Instant Pot. Multi-function cooker (Part 5)

[kayb]

13 hours ago, divalasvegas said:

 

Hi kayb. I really haven't properly outfitted my IP yet. I definitely want that steamer basket, a tempered glass lid and a 7-inch spring form pan. 

 

The whole turkey wings I get are pretty huge--probably will only need two--and I am such a turkey wing lover so I think that I might experiment with cooking them along with the usual suspects (carrots, celery, onions, bay leaves, parsley, thyme) for maybe half or a third of the 90 minutes you do. Like I said above, any stock I get will be tastier than just plain water and flour and what I don't use for gravy can be used in my turkey vegetable soup along with any turkey scraps.

 

Thanks for the great tip about running the pot through the saute cycle; hadn't thought of that.

 

I think it's really dangerous hanging out with you 'cause those baby food thingies are just too damned cute! My MasterCard still has skid marks from all my recent shopping.☺ As a matter of fact this just arrived two days ago:

 

 

It's the latest version of the Oster Countertop Convection Oven and, oh yes, it's red!

 

 

 

 

I was lucky. I had a stainless steel colander that fit my IP perfectly, and it became my default steamer basket. As for the glass lid, until I got mine, I found a dinner plate worked quite nicely.

 

Now, as for the countertop oven...you might want to stay away from the CSO thread, out of respect for your bank account...(yeah, this forum costs me money regularly!)

[rotuts]

the vacMaster VP 215  isn't cheap , and the price has gone up due to the current Tarrif Nonsense 

 

but is one of the finest purchase's Ive ever made

 

I do a lot of SV  slits well worth it for me

[divalasvegas]

10 minutes ago, rotuts said:

the vacMaster VP 215  isn't cheap , and the price has gone up due to the current Tarrif Nonsense 

 

but is one of the finest purchase's Ive ever made

 

I do a lot of SV  slits well worth it for me

 

Actually, I was thinking of going cheap on a vacuum sealer by getting one of those hand vacs. About 10 years ago, I purchased a FoodSaver vacuum sealer like this one:

 

https://www.qvc.com/FoodSaver-FM2000-Vacuum-Sealing-System.product.K378454.html?sc=SRCH

 

It didn't cost as much as the one in the link but it was still a little pricey to me at the time. Well, it worked very well for a couple of months and then the POS just quit. I didn't even use it that often before it died. That left a really bad taste in my mouth for expensive vacuum sealers. Have you ever used just a hand vac?

[dtremit]

23 hours ago, rotuts said:

i just ' processed ' two whole Fz turkey breasts.   Shady Brook Farm

 

each Br was about 12 + lbs.   they go on sale at the beginning of Nov , like clockwork at one local chain.

 

$ 0.79 a lbs.    

 

Do you mind my asking who has them for that price? I can find good prices on whole turkeys but haven't seen that price on the frozen breasts. (Live in Somerville and work in Waltham, so I can hit up most of the chains pretty easily.)

[rotuts]

they were at a suburban Shaw's , but only for 3 days a few weeks ago.

 

its the only one that does this , and they do it every year.

 

3 days only, way before the Thanksgiving rush.

 

I used to be able to get whole Fz turkeys for 39 - 49 cents there also

 

w/o a limit of 1 , and a $ 25 minimum purchase.

 

I used to fill up my freezer w whole birds , and whittle away at them SV over the winter

 

now I just wait for the whole Tb's

 

I think the TB's were 99 cents at Star Market , again possibly for 3 days only  

 

Fri , Sat , Sun.

 

but those two chains split up several years ago

Edited November 16, 2018 by rotuts (log)

[rotuts]

I found this review interesting :

 

Instant Pot Max

 

https://gearpatrol.com/2018/11/18/review-instant-pot-max/

 

 

[ElsieD]

https://www.pressurecookingtoday.com/pampered-chef-quick-cooker-review/#more-32248

 

There is also this review.

[dtremit]

On 11/16/2018 at 11:12 AM, rotuts said:

they were at a suburban Shaw's , but only for 3 days a few weeks ago.

 

its the only one that does this , and they do it every year.

 

3 days only, way before the Thanksgiving rush.

 

 

Thanks for the heads up! I'll look for them next year. Wouldn't have had room in the freezer this year anyway...sigh.

 

On 11/16/2018 at 11:12 AM, rotuts said:

I think the TB's were 99 cents at Star Market , again possibly for 3 days only  

 

Fri , Sat , Sun.

 

but those two chains split up several years ago

 

 

It's...weirder than that -- they're both still under the same ownership, but have been handed off a few times. And after renaming all but a handful of Star Markets to Shaw's a while back, they reversed course and switched a bunch of Shaw's to Star. The one closest to me was built as a Shaw's, and is now a Star, but the receipts still say Shaw's several years after the name change. Puzzling.

 

With regard to the sales -- one thing I've found is that they have (at least) two circulars some weeks, and different stores get different ones. The tall circular (in a newspaper format) tends to have better prices and is used at stores in more price sensitive areas; the tabloid format circular has higher prices and is at stores in more affluent areas.

 

At least the last time I looked at it, the "tall" one was used at the Twin City Plaza (Camb/S'ville line) Star, the Porter Square Star, and the Waltham Shaw's; the "tabloid" one was used in the Belmont Shaw's and the Mt Auburn Star in Cambridge.

 

Of course, this week there's only one, for Thanksgiving.

Edited November 20, 2018 by dtremit (log)

[dtremit]

On 11/18/2018 at 12:41 PM, ElsieD said:

https://www.pressurecookingtoday.com/pampered-chef-quick-cooker-review/#more-32248

 

There is also this review.

 

This appears to be the same unit as the Koto Smart carried by H-Mart:

 

https://www.hmart.com/84603400967

 

I'm almost certain I saw a video review of it under a third brand, but I can't place it right now.

[divalasvegas]

As Thanksgiving is rapidly approaching, I think I'll be doing my collard greens and ham hocks in the IP.  I've found a couple of recipes that sound pretty good, but all seem to involve the use of chicken stock at the beginning of the process. Well there never has been and never will be a drop of chicken stock near or in my collards, so I plan to pre-cook the ham hock (or hocks)--haven't decided if I will be using one or two--and use the liquid from the hock(s) to start things off using the saute function, then pressure cook on high for about thirty minutes.

 

Have any of you ever made collards or any kind of similar types of greens (kale, turnip greens, etc.) in the IP? If so, does thirty minutes sound like enough time? I usually end up cooking mine on the stove top for about three hours. They're perfectly tender, not mushy, at that point. I am really not into the current trend of barely cooked greens.

 

I'll probably be doing this on Tuesday, Wednesday at the latest, along with making my turkey stock. I had considered even doing my cranberry relish in the IP but decided against it since it really doesn't take that long to make it on the stove and I tend to add the other ingredients--diced apples, orange juice, dark and golden raisins, etc.--in stages after the cranberries burst which can't be done using the pressure cooking function.

 

Any tips or guidance will be greatly appreciated.

 

Edited to change "tomorrow" to Tuesday since I belatedly realized it was already tomorrow when I posted! Sheez. Time flies..........

 

 

Edited November 20, 2018 by divalasvegas (log)

[Shelby]

2 hours ago, divalasvegas said:

Have any of you ever made collards or any kind of similar types of greens (kale, turnip greens, etc.) in the IP? If so, does thirty minutes sound like enough time? I usually end up cooking mine on the stove top for about three hours. They're perfectly tender, not mushy, at that point. I am really not into the current trend of barely cooked greens.

 

I don't like barely cooked collards, either.  I've done mine for 30 mins and I thought they were really good.

[divalasvegas]

3 hours ago, Shelby said:

I don't like barely cooked collards, either.  I've done mine for 30 mins and I thought they were really good.

 

Good morning and thank you @Shelby.  Heh heh, I am not into massaging my greens either. If any massaging is going on in this house, it's gonna be on me!

[divalasvegas]

Uh oh, just one more thing; well probably more than one. I plan on using about a quart to a quart of the ham hock liquid -- ham hocks are boiling right now. Anyway, does this sound like too much liquid? I am guessing that I have about three pounds, maybe a little more of collards. They were sold by the bunch, not the pound, so I am making a rough guess.

 

Also, I plan on cooking my sweet potatoes on high pressure for my sweet potato pies; have about four pounds of those. None of the instructions online are very specific about how much water to use, just that you need to only add enough water after placing the potatoes in the steamer insert that came with the IP and make sure the water doesn't touch the potatoes. Does that sound right?

 

Thanks again to anyone who can provide suggestions.

[Smithy]

19 minutes ago, divalasvegas said:

<snip>

Also, I plan on cooking my sweet potatoes on high pressure for my sweet potato pies; have about four pounds of those. None of the instructions online are very specific about how much water to use, just that you need to only add enough water after placing the potatoes in the steamer insert that came with the IP and make sure the water doesn't touch the potatoes. Does that sound right?

 

 

That sounds about right. In my 6-quart IP I use about an inch of water - it comes to just below the steamer insert bottom. In my 3-qt I" it's the same principle, but I can't tell you the depth of water.

[Shelby]

1 hour ago, divalasvegas said:

Uh oh, just one more thing; well probably more than one. I plan on using about a quart to a quart of the ham hock liquid -- ham hocks are boiling right now. Anyway, does this sound like too much liquid? I am guessing that I have about three pounds, maybe a little more of collards. They were sold by the bunch, not the pound, so I am making a rough guess.

 

Also, I plan on cooking my sweet potatoes on high pressure for my sweet potato pies; have about four pounds of those. None of the instructions online are very specific about how much water to use, just that you need to only add enough water after placing the potatoes in the steamer insert that came with the IP and make sure the water doesn't touch the potatoes. Does that sound right?

 

Thanks again to anyone who can provide suggestions.

No, I don't think that's too much liquid for the collards.

 

For taters I put a cup of water in the IP, then the steamer thingy and the potatoes on that.  

[divalasvegas]

1 hour ago, Smithy said:

 

That sounds about right. In my 6-quart IP I use about an inch of water - it comes to just below the steamer insert bottom. In my 3-qt I" it's the same principle, but I can't tell you the depth of water.

 

Thanks @Smithy. Yep, I have the 6 quart. Really appreciate your help

[divalasvegas]

31 minutes ago, Shelby said:

No, I don't think that's too much liquid for the collards.

 

For taters I put a cup of water in the IP, then the steamer thingy and the potatoes on that.  

 

Thanks again @Shelby my IP  "Yoda!." I specifically wanted to do the collards this way to cut the cooking time and the sweet potatoes since people online rave about how easy they are to peel. I usually boil them and, for some reason, the skins always seem to come off in thin strips or small pieces, a real PITA.

Edited November 20, 2018 by divalasvegas
Typo. (log)

[Smithy]

51 minutes ago, divalasvegas said:

 

Thanks @Smithy. Yep, I have the 6 quart. Really appreciate your help

 

After I read Shelby's answer of "about a cup of water" I started second-guessing myself. It may not be an inch worth, even for the 6-quaryt IP.  Let us know what you come out with!

[divalasvegas]

3 hours ago, Smithy said:

 

After I read Shelby's answer of "about a cup of water" I started second-guessing myself. It may not be an inch worth, even for the 6-quaryt IP.  Let us know what you come out with!

 

Thanks @Smithy. I think that I am going to add just enough water to come up to the level of the trivet/steamer rack that came with the IP,  place the sweet potatoes on that, set it for 30 minutes and see what happens. I will definitely post back on the results. Right now, the collards are on and at least they smell good!

[FrogPrincesse]

So I decided to make duck confit for Thanksgiving, following Melissa Clark’s recipe. I’ve made the recipe about 1/2 dozen times now and it’s always been very successful, other than the occasional “burn” message where I would unplug, wait 5-10 minutes for everything to cool down, and restart.

 

Tonight I’ve tried that 6 times and the duck really started burning. At that point I decided to start from the beginning with a clean pot and new duck legs, but I got the message again.

 

I am not sure what to try next. Any ideas? I might have to ditch the IP technique and switch to a traditional confit or maybe a sous vide confit, unless there is something else I can do to troubleshoot the instant pot. This is both puzzling and immensely frustrating. 

 

[FauxPas]

I'm afraid I can't help @FrogPrincesse, but will bump this again as Melissa Clark's Instant Pot e-books have been on sale at Amazon US (and maybe Canada as well). 

 

Dinner in an Instant is currently $3.99 on Amazon US and looks to be the same price on Amazon Canada. 

 

Comfort in an Instant was on sale yesterday for $3.99 but perhaps for only a short while, as it is back up in price again. But it might be on sale again today or tomorrow. 

[FauxPas]

 

The Instant Pot Duo Mini (3 quart) is on sale at Amazon US for $44.96 today. 

Edited December 8, 2018 by FauxPas (log)

[Hassouni]

Has anyone tried the Max? I don't have an IP or any pressure cooker for that matter, but I am interested in it because of its alleged 15psi operation

[Edward Dekker]

On 11/16/2018 at 11:12 AM, rotuts said:

they were at a suburban Shaw's , but only for 3 days a few weeks ago.

 

its the only one that does this , and they do it every year.

 

3 days only, way before the Thanksgiving rush.

 

I used to be able to get whole Fz turkeys for 39 - 49 cents there also

 

w/o a limit of 1 , and a $ 25 minimum purchase.

 

I used to fill up my freezer w whole birds , and whittle away at them SV over the winter

 

now I just wait for the whole Tb's

 

I think the TB's were 99 cents at Star Market , again possibly for 3 days only  

 

Fri , Sat , Sun.

 

but those two chains split up several years ago

 

 

Market Basket has frozen turkeys this week for $0.69 a pound.

I saw them at the Market Basket at 495 and 119 today when I stopped for food.

[ElsieD]

@Shelby  how did your red wine made from grape juice turn out?  I opened mine yesterday and the alcohol smell almost knocked me off my feet.  I did not bother to taste it - the fumes were enough.  Down the drain it went.  Maybe it was meant to be drunk "young"? 😄