Last week I blogged about my must have travel item, a Neosling bottle holder. Being Black Friday week, I thought it was appropriate to tell you about my newest kitchen must have, an Instant Pot.
Black Friday week brings lots of deals. One of those being the Instant Pot. Amazon usually has them deeply discounted on Black Friday and Cyber Monday. This year won’t be different.
Why?
Why should you have an Instant Pot? It is super versatile. You can make an entire meal in a fraction of the time you would in a slow cooker or oven. The Instant Pot also comes with tons of useful features like, a slow cooker, steamer, yogurt maker, rice cooker, and much more. You could make your entire meal in just one pot. No more sinks full of dirty pots and pans. No need to purchase a separate slow cooker, this has one built in.
In fact, just today I made the Pioneer Woman’s spaghetti sauce in my Instant Pot. I started by using the Saute feature to brown the ground beef and soften the vegetables. After adding all the other ingredients, I switched to the Slow Cook function to let the sauce simmer. Every so often I opened the lid to stir the sauce. When using the Slow Cook feature the lid does not lock. It only locks if you’re pressure cooking. The only draw back, you can’t smell the delicious sauce cooking like you would if it was on the stove or in a regular slow cooker. This would actually be a plus, if you didn’t want your entire house to smell like whatever you are cooking.
What?
I’ve had my Instant Pot for about a year and I love it. Steaming green beans or broccoli takes just minutes. And they come out perfect. Those are two vegetables I almost always cook in the Instant Pot. My other favorite feature is the yogurt maker. It is easy and painless. My husband loves the yogurt. Did you forget to take your meat out of the freezer? No problem! Put your meat in the pot frozen and add just a few more minutes to the cook time.
Yes, it takes a little getting used too. Just like everything else in life. There is a learning curve. Even after a year, I’m still learning about mine. I still have to remind myself to allow enough time for the pot to get up to pressure and then release the pressure at the end. Lots of recipes tell you the total cook time, but they don’t add in the coming up to pressure time. Which is frustrating! One thing to remember, always have enough liquid in your pot. You don’t want it to run dry. And don’t over fill the pot.
Recipes?
Are you wondering what to cook? Take a look at my Instant Pot Entree Excellence board or Instant Pot Side/Desserts Success board on Pinterest. These are recipes I’ve actually tried and liked.
I hope this inspires you to try a new gadget. You won’t be disappointed. Do you already have an Instant Pot? What is your favorite recipe? Share it with me in the comments.
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