Approaching the end of my fourth week with the Instant Pot, and it is time to revisit with some observations.
First, my initial observation that it is stupid easy to use is still accurate. It really is almost impossible to screw up. Yes, I know that if you don’t have enough liquids it will fail to come to pressure, and that you can burn things in it, but I haven’t experienced that yet.
Eggs
One of the benefits that I heard of the IP is the best hard boiled eggs. I got some Egg Pods, and loaded them up with extra-large eggs. Following the instructions I found all over that 5 minutes would be perfect. 5 minutes are up and I pulled them out, dunked in cold water to halt the cooking.
The first disappointment. The eggs were just not quite done. A little un-set white, and a slightly under-cooked yolk. A disappointment, to say the least. Adding 1 minute, to a total of 6 minutes made them perfect.
Indian Cuisine
I also bought the Indian Instant Pot cookbook: Traditional Indian Dishes Made Easy and Fast by Urvashi Pitre, and have tried several of the recipes. The Murgh Makhani (Butter Chicken) and Chicken Tikka Masala, were excellent. Some people grumbled that the dishes weren’t authentic, but they were quite good, and super easy, as long as you have the proper spices. Huge thumbs up.
Mexican Cuisine
I made a Chili Colorado (mexican red chili) that was real easy to cook. 2.5#’s of beef, a 14 oz can of red enchilada sauce (medium spicy) a half an onion, and 3 tblsp of chili powder. 20 minutes of high pressure, and then a little blond roux to thicken the sauce, and it was delicious. The meat was tender, juicy, and flavorful. 3 meals worth.
Before I made this (earlier the same day) I made refried beans. Pinto beans, onion, a little oil, some cumin, and salt/pepper to taste, and they cooked perfect. Used the immersion blender, adding in enough liquid, and the refried beans were to die for. A perfect accompaniment of the chili colorado.
Beef Stew
As we got a lot of rain yesterday, I had a hankering for stew. I found an official beef stew recipe, and followed it. 2.5# of beed, cubed, one package of stew seasoning, 4 potatoes, a few ribs of celery, large diced carrots. This was a 2 stage meal, with 45 minutes of cooking of the beef, then de-pressure and add the veggies and 15 more minutes. I did cut the veggies time to 13 minutes.
Here is where I have to mention a quibble. Many recipes that I have tried have way too much cooking time. I have read the cooking charts for meats and various ingredients, and then map to the times in the recipes, and they don’t map. Of course, I am still somewhat new, so I follow the recipes, especially the cooking time, and it is over cooked. Le sigh.
Summary
This is still an amazing device, a miracle appliance. I have many more recipes to try before I start blazing a new path. The dessert recipes sound wonderful. Plenty of exploration to do yet.
Highly recommended acquisition.
