Instant pots are the next new hot thing in the world of kitchen and cooking appliances. For too long people have suffered under the rule of age-old pots and pans, having to wait for so long to get their meals ready in them! Even pressure cookers cannot seem to get the job done fast enough!
Just imagine waiting for at least thirty minutes to get your food on the plate in this age of the internet and technology?
Nobody got time to sit around waiting in the kitchen for their pot of spaghetti to boil over for dinner after a hard day's work! And can you imagine having to wake up an hour early in the morning just to fix breakfast?
- Instant Pot Black Bean Quinoa Burrito Bowl with Tofu
- Instant Pot Steel Cut Oats (Vegan | GF)
- Instant Pot Mac and Cheese
But with Instant Pots around, you need to do none of all this waiting around! If you still can't understand just why we are so excited about introducing instant pots to you, then read on till the last word and you'll know exactly why we are so hyped about this wonderful cooking gadget!
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What exactly is an Instant Pot?
Instant pots are a type of electrical multicooker kitchen appliance. What does that mean in mean simple words? It means your Instant Pot can be a pressure cooker, rice cooker, crockpot, and yogurt maker at the same time!
Instant pot is basically the superpowered mutant among all the other cooking appliances. Do you want a Fast Cooked dinner to be ready by the time you get home? No worries, your instant pot got you! Or do you want a quick breakfast to eat in the morning?
Don't you sweat about it, because your instant pot will literally make an instant breakfast for you!
But how does a instant pot do so many things for you? The secret lies behind in the method of cooking it uses.
It's a known fact that food cooks faster in steam and pressure, and this is exactly what instant pot uses to its advantage.
All you have to do is:
- Dump in your Ingredients in your Instant Pot
- Seal the lid
- Set the timer and mode of cooking and then simply walk away to do whatever you want to do in all the free time because your instant pot will do everything else with the power of steam and pressure!
Try these Instant Pot Dinner Recipes
- Sausage and Shrimp Jambalaya in Instant Pot
- BBQ Chicken in Instant Pot (Pulled Chicken)
- Ranch Cheddar Corn on the Cob in Instant Pot
- Instant Pot Coconut Chicken Curry (KETO)
- Chicken Vindaloo in Instant Pot
- Instant Pot Vegetarian Baked Ziti
- Instant Pot Thai Cashew Chicken
- Salsa Verde Chicken {Instant Pot or Slow Cooker}
What features does a Instant Pot comes with?
If you think Instant Pots are just fancy pressure cookers, then let us make you go through the list of features they come with.
If you buy an Instant Pot, you can choose from a vast selection of cooking methods which includes:
- high and low-pressure cooking
- slow cooker
- rice cooker
- sauté and sear feature
- air fryer
and so many more that we can't include each one of them in this article! This is why we suggest you read the description of the instant pot before you buy it so that you know will be well aware of all the perks it comes with.
Instant pots come in either 6 in 1 variety or the extravagant 10 in 1 variety, where you can do ten functions and so many more that we can't include each one of them in this article!
This is why we suggest you read the description of the instant pot before you buy it so that you know will be well aware of all the perks it comes with. Instant pots come in either 6 in 1 variety or the extravagant 10 in 1 variety, where you can do ten functions of a single instant pot!
Some instant pots even come with Bluetooth so that you can control their settings outside the kitchen!
What sizes do the Instant Pots come in?
Instant pots come in all sizes so that everyone's needs are included. From a mini 3 quart instant pot to a gigantic, to a gigantic 10 quart instant pot, there is an instant pot in all sizes just for you!
- If you are a broke college student who wants to do one big investment to avoid the long term investment in buying cooking gas and other kitchen equipment, then a mini 3, quart instant pot is ideal for you. It is more then sufficient to fulfill the cooking needs for one to two people!
- If you are a modest family of upto five family members, then a mid sized 6 quart instant pot is perfect for you. It will be more then enough to satisfy your whole family's cooking needs!
- If you live in a particularly large family or host a lot of parties and family reunions, then getting a extra large 10 quart instant pot is a must for you. Of course you can cook food in multiple batches with a smaller instant pot, but getting a bigger instant pot will make cooking for your large gatherings way easier!
Can I actually burn my food in an Instant Pot?
The days where early instant pots used to burn the food or overcook veggies are long gone. With so many improvements coming in, you can trust your instant pot with any food, even veggies that are notorious to get soggy under high pressure and steam!
With Instant Pot's new cooking settings and an improved burner sensor that will detect when your food is about to get burned, it is safe to say that instant pots are worth every penny you spent on it!
But even with all these new improvements, you should still follow some tips to cook your food perfectly with an Instant Pot!
- Be mindful of how much water you put in the instant pot. Too much will make your food soggy and mushy, while too little of it will put your food at the risk of getting burned.
- Follow the recipe's liquid ratio to the dot to avoid any of the two worst-case scenarios given above from happening. Follow tested recipes to be even safer.
- Put the ingredients that will produce the most liquid content on the bottom of the instant pot.
- Later you can stir the food up to make it uniform. This will prevent your other ingredients from getting overcooked.
- Be sure that the recipe you are following is explicitly for the size of instant pot you have. Basically, don't use a 6 quart instant pot recipe for a 10 quart instant pot and vice versa!
Are Instant Pots safe?
The new and modern instant pots are completely safe to use even in the hands of beginner cooks. Each instant pot comes with a manual of instructions that you should read before using it safely.
But there's really not much you can mess up with an instant pot, as they come with built-in safety features that will make sure you don't end up opening your instant pot while it's still in high pressure and filled with hot steam!
So if you are worried you will end up blowing an instant pot, then don't be as it comes proofed from all cooking hazards!
Instant pots can be daunting for people who have always relied on age-old pots and pans. Even compared to regular pressure cooker users, instant pot can seem overkill.
But with so many questions answered to all your instant pot confusions, we hope you are willing to give this modern cooking appliance a chance!
Just start out slow with your instant cooker by making simple recipes (like rice) with it at first, before moving on to complex recipes like a whole stack of ribs! And trust us, your instant pot will make ribs so good you'll never want to use a grill to barbeque them!
So to answer your final question, is an instant pot really worth it? Our answer is definitely yes!
Try these amazing Instant Pot Recipes
- Smoked Sausage with Rice - Instant Pot / Slow Cooker
- Cajun Shrimp and Rice (Instant Pot / Slow Cooker)
- Coconut Rice Recipe {Instant Pot or Pressure Cooker}
- Bruschetta Chicken Pasta - Slow Cooker / Instant Pot
- Instant Pot Chicken Parm Pasta
- Low Carb Lemon Butter Chicken - Instant Pot / Slow Cooker
- Instant Pot Salsa Chicken
- Instant Pot Lentil Sloppy Joes Recipe {Vegan}
- Instant Pot Sesame Noodles (10-minutes) {Takeout Style}
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