Instant Pot. Multi-function cooker (Part 5)

[mgaretz]

1 hour ago, rotuts said:

@mgaretz

 

by tri-tip trimmings , I take it you mean 

 

uncooked , not leftover TT .

 

looks so delicious.

 

like your 2 step method.

 

Yes, uncooked, not leftover.  I usually buy tri-tip in a huge package at Costco, freeze some whole and slice some into steaks.  These are the leftover trim from slicing into steaks.

[chileheadmike]

9 hours ago, Kim Shook said:

I've made this before and thought it needed another few minutes cooking.  I was right.  I did 55 minutes and they were perfect and creamy.  I saved the liquid and will use it and the leftover beans to make soup.  I also tried a new recipe for green beans and potatoes.  Before cooking:

 

Oh my. I gotta make that. 

 

I did make green beans and new potatoes on Saturday. My wife's brother drove in from Kansas to buy our daughter's car. I made the green beans and potatoes with roast chicken and gravy along with some sausage dressing. Since I didn't know when they would get here, I pressure cooked the green beans for 10 minutes, then used the slow cook for until they were about an hour away. I added the new potatoes at that time. Came out great, I am like you in that I like green beans cooked soft. 

[Kim Shook]

Decided to do Bourdain's boeuf Bourguignon for a dinner party last night.  I did it for the first time ever in the IP and I confess I did it a bit ass-backwards.  I asked @JAZ for advice and she helped me decide that I could do it.  I was going back and forth between Bourdain’s recipe and Janet’s advice and somehow missed that I was supposed to cook my meat for about 30 minutes and THEN cook my vegetables about FOUR minutes.  Everything tasted wonderful, but my lovely and oh-so-expensive cipollini onions disintegrated.  🙄😊

Edited November 18, 2019 by Kim Shook (log)

[robirdstx]

Yesterday, I made a batch of pork carnitas (pork butt, fire roasted hatch chiles, salsa verde and oj) - 30 minutes high pressure, 15 minute natural release. We had one half of the meat as tacos for dinner last night. Today, I made a pork stew with the rest of the meat.
 

 

I had some leftover pork roast gravy and rotisserie chicken stock in the freezer that I used for the liquid to cook the vegetables (potatoes, carrots, onions) and a few stewed tomatoes - high pressure for 6 minutes and quick release. I added the pork, with its liquid, and can of Libby’s cut green beans (drained); brought it up to a boil and then switched the Instant Pot to the Keep Warm setting to await dinner time.

[lemniscate]

I threw together a pasta sauce with a little over a pound of sweet italian pork sausage, 2 cans of Mutti cherry tomatoes, a can of La Fiamma diced tomatoes ( I got a *bunch* of canned Italian tomatoes at Cost Plus World Market for super cheap, so I have lots of canned tomatoes), some stored up cheese ends, a little pork broth and a couple glugs of a homemade Worcestershire-style sauce.   I used the slow cook setting on the IP to cook this sauce a long long time.  It's really good and served it over radiatorre pasta from TJ's.   It's rare I use the slow cook setting, but I think its great for a long pasta sauce cook.

[Alex]

10 hours ago, lemniscate said:

I threw together a pasta sauce with a little over a pound of sweet italian pork sausage, 2 cans of Mutti cherry tomatoes, a can of La Fiamma diced tomatoes ( I got a *bunch* of canned Italian tomatoes at Cost Plus World Market for super cheap, so I have lots of canned tomatoes), some stored up cheese ends, a little pork broth and a couple glugs of a homemade Worcestershire-style sauce.   I used the slow cook setting on the IP to cook this sauce a long long time.  It's really good and served it over radiatorre pasta from TJ's.   It's rare I use the slow cook setting, but I think its great for a long pasta sauce cook.

 

This sounds great. Did you brown the sausage first?

[lemniscate]

37 minutes ago, Alex said:

Did you brown the sausage first?

 

Oh yeah, I forgot to add that part, I did use the saute function on the meat.  Then switched to slow cook.

 

I had previously tried to do a Sunday Sauce using the pressure function, but stuff just stuck to the bottom something fierce.   I had the time and used slow cook and no sticking happened at all.

[rotuts]

I have several 6 qt iPots , as I wanted a spare

 

I succumbed to Amazon's black friday and have an 8 qt iPot

 

its , of course , resting comfortably in its box.

 

Im wondering if anyone has an 8 qt and can give me the inner dimensions of the Pot itself

 

im looking for a SS pot to do larger amounts of rice in it

 

I have this for the 6 qt :

 

https://www.amazon.com/Tovolo-Stainless-Steel-Mixing-Quart/dp/B001C0B02E/ref=sr_1_4?keywords=1.5%2Bqt%2Bbowl%2Bfor%2Binstant%2Bpot&qid=1575737327&sr=8-4&th=1

 

the 1.5 qt version

 

thank you .   I like this brand , but the next step up currently is the 5.5 qt , and that 10" + in diameter  

 

Id love to find a similar Ss pot for the 8 qt , maybe 3 - 4 qys

 

thank you

[robirdstx]

While at the grocery store this morning, I came across Smoked Pork Neck Bones, a product I had never used before. I picked up a 2 lb. package, along with several cans of Navy Beans, and decided to make Pork Neck and Navy Bean Soup in my Instant Pot for dinner tonight.

First, I softened some celery, carrot, onion and garlic in some peanut oil in the pot. Then added chicken stock, some more carrots, a couple of bay leaves, some dried thyme and black pepper to the vegetables in the pot. I only used half the pork necks and put the other half in the freezer for another time.

 

 

 

After these photos, I added the rest of the chicken stock (4 cups total) to cover the pork and cooked them on Manual, High Pressure for 20 minutes and 20 minutes Natural Release.

 

 

I removed the bay leaves and the necks, and the one pound of necks yielded almost 7 ounces of meat, which I shredded...

 

 

...and added back to the pot...

 

 

...along with the four cans of drained navy beans.

 

 

The soup is now on a one hour Slow Cook to bring all of the flavors together.

 

Notes for next time: Use low sodium chicken stock for better control of the salt and wait to add the extra carrots with the beans as they were softer than I wanted after the pressure cooking.

Edited December 7, 2019 by robirdstx
Added notes for next time. (log)

[robirdstx]

1 hour ago, robirdstx said:

The soup is now on a one hour Slow Cook to bring all of the flavors together.

 

 

 

Tasting Portion and the rest of the Soup portioned out for 3 meals (one for tonight and two to go into the freezer).

 

 

[kayb]

@robirdstx -- for those remaining neckbones, think about neckbones and dressing. Neckbones boiled pretty much as you did. Cornbread dressing, light on the sage, heavy on the black pepper. Serve with white beans and turnip or collard greens. Some seriously good soul food, though I forego the greens.

[TdeV]

My new Instant Pot Ultra 60 (6 Qt) safety instructions say that the minimum liquid is 2 cups. @JAZ and Pazzaglia both say 1 cup is minimum.

 

Advice?

 

[blue_dolphin]

If I'm cooking a liquid directly in the pot, I consider 2 cups the minimum volume. 

For smaller volumes, I do pot-in-pot cooking, with1 cup of water in the bottom.  Ditto that 1 cup when I'm using the steamer basket. 

[rotuts]

I do the same as 

 

@blue_dolphin 

 

it turns out if im using the pot to cook liquid as the primary cook , its always more than 1 cup

 

but for pressure steaming , wether pot in a pot   or pressure steaming above the water in a basket

 

one cup seems to work fine.

[rotuts]

P,S, :  Ive learned that when Im setting up the iPot , 

 

I always add 1 cup of water first thing , then the trivet , then the pot in pot or steaming basket w

 

stuff to steam.

 

I once forgot the one cup , but noticed this soon enough to stop the iPot

 

before any damage was done.

 

so , for me , rule one :  add water as soon as the pot is in its position to cook

 

even before i plug it in.

[rotuts]

of note , perhaps only to me :

 

ive been wondering that the inside diameter is of the 8 qt iPot.

 

Id like to get a SS bowl that fits in it for pressure steaming rice , say

 

twice what I can make in the 6 qt.  as the rice w mix-ins keeps nicely in the refrigerator

 

w/o the nuts as i added them to each platful

 

MC , the cat has been helping me w the box :

 

 

he enjoys knawing  on the bus in the PM.

 

so I spend it and the inner diameter of the pot is about 9.25 or 9.5  "

 

so I ordered this SS bowl :

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002DXBSW6/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

will let you know how it works out

 

 

[TdeV]

I confess I have not yet read all the eGullet posts on the Instant Pot yet, although I did spend most of a day reading eGullet posts on dried beans.

 

Is there a place where one can find the specifications for the settings on the Instant Pot? (Mine is an Ultra)

I.e. the temperature, pressure, duration, changes in a given setting.

 

E.g. What happens in the yogurt setting, at what temperature and for how long?

What temperature is the sauté pan on Low, Medium, or High?

 

Also, is there a way that I can turn on the sauté pan and have it STAY on (for an unknown period of time)?
(I had to re-pressurize the black beans yesterday because the IP kept shutting itself off--without a beep, too!)

[Anna N]

10 minutes ago, TdeV said:

 

Is there a place where one can find the specifications for the settings on the Instant Pot? (Mine is an Ultra)

I.e. the temperature, pressure, duration, changes in a given setting.

This may not answer all of your questions but it should answer some of them. 

[TdeV]

Thanks @Anna N. I'm looking for something more technical: what happens in a setting: x minutes @ y, then f minutes @ g, then h minutes @ i. I can't believe this is an IP (intellectual property 😀) issue.

 

[blue_dolphin]

2 minutes ago, TdeV said:

Thanks @Anna N. I'm looking for something more technical: what happens in a setting: x minutes @ y, then f minutes @ g, then h minutes @ i. I can't believe this is an IP (intellectual property 😀) issue.

 

 

Most settings have user entered parameters and the volume and starting temp of the foods can vary widely so providing exact temp and pressure readings over time wouldn't be terribly useful. Those graphs do exist on the IP site for some of the smart programs

 

If you scroll down to the Temp & Program section at this link, you may find some of the info you are asking for.    

 

[Kim Shook]

Navy bean and kielbasa soup for dinner tonight:

It was fantastic and just about an hour and a half from saute to dishing up.  Even Jessica liked it (not normally a fan of beany soups).  

[kayb]

Great minds. Same thing we had last night. Along with some kraut and fried potatoes.

 

[Alex]

On 12/5/2019 at 9:57 PM, lemniscate said:

I threw together a pasta sauce with a little over a pound of sweet italian pork sausage, 2 cans of Mutti cherry tomatoes, a can of La Fiamma diced tomatoes ( I got a *bunch* of canned Italian tomatoes at Cost Plus World Market for super cheap, so I have lots of canned tomatoes), some stored up cheese ends, a little pork broth and a couple glugs of a homemade Worcestershire-style sauce.   I used the slow cook setting on the IP to cook this sauce a long long time.  It's really good and served it over radiatorre pasta from TJ's.   It's rare I use the slow cook setting, but I think its great for a long pasta sauce cook.

 

I made this tonight. Browned the sausage (from these folks -- website and Facebook), as you mentioned. but in a big saute pan, then transferred to the IP. I didn't use any stock but I rinsed the tomato cans with some red wine. After seven hours I added oregano, garlic powder, salt and a small glug (is that an oxymoron?) of 10-year balsamic vinegar from Zingerman's; then cooked another two hours. Mixed it with gluten-free fusilli by Bionaturae (one of just two decent brands of g-f pasta, imo, the other being Schär) and cooked a little more. Superb.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

Shoprite now sells Instant Pots.

 

[TdeV]

I've just finished the eGullet threads on dried beans, but have not yet read all the threads on Instant Pot, so mea culpa for asking questions to which many know the answers. My friend and I now have Ultra 6 Quart Instant Pot and are experimenting. I am still at the stage where I turn off the machine, or fail to turn it on, only to discover that I am now 25 minutes late!

 

I internet-ed (surely a good verb) Boeuf Bourguignon and used several recipes as a source. I think the authors were trying to do the whole dish in one pot. I differed in that
-- one bottle of Four Vines Zinfandel was reduced to less than half original volume on the stove before the pressure cook;
-- meat was sautéed in a large pan on the stove, and it was quite browned on some (not all) sides. (I was trying to start Maillaird reaction, but I didn't sear meat evenly, thinking that's not so important).

 

Several recipes listed about 35 minutes at high pressure, but one author said to check the *cut* of meat against the table of cooking times, and use that table (though different authors have different tables!). One book listed 22 minutes, so I picked 12.

 

It smelled delicious. However, I thought the meat was overdone.

 

A few days later my friend told me that her husband (an excellent cook) said the meat had not spent enough time with the sauce.

 

Or was it the way I sautéed the meat?

Edited December 24, 2019 by TdeV
Clarity (log)