Instant Pot. Multi-function cooker (Part 5)

[lemniscate]

I had a rice failure of all things in the IP yesterday.  I steamed some TJ's frozen red shrimp PIP with some butter, soy and chile garlic sauce.  It was grand, but there was a lot of leftover juice in the bowl.  I thought, hey, cook some white rice in that!  I put the two cups of rice in and topped off the liquid, on the rice setting.  Weird.  Complete mush around the sides of the bowl and raw in the middle.  Maybe had to do with the bowl I used still being hot from the shrimp. I dunno.   I've made plain long grain rice this way without any issues in the IP, no problems.   Anyway, didn't want to toss the rice mixture mess, so I made congee with it this morning.  Shrimp congee is good on a slightly wet morning.  Not all mistakes are mistakes in the end.

Edited February 3, 2019 by lemniscate
sp (log)

[curls]

I recently ran across an InstantPot pho recipe from Andrea Nugyen https://www.vietworldkitchen.com/blog/2017/11/instant-pot-chicken-pho-recipe.html. Has anyone tried it? I am planning to give it a go later today. Also picked up her pho cookbook. She also has a recipe for IP beef pho on her website.

[curls]

The result was a winner! Will definitely make this again and try out her IP beef pho recipe. Two photos, the ingredients ready to be pressue cooked and the resulting pho.

[rotuts]

how was the chicken meat after the iP ?

 

was the breast meat dry ?

 

Im reluctant to iP meat , prefering SV

 

thank you for trying this Rx.

 

Ill have to try it myself soon.

[curls]

@rotuts the chicken meat was tender and juicy. In the recipe Andrea Nguyen specifies a few steps that she uses to keep the chicken moist... low pressure, natural release, removing the bird from the broth to cool. Hopefully those steps will work for any fowl but they definitely did for the chicken I cooked last night. Her recipe suggests using half the chicken for the pho and using the other half for Viet cabbage slaw or chicken sandwiches. I'll probably use the leftover chicken to make chicken salad sandwiches. 

[rotuts]

@curls

 

thanks    I missed the ref to low pressure when scanning the Rx

 

I was a bit puzzled that she though using ' just off the boiling ' water as a KikStarter

 

but Ill try to match her technique as soon as chick goes on sale !

 

I think its a rest idea to save 1/2 of the chicken for another dish

 

" Milk Street "  did a bang-bang chicken recently , and that popped into my head for the second 1/2 cooked chicken

 

Im getting her book from the library 

[curls]

@rotuts fyi there aren’t any InstantPot recipes in her pho book — she published before she created those but her book does have recipes designed for a standard pressure cooker. So for IP recipes, check her website.

[mgaretz]

Cabbage soup in the IP.  This time I did things a little differently:  I cooked the meat, onion, spices and liquids for 10 minutes, quick release, added the cabbage and carrots for 6 minutes with natural release.  Kept much more of the cabbage intact.

 

 

[weedy]

So question:

 

a few few times now I’ve done something in the IP and found that the bottom of the inner pot is getting a bit sticky and burned. 

 

I am wondering if somehow after something burnt on once it’s now become sort of ‘sticky’ and it’s happening repeatedly. 

Anyone seem this?

 

is there a way to kind of “reseason” the stainless?

should I replace it?

 

thanks

[lindag]

Sometimes things just stick.   Just give it good scrubbing with BarKeeper's Friend.

 

[weedy]

I’ve cleaned it thoroughly a few times. 

It just seems to be consistently scorching the bottom now unless it’s like a stew or something with a LOT of liquid. 

[robirdstx]

1 hour ago, weedy said:

I’ve cleaned it thoroughly a few times. 

It just seems to be consistently scorching the bottom now unless it’s like a stew or something with a LOT of liquid. 

 

If it were me, I would call customer service. Perhaps there is a problem with the heating element.

[saluki]

I use barkeepers friend and afterwards I give it a soak of vinegar and hot water.  Usually comes out like new.  Funny though... I ordered the non- stick inner pots and found they stick like mad.......gave them away...

[weedy]

15 hours ago, robirdstx said:

 

If it were me, I would call customer service. Perhaps there is a problem with the heating element.

hmm, that's a thought

 

thanks

[blue_dolphin]

On 2/3/2019 at 8:09 AM, lemniscate said:

I had a rice failure of all things in the IP yesterday.  I steamed some TJ's frozen red shrimp PIP with some butter, soy and chile garlic sauce.  It was grand, but there was a lot of leftover juice in the bowl.  I thought, hey, cook some white rice in that!  I put the two cups of rice in and topped off the liquid, on the rice setting.  Weird.  Complete mush around the sides of the bowl and raw in the middle.  Maybe had to do with the bowl I used still being hot from the shrimp. I dunno.   I've made plain long grain rice this way without any issues in the IP, no problems.   Anyway, didn't want to toss the rice mixture mess, so I made congee with it this morning.  Shrimp congee is good on a slightly wet morning.  Not all mistakes are mistakes in the end.

 

 

The rice setting on the IP is supposedly only good for white rice and is the only automatic function. It uses low pressure and some sort of algorithm to adjust for the amount of rice and water in the pot. If you're using PIP,  it's unlikely to give an optimal cooking time and you'd be better off with a manual setting.

This post on Pressure Cooking Today has links to the button functions for all the various IP models.

[rotuts]

it was a cold snow day yesterday.  damp , and wet snow.  not that much , 3 - 4 " but heavy.

 

so I made iPot Turkey + stock.

 

I and some fz legs , and wings , that had been Vac'd a while ago .  good tight seal , let them thaw overnight in the refrig.

 

I also had 2 lbs of country pork ' ribs' ( not really ribs , but shoulder end of a pork loin ) and said : Why not them too ? plenty of dark meat on that cut of pork.

 

  trying to make some room in my freezer .

 

here is the result , proportioned :

 

 

the meat smelled fine after the thaw in the refrig.   I chopped the first batch w my inexpensive cleaver from Chinatown , using a mallet for control. realized

 

for then ext batches that step was not necessary .

 

I did 30 min , HP , natural release .   less fiddle and faddle that way.   Im in no hurry when I do this .  I put enough meat in the iPot so water added just got them covered and to the

 

right mark on the pot.  after 30 min + release :

 

I removed the bones , and w my Oxo hand masher , mashed the meat to break it down into fibrils .  works fine.  20 more minutes HP , natural release.

 

I took out all the meat , and strained it into a pan , again using the hand masher to extract all the Jus.   I posted about this before. meat had no flavor what so ever.

 

but I had so much meat , I ended up doing this 3 X w turkey parts , same technique and 1 x w the pork.  all meat was unseasoned and vac'd in the past.

 

at the end was 4 x Stock.   I cooled the stock in the iPot container in a sink of cold water.   , then put it in plastic tubs I save from TJ's plastic tub cookies.  left it out over night to gel

 

and get the fat as hard as possible on the

 

top of the containers.  this AM I carefully removed the fat cap.   about 1/4 inch.  I used the turkey w the skin this time , but realized it wouldn't make a big difference

 

w the fat cap.  just as easy to take a 1/4 " ++ cap off as a 1/8 " one.  was concerned about the " aroma '  of this stock.  but after the fat was removed , the stock

 

smelled fine.  the fat was pretty awful stuff Im no fan of chicken or turkey fat.

 

it you look sat the top R container , these are some opaque bits.  this is sediment on the bottom of the jelled stock.  I tasted it , and it was delicious 

 

so added it to the group.   I micro's the lot until just barely melted , covered , and put outside in the snow for a few hours 

 

then into the freezer over night.  in the AM  Ill chamber-vac the bricks.  works really well I think.

 

and now have 4 x 8 0z  of 4 x stock i.e.: the stock was iP'd 4 times w fresh meat to cover each time .!   no seasonings   but delicious.

 

I open a vac's frozen brick when I want some stock , chop off what I need , and reseal that same bag in the chamber-vac.  with the reminder  works well

 

these are the most concentrated Ive ever made , so will last for some time.

Edited February 14, 2019 by rotuts (log)

[rotuts]

I decided to use Nature's Way

 

for an over night assist 

 

before I VacPack the bricks :

 

 

the 4 bricks are under the SnowMass

 

locally available

 

note the TJ's Cookie Containers on the L

 

very useful for these applications 

 

did not need them . but they are enjoying some Freah Air

 

25 tonight

 

it looks a bit igloo isn 

 

Ill Vac in the AM

[weedy]

tonight I put sliced potatoes in the pot with a cup of stock and did them on high pressure for just 2 minutes. then a quick release.

 

there was still a little water left in the bottom, which i expected, and the potatoes were almost cooked through, which i both expected and was aiming for, as I was going to finish them in a gratin in the oven, 

but what I was NOT expecting, or happy to see, was that some potatoes were stuck to the bottom and clearly slightly burned on (even brown a bit, despite being in liquid)...

 

there is definitely something up with my inner pot sticking consistently now.

 

 

[ElsieD]

41 minutes ago, weedy said:

tonight I put sliced potatoes in the pot with a cup of stock and did them on high pressure for just 2 minutes. then a quick release.

 

there was still a little water left in the bottom, which i expected, and the potatoes were almost cooked through, which i both expected and was aiming for, as I was going to finish them in a gratin in the oven, 

but what I was NOT expecting, or happy to see, was that some potatoes were stuck to the bottom and clearly slightly burned on (even brown a bit, despite being in liquid)...

 

there is definitely something up with my inner pot sticking consistently now.

 

 

 

Have you called the IP people?  They are really good about making things right.

 

 

[weedy]

haven't.

I know, I should, I shall.

 

 

[rotuts]

here is a standard 8 oz Stock Brick :

 

 

probably posted before.  mould is :

 

 

this sort of thing ;

 

https://www.target.com/p/snap-and-store-food-storage-containers-5ct-25-fl-oz-each-up-up-153-compare-to-glad-174/-/A-14695614

 

works sell for making TurkeyRaguBricks.

[FauxPas]

This Salbree steamer basket with silicone handle for the Instant Pot is a Lightning Deal today, only lasting a couple more hours, I think. Usually $14.90, it's only $10 right now. I bought one. Same price for 3, 6 or 8 quart. 

 

 

Edited March 3, 2019 by FauxPas (log)

[rotuts]

that's a good deal !

[ElsieD]

Last Thursday received a copy of Janet Zimmerman's new book,  The Ultimate Instant Cookbook for Two.  On Saturday I made the recipe Steel-Cut Oatmeal with Cranberries and Almonds from the book.  It was so good I made a double batch on Sunday.  I had tried making oatmeal in the IP before but it stuck to the bottom of the pan so I never tried it again.  There was no sticking at all with this recipe.  I look forward to making some of her other recipes.

 

I really like  the sidebar for each recipe.  It lists the number of servings, time required to  prep and finish, time needed to saute, time needed to pressure cook, time required to release and total time.

 

Edited to add: In the interests of full disclosure, I should add that I received the book free as I tested some of the recipes.  Of the recipes I tested, the oatmeal was not one of them.

Edited March 4, 2019 by ElsieD (log)

[Kerry Beal]

5 hours ago, ElsieD said:

Last Thursday received a copy of Janet Zimmerman's new book,  The Ultimate Instant Cookbook for Two.  On Saturday I made the recipe Steel-Cut Oatmeal with Cranberries and Almonds from the book.  It was so good I made a double batch on Sunday.  I had tried making oatmeal in the IP before but it stuck to the bottom of the pan so I never tried it again.  There was no sticking at all with this recipe.  I look forward to making some of her other recipes.

 

I really like  the sidebar for each recipe.  It lists the number of servings, time required to  prep and finish, time needed to saute, time needed to pressure cook, time required to release and total time.

 

Edited to add: In the interests of full disclosure, I should add that I received the book free as I tested some of the recipes.  Of the recipes I tested, the oatmeal was not one of them.

 

I can't wait to get a copy to play with!