Smithy

Today I'm beginning the comparison between the IP Duo-60 and the IP Ultra-60. I already talked about the difference in lids and venting systems, but here's a picture for comparison's sake. The Ultra's lid is on the left. If someone wants a better picture so they can read the printing, let me know. The Duo's Steam Release Valve has to be manually turned to "venting" or "sealing" as the use dictates. The Ultra's Steam Release Valve automatically closes when the lid is locked onto the pot. The small button on the right changes the state of that valve: Press it in to release steam; turn it to seal the vent again. I think it's probably safer because you aren't touching the Release Valve (vent) itself, although with only a 2-inch separation between them I'm not sure it matters much. Both came with the rice paddle, scoop, measuring cup and steaming rack. There's a minor difference in racks. (Ultra is on the left.) Here's the first huge difference, the one that I hoped would be true with the Custom settings: The Ultra has been holding a fairly steady 152F since it reached temperature, about an hour after I started it. Based on two temperature setpoint, it seems to have a 2F offset. I can't get too fussed about that: if it's important, I can lower the setpoint by 2 degrees. The Duo is heating water at its "low" cook setting, and an hour after starting it's at 185F. I don't know whether that will be the final point. It was still climbing when I took this picture. Both cookers start the timers for the slow-cooking mode when they begin, not when they reach temperature. If I were the programmer for the Ultra, I think I'd have set it so the timer began when the "Cook" phase began, but that's a small quibble. One delightful aspect of the Ultra is that it remembers preferences. Yesterday when I started it in the SlowCook mode it began with its default of one of the classic modes. (I don't remember whether it was Low, Medium or High.) Today when I plugged it in it defaulted to SlowCook, Custom, 104F.

Yes, it's been a pleasure. Many, many thanks!

Yes, I think that's exactly right. This weekend I may get around to opening the manual to see what they have to say about it.

In 20 minutes, the temperature has risen from 105F to 131F and it's still climbing. I can hear a relay clicking on and off. The bar graph hasn't changed in response to the temperature change, so it appears that the image is simply a graphical representation of the phases involved and the progress through the phase in question.

According to my thermometer, it took about an hour for the water to actually reach 104F, although it rose to 100F from the initial 76F in about a half hour. Since the two-hour mark it's been hovering around 105F. I've seen it down to 104.x (can't remember) and up to 105.7. If I find a datalogger around here - or even a min/max recording thermometer (I think I have one) I'll be interested to see what the temperature swings are. At this temperature it's plenty good for a slow-cook; this isn't a precision circulator. It certainly holds a much lower temperature than the IP Duo 60! I won't be able to do much, if any, more with this today. Feel free to post questions or suggestions on what you'd like to see. Tomorrow or this weekend I'll be doing some side-by-side comparisons with the Duo. We may use this as a slow cooker for meat tomorrow. (Actually, I just told it to crank the temperature up to 150F. If I learn anything before I leave for work I'll post about it here.)

Here's a manual excerpt showing the different operating modes and range of parameters that can be controlled for each.

About 45 minutes ago I set it to cook at 104F. It's an hour into the 4-hour program and has slowly been climbing from 100F to 103F. I began with 76F water, up to the "max pressure cooker" line.

The line shows the program for that phase ("Preheating" in the top paired set of photos) and the bar graph shows how far along it actually is for that phase. In this case the phases were "Preheating," "Cooking" and "Keep Warm". The phase is named in the lower right of the screen. The graphs came up on their own without my asking. I think it will be nice for monitoring progress / status of a program, but whether it will be of use other than satisfying my curiosity remains to be seen.

Tomato ketchup?

I didn't try Steam Bake this time around. That was a disaster last week when I tried it on the mini-hash-rounds. I understand that steam bake is the counterintuitive favorite amongst this crowd, but I was afraid to try it so quickly following on the last disaster.

Right out of the box, there's a difference between the IP Duo-60 and the IP Ultra 60: the pressure control and relief valves. The system is more automatic than before. There's a warning tag with a tie around the relief valve; it's difficult to miss. I decided to try the pressure-cooking mode first. It really is a set-and-forget mode. I've been working lately with equipment that requires pushing a knob, turning it for a different mode, pressing it again (and so on) so I had no trouble with the controls. There are instructions for those who don't find it as easy, but I'll be happy to provide more detail for those interested. Maybe it's just because I like progress reports (although I hated them when required to give them to my bosses) but I really like the screen that shows the status of the program. It's bright and easy to read: what mode, how far along, and what's happening inside? At this point, the pressure was building. The timer had not started, and would not start until the pressure had reached the "high" point. Note the difference in the graph between the right and left photos. The bottom snap in this collage shows that the pressure "button" had closed and pressure was on the rise. After the pressure reached the set point, the timer began. ...and because I wandered away to do other household chores, it kept track as the temperature and pressure dropped after the cooking time had elapsed. In this photo, it was done cooking and had switched to the "keep warm" cycle as the temperature and pressure dropped. I don't have photos of the steam release, because I don't have enough hands, but I will say that after allowing the pot to sit for 20 minutes on natural release it was as uneventful as with my IP Duo-60...and it was easier, because I simply had to push a button down instead of twisting a valve. I still took the precaution of covering the vents with a towel. The last test I did tonight - and, alas, the last test I'm likely to do for a couple of days - was to see what this IP Ultra 60 thinks it can do for temperature control in slow cooker mode. If it can really accomplish this range of temperatures, it will be a marvel. Tests to come in a day or three. Tests of the other functions need to come along too. What would y'all like to see? The idea is to put my IP Duo-60 and this IP Ultra60 alongside each other and compare their performance. I have enough kitchen circuitry for this feat. The electrician who wired this kitchen would be proud.

Whee! Look what turned up at my house! This is my opportunity to evaluate the Instant Pot Ultra 60 and compare it to the Instant Pot IP Duo-60 that I already have. Where the IP Duo-60 has plenty of functions, the Ultra has more functions AND that control knob that promises finer control of temperature. Maybe it fine-tunes other parameters as well, but I've been especially interested in temperature. DH and I have been pining for a slow cooker that offers a better temperature setpoint than "low" and "high" or "low", "medium" and "high". Will this be it? A couple of extras -- lagniappes, as folks in some parts of the USA would say -- were included. We have all read about the tendency of the gaskets to pick up off-odors from, er, assertive ingredients such as garlic or onion, and the need for extra gaskets so that sweets aren't contaminated with off-odors. The other lagniappe is a pair of nesting steamer baskets. One fits inside the other so it can be added or removed at will. It's a perfect arrangement for cases where two ingredients need different steaming times. I'm all ears for suggestions.

I'm playing with my new Cuisinart Combo Convection Steam Oven and realizing / recognizing that it won't replace my air fryer...and that I need a separate toaster. My DH quipped this morning, "I wonder how many of your eGullet friends have run themselves out of counter space?" Tonight it was CSO-fried fish and air-fryer-fried mini-hash rounds, along with microwaved asparagus and toaster-toasted toast. A lot of appliances were in use, at staggered times to keep the goddesses of the breaker box happy. This was a new brand of prepared fish for us. I cooked it in the CSO, 450F for 18 minutes, flipping once through as recommended. In my opinion it still wasn't as crisp as it should be, so I put a couple of pieces in the air fryer and crisped them up more. The color was better and crisper (see upper right picture in the collage for comparison) but the fish flesh was pretty much reduced to smithereens, or maybe flinders, or even cotton filaments. The mini-hash rounds were perfect. The asparagus was nicely cooked but inadequate in quantity. Next, I may haul out the deep fryer I picked up for a song at a garage sale and compare its results to these. The point, of course, is to use less oil...but if the results are unsatisfying, why bother?

Glorious!

Welcome to middle age, @Shelby. 😉

Don't forget northern Minnesota!

@sartoric, that's high praise for a recipe. Do you have a link that you can share?

Good point. I tried some potato hash-brown thingies (somewhere between the size of 'tater tots' and fast-food-joint hash rounds) last week and made the mistake of trying them on steam/convection bake. They wilted, and turned into balls of mush.

I'm afraid the crabcakes were of the "as long as it takes" variety. I think, but did not record to be sure, that I cooked them at 400F convection bake for about 20 minutes. I watched carefully, in between trips downstairs to reset the breakers, until the crust seemed right. I also flipped them at least twice...maybe 3 times...to ensure good browning. It was certainly no more than 30 minutes all told. We thought afterward that setting the crab cakes on a rack might have eliminated the need for flipping. That will be another test.

I recently purchased a Cuisinart Combo Steam Convection Oven (CSO for short) and have been putting it through its paces. Tonight I tested a recipe from the booklet that had come with the CSO for brussels sprouts with pancetta. After those were done I put some crab cakes (from our grocery store deli) in under convection baking. Meanwhile, sweet corn on the cob cooked in the microwave and bread toasted in the toaster. That's when we learned that the microwave, the toaster and the CSO are all on the same circuit. The breaker panel says otherwise. We'll have to be more careful about balancing the loads in the future.

Oh yeah...I'd forgotten about that one too!

"The Big Easy" = the Green Egg? Thanks for the info about the Naan in a Caan.* I hadn't thought of it, but now if I hear about it I won't be tempted. *(Shelby, I hope you have a sleepless night for that earworm, because I sure will)

No need to be embarrassed about that! Thanks for the info! Oh, did you toast the bread before putting the tuna on, then broil afterward? I'm trying to work out how toasties should be made (talk about embarrassing)...

Thanks for taking one for the team!

Wow! Please tell more about the salad, and the method.