For Christmas Nic surprised me with an Instant Pot! This is something I’ve wanted for a few months now, after first hearing about them. I didn’t actually think I’d get one for a while, so I was pretty excited when UPS delivered a box with INSTANT POT written in HUGE letters on the side of the box. Definitely ruined the surprise, but not my excitement!
What is an Instant Pot? It’s a pressure cooker, slow cooker, rice maker, yogurt maker, steamer, ALL IN ONE!
When I unpacked the box, my excitement turned a bit to fear. There were so many instructions, warnings and buttons. I was a little overwhelmed. I decided the best thing to do would be to just jump right in. I found an Instant Pot facebook group (who I’ve since left because there were just too many posts but it was helpful at the start). The recommendations there (and the Instant Pot itself) is to do a Water Test before you do anything else. It is super easy and once it’s done, you know your IP is functional and safe to use.
The next thing I did was make YOGURT! I was a little skeptical at first because yogurt is not a high-price grocery item, but everyone raved about how good it tastes homemade and how easy it is to make. I acquired some good quality whole organic milk from the store and an individual sized container of whole plain organic yogurt (as the starter). I followed some instructions I found here, and it worked GREAT! My first batch of yogurt turned out so yummy and lasted a full two weeks (probably longer but we were scared to eat it after that. There was only 1/2 cup left at that point anyway). I strained it for a long time and it was sooo thick and creamy. YUM!
Since then I’ve used my IP to saute and make soup, both on the pressure setting and on the soup setting. I’ve also made rice, quinoa, and stew. So far I prefer it as as a pressure cooker, and for things like yogurt and soup. As a slow cooker, I feel like it’s only so-so, so on the advice of many others, I kept our traditional slow cooker. We did part with our rice cooker (ours was terrible anyway and the IP is WAY better) and traditional pressure cooker.
Next up I’m hoping to acquire the book Paleo Cooking with Your Instant Pot, not because we’re strictly Paleo in this house, but because of the great reviews and because we do eat a Paleo meal here and there, unintentionally.
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