Mmmm....cooking. I really like cooking. The smile on someone's face when you bring them that slice of warm chocolate cake or fresh baked bread is very satisfying. I love to try new recipes, old recipes, copycat recipes, etc. Cooking brings me such pleasure. Creating new dishes brings fulfillment. Visiting a kitchen store makes me giddy. So, here I sit excitedly awaiting my newest kitchen
appliance! The Instant Pot! For those of you that are unfamiliar with the
Instant Pot, it is a multi-function appliance
that, according to www.instantpot.com ,
“...has 7 commonly used kitchen appliances in 1; Pressure Cooker, Slow Cooker,
Rice/Porridge Cooker, Yogurt Maker, Sauté/Searing, Steamer, and Warmer.”
I first
heard about the Instant Pot several months back when my mother-in-law mentioned having purchased one and
really liking it. At first, I could not justify one more gadget. However,
the taco soup she made for us during our recent visit was wonderful, and it got
me to thinking that …..if I purchased the instant pot, I could replace my crock
pot, eliminate one of my three pressure cookers, and get the rice cooker that I
have wanted for 18 years...all in one device! After all, I had been looking for a new crock pot because I wanted to upgrade to a
programmable one that I could actually set a temperature on, and it was going to cost $60-80 for the
replacement. As for the pressure
cookers, I have three: a 6 quart, a 8 quart, and a huge canning cooker. I will be able to get rid of the 6 quart, at least. I would be able to
eliminate some extra clutter from our kitchen and get my coveted …rice cooker.
It is a fairly rare occasion that I will just decide to
purchase something for myself. I love to
shop for my husband and kids but seldom have anything that I want badly enough to
actually buy for me because I don't like to spend money....translated....I'm cheap!. A friend had gifted
me some money recently. Sunday, I made
the decision to buy the Instant Pot. I began scouring the internet to figure out what model would best suit our family and what store had the best price. I asked my husband and he was all for it, or at least he was until I inundated him with question after question filling him with far more knowledge about the Instant Pot that I am sure he ever wanted to know..
You see, there are several sizes and models to choose from – 3 qt., 5 qt., 6 qt., and 8 qt. Then there is the LUX, DUO, ULTRA, and Smart Bluetooth. So much to decide. I read articles. I contacted my mother-in-law. I talked to my husband...again. At one point I found myself backing out of it all together and trying to decide if I really wanted one
at all. I hate making decisions, especially when more than one decision will work.
Finally, this
article by DadsCookDinner, helped me decide. Before reading this post, I had all but hit purchase on the 8 quart
DUO80. It was when I read his last paragraph that I made my decision. He had purchased the 8 quart but had reverted back to the 6 quart for his family of 5 because of the size. I knew that I did not
want an item so big that I dreaded getting it out of the cabinet. While the 8 quart would have probably been
nice at times (and I even second guess myself now!!), I know that for most
things the 6 quart will be sufficient.
After much stress and debate, I hit the purchase on the
Instant Pot DUO60 from Kohls.com. After the discounts and free shipping, it was $89.51. It is
set to arrive tomorrow. So far, I have joined
two Facebook recipe idea groups and started collecting recipes that I would
like to try. There are recipes
galore all over the internet. Looking forward to my new
Instant Pot adventure!
