InstantPot

vraiblonde

Board Mommy
PREMO Member
Patron
Son sent me an Amazon gift card for my birthday, so I bought an InstantPot. RV forum people love it and it seems perfect for motorhome cooking.

Anyone have one? Do you love it?
 

lucky_bee

RBF expert
I'd like some convincing on these things. There's a huge craze going on about them now, although they've been out forever. But I understand technology has come a long way and I should probably get the image out of my head of pots exploding and shrapnel of metal and chicken flying across my kitchen...

I love my crockpot but I already struggle to find really good recipes that don't end up as some kind of spooned mush. I feel like 3/4 of the recipes I find all sound best piled on a bed of rice or pasta (and yea I could and do make cauliflower rice, but that gets old quick). I try to keep carbs down as much as possible so I don't get to pull out the crockpot as much as I'd like as it is. Most of my dinners are some kind of protein with 2 veggie sides - I'm still in the kitchen at least 20-30 mins. And most of the recipes I see for Instapots are just like crockpot recipes: slow cooking tender messes (albeit yummy messes) requiring a bed of starch.

As someone that tries to keep carbs and processed food to a minimum, what can I do with an instapot? Everyone is getting one and I want one too but why :lol:
 

vraiblonde

Board Mommy
PREMO Member
Patron
I'd like some convincing on these things. There's a huge craze going on about them now, although they've been out forever. But I understand technology has come a long way and I should probably get the image out of my head of pots exploding and shrapnel of metal and chicken flying across my kitchen...

I love my crockpot but I already struggle to find really good recipes that don't end up as some kind of spooned mush. I feel like 3/4 of the recipes I find all sound best piled on a bed of rice or pasta (and yea I could and do make cauliflower rice, but that gets old quick). I try to keep carbs down as much as possible so I don't get to pull out the crockpot as much as I'd like as it is. Most of my dinners are some kind of protein with 2 veggie sides - I'm still in the kitchen at least 20-30 mins. And most of the recipes I see for Instapots are just like crockpot recipes: slow cooking tender messes (albeit yummy messes) requiring a bed of starch.

As someone that tries to keep carbs and processed food to a minimum, what can I do with an instapot? Everyone is getting one and I want one too but why :lol:

I had a large crockpot that I brought with me to the motorhome. When I had the house, and later the apartment, I used it all the time. On the road, I used it maybe twice in a year and a half. Just Monello and I, we don't need 3 gallons of chili (or anything else). I finally donated the crockpot because it took up so much space, and figured I'd get a smaller crock to replace it.

Enter InstantPot.

It supposedly does rice, oatmeal, eggs, slow cook, pressure cook, bakes cakes, cleans your carpets, washes your dog, and gets out stubborn stains. With a fairly small footprint, will fit easily on our limited counterspace. I see myself using it for eggs a lot, and for making fridge meals to grab for breakfast or lunch. I used to use my pressure cooker a good bit as well, but not enough that it made the cut for the motorhome. So basically, this gadget is going to replace bigger appliances that I can't justify the space for.

I'm a fan of soups and stews, and supposedly IP sears/cooks the meat so you can just dump in the rest of the ingredients and slow cook until done. One pot is attractive to me. I'm seeing chili, beef stew, sausage lentil - for cabbage soup (and Runza guts), it will be WAY easier than standing over the stove cooking the cabbage. Chuck roast for Italian beef, and boneless chicken for various purposes, maybe experiment and see if I can do acceptable carnitas in the pot.

I'm pretty sure hard-boiled eggs will make a big comeback in my life, which means deviled eggs as well. In fact, that's probably the first thing I'll do with it. :lol:
 

lovinmaryland

Well-Known Member
I'd like some convincing on these things. There's a huge craze going on about them now, although they've been out forever. But I understand technology has come a long way and I should probably get the image out of my head of pots exploding and shrapnel of metal and chicken flying across my kitchen...

I love my crockpot but I already struggle to find really good recipes that don't end up as some kind of spooned mush. I feel like 3/4 of the recipes I find all sound best piled on a bed of rice or pasta (and yea I could and do make cauliflower rice, but that gets old quick). I try to keep carbs down as much as possible so I don't get to pull out the crockpot as much as I'd like as it is. Most of my dinners are some kind of protein with 2 veggie sides - I'm still in the kitchen at least 20-30 mins. And most of the recipes I see for Instapots are just like crockpot recipes: slow cooking tender messes (albeit yummy messes) requiring a bed of starch.

As someone that tries to keep carbs and processed food to a minimum, what can I do with an instapot? Everyone is getting one and I want one too but why :lol:

I've heard people tell me they cook soups, pies, and crap in the instapot. I'm like you I use the crock pot occasionally but that's pretty much it. So I'm not sure the instapot would be a good investment for me.
 

vraiblonde

Board Mommy
PREMO Member
Patron
I've heard people tell me they cook soups, pies, and crap in the instapot. I'm like you I use the crock pot occasionally but that's pretty much it. So I'm not sure the instapot would be a good investment for me.

If I had a traditional kitchen with normal cooking appliances and space for specialty cookers, I doubt I'd care about the InstantPot.

Something I just remembered:

When we travel by car and stay in cottages and hotel rooms there are times when all we have is a minifridge and microwave. I can see taking the InstantPot with us on those jaunts.
 

MJ

Material Girl
PREMO Member
I'm so tired of trying to figure out dinner. I was looking at these because I get home late a lot and I'm trying to figure out how to get a healthy meal on the table fast. Lately, I've been doing Home Chef, which helps because I don't have to figure out what to cook or shop for the food. I'll be interested to see how you like it.
 

lovinmaryland

Well-Known Member
If I had a traditional kitchen with normal cooking appliances and space for specialty cookers, I doubt I'd care about the InstantPot.

Something I just remembered:

When we travel by car and stay in cottages and hotel rooms there are times when all we have is a minifridge and microwave. I can see taking the InstantPot with us on those jaunts.
That's true! Do you have one of these? I LOVE mine. I take it w/ us when we travel. As long as theres a plug near by you can literally use it anywhere. I've cooked w/ it outside even in a hotel room lol I can cook pasta in it, fry things, sauté, etc... They have them in different sizes. I have a large one and a small one. Love love love them! https://www.walmart.com/ip/Presto-11-Electric-Skillet-w-glass-lid/17186907
 

vraiblonde

Board Mommy
PREMO Member
Patron
That's true! Do you have one of these? I LOVE mine. I take it w/ us when we travel. As long as theres a plug near by you can literally use it anywhere. I've cooked w/ it outside even in a hotel room lol I can cook pasta in it, fry things, sauté, etc... They have them in different sizes. I have a large one and a small one. Love love love them! https://www.walmart.com/ip/Presto-11-Electric-Skillet-w-glass-lid/17186907

Electric skillet is almost a necessity for motorhome living. We use ours all the time. :yay:
 

Bann

Doris Day meets Lady Gaga
PREMO Member
That's true! Do you have one of these? I LOVE mine. I take it w/ us when we travel. As long as theres a plug near by you can literally use it anywhere. I've cooked w/ it outside even in a hotel room lol I can cook pasta in it, fry things, sauté, etc... They have them in different sizes. I have a large one and a small one. Love love love them! https://www.walmart.com/ip/Presto-11-Electric-Skillet-w-glass-lid/17186907
Electric skillet is almost a necessity for motorhome living. We use ours all the time. :yay:
I've used an electric skillet my entire adult life! When I first moved out of my parents' home - I took her old Sunbeam electric skillet. I used that thing until I wore it out. I had to look for one on eBay to replace it, because by the time I was buying one - they were ALL non-stick. Anyway, I love them so much, I go through 1 every 3-4 years now. :lmao:

We have the very large one right now. I use the stove and the oven, but I don't know what I'd do without an electric skillet!
 

vraiblonde

Board Mommy
PREMO Member
Patron
I have to say, cooking in this thing is EZPZ. Butter chicken in 8 minutes. The meat was tender and flavorful, the sauce was a little thin but still damn good.

I think tomorrow I'm going to try carnitas.
 

Bann

Doris Day meets Lady Gaga
PREMO Member
I have to say, cooking in this thing is EZPZ. Butter chicken in 8 minutes. The meat was tender and flavorful, the sauce was a little thin but still damn good.

I think tomorrow I'm going to try carnitas.


:yay: Can't wait to hear how they turn out!
 

littlelady

God bless the USA
Son sent me an Amazon gift card for my birthday, so I bought an InstantPot. RV forum people love it and it seems perfect for motorhome cooking.

Anyone have one? Do you love it?

Hub asked me if I wanted one. They are the rage right now! I said no because I am such a penny pincher (I have a gargantua orange crock pot that was a wedding present in 1977), and old fashioned cook. We missed the deep discount yesterday because I couldn’t commit. :tantrum: Sounds like a great appliance. Happy cooking! And, I looked up that butter chicken recipe. Sounds delicious!
 
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vraiblonde

Board Mommy
PREMO Member
Patron
You all are going to have to put up with me :getdown: about my InstantPot for awhile. :biggrin:

I eat a lot of eggs and like to keep HB eggs in the fridge for snacking. IP makes them in just a few minutes, but best of all...the shells slide right off. Perfect unblemished hard boiled eggs. I'm unreasonably excited about this.
 

Monello

Smarter than the average bear
PREMO Member
So far the pot is 2 for 2. Just finished up some HB eggs. Peels actually slide right off. I spent 25 years in food service. I've peeled my share of hard boiled eggs. These were by far the easiest shells to remove. Makes you wonder why we've waited so long to be able to do this easily. I can't tell you how many times I've had to wrestle shells off of eggs. And we tried all the tricks to get them to peel easy.

Then there was last night's chicken. It took literally no time at all. The meat was super tender, not some hard, rubbery pieces. And with the sauce, it stayed hot for a long time. It was served with some basmati rice. Time to add more of that rice to our shopping list. I'd make the chicken again but I want to try out other recipes.
 
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