The Instant Pot has arrived!

Three days of waiting and my Instant Pot finally arrived yesterday.  After reading a myriad of “directions” and suggestions, I couldn’t wait to cook with it.  I finally opened the box to go through everything and had a moment of slight panic.  There were/are a lot of directions!  I had no idea what I was doing, and while I am fairly proficient at using a pressure cooker, this machine was a different story.  I began reading.

First up, I ran the beginner's water test.  Basically you run your machine through on high pressure for 2 minutes with 2 cups of water in the pan.  It is meant as a practice run.  Next, I had to figure out what to make.  Since I had wanted a rice cooker for so long, I decided I would start with wild rice.  While the Instant Pot manual came with a general rundown of instructions for cooking several types of foods, including rice, the instructions were very vague.  Scouring the internet, my confusion began mounting because there were so many different sets of instruction for making the rice.  The amounts of water and cooking time were all different…for the same kind of rice! 

I just decided to pick one.  Here is what I did:

1.5 cups wild rice

1.5 cups water

Pour the rice and water in the bottom of the Instant Pot insert.  Put the lid on in locking position.  Make sure the valve is on sealing.  Press the “Multigrain” button.  Sit back and wait. 

I must admit I was a bit disappointed in the amount of time it took to complete the cycle.  During the cooking process, it completes a soak for the rice before building up steam and finally releasing the pressure after 35 minutes.  The taste and texture, though, were perfect. 

Now for the good and the bad:

Good:

1.  I was able to set the rice to cook and walk away from it.  This was the best part!  When you make rice on the stove, you have to be close at hand the entire time from bringing the water to boil until it is done. 
2. This rice did not boil over and did not stick to the pan like stove top rice making tends to do.
3. It has a warming function so the rice was warm when we were ready to eat.

Bad:

1.  It took about 65 minutes to complete.  Normal time would be 30 minutes plus the time to get the water boiling.

So far, I just “like” the Instant Pot.  When I began reading about it, I thought it was a device that would allow me to get foods done more quickly, which was my biggest draw.  Unfortunately, I did not see the time-saving with rice cooking.  The 20 minute pressure build up seemed to take forever.  The convenience of being able to start things and walk away was a plus.  It was a bit stressful and there seems to be so much to learn, but I think with time I will learn to use it more proficiently and will enjoy using it.

Ode to the Instant Pot

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!