Instant Pot. Multi-function cooker (Part 5)

[mgaretz]

1 hour ago, rotuts said:

Hoping you have a basket that fits in your iPot

 

My basket arrives today, along with extra sealing rings. 

[ElsieD]

Has anyone cooked this rice in their IP? If so, can you tell me how you did this? Many thanks.

[Fernwood]

I love my Instant Pot for bigger batches of hard boiled eggs.  [I recently bought a plate that holds 24 deviled half-eggs and got great feedback on a mixed platter for a neighborhood gathering.]  Like @rotuts and my mother, I pierce the large end before cooking.  When my mother and I did that for eggs conventionally hard boiled in water, it allowed air to escape, minimizing cracking and improving roundedness of the large end.  When I do it to my Instant Pot eggs, they turn out like this:

Most of the time it doesn't really matter, but I keep wondering, What gives?  Does anyone else see this?

Should I make the hole larger, or ?

[Shelby]

I've never poked holes.  Maybe try it once with the non-poking?

[Anna N]

2 minutes ago, Shelby said:

I've never poked holes.  Maybe try it once with the non-poking?

Yeah.  I have never poked holes when doing them in the Instant Pot either.  

[Okanagancook]

On 7/15/2018 at 2:52 PM, ElsieD said:

Has anyone cooked this rice in their IP? If so, can you tell me how you did this? Many thanks.

That rice looks special.  I wouldn’t want to ruin a grain.  So. I am a chicken so would cook it conventionally.

[rotuts]

i sued to poke holes  when doing them the OldFashioned Way :  boiling water

 

in the iPot , on low pressure , I don't.

 

I go from refrigerator cold , pressure low - steam w tap water ( cold ) and have never had a crack.

 

finished in the take out basket under cold running water to cool quickly

[Fernwood]

20 hours ago, Shelby said:

I've never poked holes.  Maybe try it once with the non-poking?

 

7 hours ago, rotuts said:

i sued to poke holes  when doing them the OldFashioned Way :  boiling water

 

in the iPot , on low pressure , I don't.

 

I go from refrigerator cold , pressure low - steam w tap water ( cold ) and have never had a crack.

 

Thanks, folks.  I mis-remembered or mis-understood something along the way and, clearly, I would be better off fussing less.  

I do think the 'canyonlands eggs' effect is rather interesting, but not necessarily appetizing.  No more poking!

[chromedome]

The point of putting a hole in the egg is so the air pocket inside can expand in the heat without blowing out the shell. I don't own an IP or other pressure cooker, but in all likelihood it reverses the process - because you're cooking under pressure - and forces water into the hole, where it causes those irregularities. That's just off-the-cuff theorizing (and I'm only on my first cup of tea) but it seems plausible.

[Fernwood]

26 minutes ago, chromedome said:

The point of putting a hole in the egg is so the air pocket inside can expand in the heat without blowing out the shell. I don't own an IP or other pressure cooker, but in all likelihood it reverses the process - because you're cooking under pressure - and forces water into the hole, where it causes those irregularities. That's just off-the-cuff theorizing (and I'm only on my first cup of tea) but it seems plausible.

 

FYI, My eggs were pressure-steamed above the water.  I tried to imagine what was happening in there but I had to give up and make dinner.  

[Tropicalsenior]

@FernwoodI read somewhere, and then promptly forgot all the technical jargon, that's when you steam eggs, the membrane adheres to the shell and makes them easy to peel. When you boil them, the membrane pulls away from the shell and sticks to the egg. I would imagine that when you poke the hole that this interferes with that action of the membrane. As @chromedomesaid, the pressure pushes the moisture inside.

 After I read this little tidbit, I always steamed eggs instead of boiling them and I have never had a problem with the shell sticking. The instant pot is a natural for hard boiled eggs and I love it.

I have occasionally had an egg crack when I cooked them right out of the refrigerator. To overcome this, I put them in my perforated stainless steel bowl on a trivet and heat the water on saute, (shut off the instant pot) close the lid and let them sit for about 10 minutes before I steam them. If I want to make potato salad, I cut medium sized potatoes in half and lay them on top of the eggs. I just use the 5 x 5 x 5 method. It's about 5 minutes to come to pressure, 5 minutes cooking time and 5 minutes NPR. Then I take them them out and put them in ice water. After about 4 minutes, I crack the shells all over and let them set few minutes more. Then the shells will slip right off.

Edited July 20, 2018 by Tropicalsenior
Addition (log)

[lindag]

I just recently started steaming instead of boiling and my results are as yours....no more issues with the membranes sticking. 

 

 

 

1 hour ago, Tropicalsenior said:

@FernwoodI read somewhere, and then promptly forgot all the technical jargon, that's when you steam eggs, the membrane adheres to the shell and makes them easy to peel. When you boil them, the membrane pulls away from the shell and sticks to the egg. I would imagine that when you poke the hole that this interferes with that action of the membrane. As @chromedomesaid, the pressure pushes the moisture inside.

 After I read this little tidbit, I always steamed eggs instead of boiling them and I have never had a problem with the shell sticking. The instant pot is a natural for hard boiled eggs and I love it.

I have occasionally had an egg crack when I cooked them right out of the refrigerator. To overcome this, I put them in my perforated stainless steel bowl on a trivet and heat the water on saute, (shut off the instant pot) close the lid and let them sit for about 10 minutes before I steam them. If I want to make potato salad, I cut medium sized potatoes in half and lay them on top of the eggs. I just use the 5 x 5 x 5 method. It's about 5 minutes to come to pressure, 5 minutes cooking time and 5 minutes NPR. Then I take them them out and put them in ice water. After about 4 minutes, I crack the shells all over and let them set few minutes more. Then the shells will slip right off.

 

 

 

k

[Fernwood]

Another FYI,  My photo turned out rather small in the original post; I don't know if it is clear what the defect is.  The membranes came off cleanly and the whites are intact but they are marked with dents and grooves.  All 12 eggs looked like this, though some were more dramatic than others.  Very funky but ultimately not important.  

I hope to do some more eggs this weekend (no poking!) and, assuming they turn out nicely smooth and ovoid, I'll let this go. 🥚😄

[Shelby]

13 minutes ago, Fernwood said:

Another FYI,  My photo turned out rather small in the original post; I don't know if it is clear what the defect is.  The membranes came off cleanly and the whites are intact but they are marked with dents and grooves.  All 12 eggs looked like this, though some were more dramatic than others.  Very funky but ultimately not important.  

I hope to do some more eggs this weekend (no poking!) and, assuming they turn out nicely smooth and ovoid, I'll let this go. 🥚😄

I promise that with no poking you won't have any dents  

[cta]

I'm in the no poke camp too and never had this problem. Sometimes an egg or two cracks while cooking, other than my Instant Pot hard boiled eggs turn out perfect every time.

 

These days I'm using this thing I bought from Amazon Spain (looks like its available in the US  too):

 

 

 

And I have reduced my cooking time since the last time I've posted here about it. Nowadays I'm doing:

 

- 3min high pressure (Manual).

- 3 min rest,.

- Quick release.

- Ice cold water bath  for 10 min.

 

The eggs are in the 60-65 grams range.

 

Firm whites (not rubbery) and creamy yolks every time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[FrogPrincesse]

I just bought an instant pot on amazon on prime day. I wanted to christen it with one of my favorite French dishes - pot au feu! Thirty minutes with everything but the potatoes and cabbage, and an extra 15 minutes at the end (a bit too long for the potatoes which started falling apart). This was nice; next time I will reduce the amount of liquid so the broth is more concentrated. For the meat I used oxtail.

 

 

 

[weinoo]

That sounds very good.

 

I cooked a pound of Rancho Gordo flageolots in the IP yesterday, but not under pressure.  I over-night soak brined them because they were from an older shipment, and were close to their "expiration" date. Then I brought them to a boil in the IP on the sauté mode.  Boiled them for about 5 minutes. Powered it off, added an onion cut in half, a carrot and celery cut into chunks (my plan was to remove the vegetables, but I ended up only taking out the onion), a few bay leaves and a splash of olive oil. Back on high slow cooker mode for a few hours...they actually were done in about an hour and a half, which is when I added a can of diced tomatoes, more salt, and cooked them for another hour or so on low slow cooker mode. Quite delicious.

[mgaretz]

Made carnitas, which I have never made in any fashion before.  Thought it would be a good thing for the IP.   I free-lanced the recipe.

 

 

Recipe:

 

2-3 lbs of pork shoulder/butt, cut into cubes between 1-2".

1/2 cup orange juice

1/4 cup lime juice

1 tbs chili powder

1 tbs paprika

1 tbs sugar

1 tsp granulated garlic powder

2 tsp granulated onion powder

1 tsp oregano

1 tsp soy sauce

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

 

Combine the spices and liquid and mix well.  Add the pork to the IP and pour the liquid over it, stirring to coat the pork well.  Cover and cook on high pressure for 30 minutes, 15 minute natural release.

 

Remove the pork with a slotted spoon and place in a single layer on a foil-lined baking sheet.  Broil for about 8 minutes. (Reserve the liquid.)

 

Put the pork in a serving dish and ladle some of the liquid over the top (about 1/2  a cup) and serve.

 

Notes:  My chili powder is just chili and garlic, no salt.  If you use a standard chili powder you may want to leave out the extra salt.  You could also use straight chili powder like ancho, keep the salt and up the garlic powder.  I also used boneless country-style "ribs" - which is really pork shoulder cut into strips.  

 

[rotuts]

@mgaretz

 

Nice !

 

my question , and its not a ' loaded one '

 

is :  was the meat ' dry ' isn "

 

Ive found meat iP'd  , at those temps . squeezes out enough  ' jus ' that the meat has a dry feel in the mouth

 

same as a standard braise , which is said to be better the next day

 

possibly so some of the  ' jus ' migrates back into the meat.

[weedy]

9 hours ago, rotuts said:

 

 

Ive found meat iP'd  , at those temps . squeezes out enough  ' jus ' that the meat has a dry feel in the mouth

 

 

Me too. 

[Thanks for the Crepes]

I think @mgaretz's carnitas look very tasty, but I like my pork on the well done side. I certainly understand people's preference for more rare and juicy pork because it's sacrilege to me to ruin beef by overcooking it beyond rare. Good thing most of us know how to cook things just to our liking. 

[mgaretz]

13 hours ago, rotuts said:

was the meat ' dry ' isn "

 

No, very moist, but it was not lean by any stretch.

 

2 hours ago, Thanks for the Crepes said:

I think @mgaretz's carnitas look very tasty, but I like my pork on the well done side.

 

I don't know how you got the impression that it was anything but well done.  It was cooked well done and brown throughout.

[Thanks for the Crepes]

23 hours ago, mgaretz said:

 

No, very moist, but it was not lean by any stretch.

 

 

I don't know how you got the impression that it was anything but well done.  It was cooked well done and brown throughout.

 

I was saying that I liked the look of your carnitas and they'd be to my taste because they were well done. I like the tasty pork fat well rendered or even crispy. I braised a pork chop the other day by cutting the major fat off and rendering it down slowly then cooked the meat in the rendered fat and later an Eastern NC BBQ sauce. Very good, but the best part was the crispy cracklins from the rendered fat. Sorry to be unclear. I think you rocked the pork cooking! 

[ElsieD]

 

A review of the newest iteration of the Instant Pot, available in August.

 

 

https://www.pressurecookingtoday.com/instant-pot-max-pressure-cooker-review/

[blue_dolphin]

21 minutes ago, ElsieD said:

 

A review of the newest iteration of the Instant Pot, available in August.

https://www.pressurecookingtoday.com/instant-pot-max-pressure-cooker-review/

 

Thanks for sharing that!  My concern is that the addition of some sort of electronic control to the release valve create a potential source of malfunctions vs the existing simple mechanical valve but I'll certainly be watching to see how other people feel about them once they get into use.