Instant Pot. Multi-function cooker (Part 1)

[Anna N]

Now for little bit of a tease. I am going to spread my wings just a little. I have had a longing for some baby back ribs for a couple of years and yesterday my favorite grocery shopper, Kerry Beal, brought me a lovely looking rack. I usually use a recipe from Fine Cooking that was published a long time ago when that magazine was still worth reading. But now I am going to try this one. I have glanced quickly at the ingredient list and may come up a little short on the ketchup but since there is no bottled barbecue sauce in the house I will have to see if I can fudge it. I also doubt there is any bottled smoke here but it's possible there's a bottle hiding on the top shelf somewhere.

[rotuts]

Well.

 

Well.   I di think that FC is still worth reading.

 

Glossy Food p0rn delivered w/0 a brown wrapper to Your Own Home. !

 

well   ......

 

but I do like your sense of Adventure.  and I do have Fz two BBR's in my freezer .....

 

thanks for that Tip.

 

re: BBR's

[Anna N]

I am stuffed to the gills and ashamed of how much I ate!

Let's start from the end this time. You have access to the recipe and I followed it fairly closely. One issue that did come up was what is the minimum amount of water that you can safely use in the IP. Apparently it is not in the manual and I certainly didn't find it. At one time the manufacturer said 2 to 3 cups but now on their Facebook page this is down to one cup, and a website of a chap who uses it fairly frequently confesses to considering half a cup plenty for most applications. I found a middle point and put in three quarters of a cup but I would not hesitate to reduce this next time.

I shall now waddle off somewhere to rest. Probably won't be much tomorrow as I will be out all day.

If anyone has anything they would like me to try and it's something I could do I'm happy to give it a shot.

Edited to fix some AutoCorrect issues

Edited August 30, 2015 by Anna N (log)

[rotuts]

well  I have a rack of BB's in my freezer.

 

Ill bring them out to the refit tomorrow and they will be ready 1 sept.

 

please take no offense :  did you IP them for 30 minutes ?

 

thank you.

[Anna N]

well  I have a rack of BB's in my freezer.

 

Ill bring them out to the refit tomorrow and they will be ready 1 sept.

 

please take no offense :  did you IP them for 30 minutes ?

 

thank you.

Did indeed. Then fast release of steam. On to prepared baking sheet and smothered with sauce. Finished in Breville XL.

[rotuts]

indeed.

 

ill make some potato's for salad first, as this is one of the main reasons im getting the IP

 

they can cool while Im doing the BB's

\

nice.

[Deryn]

Glorious ribs, Anna. Since you ate so much I gather the recipe is a winner. I bookmarked it. Sleep well and have a good day out tomorrow.

And somewhere I read that the minimum is 1/2 cup liquid - and I think that is probably sufficient in most cases, especially since meats and vegetables give off water as they are cooking. In fact, I browned some chicken the other day and didn't add any water and when I opened the lid I had almost 3 cups of liquid. I would not recommend that (I don't want to be sued) but it worked for me and nothing stuck either.

Edited August 30, 2015 by Deryn (log)

[andiesenji]

I think we need a short people's forum, i'm 5'5" and i'm debating taking the legs off my island to reduce the height to about 29". I find i'm almost reaching up to chop. Upper shelves in cabinets require a stepstool.

I've made chicken stock in my IP and it was good and fast. A lot of people when they first think of PC cooking, think of a warm, homogeneous mixture served in a bowl that resembles a stew than anything else, not true!

p

That's what I did, Palo.   Mine had 3 inch wheels plus another inch for the part that swiveled.  So I removed them - there were threaded steel shafts in the legs which protrued a bit so they couldn't sit right on the floor (without scratching it).  So I got these PERMANENT furniture slides.  They work well on my cork flooring and when I need to push them onto the hardwood floor in the dining room, they don't mar it at all.

[andiesenji]

One of the strengths of eG is we can start out testing a new toy and suddenly ways to organize or operate within our own kitchens. My system falls apart when I fail to put away the drained and now dry dishes and start putting just rinsed and therefore wet dishes on top of them!

I use a memory "trick"  I drape a tea towel over the clean dishes so I don't stick any dirty ones in there.  Haven't made a mistake yet.

[andiesenji]

I am stuffed to the gills and ashamed of how much I ate!

Let's start from the end this time. You have access to the recipe and I followed it fairly closely. One issue that did come up was what is the minimum amount of water that you can safely use in the IP. Apparently it is not in the manual and I certainly didn't find it. At one time the manufacturer said 2 to 3 cups but now on their Facebook page this is down to one cup, and a website of a chap who uses it fairly frequently confesses to considering half a cup plenty for most applications. I found a middle point and put in three quarters of a cup but I would not hesitate to reduce this next time.

I shall now waddle off somewhere to rest. Probably won't be much tomorrow as I will be out all day.

If anyone has anything they would like me to try and it's something I could do I'm happy to give it a shot.

Edited to fix some AutoCorrect issues

I use very little water when cooking meats and poultry that I KNOW will produce a lot of liquid. Usually no more than a cup for whole chickens, duck (and duck cooked in the PC is amazing AND you can recover a large amount of duck fat!) .  For a whole turkey breast I used about 2/3 cup of turkey broth (from my freezer).  I used more for the smoked turkey legs because they are much dryer - and were tough prior to cooking in the PC.   For chuck roast/7 bone roast  I use less than a cup of water and cook it with Lipton onion soup mix.  I then use this as a base for "instant stew" with my slow-roasted root vegetables. 

[Anna N]

I use a memory "trick"  I drape a tea towel over the clean dishes so I don't stick any dirty ones in there.  Haven't made a mistake yet.

Not really a failing memory that's the problem but pure laziness. Nevertheless draping a towel over the clean ones might encourage me to empty the damn sink! Thank you.

[hummingbirdkiss]

this is so funny I tossed the rack aside the day I got the pot and have used it for all kinds of things forgot it came with it and wondered what the hell it was ..LOLOL! now I know it was for the instant pot! 

 

I never looked at the instructions after I learned how to use it I just shoved stuff in 

 

this really is fun to read glad you started it 

 

I am dive in and learn kind of person ..but then once i figure things out I like to go back and see what I missed! 

[MelissaH]

I am stuffed to the gills and ashamed of how much I ate!

Let's start from the end this time. You have access to the recipe and I followed it fairly closely. One issue that did come up was what is the minimum amount of water that you can safely use in the IP. Apparently it is not in the manual and I certainly didn't find it. At one time the manufacturer said 2 to 3 cups but now on their Facebook page this is down to one cup, and a website of a chap who uses it fairly frequently confesses to considering half a cup plenty for most applications. I found a middle point and put in three quarters of a cup but I would not hesitate to reduce this next time.

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I shall now waddle off somewhere to rest. Probably won't be much tomorrow as I will be out all day.

If anyone has anything they would like me to try and it's something I could do I'm happy to give it a shot.

Edited to fix some AutoCorrect issues

Anna, I've had that recipe bookmarked for quite a while, but hadn't gotten around to trying it. However, I'm thinking that tonight might be the night, given your endorsement. I only have a stovetop pressure cooker, so that's the way I'll have to deal with it. Do you notice any difference in how hot the kitchen gets with the electric version compared to a more traditional pot?

[Deryn]

Melissa - I would say there is very little to no heat added to the ambient air when using the IP. The sides get a bit warm but I can touch them during cooking - probably because the actual insert is shielded from the outside by a bit of air space between it and the outer 'pot'. When one opens the pot after cooking, a bit of heat will obviously escape but otherwise, since there is no open element heating up the air and a regular pressure cooker is all one piece of metal, I think one could safely say it is much 'cooler' in the kitchen when using the IP. Works well in summer. In winter you may actually want it to heat your kitchen, I guess.

I will let Anna answer for herself but that is my experience.

Edited August 31, 2015 by Deryn (log)

[hummingbirdkiss]

I know where I fail with this pot and maybe you can help if you wanted to ..or maybe you already have and I do not see it  if you tried white rice (Korean style is what I eat mostly)  yet or not ? did you ? if you have made rice would you mind pointing me to it?  You are up to 5 pages and I am unable  keep up currently.  But am thrilled with the conversation I have read that is for sure how fun this is

 

I have put four pots of cal rose medium in that pot and ended up tossing it to the chickens and ducks before I gave up ..same with the jasmine rice   ..I use the medium grain Calrose to  make Korean style rice almost daily and have to use a pot on a hot plate  burner because I can not get it to come out correctly in the Instant pot …I have to clarify  I have NEVER been able to get any rice to come out in a rice cooker anyway so this is nothing new to me…but maybe now if you try it and give an outline of you process..I can do it? I would love to because I have to watch the burner it is so dangerous …and the pot I can leave .. ..that and  jasmine have both been tossed to the chickens and ducks because I could not figure it out ..and I would love to be able to make it in there ..I can make pilaf and even made a nice pot of Persian rice with the crust on the bottom ..but not plain rice 

 

if you have not tried would you please give it a try ?  Let us know how you did ? ..again if you did already and I missed it I appologize  just point … I spun through the thread and did not see it ….and was blown away there is so much i have to come back if I ever get that elusive thing called "time" and go through it again …but in the meant time ..fi you did and would point me I would be grateful thanks. 

 

I have a pot of pinto beans on now ..they come out perfect every time in there …I can say I rarely do NOT used this thing and after hitting it with about 10 cook downs of tomatoes to paste ? 

 

I adore my pot glad you got one! why not life is way too short to not have something fun and very functional  in the kitchen

Edited August 31, 2015 by hummingbirdkiss (log)

[Deryn]

hummingbirdkiss - What proportions of Calrose to water did you use? And what setting did you use - just the rice button? I can try it for you - I have some Calrose and the IP is empty right now. Is there anything else I should know about 'Korean' rice making? I am not sure what I should be looking for in terms of a particular texture or taste I guess but I am happy to try the experiment for you.

eta: Is this http://mykoreankitchen.com/2007/05/25/how-to-make-perfect-korean-steamed-rice-step-3-how-to-soak-and-cook-the-rice/ the procedure you follow? I don't normally soak my rice but I can if that is required. Their recommendation for 1.5 (or 1.2 - not sure how I will know exactly is the 'right consistency' after soaking either ) cups of water to a cup of soaked rice seems high for this particular machine if you just use the rice setting. I put too much water in once - just with regular non-converted rice - and it was 'soggy' when it was done using the 'rice setting'. Is that the result you are getting?

Edited August 31, 2015 by Deryn (log)

[Anna N]

Anna, I've had that recipe bookmarked for quite a while, but hadn't gotten around to trying it. However, I'm thinking that tonight might be the night, given your endorsement. I only have a stovetop pressure cooker, so that's the way I'll have to deal with it. Do you notice any difference in how hot the kitchen gets with the electric version compared to a more traditional pot?

Melissa,

I am absolutely spoiled in then I have an induction range and a 6 quart Kuhn Rikon Duromatic stovetop pressure cooker. They contribute little heat to my kitchen. The IP certainly gets hot but really it wouldn't normally be operating for much more than an hour under normal circumstances. I really haven't done any kind of comparison to give you a more objective answer. As of the present moment I can say that the IP impresses me enough that I would be unlikely to use the stovetop unless I really needed that 15 psi. It is so nice to set it and forget it.

[Anna N]

I know where I fail with this pot and maybe you can help if you wanted to ..or maybe you already have and I do not see it  if you tried white rice (Korean style is what I eat mostly)  yet or not ? did you ? if you have made rice would you mind pointing me to it?  You are up to 5 pages and I am unable  keep up currently.  But am thrilled with the conversation I have read that is for sure how fun this is

 

I have put four pots of cal rose medium in that pot and ended up tossing it to the chickens and ducks before I gave up ..same with the jasmine rice   ..I use the medium grain Calrose to  make Korean style rice almost daily and have to use a pot on a hot plate  burner because I can not get it to come out correctly in the Instant pot …I have to clarify  I have NEVER been able to get any rice to come out in a rice cooker anyway so this is nothing new to me…but maybe now if you try it and give an outline of you process..I can do it? I would love to because I have to watch the burner it is so dangerous …and the pot I can leave .. ..that and  jasmine have both been tossed to the chickens and ducks because I could not figure it out ..and I would love to be able to make it in there ..I can make pilaf and even made a nice pot of Persian rice with the crust on the bottom ..but not plain rice 

 

if you have not tried would you please give it a try ?  Let us know how you did ? ..again if you did already and I missed it I appologize  just point … I spun through the thread and did not see it ….and was blown away there is so much i have to come back if I ever get that elusive thing called "time" and go through it again …but in the meant time ..fi you did and would point me I would be grateful thanks. 

 

I have a pot of pinto beans on now ..they come out perfect every time in there …I can say I rarely do NOT used this thing and after hitting it with about 10 cook downs of tomatoes to paste ? 

 

I adore my pot glad you got one! why not life is way too short to not have something fun and very functional  in the kitchen

 

Check post #90 where I cooked some basmati rice. Deryn has offered to check out the calrose and I am happy to check out the jasmine.

[Deryn]

Since I am not a rice expert, and have never made 'Korean Rice', I have been doing some 'research' to try to guess what exactly it is that hummingbirdkiss is trying to recreate.

I think I will try several experiments. In the first I will wash and soak the rice for half an hour and then use the 'rice' setting and see what I get. Water to rice ratio will be 1.5/1 (but if that doesn't produce a good result I may try it again reducing the water).

Then I will wash and soak another batch and use a bowl to steam the rice for .. not sure here how long yet - maybe 20 minutes?

Then I will try pressure cooking (at low setting) for 6-8 minutes, followed by steaming for ... not sure how long .. but maybe 15 minutes.

And I am guessing that Korean Rice texture should be somewhat 'sticky' and 'soft-ish' but not too much so. I note that, in the following recipe (which isn't what we want but it does involve steaming in the instant pot - http://instantpot.com/black-sticky-rice-pudding/) they say to steam for 30-40 minutes. This is, if that is true, not going to be much quicker than in a dedicated rice cooker I would guess.

I also found a site which said if you want Korean rice, you should buy Korean Rice (which, I am gathering may work better than either calrose or jasmine.) And another that said the hard layer at the bottom of the pan after cooking Korean Rice was called 'noonga' or something like that I think - and should not be thrown away but should have 4 cups of water added to it and then be boiled to make a 'soup' for breakfast (congee?). At any rate, I am wondering if I should be trying to get that layer formed when cooking Korean Rice or not.

At any rate, I will report back with my 'findings' when I can. I expect that will be tomorrow sometime however.

[hummingbirdkiss]

Thanks you both. Look forward to replies

Deryn let me see

First time i followed the instructions " rinse lightly drain, 2 cups rice to 2 1/2 cups pushed the rice button

It was mushy

Second time I did it the way I cook it daily... .pearled the rice ..(I think that is what you call it?) put a little water and scrub it, then drain 3 times ...Leave some starch...then added to my first knuckle of water ...perfect everytime on the stove, ..pushed the rice button walked away ..but in the pot it was paste

The other two times i variations of above venting early at the beginning on one ( i leave the top off my rice until it is boiling a bit so thought maybe it needed that? and then at the end .....both times terrible.

Used two cups of rice each time

Gave up

I always toast basmati in lots of butter so it came out perfectly in the pot

I use ...US grown medium " fancy" blue bag ..CHUN HA IL MI ...excellent calrose btw

Edited August 31, 2015 by hummingbirdkiss (log)

[Anna N]

Thanks you both. Look forward to replies

Deryn let me see

First time i followed the instructions " rinse lightly drain, 2 cups rice to 2 1/2 cups pushed the rice button

It was mushy

Second time I did it the way I cook it daily... .pearled the rice ..(I think that is what you call it?) put a little water and scrub it, then drain 3 times ...Leave some starch...then added to my first knuckle of water ...perfect everytime on the stove, ..pushed the rice button walked away ..but in the pot it was paste

The other two times i variations of above venting early at the beginning on one ( i leave the top off my rice until it is boiling a bit so thought maybe it needed that? and then at the end .....both times terrible.

Used two cups of rice each time

Gave up

I always toast basmati in lots of butter so it came out perfectly in the pot

I use ...US grown medium " fancy" blue bag ..CHUN HA IL MI ...excellent calrose btw

Well I now have a well-documented method of how NOT to cook jasmine rice in the IP. Back to the drawing board!

[hummingbirdkiss]

Anna that was just the calrose LOLOL I did not even write about the jasmine! I would never scrub the jasmine like I do the calrose but otherwise I guess it is similar ..no scrubbing jasmine but I use the knuckle method once  and measured according to the bag on the first ..the water ratio is different on a bag of jasmine vs calrose …but the knuckle is the same size on all my rice and I use first knuckle measure for all rice I put on the stove that I have rinsed and or soaked ..dry rice a different story 

 

in the pot it was all a failure with both rices though 

 

on the stove I boil jasmine hard until almost all the water is gone and the rice is poking out of the water …and there are divots in the rice …like little caldrons … then put the lid on with a tea towel to catch the water ..15 min on low heat then push it off for " a while" to settle ..perfect rice every time 

Edited September 1, 2015 by hummingbirdkiss (log)

[Anna N]

Jasmine rice. Take 2.

Well this strikes me as perfectly acceptable jasmine rice. It's neither mushy nor hard. Most grains are separate but can be compacted if you push them together.

Here is what I did.

I had only a little rice left. It amounted to 160 mL in the rice cup that comes with the IP. I rinsed it for a full minute in a sieve under running water using my fingers to agitate the rice gently. I drained the rice as thoroughly as I could and put it into the IP with 200 mL of water. That is a ratio of one part rice to 1.25 of water. I set the IP to manual for a time of 1 (one) minute high pressure. I let the pressure go down slowly for 10 minutes and then moved the valve to the steam release position but there was no further discharge of steam.

These are the instructions I found in Laura Pazzaglia's Hip Pressure Cooking Book. I did a fair bit of looking around on the web and was amazed the range of times offered. I had some doubt that one minute would do the trick but I should have had more confidence in Laura.

[Anna N]

Anna that was just the calrose LOLOL I did not even write about the jasmine! I would never scrub the jasmine like I do the cal rose but otherwise I guess sit is similar ..no scrubbing jasmine but I use the knuckle method once  and measured according to the bag on the first ..the water ratio is different on a bag of jasmine vs calrose …but the knuckle is the same size on all my rice and I use first knuckle measure for all rice I put on the stove that I have rinsed and or soaked ..dry rice a different story 

 

in the pot it was all a failure with both rices though 

 

on the stove I boil jasmine hard until almost all the water is gong and the rice is poking out then put the lid on with a tea towel to catch the water ..15 min on low heat then push it off for " a while" to settle ..perfect rice every time

This is the way I always treat my jasmine rice. I would not call it scrubbing just gently agitating so the water reaches every grain. I am sure you are much more of a connoisseur of rice than I am. I would still like to see you try this method and give your opinion.

[Mmmpomps]

I love this Instant Pot! First experiment short ribs...fall off the bone, tender delicious meat:

 

Chopped garlic in the awesome pot...then I added:
Soy sauce
Sesame oil
honey
sriaccha
sweet wine
lemon juice
rub the short ribs around then PRESSURE COOK it on the meat/stew button.

Wait ten minutes then release the steam.