Does anyone have and use an InstaPot?

I’ve had one for the last 5 years & I LOVE it!!! It doesn’t save a lot of time; but once you get used to using it, you can cook delicious meals. With a little bit of effort, you’ll NEVER eat another tough piece of meat again!!! You didn’t say what size the one you’re considering is but I’d suggest buying at least a 6 quart. I’ve learned how to make bbq’d spare ribs in my instant pot & oven that will come out just as good as firing up a grill. I used youtube as my go to source for my how to. I’d watch several different people making the same dish & then make up my own way of doing things. Funny thing was that mine sat in the box for the first month because I was afraid to use it. Once I got past my fears, I was like a fish to water!!! Living alone, I’ve learned how to cook pot-in-pot & I can cook a whole meal just for me without a lot of leftovers. Cooks some really good soups, stews, & broth with minimal effort as well!!!

I have one, I used it about 5 times. I wish I had not bought it, because it takes up so much space. I used it for brisket and it was not as good as cooking it on the stove. If you join an instapot facebook group you will see tons of people who love it and share recipes and help each other with when a recipe doesn’t work out.

Own one and use it but not regularly ! Great for steaming veggies, pierogies and Chinese dumplings !

I use ours for beef stew and chicken cacciatore. As @LadyMarissa says, you’ll never eat another tough piece of meat. I don’t like how ribs come out, though. Has a spongy texture.

I don’t cook meat much so it probably doesn’t make sense for me.

I bought one on an Amazon special deal day. I used it to make a pot roast. Because it was “instant” the meat did not have tome to soak up all the liquid and, although tender, the meat was dried out.

I am much happier with the cast-iron Dutch oven I bought last year.

@janbb – my buddy uses his for squash. Apparently it usually takes a long time to cook them thoroughly.

A lot of people love making boiled eggs in the instapot, but it takes almost as long as on the stove and then you have an extra piece of equipment on the kitchen counter. Doesn’t make sense to me.

It can be used as a slowcooker too I think, so it replaces both a pressure cooker and crockpot.

People who use the old-fashioned pressure cookers like the instapot, because it is safer. It can’t open unless the pressure is down.

It cuts time significantly for meat, especially meat you usually slow cook, whether you slow cook in a crockpot, oven, or on the stove. It cuts the time if you change the recipe to pressure cook it. Everything else, it barely makes a time difference from what I can tell.

True – I’ve made chili in my Instapot. I like that I can make it turn off after so many hours of slow cooking. Makes it safer to transport to chili contests. The locking lid with handle helps too.

I have one. It’s very useful for quickly cooking things that normally takes hours, but I usually use it to make lunch noodles. Also, hard boiling eggs!

Why wife uses her InstaPot a lot. Her InstaPot has two types of lids. One of the lids lets her “air fry” foods (whatever that is). She cooks many types of foods and she told me that she loves it.
She’s a great cook. I’m lucky-lucky.

FYI: You can cook meat in an InstaPot.

We cook rice in ours almost every day, along with a number of other dishes (mostly dinners, egg bites, have attempted to make dessert). I really love ours.

@gondwanalon Since I said I don’t cook meat much, your last FYI inclines me against needing one.

@Cupcake – we’ve cooked wild rice in our Instapot. It usually takes a long time, but not in an Instapot. The rice expands at least 3x! Amazing.

But my wife prefers white or brown rice. We have a Zoshirushi rice cooker that has optimized settings for those, along with a timer.