Instant Pot thread

SpartyCrunch · Jan 9, 2018

It's time for a brief discussion on hard boiled eggs!

For whatever reason, it seems like these recipes are all over the place. Some recipes recommend twice as much time as others. I'm very close to sea level so the conditions aren't out of the ordinary.

For example, this recipe says 4 minutes for soft-boiled eggs, 5 minutes for hard-boiled eggs, at high pressure. But when I tried those timings I ended up getting eggs where the whites aren't solid at all. The entire thing was just a gooey mess inside including the non-solid whites.

After much experimentation and browsing, I finally found this which worked perfectly:

https://www.pressurecookrecipes.com/instant-pot-hard-boiled-eggs/

1 cup of water, 12 minutes, low pressure, drop in an ice bath when done. Perfect eggs!

Smylie · Jan 10, 2018

8-qt. Ultra model up for pre-order at Sur La Table. Can't wait!

sleepInsom · Jan 10, 2018

I've been trying to figure out how to make rice in this thing and I'm at a loss since so much ends up sticking to the pot. I use 1:1 rice to water, rinse the starch off, and add some salt. I press the "rice" button and use natural release. The rice that doesn't stick comes out great, but right now I waste so much of it. Anyone have any advise?

Funky Papa · Jan 10, 2018

Smylie said:
8-qt. Ultra model up for pre-order at Sur La Table. Can't wait!

I'm kind of tempted to get one of those huge mofos, but I already have a 6-qt vessel I bought by mistake* :(

*tried to replace the inner pot of my cheapo programmable pressure cooker with an Instant Pot vessel as per some Amazon comment. It doesn't fit, like, for a couple of milimetres.

CrankyJay · Jan 10, 2018

Stolen from an instant pot group on FB. I think they forgot to fill out times for the dried beans.

Deleted member 29806 · Jan 10, 2018

Damn...reading the topic title I asked myself if this might be about Instant Pot being legal in California

PoppaBK · Jan 10, 2018

ry-dog said:
I get the main draw is a slow cooker for meat, but would it be worth getting an instant pot strictly for vegetarian meals?

I think pressure cooking is better for vegetables than for meat personally. Makes vegtables really tender without over cooking and without losing a ton of vitamins to the water.

Funky Papa · Jan 10, 2018

Is this some kind of practical joke? Am I being pranked?

SpartyCrunch · Jan 10, 2018

How do you guys measure the right amount of water to add to rice after rinsing the rice? The rinse adds a bunch of water already so I'm never super confident about how much more water to add on top of that water the rice already retained.

ReAxion · Jan 10, 2018

Funky Papa said:
Is this some kind of practical joke? Am I being pranked?

just trying to imagine how fussy this would be vs. anova/joule... ugh.

The Argus · Jan 10, 2018

SpartyCrunch said:
It's time for a brief discussion on hard boiled eggs!

For whatever reason, it seems like these recipes are all over the place. Some recipes recommend twice as much time as others. I'm very close to sea level so the conditions aren't out of the ordinary.

For example, this recipe says 4 minutes for soft-boiled eggs, 5 minutes for hard-boiled eggs, at high pressure. But when I tried those timings I ended up getting eggs where the whites aren't solid at all. The entire thing was just a gooey mess inside including the non-solid whites.

After much experimentation and browsing, I finally found this which worked perfectly:

https://www.pressurecookrecipes.com/instant-pot-hard-boiled-eggs/

1 cup of water, 12 minutes, low pressure, drop in an ice bath when done. Perfect eggs!

12 minutes seems insane, why not just boil them the traditional way? I've had great luck with 8 eggs with a cup of water underneath at high pressure for 4 minutes. I let it naturally release for 4 minutes before hitting the quick release button. Drop in iced water for another 4 and then either refrigerator or make some dope deviled eggs (I use 3TBS of mayo, 1tsp of mustard, 3 canned chipotle peppers with some sauce, 1TBS of pickle juice, and then 1tsp of white vinegar. Mix in a food processor).

Whites are perfect, and the yolks are set but not chalky. Have done this in a Duo + and an Ultra to the same result. Best part is how easily the shell and membrane come off.

Funky Papa said:
Is this some kind of practical joke? Am I being pranked?

I was turned off the second he said medium well... I would not trust the IP to maintain a steady temperature, and the fact that there is no water circulation makes it even worse. I'd stick with my Anova for sous vide. The IP doesn't need to do everything.

Lockness Mobster · Jan 10, 2018

SpartyCrunch said:
How do you guys measure the right amount of water to add to rice after rinsing the rice? The rinse adds a bunch of water already so I'm never super confident about how much more water to add on top of that water the rice already retained.

Just drain it as much as you can in a strainer,a lil extra water won' hurt it. Then follow the guidelines in the IP manual.

beat · Jan 11, 2018

The Argus said:
I was turned off the second he said medium well... I would not trust the IP to maintain a steady temperature, and the fact that there is no water circulation makes it even worse. I'd stick with my Anova for sous vide. The IP doesn't need to do everything.

I agree about lack of water circulation, but the regular IPs are built to maintain a steady temperature at pressure. That's why they lose almost no water to evaporation: they get up to pressure and then hold it without going significantly lower or higher. And they're well insulated, so they'd lose heat slowly.

Chopchop · Jan 11, 2018

beat said:
I agree about lack of water circulation, but the regular IPs are built to maintain a steady temperature at pressure. That's why they lose almost no water to evaporation: they get up to pressure and then hold it without going significantly lower or higher. And they're well insulated, so they'd lose heat slowly.

I'd try this, but I think my model isn't the advanced kind that lets me enter temperatures manually like that.

I've heard of using a rice cooker for sous vide because they similarly hold temperatures and don't lose much heat. Has anyone tried using those for it?

I want to try experimenting with sous vide, but don't want to spring for an Anova right now.

Deleted member 11157 · Jan 11, 2018

Might try something new tonight? Something that doesn't require too much work and has the whole meal contained within without too many ingridients. I've already done a roast with carrots and potatoes a few months ago. I'd do it again as it tasted pretty good.

Walter White Walker · Jan 11, 2018

SpartyCrunch said:
It's time for a brief discussion on hard boiled eggs!

For whatever reason, it seems like these recipes are all over the place. Some recipes recommend twice as much time as others. I'm very close to sea level so the conditions aren't out of the ordinary.

For example, this recipe says 4 minutes for soft-boiled eggs, 5 minutes for hard-boiled eggs, at high pressure. But when I tried those timings I ended up getting eggs where the whites aren't solid at all. The entire thing was just a gooey mess inside including the non-solid whites.

After much experimentation and browsing, I finally found this which worked perfectly:

https://www.pressurecookrecipes.com/instant-pot-hard-boiled-eggs/

1 cup of water, 12 minutes, low pressure, drop in an ice bath when done. Perfect eggs!

I've been doing 5 minutes for hard-boiled eggs, natural release for around five minutes, and then quick release. Come out perfect every time.

Argyle · Jan 11, 2018

beat said:
I agree about lack of water circulation, but the regular IPs are built to maintain a steady temperature at pressure. That's why they lose almost no water to evaporation: they get up to pressure and then hold it without going significantly lower or higher. And they're well insulated, so they'd lose heat slowly.

I would have thought that the reason you don't lose much to evaporation is because the vessel is sealed, so there is nowhere for the water to go.

beat · Jan 12, 2018

Chopchop said:
I've heard of using a rice cooker for sous vide because they similarly hold temperatures and don't lose much heat. Has anyone tried using those for it?

I want to try experimenting with sous vide, but don't want to spring for an Anova right now.

Rice cookers are made to cook around boiling temperature. (They shut off after the water has been absorbed or boiled off because then the pot gets over boiling.) Most of the fun applications of sous vide (slow cooked eggs, rare steaks, and so on) are well below that.

Argyle said:
I would have thought that the reason you don't lose much to evaporation is because the vessel is sealed, so there is nowhere for the water to go.

Kind of, but esp with the kind of pressure cookers that you put on the stove, they deal with getting up to the pressure threshold (too hot) by venting steam. So electric pressure cookers, with their more precise temperature regulation, don't go over pressure and thus don't vent while cooking.

One Eyed Willy · Jan 12, 2018

Gave my wife her IP yesterday for her bday. Tonight we cooked some lemon chicken and qinuoa... oh my! Best homemade chicken I know I've ever made lol but it was legit good and everything came out right.

BdoUK · Jan 12, 2018

Tried this recipe last night and it was a total disaster. Followed the ingredients and instructions but kept getting the "burn" warning before it would reach pressure. Anyone have any thoughts as to why it might have gone wrong? I used Basmati rice.

https://recipes.instantpot.com/recipe/cajun-chicken-and-rice/

ReAxion · Jan 12, 2018

i've never gotten the burn warning so feel free to disregard me, but i would try deglazing after the onion/garlic step with at least half the broth and scrape up everything stuck to the bottom. get yourself a good liquid base in there. i'm looking at the author's website and she's saying to deglaze with the tomato paste which doesn't seem like it would work before the paste starts burning.

she also never tested it with basmati rice, i'm not sure if that's an issue or not.

Funky Papa · Jan 12, 2018

The IP has a safety measure to prevent burning your food down to coal. It works by measuring the temperature of the inner vessel. As long as there's liquid, temperature will remain safe. The there's not, food will get stuck to the bottom and burn, which triggers the mechanism.

I'm going to hazzard a guess and say that you had a fair amount of food stuck to the bottom of the pot. That's why you need to deglace it or clean it before trying to set the IP for pressure cooking.

Pheneatis · Jan 12, 2018

BdoUK said:
Tried this recipe last night and it was a total disaster. Followed the ingredients and instructions but kept getting the "burn" warning before it would reach pressure. Anyone have any thoughts as to why it might have gone wrong? I used Basmati rice.

https://recipes.instantpot.com/recipe/cajun-chicken-and-rice/

Also, it took me a long time to realize that you can adjust the Saute setting to Low. In my opinion, the Saute setting is way too hot and everything just burns, which means the IP probably thought that your onion and garlic was burning. If that happens again, like the others said, I would turn it off, deglaze with some of the liquid and wait a little bit before adding more stuff and trying to pressurize the pot. Thanks for the recipe though, seems pretty easy and tasty with some tweaks.

BdoUK · Jan 12, 2018

Thanks for the tips guys. Both of my "burn" issues with my Instant Pot have been related to recipes that have something tomato based (other was vegan chili) at the bottom of the pot. It makes sense to deglaze before proceeding to the pressure cooking step.

IggyChooChoo · Jan 12, 2018

Pheneatis said:
you can adjust the Saute setting to Low

Oh man, I feel dumb. It never occurred to me that that was adjustable. Well, glad to know it now!

Neverfade · Jan 16, 2018

Anyone have a great pot roast recipe?

I threw everything in, veggies and all, and cooked for 60 minutes. Its very good, but its not "just right". I could use a little more tenderness in the meat and a little less mushy in the veggies. Ideas to tweak?

Weeniekuns · Jan 16, 2018

We had the 6qt DUO and didnt use it much... mostly hated cleaning the damn thing. Gave it to my sister who has a larger family and got the 3-qt MINI and loving it.

sleepInsom said:
I've been trying to figure out how to make rice in this thing and I'm at a loss since so much ends up sticking to the pot. I use 1:1 rice to water, rinse the starch off, and add some salt. I press the "rice" button and use natural release. The rice that doesn't stick comes out great, but right now I waste so much of it. Anyone have any advise?

You're doing it right... the problem is that the stainless steel bowl that comes with the IP has no teflon coating like most rice cookers do. Just get the non stick IP bowl and use that for rice (search on Amazon for nonstick instant pot bowl)

Dan Thunder · Jan 17, 2018

10-12 minutes to boil an egg?!

Seriously, if ever there's a case of using a gadget just for the sake of it........

ReAxion · Jan 17, 2018

Neverfade said:
Anyone have a great pot roast recipe?

I threw everything in, veggies and all, and cooked for 60 minutes. Its very good, but its not "just right". I could use a little more tenderness in the meat and a little less mushy in the veggies. Ideas to tweak?

so, this isn't exactly a pot roast, but try it out. http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2016/10/pressure-cooker-beef-stew-recipe.html it's got a lot going on but i guarantee it'll be a memorable meal.

as far as what you did, possibly separate cook times for the meat & veg. if you liked the meat the way it is, maybe do 45m on the meat, quick release, add veg, then 15m under pressure again, quick release.

Walter White Walker · Jan 17, 2018

Dan Thunder said:
10-12 minutes to boil an egg?!

Seriously, if ever there's a case of using a gadget just for the sake of it........

More like 15 minutes - 5 minutes to get to pressure, cook for 5 minutes, release steam after 5 minutes. The eggs come out great every time, though - hardly ever an issue with peeling like there usually is when using the conventional method.
The conventional method takes longer actually considering you have to get the water boiling which takes however long (like 10 minutes or more on my stove) and then simmer them for 12 minutes.

SpartyCrunch · Jan 17, 2018

Well after experimenting more it's more like 9-10 minutes at low pressure.

But it also means I need to use a lot less water and I can also "set it and forget it".

St. Alphonzo · Jan 17, 2018

SpartyCrunch said:
It's time for a brief discussion on hard boiled eggs!

For whatever reason, it seems like these recipes are all over the place. Some recipes recommend twice as much time as others. I'm very close to sea level so the conditions aren't out of the ordinary.

For example, this recipe says 4 minutes for soft-boiled eggs, 5 minutes for hard-boiled eggs, at high pressure. But when I tried those timings I ended up getting eggs where the whites aren't solid at all. The entire thing was just a gooey mess inside including the non-solid whites.

After much experimentation and browsing, I finally found this which worked perfectly:

https://www.pressurecookrecipes.com/instant-pot-hard-boiled-eggs/

1 cup of water, 12 minutes, low pressure, drop in an ice bath when done. Perfect eggs!

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B004VQXVT6/?tag=e100-21

machine · Jan 17, 2018

St. Alphonzo said:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B004VQXVT6/?tag=e100-21

I have one of these. It never worked very well for me and generates a weird chemical smell due to the plastics in it. I prefer making my hard-boiled eggs in the IP. Pretty much impossible to screw up and some of the easiest to peel eggs ever.

LakeEarth · Jan 17, 2018

I've cooked some good eggs in the Instant Pot with 4 minutes of cook time, a quick release, followed by an ice bath ASAP. But every time I've done it, they were cooking on top of a pile of 5-6 cut-up potatoes for my potato and egg salad, so I can't be sure how it would change how it cooks alone.

They really do peel really well afterwards.

beat · Jan 17, 2018

Walter White Walker said:
The conventional method takes longer actually considering you have to get the water boiling which takes however long (like 10 minutes or more on my stove) and then simmer them for 12 minutes.

The modified conventional method only brings a small amount of water up to a rolling boil to steam cook 'em. Just be careful you use enough water not to boil it all away. http://www.seriouseats.com/2014/05/the-secrets-to-peeling-hard-boiled-eggs.html

Deleted member 11157 · Jan 17, 2018

Neverfade said:
Anyone have a great pot roast recipe?

I threw everything in, veggies and all, and cooked for 60 minutes. Its very good, but its not "just right". I could use a little more tenderness in the meat and a little less mushy in the veggies. Ideas to tweak?

Shoot, I don't remember the exact recipe, and most of my cooking involves just pressing the button and experimenting, so here's what I did for my roast. Oil and some onions in the pot on saute. Wait till it's browned up. Put the roast in and sear all sides; a minute or less per side. Dump in your carrots and halved small potatoes and whatever else vegetables. Pour enough beef broth to cover up everything. Then I just pressured it for half an hour or so. Tasted delicious even though it's not the best way to make it.

ETA- Found it. Here's the original recipe that i butchered and made my own. Dude's on youtube and worth watching.
https://www.copymethat.com/r/tl3s2ET/cuongs-instant-pot-roast/

The Argus · Jan 17, 2018

Made French Dip sandwiches on Sunday.

Delicious. Like the ones I had back in their hometown of LA. I used Beef Better Than Bouillon instead of beef stock, a little extra wine, and a high quality 2.5 pound roast. Instead of the suggested 100 minute cook time I went for 65 and the meat fell apart with by the fork and remained moist.

Between the two of us we still had a ton of leftover meat I've been putting in salads, and even used it for a sacrilegious cheese steak the day after (with cheese wiz as the Philly gods intended).

FaceHugger · Jan 17, 2018

I just threw all of the ingredients for Spanish style rice into the pot, browned some ground seasoned turkey first, and followed the suggested cook time from the manual. Came out good as hell.

Sotha_Sil · Jan 18, 2018

Kind of new to the instant pot. I've made a couple basic things that have all turned out well, so I decided to branch out a bit with chicken tagine following this recipe:

https://sustainabledish.com/instant-pot-chicken-tangine/

Damn, it was good. I ended up adding a little extra spice (about 25% more of each) and chicken broth (extra hlf cup), but the flavor still came out perfect.

I do think the "Stew" setting ran a little long at 35 minutes. Could have easily been done 10 minutes earlier, imo. Carrots and potatoes were a little overcooked. Still, really happy with it all.

SolidChamp · Jan 18, 2018

I've got the Instant Pot DUO Plus 60 arriving in a day or two from Amazon. About to step into this crazy world of quick and painless cooking and wondering where I should start?

I have a two-year-old and figuring out what to feed him on the daily has been a real challenge.

Dan Thunder · Jan 18, 2018

Walter White Walker said:
The conventional method takes longer actually considering you have to get the water boiling which takes however long (like 10 minutes or more on my stove) and then simmer them for 12 minutes.

Really?! I just boil the kettle, which takes 5 minutes tops, and then pour them over the eggs in a pan. Simmer for 4-5 minutes, perfect soft-boiled eggs.

You must have huge eggs where you're from! To cook hard-boiled eggs in a pan only takes 7 minutes of simmering for me, and those are eggs that have been kept in the fridge.

Mandos · Jan 18, 2018

Received the duo plus 60 as a gift from my mother as a replacement for an old crockpot that got lost in a move along with 2 cookbooks. Thinking of trying a minestrone recipe this weekend from the book, although I may leave out the cabbage and add in some rendered pancetta. Annoyed at my sister for doing a super strict diet though :( she has way better knife skills than I do

Gibbo · Jan 22, 2018

Hey guys, where can I get a UK instant pot online? I live in Singapore so a US instant pot power plug will not work. Seems to be sold out at amazon uk and instant pot uk at the moment.

GaimeGuy · Jan 22, 2018

Maybe I should buy one of these.... (but which one?)

henhowc · Jan 22, 2018

I've only really cooked one type of thing. Japanese curry or other type of stew mix with chicken and veggies.

Tried to do spaghetti but messed up and it came out too watery first time and pasta was too al dente the second. Third times a charm maybe? Lol

It's really good at making meat that just falls off the bone though.

mm04 · Jan 23, 2018

Every year my Mom would make a simple corned beef brisket glazed with honey and mustard and sliced thick for sandwiches. It would take hours for her to make. So I decided to throw a brisket that had been in my freezer for months into the IP with just 2 cups of water and the spice packet for 80 minutes with a quick pressure release at the end. Turned out great and very tender. Coated it with the mustard and honey mixture after the fact and then tossed a few slices into the air fryer to quickly glaze. Used a ciabatta roll with a thin layer of mayo, a slice of swiss cheese and stacked the corned beef in it. Received a panini press for Christmas and decided to place the sandwich in there and it was friggin' awesome. Gonna do this all over again when corned beef briskets go on sale for St Patty's Day and keep at least 1 extra in deep freeze.

Lady Lunalesca · Jan 23, 2018

Im tired of the lack of pics tbh ;_;

peppermints · Jan 23, 2018

My wife made a whole chicken last night. It was very tasty.

We checked the temperature after the pressure was released and everything seemed fine, but after dinner as we were separating all of the meat to put in the fridge, some of the sections closer to the center felt raw. Not room temperature, but the slimy raw feeling uncooked chicken has.

The recipe we used had it in for 25 minutes at high pressure, which we did. We're wondering if maybe we stuffed it too much and the heat couldn't get to the middle? Any ideas?

We're not worried about getting sick because the pieces we ate and gave the kids were definitely cooked all the way. Just strange that one part could be raw.

Goldenroad · Jan 23, 2018

Making the asparagus risotto from the IP recipe booklet tonight. Has anyone tried it? It's weird because there is no butter or cheese...but that's kind of why I'm interested.

Smylie · Jan 23, 2018

peppermints said:
My wife made a whole chicken last night. It was very tasty.

We checked the temperature after the pressure was released and everything seemed fine, but after dinner as we were separating all of the meat to put in the fridge, some of the sections closer to the center felt raw. Not room temperature, but the slimy raw feeling uncooked chicken has.

The recipe we used had it in for 25 minutes at high pressure, which we did. We're wondering if maybe we stuffed it too much and the heat couldn't get to the middle? Any ideas?

We're not worried about getting sick because the pieces we ate and gave the kids were definitely cooked all the way. Just strange that one part could be raw.

25 minutes for a whole chicken alone isn't enough. Even moreso if it's stuffed.

I do 4 lbs. whole chickens for 45 minutes, up to 55 minutes for larger ones. Never had raw insides, and never overcooked.

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