Instant Pot Follow-up

I've had my Instant Pot for a few months now.  There has been good, there has been not so good.  I love the versatility – slow cooker, pressure cooker, saute, rice cooker.  In particular, I love the saute mode.  I hate cooking.  I never use a slow cooker recipe that requires browning first.  Too many pots.  Too many steps.  The pot makes it easier to brown and cook.  Love it.

I made barbacoa pork in the pressure cooker.  Delicious!  I was able to saute the pork roast in the pot and then set to the pressure cooker mode.  The roast was perfectly cooked, tender and delicious. 

I also love the delay set timer.  I frequently cook chicken in the slow cooker.  I’ve had the best luck by cooking frozen chicken on high for 3-4 hours.  Too long and my chicken is rubbery.  Now I can set the delay to cook in the afternoon so my chicken is delicious. 

We don't frequently enjoy cool weather here in SoCal, so when it comes, I search my recipes for warms soups, stews and casseroles.  I came across a chicken and dumplings recipe on Pinterest that looked so easy.  Unfortunately, though the recipe called for 5 minutes on pressure cooker mode, the vegetables were cooked to mush.  I basically had a thick soup with chunks of dumpling.  I liked the flavor, but wish the vegetables were still chunky.  Next time I'll cut the time in half.  Or maybe cook stove top.

I have also tried the steam function to make green beans.  One minute.  One measly minute and my beans were coming apart.  Mushified.   My Thanksgiving green beans were almost baby food.  Another stove-top dish.  Live and learn.

 

Sadly, I planned to cook a couple yams for spiced mashed yams.  It’s a thing.  I set my pot, but it never came to pressure.  I tried several times with no luck.  Very disappointing.  However, since it’s also a slow cooker, I cooked two yams for two hours.  It worked, but I’m frustrated.

All in all, there are several things I like about this pot.  It is functional and versatile.  I love that the pot comes out for easy cleaning.  The pot is big though, so you’ll need to find space for it.   I may have gotten the same results with a programmable crock pot.  Life’s a lesson.