(dead) $99 Instant Pot

[Kaido]

Update: Price is back up to $130. For that price, spend the extra $2 and get the larger 6-quart model:

http://www.amazon.com/Instant-Pot-IP-DUO60-Programmable-Generation/dp/B00FLYWNYQ/

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A Instant Pot is an electronic pressure cooker (EPC), which is basically like a fast crockpot. $99 is an awesome deal for it: (5-quart model)

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FQ6VEKS

It is a life-changing kitchen appliance. Most meals take less than an hour (i.e. you don't have to plan ahead for a slow-cooker meal). There's a preheat (pressurization) period like an oven, the cook period (the pressurization raises the boiling point of water in order to cook faster), and then the pressure-release period (either natural release for 20 minutes or so if you want to make something like meat more tender, or quick-release via the valve). For example, ribs take about 40 minutes:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2Cnz2_AyJM

Pulled pork:

http://healthylivinghowto.com/1/post/2013/07/video-perfectly-pulled-pork-in-the-pressure-cooker.html

Mongolian beef is awesome, here's a good recipe:

http://www.pressurecookingtoday.com/pressure-cooker-mongolian-beef/

Do baked potatoes in half the time:

http://www.hippressurecooking.com/short-cut-potatoes-a-crunchy-crust-in-half-the-time/

Any kind of recipe that would go in a slow cooker can go in a pressure cooker & be done in a LOT less time. Bunch of resources here: (scroll down for cooking websites)

http://catch42.pbworks.com/w/page/90652691/IPS Resources

This particular unit is their 7-in-1 model, which has some extra features - you can use it as a slow cooker if you're in no rush, or as a pressurized rice cooker (like the restaurants use), it does basic sauteing (useful for one-pot meals where you don't have to get another pan dirty just to give things a crust), it does really good yogurt from what I've read, etc.

The concept of pressure cooking is a bit difficult to wrap your brain around because there's so many things you can do with it, it's just ridiculous. The electric models run at a lower PSI than the stove-top models, but I like the extra safety features that the Instant Pot offers. Note that these aren't the same as pressure canners & shouldn't be used for canning.

 

[soccerballtux]

wow, cool, thanks for marketing for them

 

[soccerballtux]

looks like there're a lot other entry level options same price. why shoudl I get this one right now?

 

[JL514]

i have the duo60 and its great

 

[Kaido]

wow, cool, thanks for marketing for them

I'm not shy about sharing products that I really like

 

[Kaido]

looks like there're a lot other entry level options same price. why shoudl I get this one right now?

I like the IP over other units because it has multiple functions built-in, so it's not strictly a uni-tasker in the kitchen. A lot of the other EPC's don't let you saute or slow-cook. The saute feature is pretty nice because you can throw chicken or a chunk of pork in it, brown it up, then let it pressure-cook for an hour, which is cool. They also have a really good track record for being reliable machines & have a big community online (forums, Facebook groups, sub-reddits, etc.).

Most electronic models are pretty safe though & will give you good results, and you can sometimes find other models for $20+ cheaper that will work just fine. I also like the electronic ones over the stove-top models because you don't have to babysit them; the IP will stop cooking after the timer goes off & can automatically go into a keep-warm setting so you can get to it whenever.

One of the difficult things with getting into pressure cooking is understanding all of the things you can do with it. I bought mine this past Christmas & I'm still learning all kinds of awesome little tricks with it. If you're into beans at all, you can make beans in like 45 minutes from dry stock. I use a lot of recipes with chickpeas (hummus, cookies, etc.) and it's awesome to drop in a bag of dry chickpeas, hit a button, and have cooked chickpeas ready to go in less than an hour with no pre-soaking or extensive stove-top cooking.

Pressure-cooked rice is great. My fuzzy-logic Tiger rice cooker does an awesome job, but I prefer pressure cooking for brown rice specifically because of the way the texture & softness comes out. If you're into the more interesting side of cooking using stuff like sous vide, EPC's can give you more control over your results like that - both in terms of being able to replicate results over & over again, and also being able to get a specific result out every time. For example, doing soft, medium, and hard-boiled eggs. Also, if you cook a lot at home (for health reasons or allergies or budget savings or whatever), you can speed up a lot of regular tasks, like parboiling fries.

So should you buy it, and should you buy this one specifically? Sure, if you'd use it. If you cook at home & want to save time, it's a great machine to invest in. I'm picking up a second one (would a third one be nuts?) because I do the combination of meat/starch/veggie a lot for dinners, so this way I can toss in the meat & potatoes in a pair, or rice & veggies in a pair if I'm grilling, or whatever. I have food allergies, so I pretty much have to make the bulk of my meals myself rather than eating out or buying pre-made stuff, and my IP has been a really big timesaver for mealprep. Oh, and they're great for make-ahead meals, if you like to do bulk cooking. Some good containers for freezing are in this thread.

 

[Kaido]

i have the duo60 and its great

I have the Smart model (Bluetooth), which is basically just a programmable DUO60 (has a phone app & stuff). I got the DUO60 for a family member & honestly, I would just buy another non-smart one like the 50/60. It's a cool idea, but 99% of the time I just use the buttons to do things (ex. baby potatoes for 20 minutes on manual, dry chickpeas as mentioned above for 45 minutes on manual, pork shoulder - saute & then manual settings, etc.). Eventually I'll try out some more complex meals that need ramped pressure/heat/timing settings, but I pretty much never use the Bluetooth features. Oh yeah, if you're into pork at all, check out this Kalua pig recipe:

http://nomnompaleo.com/post/111934821818/pressure-cooker-kalua-pig

 

[soccerballtux]

I'm not shy about sharing products that I really like

no, I mean that in every way. It's really tough to find someone who knows what they're talking about and has legitimate praise. I'm going to be starting a blog because my Amazon reviews are generally very poignant for a select group of individuals but rarely beneficial because no one finds them.

 

[soccerballtux]

I like the IP over other units because it has multiple functions built-in, so it's not strictly a uni-tasker in the kitchen. A lot of the other EPC's don't let you saute or slow-cook. The saute feature is pretty nice because you can throw chicken or a chunk of pork in it, brown it up, then let it pressure-cook for an hour, which is cool. They also have a really good track record for being reliable machines & have a big community online (forums, Facebook groups, sub-reddits, etc.).

Most electronic models are pretty safe though & will give you good results, and you can sometimes find other models for $20+ cheaper that will work just fine. I also like the electronic ones over the stove-top models because you don't have to babysit them; the IP will stop cooking after the timer goes off & can automatically go into a keep-warm setting so you can get to it whenever.

One of the difficult things with getting into pressure cooking is understanding all of the things you can do with it. I bought mine this past Christmas & I'm still learning all kinds of awesome little tricks with it. If you're into beans at all, you can make beans in like 45 minutes from dry stock. I use a lot of recipes with chickpeas (hummus, cookies, etc.) and it's awesome to drop in a bag of dry chickpeas, hit a button, and have cooked chickpeas ready to go in less than an hour with no pre-soaking or extensive stove-top cooking.

Pressure-cooked rice is great. My fuzzy-logic Tiger rice cooker does an awesome job, but I prefer pressure cooking for brown rice specifically because of the way the texture & softness comes out. If you're into the more interesting side of cooking using stuff like sous vide, EPC's can give you more control over your results like that - both in terms of being able to replicate results over & over again, and also being able to get a specific result out every time. For example, doing soft, medium, and hard-boiled eggs. Also, if you cook a lot at home (for health reasons or allergies or budget savings or whatever), you can speed up a lot of regular tasks, like parboiling fries.

So should you buy it, and should you buy this one specifically? Sure, if you'd use it. If you cook at home & want to save time, it's a great machine to invest in. I'm picking up a second one (would a third one be nuts?) because I do the combination of meat/starch/veggie a lot for dinners, so this way I can toss in the meat & potatoes in a pair, or rice & veggies in a pair if I'm grilling, or whatever. I have food allergies, so I pretty much have to make the bulk of my meals myself rather than eating out or buying pre-made stuff, and my IP has been a really big timesaver for mealprep. Oh, and they're great for make-ahead meals, if you like to do bulk cooking. Some good containers for freezing are in this thread.

I went for a damaged-packaging 60 option $120 as this seems good enough to be usable with family for another 15 years. The potential of cooking beans in 45m was a huge selling point as they are, IMO, the only mass-produced-mechanically-farmed food group that comes with significant protein, nutrition, AND high fiber content in place of empty carbs

and yes, I do bulk cooking on the weekends. Not allergy, but I eat fruits, vegetables, and meats in order to maintain productivity and golden skin tone

I'm getting old. nobody cares about my health, skin tone, or eating habits. why am I talking?

 

[ReefaMadness]

OP, thank you for this really informative thread.

I have a friend that has been telling me how much she likes her pressure cooker and that I should consider getting one and well, today, I have done just that, in large part due to your post.

 

[JL514]

I love the fact that they also double as slow cookers so you can toss your crockpot and have a single device that can do a million things (whole meals, slow cook, saute, steam, make rice, make beans etc.).

I make a lot of stews in mine that are out of this world good. Kenji's wife made him a huge convert to pressure cooking so I make all of this recipes and they're delicious and simple:
http://www.seriouseats.com/tags/pressure%20cooker

 

[RossMAN]

Kaido for Elite!

I bought an Instant Pot when they were briefly $80 (when paying with Amazon cc), of course it's still in the box.

 

[Captante]

Shows $129 now ....

 

[ReefaMadness]

Shows $129 now ....

It was for a limited time only.

 

[Matt L]

Most of what the posted product can do a simple, good old fashioned, pressure cooker can do. No, you can't set it to come on 24 hours later, but for most people it's a non issue.

I use a PC for a number of things, but beans are not one of them. Beans in a PC never turn out the same as soaking overnight and slow cooking. I wouldn't even bother with them if I had to eat them from a pressure cooker. Baked potatoes in a PC are too much bother and clean up for me.

It all sounds good in an ad but I bet 75% of these are sitting in the back of a cupboard within 6 months.

 

[Kaido]

I went for a damaged-packaging 60 option $120 as this seems good enough to be usable with family for another 15 years. The potential of cooking beans in 45m was a huge selling point as they are, IMO, the only mass-produced-mechanically-farmed food group that comes with significant protein, nutrition, AND high fiber content in place of empty carbs

and yes, I do bulk cooking on the weekends. Not allergy, but I eat fruits, vegetables, and meats in order to maintain productivity and golden skin tone

I'm getting old. nobody cares about my health, skin tone, or eating habits. why am I talking?

I've actually seen an EPC marketed specifically for beans on the back of bean packages. It's $99 & has buttons for all different kinds of beans. The problem is that it's the same price as an IP on sale, and the IP does more than just have specific beans thanks to the 7-in-1 features:

http://www.amazon.com/EZ-Bean-Cooker-EB-CM10-Electric/dp/B00726RV2U

The DUO60 you got is a really nice unit; that's the one with the larger 6-quart capacity (holds more stuff). To get started, I have some various bits of information on my wiki for the IPS (S = Smart, Bluetooth model), but most of it applies to any model:

http://catch42.pbworks.com/w/page/90504824/Instant Pot Smart

For example, most pressure-cooker recipes are for stove-top pressure cooker models, which operate at 15 PSI, and IP's run at 11.6, so there's a simple trick for doing conversions:

Instant Pot operates at 11.6psi. How fast food cooks depends on the temperature of cooking. The cooking temperature of 15psi pressure cookers is 121ºC (250ºF), whereas the operating temperature of a 11.6psi Instant Pot is 117°C (242°F). This is a difference of 3.4%. We find that in most cases, recipes for 15psi pressure cookers can be adapted to Instant Pot by increasing the cooking time by 7~15%.

First website I would visit would be Hip Pressure Cooking. I have her book & it's excellent. Here were the top recipes for the past couple of years:

http://www.hippressurecooking.com/category/uncategorized/top-recipes/

If you're into healthy stuff, Jill Nussinow has a book called The New Fast Food, available in paperback or PDF, which is excellent:

http://www.theveggiequeen.com/product/the-new-fast-food-the-veggie-queen-pressure-cooks-book-ebook/

If you're into beans, the first recipe to try is Shane’s Fabulous Lentil Soup from that book. Again, if you cook at home a lot, this is a life-changing device. I had never even heard of an EPC before last year (and I'm a kitchen appliance nut!), and didn't even know pressure cooking was still a thing anymore - it's not heavily marketed, but those in the know reap great health, time-savings, and money-saving benefits from these awesome little machines :thumbsup:

 

[Kaido]

OP, thank you for this really informative thread.

I have a friend that has been telling me how much she likes her pressure cooker and that I should consider getting one and well, today, I have done just that, in large part due to your post.

Congrats, you'll love it! You can do a lot of weird stuff with it that actually comes out awesome. If you like ribs, try out this recipe:

http://www.noreenskitchen.com/baby-back-ribs.html

Also honey-glazed herbed carrots:

http://missvickie.blogspot.com/2009/05/honey-glazed-herbed-carrots.html

And french fries:

http://brazilianfoodwithatwist.blogspot.com/2013/11/pressure-cooker-chips.html

The biggest thing I like about it is that it's basically "dump everything in one pot" like a slow cooker, but you don't have to wait all day to eat. The only catch to be aware of is the misleading times that a lot of recipes post - a lot of them will say "only 20 minutes!" or "only 40 minutes!" but you still need to do (1) preheat, (2) cook, and (3) pressure release. Preheat (aka pressurization time) is just like an oven, it takes some time to build up pressure, and that depends on how full the pot is, how much liquid is in it, etc., and can be upwards of 20 minutes in some cases (sometimes it's only 5 minutes, depending on what's in there). Cook time is whatever the recipe says, and then pressure-release is either natural (just let it chill on the "warming" setting until the pressure decompresses over time, usually about 20 minutes, which makes stuff like meat a LOT more tender than doing a quick-release), or do a quick-release, which sounds like a choo-choo train (looks awesome too, like a little volcano spewing steam) - all depends on the recipe.

But the nice thing is, even with the before/after time (pressurization/pressure release), it's still all automatic, so you don't really touch it unless the recipe calls for it (ex. some recipes, you cook rice first, then dump in the chicken & potatoes & cook a second time so everything stays in the IP for convenience). Also, if you are impatient like me, I would recommend getting some oven gloves, which are basically just oven mitts with fingers for better handling. That way you can yank the hot bowl out of the IP if you need to dump it into a serving bowl or whatever. I got these ones:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CHO64NE

 

[Kaido]

I love the fact that they also double as slow cookers so you can toss your crockpot and have a single device that can do a million things (whole meals, slow cook, saute, steam, make rice, make beans etc.).

I make a lot of stews in mine that are out of this world good. Kenji's wife made him a huge convert to pressure cooking so I make all of this recipes and they're delicious and simple:
http://www.seriouseats.com/tags/pressure%20cooker

Yeah, and as far as accessories go, they do sell a glass lid for doing traditional slow-cooking:

http://www.amazon.com/Instant-Pot-Tempered-Electric-Stainless/dp/B008FUJ2LK/

I wouldn't buy it at $25 though, it goes on sale for $15 all the time. Punch in your throwaway email at CamelCamelCamel to get price alerts:

http://camelcamelcamel.com/Instant-Pot-Tempered-Electric-Stainless/product/B008FUJ2LK

Other than the oven gloves, the only other major accessory I'd recommend buying is a spare silicon ring. That's the sealing gasket for the IP & it tends to absorb smells, so if you're cooking something potent like Indian food, it's nice to have a ring for pungent foods & one for non-pungent foods. They're about $10 on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Instant-Pot-Silicone-Sealing-White/dp/B008FUUQJW/

Also, Kenji is an amazing dude. He's like the Alton Brown of this generation :thumbsup:

 

[Kaido]

I bought an Instant Pot when they were briefly $80 (when paying with Amazon cc), of course it's still in the box.

Any plans on firing it up?! :biggrin:

 

[Kaido]

Most of what the posted product can do a simple, good old fashioned, pressure cooker can do. No, you can't set it to come on 24 hours later, but for most people it's a non issue.

I use a PC for a number of things, but beans are not one of them. Beans in a PC never turn out the same as soaking overnight and slow cooking. I wouldn't even bother with them if I had to eat them from a pressure cooker. Baked potatoes in a PC are too much bother and clean up for me.

It all sounds good in an ad but I bet 75% of these are sitting in the back of a cupboard within 6 months.

Yes, that's true - and the old-fashion stovetop kind can do it faster because most of them operate at 15 PSI rather than 11.6 PSI like the IP does, so it has a slight advantage for speed as well, not to mention cost (a basic 6-quart manual model is under $40 on Amazon).

For me, the benefit of an electronic model isn't setting it to come on 24 hours later or anything like that, it's simply the lack of babysitting required - I don't have to have the stove on (which also adds heat to my very tiny kitchen) & I don't have to stick around for it to complete the cooking cycle. That, plus the IP goes into a keep-warm mode so it's still edible when the other food finishes cooking. It's very useful when cooking multiple items, like if I want to go out & throw some fish on the grill while the rice is cooking or do up some burgers while the potatoes are cooking, I don't have to run back & forth between them.

 

[Kaido]

Shows $129 now ....

Yeah, it was on sale. However, if you are still planning on getting one, you can get the larger 6-quart model for only two bucks more:

http://www.amazon.com/Instant-Pot-IP-DUO60-Programmable-Generation/dp/B00FLYWNYQ/

Tbh, it's still worth the extra $30, and you'll recoup that cost in no time with how much you save cooking at home...ordering pizza for the family typically cost $30+, you know? Especially if you either cook at home, or like to tweak flavors specifically to your palette, but want quicker results. For example, here's a a 20-minute recipe for 6 cups of marinara sauce:

http://www.plantbasedchristian.com/recipe/pressure-cooker-marinara-sauce/

I forgot to mention, Pinterest has a TON of recipe links. Here's one lady's bookmarks:

https://www.pinterest.com/bhbookermom/instant-pot-recipes/

And of course, a general search:

https://www.pinterest.com/search/pins/?q=instant pot

I know people who have like three of these things & do all their dinners & meals in them because you can zap meats, potatoes, and rice super-quick, all at once. Again, that's why I mention they're a bit hard to get into - you can do so much stuff with them that it's hard to kind of change your habits & really start using it on a daily or weekly basis. I've had mine since last Christmas & only really started using it this past summer (once I had some more free time to mess around with it in the evening hours) & make all kinds of awesome stuff in it!

 

[Captante]

Was going to jump on it for $99 ... still want it but the sense of urgency is gone.

Great thread though! :thumbsup:

 

[Kaido]

Was going to jump on it for $99 ... still want it but the sense of urgency is gone.

Great thread though! :thumbsup:

Yeah, $99 is a nice mental tipping point, anything higher than that just seems...expensive

 

[BenJeremy]

Any thoughts on this 6qt Cooker at WalMart?

My local store had it marked $79.

 

[JL514]

6qt on sale per slickdeals:

6-qt. Instant Pot 7-in-1 Pressure Cooker (3rd Gen) + $12 in Rakuten Cash $105 + free shipping
deal [rakuten.com]

in cart apply coupon code STORES30 to drop price to $105 + free shipping
in cart apply coupon code REWARDME for extra $12.60 in rakuten cash

http://slickdeals.net/f/8037597-6-q...-gen-12-in-rakuten-cash-105-free-shipping?v=1