Instant Pot. Multi-function cooker (Part 2)

[rotuts]

interesting.

 

my only No-No was to forget to add water.  I usually add the cup of water, then the basket, then the food.

 

once i put the basket in while fiddling around in the sink for something then forgot I had not added the water.

 

I picked that up quickly though after the IP started up.

[kayb]

1 hour ago, Anna N said:

 And your experience will probably keep the rest of us safe from doing the same thing!   Since many people never even bother reading the manual perhaps such a warning ought to be on the pot itself!   Happy cooking.  ( I am reminded of the time that I placed the cover on my ice cream maker but failed to put the frozen bowl in place and poured custaed directly onto the base of the machine!) 

Akin to punching the button on the coffeemaker and walking away, forgetting to put the carafe underneath.

[Smithy]

As an interested reader who hasn't picked up an IP (yet) I am one who may eventually benefit from this experience.  In all this topic, it hadn't come through to me that the stainless steel liner was critical to the operation.  Thanks for posting about it.

[kbjesq]

26 minutes ago, Smithy said:

As an interested reader who hasn't picked up an IP (yet) I am one who may eventually benefit from this experience.  In all this topic, it hadn't come through to me that the stainless steel liner was critical to the operation.  Thanks for posting about it.

@Smithy check out Amazon warehouse deals.  I bought mine there for $85.00 (7-in-1 model) with free shipping .  It only had a tiny dent, less than 1 mm, in the back, had all original packaging,  and came with full manufacturer's warranty as well as Amazon 30 day return policy 

Not that I'm trying to be an enabler or anything 

Edited January 10, 2016 by kbjesq
clarification (log)

[Shelby]

I had both the Cuis. and the IP going at lunch time.  Made a ton of cabbage soup (for dieting purposes--during the day eats....not going to worry as much about dinner so if you see bad stuff on the dinner thread, just know I had nothing but cabbage soup that day lol).  Of note...not that it matters, but I had the same amount, give or take in each pot.  Each pot came to pressure at the same time but the Cuis.  had a ton of condensation in the little catcher on the back.  The IP had none.  

[Anna N]

@kbjesq

 

 I noticed on another thread that you were talking about making some marmalade. You might like to check out this link  and make it in the Instant Pot. 

 I made lime marmalade  and I am still enjoying it in a wide variety of ways. 

[kbjesq]

6 minutes ago, Anna N said:

@kbjesq

 

 I noticed on another thread that you were talking about making some marmalade. You might like to check out this link  and make it in the Instant Pot. 

 I made lime marmalade  and I am still enjoying it in a wide variety of ways. 

@Anna N thank you!  Homemade marmalade is the best. I don't like it too sweet,  such as is normally sold in my local markets 

[kayb]

Brunswick stew in the Instant Pot tonight. Meh. Acceptable. Not the IP's fault; just not crazy about the recipe. Which is unfortunate, because I have a boatload left.

 

 

 

[kbjesq]

@Shelby I'm very interested in the cabbage soup. Please provide details. I also need to cut back on calories during the day. Bear in mind that I do not eat meat but I am creative. So please do share. Thank you so much

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

37 minutes ago, Anna N said:

 

[Shelby]

Oh, it's really not that creative....but it's hot and full of veggies and it fills me up.  It seems like if I eat something like a hot soup that takes a bit to eat, that I don't get hungry for a long while.  It's simply chopped up veggies:  cabbage, onion, garlic, bell pepper, carrot and a couple of jars of my canned tomatoes (of course you can use store bought, but I'd recommend a good brand that you like that tastes really good because I think the tomatoes are what make the soup edible) tons of lemon pepper, black pepper, basil....basically any spice you like and Lawry's salt.....into the IP with enough water to fill it up to just under the max line.  Push the soup button and you're done.  I quick released mine but you could let it naturally release too.  I also recommend a squeeze of lime or lemon over when eating...gives it a bit of a punch.  The thing is not to use "starchy" veggies (if you're looking to make a low cal soup) so no taters or corn etc.  OH and I did throw in 3 chicken bouillon cubes.....could have used more.  I think it's about 90 calories for 2 cups....around there anyway.

[kbjesq]

Thank you @Shelby -  I've a large assortment,  of vegetable tidbits. It sounds perfect for this recipe. I also have some frozen vegetable stock, homemade, so I will use that as the seasoning. I am thinking of also adding barley. I love barley in soup.

[kayb]

Ok, all you Instant Pot yogurt-makers out there -- I have a question.

 

I made yogurt, using a powdered culture and a quart of milk, a week ago. Worked perfectly. So, when I set about to do the same last night, I upped the milk to a half-gallon and decided to use the remaining yogurt I had (a bit less than a cup) instead of a culture.

 

Steamed and cooled my milk, stirred in the yogurt. Set the pot and went to bed.

 

This morning, after it had been fermenting about 9, 9 1/2 hours, I turned it off and let it cool a bit; then I popped the lid off and started to strain it. Imagine my surprise when I found it had created only about a tablespoon of curds, and those curds did not taste very tart at all!

 

I am, needless to say, puzzled. After contemplating the bowlful of -- well, milk -- that remained, I put it back in the pot and set it to yogurt again. I'll see what another cycle does for it. Does anyone else have any experience with this? Do I need to just resign myself to using a commercial starter every time I make yogurt? I guess I can do that. I'm just curious.

 

[cyalexa]

Kay,

I have also had yogurt fail when I've used some I've previously made as the culture. I now use use freeze dried culture every time. 

[Shelby]

Kay, I've only made it with with freeze dried culture, too. This is what I have, got it off of Amazon:

 

[kayb]

9 minutes ago, cyalexa said:

Kay,

I have also had yogurt fail when I've used some I've previously made as the culture. I now use use freeze dried culture every time. 

 

Huh. Interesting. Wonder what another eight hours in the pot will do? In any event, i'll be prepared to do another batch with starter tomorrow. Just have to go get some more milk.

 

@Shelby, I use YoGourmet, because I can get it at the natural food store here in town. Two-day Prime shipping is wonderful, but when you're as impatient as I am....

[blue_dolphin]

16 hours ago, Anna N said:

@kbjesq

 

 I noticed on another thread that you were talking about making some marmalade. You might like to check out this link  and make it in the Instant Pot. 

 I made lime marmalade  and I am still enjoying it in a wide variety of ways. 

 

Thanks for mentioning this. I made some lime-ginger marmalade last year and the whole process I followed of removing the skin and slicing it separately from the fruit was sort of laborious so I should give this method a try while my tree is still loaded.  

[ElsieD]

I made yogurt yesterday and used ASTRO plain yogurt as a starter.  According to the label it contains "skim milk, cream, active bacteria cultures".  That's it.  I let it drain for about an hour and have a very thick, luscious yogurt.

[kayb]

Gave mine another four hours. Still nothing but milk. Guess I'll stick to the culture.

 

Sigh.

 

[kbjesq]

I made goat cheese awhile back using the yogurt setting of the IP.  2 qt of goat milk, 1.5 tsp of powdered citric acid, but I could have substituted a few Tbs of lemon juice for the powdered citric acid, I think.  It was delicious.  However, when I was done, I had a lot of whey (I guess that's the term) left over from draining the curds through cheese cloth.  I didn't want to throw it out but didn't have any idea what to use it for, so I threw it in the freezer.  For those of you making yogurt and then draining it to make a thicker style yogurt, what do you do with the exudate?  It seems wasteful to throw this out (esp since where I live, goat milk is $5/qt) but I have not a clue what to do with the frozen whey.  Should I use it in bread baking?  Other ideas?  Preferably other ideas using the IP.  I don't know if it's just the infatuation stage but I'm using the IP several times per day.  Right now, I've got 3 frozen chicken breasts cooking that will be made into chicken salad.  How convenient to be able to cook meat from frozen and in a short period of time!

 

PS  I found that spraying the stainless steel inner bowl with cooking spray really makes clean up a breeze.

[Anna N]

16 minutes ago, kbjesq said:

I made goat cheese awhile back using the yogurt setting of the IP.  2 qt of goat milk, 1.5 tsp of powdered citric acid, but I could have substituted a few Tbs of lemon juice for the powdered citric acid, I think.  It was delicious.  However, when I was done, I had a lot of whey (I guess that's the term) left over from draining the curds through cheese cloth.  I didn't want to throw it out but didn't have any idea what to use it for, so I threw it in the freezer.  For those of you making yogurt and then draining it to make a thicker style yogurt, what do you do with the exudate?  It seems wasteful to throw this out (esp since where I live, goat milk is $5/qt) but I have not a clue what to do with the frozen whey.  Should I use it in bread baking?  Other ideas?  Preferably other ideas using the IP.  I don't know if it's just the infatuation stage but I'm using the IP several times per day.  Right now, I've got 3 frozen chicken breasts cooking that will be made into chicken salad.  How convenient to be able to cook meat from frozen and in a short period of time!

 

PS  I found that spraying the stainless steel inner bowl with cooking spray really makes clean up a breeze.

I used whey from drained yogourt to make a loaf of white sandwich bread yesterday.  It was not my best loaf of bread but that had little to do with the whey. I used a recipe that I was unfamiliar with in my Zoji bread machine. I am planning on repeating the exercise but with a recipe that I know will make a fine Loaf of bread. If you go on the King Arthur flour site you will find many uses for whey in baking. 

[blue_dolphin]

I made ricotta in the IP using lime juice.  I read that you can use the whey to cook rice so I used some of the whey as a sub for about half of the chicken stock in the IP  lemon, artichoke and shrimp risotto I made. 

[kayb]

1 hour ago, kbjesq said:

I made goat cheese awhile back using the yogurt setting of the IP.  2 qt of goat milk, 1.5 tsp of powdered citric acid, but I could have substituted a few Tbs of lemon juice for the powdered citric acid, I think.  It was delicious.  However, when I was done, I had a lot of whey (I guess that's the term) left over from draining the curds through cheese cloth.  I didn't want to throw it out but didn't have any idea what to use it for, so I threw it in the freezer.  For those of you making yogurt and then draining it to make a thicker style yogurt, what do you do with the exudate?  It seems wasteful to throw this out (esp since where I live, goat milk is $5/qt) but I have not a clue what to do with the frozen whey.  Should I use it in bread baking?  Other ideas?  Preferably other ideas using the IP.  I don't know if it's just the infatuation stage but I'm using the IP several times per day.  Right now, I've got 3 frozen chicken breasts cooking that will be made into chicken salad.  How convenient to be able to cook meat from frozen and in a short period of time!

 

PS  I found that spraying the stainless steel inner bowl with cooking spray really makes clean up a breeze.

 

Second the idea of using in baking bread. Have also read it makes a good additive to smoothies, due to the protein content. My pug loves it on her dog food, too.

 

 

[kayb]

Made another batch of yogurt last night. Same kind of milk, same settings on pot. Used YoGourmet culture. Worked just fine. Go figure. Guess I'll stick with using the culture.

[blue_dolphin]

Serious Eats has recipes for Pressure Cooker Caramelized Onions and onion soup, touting "Slow-cooked caramelized-onion flavor in half an hour."   I tried the caramelized onions today.   Not a fan.  Maybe it was my onions, I know they are all different.  I used 3 lbs total:  4 yellow, 2 sweet and 1 red.  The flavor was good but hands on time was more than expected and total time was closer to 90 min, all in.

 

The recipe calls for slicing 3 lbs onions 1/8" thick, softening them in butter with 1/2 t baking soda, cooking at high pressure for 20 minutes, releasing pressure then reducing the remaining liquid for ~ 5 min.  

After releasing pressure, there was a LOT of liquid in the pot.  I switched to the Saute function (adjusted to "More") and it took 40 minutes of fairly regular stirring before the liquid was reduced.   With all that stirring, the already thin slices were pretty much a paste, not much texture left.  The yield was 2 cups as stated in the recipe.   I'll stash this in the freezer for now and try the onion soup recipe sometime later.  

 

The flavor is fine but it was way more hands-on for more time than I would prefer.  I usually make caramelized onions using larger chunks in the oven and can get away with very intermittent stirring.  

 

After topping with some grated parm and running under the broiler, this was actually quite tasty so I have no complaints in that department and while it took more like 90 min all in, that's still quicker than it would have been in the oven.  Just more stirring than I expected.  

Edited January 14, 2016 by blue_dolphin (log)

[rotuts]

Ive never had home made yogurt fail from using the previous batch as the inoculum.

 

I have not used the IP but the principles are the same:  live agents are added to warm milk, milk that has been denatured.

 

so  :  your inolucum did not have a live culture, the cultured milk was brought to to high a temp, thus killing the live culture.

 

if you got some 'curd' as you call it, and I take that to be an area of milk where culture did grow, then you did not add enough

 

live culture i.e. inoculum.

 

if you feel some culture was growing, mix up the batch carefully w a very clean mixing item and let it ferment for longer.

 

FD:  I thought Id posted this a bit back

 

It seems to take more clicks sometimes than I realize

 

Edited January 14, 2016 by rotuts (log)