![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Instant Pot
Apr. 6th, 2024 08:39 pmG's commentary on my new Instant Pot, intoned with a heavy dose of irony: "Don't you just love all these labor-saving devices?"
It must be said that this was after we had spent two and a half hours trying to pressure-cook a par-defrosted chicken. The original idea behind obtaining this was that it was a combination replacement for my misplaced rice cooker and broken slow cooker (with a metal and therefore dishwasher safe insert that cannot be broken by being dropped an inch into the sink while washing it the way the slow cooker was), but I decided that since I had a chicken that had not defrosted as thoroughly as intended (I put it to defrost on a Thursday and this was all going down on a Tuesday night and it is a CHICKEN, not a turkey), we were going to try the pressure cooker.
From which I can only conclude that the "programs" on the Instant Pot don't work and I should just use "Pressure Cook" and time units for everything, because we had a lot of trouble getting it to pressurize even after I spent time fiddling with the manual. Eventually we gave up on the "Poultry" button and just hit "Pressure Cook' and a timer. Thanks to all the fiddling the chicken came out kind of dry and suitable only for chicken salad and other such uses.
Our next attempt a week later at par-defrosted beef tongue (and I really need to check the temperature of my refrigerator) came out quite well, much better than I've ever managed to achieve with a traditional slow cooker, with a lovely texture.
Also the shape of the instant pot means I need to cut up most of these raw cuts of meat before setting the thing to cook just so they'll fit inside.
But so far it's functional. I've yet to try to use it for rice, though I'll get there eventually. Enough of it is dishwasher safe that cleanup is a lot easier than my slow cooker was.
It must be said that this was after we had spent two and a half hours trying to pressure-cook a par-defrosted chicken. The original idea behind obtaining this was that it was a combination replacement for my misplaced rice cooker and broken slow cooker (with a metal and therefore dishwasher safe insert that cannot be broken by being dropped an inch into the sink while washing it the way the slow cooker was), but I decided that since I had a chicken that had not defrosted as thoroughly as intended (I put it to defrost on a Thursday and this was all going down on a Tuesday night and it is a CHICKEN, not a turkey), we were going to try the pressure cooker.
From which I can only conclude that the "programs" on the Instant Pot don't work and I should just use "Pressure Cook" and time units for everything, because we had a lot of trouble getting it to pressurize even after I spent time fiddling with the manual. Eventually we gave up on the "Poultry" button and just hit "Pressure Cook' and a timer. Thanks to all the fiddling the chicken came out kind of dry and suitable only for chicken salad and other such uses.
Our next attempt a week later at par-defrosted beef tongue (and I really need to check the temperature of my refrigerator) came out quite well, much better than I've ever managed to achieve with a traditional slow cooker, with a lovely texture.
Also the shape of the instant pot means I need to cut up most of these raw cuts of meat before setting the thing to cook just so they'll fit inside.
But so far it's functional. I've yet to try to use it for rice, though I'll get there eventually. Enough of it is dishwasher safe that cleanup is a lot easier than my slow cooker was.
