Having heard folks wax poetic about the Instant Pot for months, I had to see for myself what the fuss was about. I was skeptical, as I am about all things that seem too good to be true, whether it’s a fat-shrinking diet pill or miracle face cream. Rather than risk a chunk of change on an untested appliance, I borrowed a friend’s Instant Pot and put it through the paces. After three weeks of trials, my “should I buy an Instant Pot?” question was answered. Here’s my take:
The Instant Pot is pretty awesome.
And I’m not the only one who thinks so. Consider this: of the 16, 392 Instant Pot reviews on Amazon, 93 percent are 4 star and above (84 percent are 5 star). It’s frankly a bit astounding just how much it can do, effectively subbing in for seven different appliances, including:
Pressure Cooker
Slow Cooker
Rice Cooker
Yogurt Maker
Food Warmer
Steamer
Saute pan
I’ve experimented with most of the features to great success, though the pressure cooker and saute pan features are what I use most.
Should I Buy An Instant Pot? Here are the Pros
- It can be used as a saute pan and then switched over to work as a slow cooker or pressure cooker. That means no need to dirty an extra pan to brown meat or saute onions before they go into the pot. I browned chicken thighs in the Instant Pot, then added a big splash of teriyaki sauce, set the pressure cooker for 15 minutes, and dinner was done.
- I’ve never used a pressure cooker before, and it feels like a small miracle happening in my kitchen. I cooked dried black beans in minutes rather than hours. I also made a perfect coconut curry dahl in eight minutes. Eight. And it was delicious.
- It makes a tender pot of rice. A rice cooker is a new-to-me appliance and this one made terrific brown rice with no worry that I’d forget it on the stove (as I so often do).
- It can replace my slow cooker, which I had planned to replace at some point anyway.
- Though I’ve yet to try it out as a yogurt maker, I’m looking forward to experimenting with homemade yogurt.
Drawbacks on the Instant Pot:
- It’s not small. It comes in two sizes, 6 quart and an 8 quart, and will take up space in your cupboard or kitchen counter. My plan is to stow away my slow cooker and buy an Instant Pot to put in its place.
- It’s an investment (though a bit of a bargain if you consider all that it does). A 6 quart pot, the most popular size, runs about $99. You can pick up an 8 quart Instant Pot
If you are ready to bite the bullet on an Instant Pot:
Purchase a 6-quart pot here, which is good for everyday cooking for small to mid-size families (this is the size I have).
Or an 8-quart pot here, which is better for larger families, for batch cooking large volumes of food, or if you plan to use it to feed a crowd (hello potlucks!).
And once you have yours in hand, head here for Instant Pot recipe ideas.
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