Instant Pot. Multi-function cooker (Part 1)

[Shelby]

No, it's more like KFC.  

[ElsieD]

Shelby, what did you coat the chicken in?

[Shelby]

Dipped in egg/milk wash and then flour seasoned up with some Lawry's salt and black pepper.

[Shelby]

Last night we wanted red beans and rice with andouille.  The collard greens in the garden looked good from the house so I popped down and picked some.

 

TOUGH.  Like you could make shoes out of them.  Or a hammock.

 

 

 

 

So, I put the IP on sauté and threw some bacon in.  Then a diced onion and finally the chopped greens.  Poured some beef broth on top and set the pot for 8 minutes.

 

Seriously, these were so tender and good.  On the stove I would have had to cook these all day to get them tender like they were.

 

 

Sorry for the steamy picture.   They were hot

 

 

 

[Shelby]

Boring post, but I thought I'd document it anyway.  De-boned some chicken breasts yesterday.  Threw the bones, carrots, celery etc. in the Breville and roasted them.  Dumped all of in the IP, added water, pushed the soup button and voila!  Perfect broth.  

[MelissaH]

Those of you who have Instant Pots but have also used traditional pressure cookers: have you noticed enough of an advantage to the IP that would convince you to shell out for one, especially if you like your traditional stovetop PC? Have you used your IP for anything that would be difficult or impossible to do with anything else?

[rotuts]

MH   that's a great question.

 

I might chime in, but my   **** mint condition favor 6 qt ****** 

 

ive never used.

 

if people like their traditional PC's, they might render a greater volume of delicious ness than the IP

 

Id say it all about Ease     esp. if you are like me being a bit wary about the traditional PC

 

then there is Sloth   .......  Im not one to follow the traditional PC until it get to 'steam' then turn it down.

 

the IP is much simpler

 

I would say that if you read though the therad

 

and you like clear broth from your bones

 

that feature can not be duplicated in a traditional PC

 

next time  i do Vertical Chickens on the Weber  ( 6 at least )   Ill use the bones, with perhaps a carrot and one rib of celery etc

 

to make stock

 

why not ?  I used to toss the bone ager removing  the meat

 

of course  Earthquake got his fair share !

[rotuts]

In this thread I asked about this cut of meat :

 

https://forums.egullet.org/topic/152257-know-your-cuts-of-meat-this-is/

 

I wanted to make Swiss Steak the way my mother did, in the oven etc

 

I realized even before I got this piece of meat that there was going to little it had to offer.

 

so I decided to use the IP for the job.  there are no pictures and i don't regret that.

 

I browned some mushrooms and onion, then the meat.  I cut the meat in two pieces  and removed the external fat.

 

I added the mushroom/onion mix to the IP and added some low salt beef 'paste' from Minors for the 'stock'

 

placed the meat on top and IP'd on high for 15 minutes with a natural release.  i might have been a bit more tender, so a few more minutes would

 

have helped that.  

 

I was correct that this meat added nothing to the dish.

 

the IP did what I told it to, 20 minutes might have resulted in a more tender result

 

but if you start with low quality ingredients, you get a low quality result.

[andiesenji]

That is a piece of meat that needs some working over before it is palatable.   You need to pump up the flavor and fix the texture.

 

I beat the hell out of it with a batticarne (meat pounder) till it is about 1/4 inch thick and some of the long fibers have begun to fray.

 

A "filling" which can be whatever you like, bread crumbs, seasonings, cooked onion - etc., roll it up, nail it with a couple of skewers - or if you are inclined, tie it neatly.

 

Braising works but you can certainly use the PC. 

 

The Italians call this "Braciole"  and there are many variations  THIS IS A GOOD START

 

I have been preparing this type of thing to improve the flavor of cheap cuts of meat for 50 years and it never disappoints.

[Anna N]

Those of you who have Instant Pots but have also used traditional pressure cookers: have you noticed enough of an advantage to the IP that would convince you to shell out for one, especially if you like your traditional stovetop PC? Have you used your IP for anything that would be difficult or impossible to do with anything else?

Melissa,

I would say if you don't mind hanging about waiting for your pressure cooker to come up to pressure, adjusting the heat beneath it to maintain pressure, setting a time to come back and take it off the heat then there is nothing much to be gained with the IP. The IP eliminates all of this. You set it and forget it.

[rotuts]

andiesenji

 

thanks for your comments

 

Ive made Braciole many many times

 

you are correct

 

the Braciole is about the browning and the gravy and  the bacon you put in it

 

I never added the carrot not the pickle.

 

the rendered fat from the Internal Bacon then added to the gravy

 

mashed potatoes   de riguieur

 

lets just say  I was a bit slothful  

 

​but I do thank you for reminding me of the Brac,   I added spinach that was wilted and squeezed out, bacon, mustard, etc

 

rolled the up, browned then and then braised them

 

so delicious in the colder months

 

thanks for the remimnder !

[artisan02]

Id splurge a bit if you can and get the 7 - 1

 

.

I am joining your ranks soon.  I just ordered teh 7-1 which has also come down in price on Amazon.  Anxious to start using it.

[Shelby]

Woo hoo!!!!  Welcome to the IP obsession, Artisan

 

Ronnie brought me a pork belly home the other day so I've been ramping up to make some kind of Asian meal around it/with it.

 

Crappy pictures, excellent, excellent pork belly.

 

I left the skin on and cut half of the belly into 1" pieces (vacuum packed and froze the other half).  I boiled a couple cups of water and poured it over the belly and let it take a rest in there for a while while I got the IP out and sautéed some onion, star anise, cloves and garlic.

 

 

 

 

 

Next I threw in some soy sauce, brown sugar and a squirt of sriracha and let that cook up a bit.  In went the drained pork belly, lid on, pushed the meat button and went on to make the rest of dinner.  After the natural release happened I opened the lid and MAN was it a great smell.  Pork was melt in your mouth good.  I didn't take a pic of it in the pot, but here it is nestled in some ramen.  

 

[kayb]

Shelby, I can see I'm going to have to break down and get an Instant Pot. Am I correct one can discard one's slow cooker and rice cooker in favor of this do-it-all vessel?

 

Edited to fix typo.

Edited November 16, 2015 by kayb (log)

[Shelby]

Shelby, I can see I'm going to have to break down and get an Instant Pot. Am I correct one can discard one's slow cooker and rice cooker in favor of this do-it-all vessel?

 

Edited to fix typo.

Yes, you are correct

 

I am contemplating keeping it out on the counter because I use it so much.  And, that's a serious thing for me to do as I hate "stuff" on my counters.

[kayb]

Yes, you are correct

 

I am contemplating keeping it out on the counter because I use it so much.  And, that's a serious thing for me to do as I hate "stuff" on my counters.

 What about deep frying? Can you deep fry in it?

[Shelby]

 What about deep frying? Can you deep fry in it?

They (the IP people) say not to deep fry in it.  I've read online that people do, though.  I wouldn't, but I'm a scaredy cat lol.

 

I quick fried chicken in a skillet and then transferred it to the IP and pressure cooked it, though.  Super tender and good.  

[Anna N]

They (the IP people) say not to deep fry in it.  I've read online that people do, though.  I wouldn't, but I'm a scaredy cat lol.

 

I quick fried chicken in a skillet and then transferred it to the IP and pressure cooked it, though.  Super tender and good.

I absolutely agree that you should not attempt to pressure fry in it but deep fry? I think that would depend on how hot you could get the oil. I am not sure why the manufacturer discourages deep frying. It would be interesting to hear the reasoning. Certainly there doesn't seem to be any way of controlling the temperature which might result in overheating the oil and a resulting fire. A stove top pressure cooker used as an open vessel makes the ideal deep fryer because of its depth and because it is usually made of heat-retaining material.

[Deryn]

Perhaps the IP manufacturer discourages deep frying in the IP because most deep fryers these days have lids on them to contain the grease and they are afraid people would misinterpret (even if there were explicit instructions) and try to 'pressure fry' by putting the lid on. Could be a liability issue for them - and dare I say it ... not ALL people are as smart as our eGullet members.

I haven't tried 'deep frying' in the IP but if I were to do it, I would use a thermometer to see how hot the oil (at the depth I needed) could get when put on 'saute' and I would never put on the lid.

 

 

Host's note: in order to reduce load on our servers, large topics are split into multiple parts.  This intriguing topic continues here: Instant Pot. Multi-function cooker (Part 2).

Edited November 22, 2015 by Smithy
Added host's note (log)