4 ms·

"...everyone has one." Going to be difficult to sell more then. :^) Also, they don't fully replace more traditional cooking apparatus, like a pressure cooker

"...everyone has one." Going to be difficult to sell more then. :^) Also, they don't fully replace more traditional cooking apparatus, like a pressure cooker, a crock pot, or rice cooker. We have all 4, and what the Instant Pot got a lot of use initially we found that the for purpose cooking pots worked better and got better results. So the Instant Pot slowly fell out of favor.

alanbernstein 3y ago
I got one to replace all three of those, and it works great.
Forgeties79 3y ago
Not that this means your response is wrong (I largely agree) but funny enough in my household our insta-pot is essentially just a rice cooker. We basically use it for nothing else, but it’s also really good for rice! Fluffy and perfect everytime.
- redleggedfrog 3y ago
  "...our insta-pot is essentially just a rice cooker." Yeah, ours pretty much boiled down to that, too. :^D
  - bombcar 3y ago
    Or boiled up as it may be, they get nice and hot inside.
duped 3y ago
But now you need to store three appliances instead of one, and not everyone has a large pantry or kitchen.
kevinmchugh 3y ago
What do crockpots and pressure cookers offer that the instant pot doesn't? I have a breville instant pot-equivalent and can't see ever needing a crockpot. And I understood it to be fundamentally just a pressure cooker with some programmability
- ornornor 3y ago
  I have both but we use the instantpot (EU name) more often because it fits more jar when canning, but mostly because of the electronics controls that makes it reach the optimal temp for pressure without making any noise from excess steam releasing. You can achieve it with an analog pressure cooker by it’s harder and you can’t get it completely silent like the instapot without running the risk of being under pressurized (and under temp), which affects cooking and sterilization effectiveness.
MegaDeKay 3y ago
Our Instant Pot makes great rice - I barely use my Zoji anymore. The IP clearly beats it for brown rice both in speed and flavor as the Zoji's seem to be optimized for white. My Instant Pot also has a slow cooker function as well that works just fine. About the only place the Instant Pot falls down a bit as a pressure cooker is when you need the full 15psi, like the Modernist Cuisine recipe that pressure-cooks squash with a bit of baking soda to kick in the Maillard reaction. The recipe works great in a stovetop pressure cooker that hits 15psi but fails in an Instant pot that only hits around 12.5psi or so - you can always taste the baking soda when it is done cooking. The pressure difference might also impact making stock but I haven't tried a side by side (though the Instant Pot is non-venting so I'd expect it's stock to at least have superiour clarity). If I could only pick one out of the four, it would be the IP. No question.
- AlanYx 3y ago
  Just curious, can you adjust the cook time upwards by 10% or so to overcome the pressure difference?
  - MegaDeKay 3y ago
    For the pressure cooked squash with baking soda? Tried that and it didn't work. There is some magic that happens at the higher temperatures associated with the higher pressure.
- Marsymars 3y ago
  Probably depends which rice cooker you have. My Zojirushi (highest-end non-pressure model when I got it a few years ago) clearly outclasses my IP for any kind of rice, though is much slower. I used to have a Cuckoo pressure rice cooker that made the best rice, fast, but it eventually started leaking even after replacing the seals, and professional repair would have been prohibitively expensive in Canada
bombcar 3y ago
Wait, I thought the Instant Pot just was a pressure cooker? Or by pressure cooker do you mean a "on the stove double boiler-like" setup?
- dragonwriter 3y ago
  The instant pot in the most basic pot serves as all of (1) An electric pot that can be used like a regular stovetop pot, (2) A pressure cooker, and (3) A slow cooker (and a few other things that are typically specialized single-use devices but are really slight variations on those 3 things) More advanced models are also: (4) immersion circulator (“sous vide" cooker), and (5) air fryer. In many of these roles it is often seen as sonewhat less good than a dedicated device, though even people who feel that way may see it as useful as a multitasker and because it can more conveniently do dishes that require more than one function without changing pots.
  - bombcar 3y ago
    I need to look into this, I didn't know it could be a slow cooker; that would save me two devices if I get rid of the slow cooker and the rice cooker (though it is really nice to make teriyaki chicken in the instant pot and rice in the rice cooker).

alanbernstein 3y ago

I got one to replace all three of those, and it works great.

Forgeties79 3y ago

Not that this means your response is wrong (I largely agree) but funny enough in my household our insta-pot is essentially just a rice cooker. We basically use it for nothing else, but it’s also really good for rice! Fluffy and perfect everytime.

redleggedfrog 3y ago
"...our insta-pot is essentially just a rice cooker." Yeah, ours pretty much boiled down to that, too. :^D
- bombcar 3y ago
  Or boiled up as it may be, they get nice and hot inside.

duped 3y ago

But now you need to store three appliances instead of one, and not everyone has a large pantry or kitchen.

kevinmchugh 3y ago

What do crockpots and pressure cookers offer that the instant pot doesn't? I have a breville instant pot-equivalent and can't see ever needing a crockpot. And I understood it to be fundamentally just a pressure cooker with some programmability

ornornor 3y ago
I have both but we use the instantpot (EU name) more often because it fits more jar when canning, but mostly because of the electronics controls that makes it reach the optimal temp for pressure without making any noise from excess steam releasing. You can achieve it with an analog pressure cooker by it’s harder and you can’t get it completely silent like the instapot without running the risk of being under pressurized (and under temp), which affects cooking and sterilization effectiveness.

MegaDeKay 3y ago

Our Instant Pot makes great rice - I barely use my Zoji anymore. The IP clearly beats it for brown rice both in speed and flavor as the Zoji's seem to be optimized for white. My Instant Pot also has a slow cooker function as well that works just fine. About the only place the Instant Pot falls down a bit as a pressure cooker is when you need the full 15psi, like the Modernist Cuisine recipe that pressure-cooks squash with a bit of baking soda to kick in the Maillard reaction. The recipe works great in a stovetop pressure cooker that hits 15psi but fails in an Instant pot that only hits around 12.5psi or so - you can always taste the baking soda when it is done cooking. The pressure difference might also impact making stock but I haven't tried a side by side (though the Instant Pot is non-venting so I'd expect it's stock to at least have superiour clarity). If I could only pick one out of the four, it would be the IP. No question.

AlanYx 3y ago
Just curious, can you adjust the cook time upwards by 10% or so to overcome the pressure difference?
- MegaDeKay 3y ago
  For the pressure cooked squash with baking soda? Tried that and it didn't work. There is some magic that happens at the higher temperatures associated with the higher pressure.
Marsymars 3y ago
Probably depends which rice cooker you have. My Zojirushi (highest-end non-pressure model when I got it a few years ago) clearly outclasses my IP for any kind of rice, though is much slower. I used to have a Cuckoo pressure rice cooker that made the best rice, fast, but it eventually started leaking even after replacing the seals, and professional repair would have been prohibitively expensive in Canada

bombcar 3y ago

Wait, I thought the Instant Pot just was a pressure cooker? Or by pressure cooker do you mean a "on the stove double boiler-like" setup?

dragonwriter 3y ago
The instant pot in the most basic pot serves as all of (1) An electric pot that can be used like a regular stovetop pot, (2) A pressure cooker, and (3) A slow cooker (and a few other things that are typically specialized single-use devices but are really slight variations on those 3 things) More advanced models are also: (4) immersion circulator (“sous vide" cooker), and (5) air fryer. In many of these roles it is often seen as sonewhat less good than a dedicated device, though even people who feel that way may see it as useful as a multitasker and because it can more conveniently do dishes that require more than one function without changing pots.
- bombcar 3y ago
  I need to look into this, I didn't know it could be a slow cooker; that would save me two devices if I get rid of the slow cooker and the rice cooker (though it is really nice to make teriyaki chicken in the instant pot and rice in the rice cooker).