It’s been fine for me. I wouldn’t prefer it over a stick circulator but having a small kitchen and leaning toward multi-task devices it’s acceptable.
Beef Stew is a pretty easy one.
Another easy one is pasta with meat sauce.
Brown a pound of ground beef (right in the instant pot), drain the oil if there’s a lot. Add a jar of pasta sauce, a half a jar of water, half pound of pasta and anything else you may want to toss in (red wine works well here). Set it for 8* minutes, release instantly and it’s done.
Granted, that’s not very instant pot-y, but it’s really simple and works really well.
*depends on the brand, but I usually start at 8 minutes and another minute or so if it’s not done to my liking.
Well, I’ve gotten a little sidetracked today on the cooking front: A couple of days ago, I made a kabocha-lilikoi pound cake for the family I cook for. Now they raved about it so much that I decided I had to make one exactly like it for myself (I don’t use recipes most of the time and when I do, I often tamper, as I did with the sweet potato/lemon cake recipe that came out kabocha/lilikoi - but when something is just perfect, I’ll be careful to make repeat batches the same way).
Which means I must start by making pureed kabocha. I’ve got some in the oven now. (From my own garden, she said, with more than a touch of satisfaction.)
If I knew how to use my Instantpot, I bet I could cook it there instead. Someday I will achieve that level of facility. I just need to practice.
That sounds delicious! If only i had access to kabocha and lilikoi, i would ask for your recipe. I could probably sub butternut squash for the kabocha, but lilikoi is very much its own thing.
Chicken Soup
1 lb Chicken breasts or thighs seasoned with salt & pepper
6 - 8 cups of Chicken stock/ broth. 1
1 Medium Onion - diced
1 cup Diced Carrots
1/2 cup Diced celery
3/4 - 1 cup Rice 2
Olive oil
1 - Set the IP to sauté mode - high temperature.
2 - When the IP is hot, add one glug of olive oil (about a tablespoon).
3 - Sear the chicken about 4 minutes per side, then remove and set aside.
4 - Add the onions, carrots, and celery and a generous pinch of salt. Sauté until the onions are translucent (about 4-5 minutes).
5 - Deglaze the IP will about a quarter cup of the broth. Turn off the IP.
6 - Once all the yummy brown bits are scraped up, add the rest of the broth and stir in the rice.
7 - Lay the chicken on top, seal the lid on, set the pressure to high, and run it for 45 minutes. (It will take 10 - 15 minutes to get up to pressure.
8 - After it’s done, let the pressure release naturally for 5 minutes, then open the pressure release valve.
9 - Carefully remove the chicken and shred it with two forks. Return the shedded chicken.
10 - Eat soup.
1 - When I don’t have any premade, I use Better Than Bullion.
2 - Basically one quarter cup of rice per two cups of liquid.
True, but you would probably get similarly tasty, if not identical, results by using either lime juice or Rose’s Lime Juice - and sweet potatoes (or the butternut squash you suggest) would work instead of the kabocha. I haven’t tasted the cake yet with the lilikoi, so I’ll have to report back on whether it is a lot different.
Yeah, please do share your recipe.
I’ve never made that butter chicken recipe, but I’m off to the grocer’s. Wish me luck!
It should be noted that an Instant Pot is a multi-cooker, it is not a true pressure cooker. I does use pressure of course but not as high a pressure as pressure cookers. This is fine for stews and soups. The IP cannot be used for things that need to be fully sterilized like for canning.
Yeah, it’s about 12 psi vs 15 psi, but it’s enough that it is not considered safe enough for canning.
Anyway, I just ate a bowl of the Instant Pot butter chicken. Delicious! Especially for something that takes so little time (although I did the basmati rice on the stovetop; the recipe I found does the rice in the pot with the chicken in a bowl atop the steamer tray.) As expected, one daughter loved it; the other didn’t care for it (once quite an adventurous eater, she’s settled to down to pretty much 100% starches, it feels like.) But that’s a win in this household and should hopefully make the rotation.
Thanks for the report!
And I just ordered one from Target on sale. Peer pressure did me in. I didn’t see a vegetable basket - I’ll have to look further.
ETA: now I see it. I’ll wait until I think I need one.
Google Alton Brown’s stove top rice recipe. If you start it as soon as you begin the pressure cooking of Urvashi Pitre’s butter chicken recipe, it times out perfectly.
I was puzzled about this so naturally, I looked it up.
According to several American websites, stovetop pressure cookers operate at up to 15psi, while an IP will usually be set at 2 or 3psi less. It is also worth mentioning that this is the additional pressure over atmospheric, which means that moving from New Orleans to Denver will alter cooking times significantly.
At sea level, the temperature in a pressure cooker at 15psi will be 121°C (250°F). At 12psi the temperature will be 117°C (243°F) which doesn’t sound much, but would add around 8% to cooking times. Canning really need 115 to 120°C (240 to 250°F).
This would suggest that ordinary stovetop pressure cookers are not adequate for canning either.
Yes, at 5360 feet, I have to add about 15% to the cook time in the Instant Pot. According to the Blue Book, I have to add 10 minutes of processing time in water bath canning, and do pressure canning at 13 psi, instead of 11 psi.
The Instant Pot could be used for pressure canning, if someone qualified, like the USDA or Ball, went through the trouble of validating the processing time and method to achieve sterilization.
Proper pressure canning recipes take into account the time it takes to come up to pressure, and the cool down time before the pot can be opened, as those are important parts on the heat penetrating to the center of the jars. Those times are different for a stove top and counter top pressure cooker, so it isn’t possible to just duplicate a pressure canning recipe in an Instant Pot. It could be done, but none of us have the ability to figure out what the recipe needs to be.
Secret, don't read!
One time I canned escabeche (pickled jalapeños) in my Instant Pot, just to see what would happen. This is usually a high acid water bath recipe, so worst case I’m just going to overcook in the higher temperature of the Instant Pot. It seemed fine, and the jars all sealed. I only died once while eating them.
The biggest issue was I could only do four jars in the Instant Pot, but I can do eight or something in the water bath, and it’s not worth all the trouble for just four jars.
secret reply
I “can” jelly and maple syrup over an ordinary water bath, without any pressure. Just booking water at ~sea level. As they are safe to leave out indefinitely, the only real risk is that they might mold and become unpalatable. I always get a vacuum seal. I don’t think that proves anything.
I never try to can things that actually need to be sterilized, because I’m afraid I’ll mess up.
I keep a stove-top pressure cooker strictly for canning. For cooking I use the Instant Pot. Did a batch of pork chile verde this last week to feed us for the week, between prep time, saute to brown the pork, preheat, pressure cook, depressurize was maybe 2 to 2-1/4 hours last Saturday.Pork shoulder roast.
I didn’t realise that home canning was a thing. The only cans in my cupboard are chopped tomatoes and baked beans, and they come from a supermarket.
I have tried pickling - onions (yum), eggs and gherkins. I have also made jam from PYO strawberries. The problem is that the results hardly seem worth all the effort, so I gave up some years ago. I do make and freeze soup, curry and bolognese sauce regularly.
One thing that has occurred to me is that the low voltage in US kitchens means that an IP will take a lot longer to get up to pressure than it will over here on 230 volts.
It kinda is. Doing it right seems kinda hard and getting it wrong can be lethal. Some people put in the time and effort and can stock big pantries full of food. Enough to last months.
It is not something I would do casually or for fun though. If you have a big pantry and a big family it might be worth the effort.
It’s not that difficult to get right: keep things clean, follow the directions, watch the clock. Any jars that don’t seal go in the fridge and become the first ones you eat.
Also, just like any other kind of cooking, there are some things you can make at home that are much better than store bought, and other things that are too much of a hassle for no improvement in quality. People’s opinion on what goes in which category will differ.
For example, the pickled jalapenos I mentioned above are so much better than store bought, that I just don’t even bother with the buying any. If I run out of the ones I make, then I just do without. However, I made some canned bean soup, and it was too much trouble for not good enough results. If I’m going to make the effort, I’d rather make a soup that can’t be canned, and just freeze it.