for up to 24 hours.
I love mine–mostly make hardboiled eggs in it so far, but I’m still trying to find the trick for how to reliably do chicken breasts without them coming out tough. Does anybody know?
I’m not talking about a recipe–just good old boring tender cooked chicken breasts.
It’s super easy to overcook chicken breast in the pressure cooker. Here’s a good article going into (possibly too much) detail.
Has anyone tried cooking goat meat in one, and if so, what was your experience?
I purchased some at a local African grocery a few years ago, and it tasted like roast beef but was EXTREMELY tough; I had cooked it in my Crock Pot the way other people suggested I do it. That grocery has since closed but I’m pretty sure I could obtain it at another small market that’s run by a Nepali family.
Ooh, thanks.
I do usually serve a whole roast chicken without dismembering it first, but I suppose I could change that. What’s your stock recipe? Maybe I’ll try yogurt tomorrow, if I’m feeling ambitious. 
I feel like it’s super-easy to cook chicken breasts in a frying pan or in the broiler or even steamed in a regular pot without pressure. What’s the benefit of using the instant pot?
Ah, an updated pressure cooker.
I had to Google to see what an Instant Pot was.
Could be useful if you’re in a hurry to cook meat.
My fear of pressure cookers too deep rooted to ever have one. My mom refused to have one in her house. Some of her friends stained their ceilings with pressure cookers in the 1960’s.
The pot has a valve at the top which you can open to release the steam. I think it’s better to let the pot cool naturally. I think releasing the steam will cause all the internal moisture in the food to turn to steam as well. By letting the pot cool naturally, the food seems to have a better texture.
Unfortunately, the pot doesn’t have a visible way to know the pressure is down. You have to tweak the valve a little bit to see if it steams. If you’re observant, you may hear a quiet ‘click’ when the steam has cooled enough and stops pressing on the valve.
NOT A COOK replying here. I bought myself an Instant Pot before Christmas, and also bought one for each of my brothers’ families. So far I’ve made creamy tomato-basil soup, chicken with stuffing, and pulled pork. All have turned out GREAT, but really much more than two of us can eat, so I’m going to tweak the recipes and/or make room in my freezer for leftovers. Next attempt will be spaghetti or meatloaf & mashed potatoes.
I love it. It’s made me want to cook and, while it does take longer than the recipes state due to the time to bring the IP up to pressure or heat, it’s still a time saver.
filmore, the IP should have a metal bullet (for lack of a better term) that pops up level with the lid when it’s at pressure, and drops down about 1/4" when the pressure has been released. You’ll see it work within 30 seconds-ish if you release the pressure manually with the valve. If you let the pressure release naturally, it will eventually drop also, albeit after much more time. I’ve also heard that there is a safety mechanism that keeps the IP from opening if it’s still pressurized, but I’m not one to test it out!
I keep the gasket in a gallon Ziploc bag in the freezer between uses, and have two, marked “Sweet” and “Savory”, because that gasket absorbs the odor of whatever you cook, and it’s almost impossible to deodorize.
There are tons of YouTube videos demonstrating Instant Pot recipes. Here’s a one-pot pasta recipe.
Have no interest in having one. There’s only 2 of us. OTOH if I had a family I’d consider it.
That shouldn’t really make or break it. They do have a small one. I’m just me (my daughter wouldn’t eat anything that it would make) and I’m looking at getting one. I use my crock pot all the time. I make enough for about 4-6 meals. I’ll eat it tonight, then have left overs once or twice over the coming days and freeze the rest, if it’s suitable for that. It appears that this would work just as well.
With the kids gone now we won’t need to use it much, but it will be useful now and then.
There’s only two of us and I like mine a lot for certain things. We are both fans of leftovers so I like that I can make enough for 2-3 dinners. For healthy recipes- I really like Skinnytaste.com - made some outstanding carnitas last week that fed us for 3 nights plus enough for freezer leftovers. The beans are still tricky for me- I haven’t quite been able to get them as done as I want them. Next time I probably will either do the soak cycle longer or just soak them overnight.
I think it’s best for soups, stews & roasts. The saute feature, as mentioned, is kind of useless for browning meat but does ok for getting your veggies softened a little. The best thing about it is that I can put onions in everything again- my significant other hates them but the IP pretty much obliterates them in stews so the flavor is there but he doesn’t notice any crunch ever.