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The Instant Pot is a phenomenon the likes of which we haven’t seen since the George Foreman Grill. The kitchen appliance has taken America by storm. There’s buzz around this thing and it shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon.
I see Instagram stories and tweets from celebrities and friends alike praising the Instant Pot and all of the frills that come along with it.
It is both a pressure cooker and a crock pot in one, and while it really does look like a fantastic appliance I can’t help but feel like I’m getting pressured (no pun intended) into buying one of these suckers or putting it on my Christmas wish list.
The Instant Pot is regarded and reviewed as God’s gift to Earth. I’ve got friends talking to me completely unsolicited about how fucking great their Instant Pot is while out at the bar having drinks.
I remember when the George Foreman grill burst onto the home cooking scene in the 90’s because my parents, along with all of my parents friends were ranting and raving about it every chance they got.
This was during a period of time when people were really getting into fad diets, like the South Beach and Atkins, and the Foreman grill came with a lot of recipes that worked inside the confines of the South Beach and Atkins.
It was a grill made for the baby boomer that grew up with food fried in heavy butter or lard. It was a reprieve from the excess that was food consumption in the 80s. It was a health conscious device for people who wanted to shape up in the 90s.
We all know how the George Foreman thing ended – it was hot on the streets for a few years. Hell, it even got a shoutout in a very funny bit from The Office. You could grill up chicken breasts and bacon with ease, and the thing at the bottom of the grill that caught fat in a little saucer was technology that we simply could not believe was reality.
The Foreman grill was convenient. There’s no doubt about it. But it wasn’t really needed. I don’t know a soul on Earth who is still using a George Foreman in 2018 but props to him for turning a new leaf when his boxing career ended.
I mean I think if you polled most Americans right now more people would recognize him as the face of those shitty grills than as a world class athlete. So I guess what I’m getting at here is more a question than anything – is the Instant Pot worth the hype? Or alternatively, is it just another flash in the pan kitchen appliance like the George Foreman grill?
Does anyone really truly need an Instant Pot? I feel like the answer is no. Is it a nice thing to have laying around? Probably.
If you’re the owner of an Instant Pot there’s a very strong chance that you already own a Crock Pot, which is just another term for slow cooker. It is true that the IP can do so much more than the Crock Pot. You can make your own hummus or yogurt with an IP, which I can’t even lie is very intriguing to yours truly.
Why do I need a function to make my own ice cream or soy milk, though? The features on this thing are so insanely unnecessary that it makes me feel like the creators are trying to take over the world. Like they were sitting around a board room saying “Soon we’ll have people abandoning the oven, stove, and microwave in favor of the Instant Pot, and when that happens our plan for world domination will finally be set in motion.”
You can saute, roast, fry, and even bake with an Instant Pot. My question to you is are you going to make use of any of these functions? I’m intrigued by the Instant Pot. I like the idea of having all of these options inside one appliance, but I can’t help but feel like I’m going to use this puppy one or two times to make pulled pork or beef stew and then forget about it. I’m not hating on the Instant Pot. It appears to be a truly wonderful appliance, I’m just not sure I can justify getting one when the alternative is to just buy a regular ass crock pot..
Image via Youtube
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jduda@grandex.co
I have one and the best part for me is that I can make everything I would in a crockpot, but do it 10x faster in the instant pot. Makes weeknight dinners a lot easier.
I have a feeling I’m going to cave and buy one. I just feel bad turning my back on the crock pot like this
Starting the crockpot before work means there is no cooking after work, nothing is easier than that.
There is nothing better than the aroma of a Mississippi Pot Roast smacking you in the face when you walk in the door. I just don’t think you get that with the instant pot.
Yeah, it’s not exactly the same, but some stuff is mushy after leaving it in the crockpot for 8 hours. They both have their strengths for sure.
I also use it for sauteing all the time. One less thing to clean.
Absolutely worth it. Last weekend we made a beef and potato stew. Took about an hour from prep to cooked, when doing this with a normal pot would take about 3 hours. Then last night we made beef stroganoff. Took about 45 mins from start to finish and was super easy to make and clean. Meat ends up being cooked really well.
Just got an IP and works well so far. The thing that sold me was that you can throw frozen chicken in there and its done in about 20 minutes. Awesome for someone like me who isn’t a planner. Full disclosure, I don’t have a crockpot so i needed something that handle those functions also.
For $100 it may be worth the gamble
Have had one since Christmas last year. Can confirm that it is absolutely worth it. Think crock pot dinners done in 20 minutes.With all the OT that I put in and as worn out as my girlfriend and I are when we get home most nights, I’m honestly not sure how we lived without it.
Side note, have lost ~60 lbs since we started using it. Makes healthy eating much easier.
Congrats on the weight loss!! True testament to healthy eating!
It basically serves the same purpose as your crock pot, but it’s better because you can use the saute function at the beginning of your recipe to brown your meat or cook your onions, carrots, and celery, or you can use it at the end to reduce the sauce. (And yeah, you can do that in a separate pan and still use your crock pot, but that kind of defeats the one-pot premise of a crock pot recipe.) And you can cook an awesome pot of beans in less than an hour, if it’s rent week and you can’t afford any other protein.
Why is the first sentence on the InstantPot website say it’s designed by Canadians? Humble brag much?
Everyone likes Canadians
I mean, I still use George Foreman. It’s still the best thing on the planet for all my fat grilling needs.
I still use a GF too because my complex won’t let me have a grill which I’m not happy about. But I just got an Instant Pot so I probably will throw that bitch down the garbage chute now.
The crock pot has a time and a place, but the Instant Pot is clutch. So many recipes can be made in 30 minutes start to finish in that thing. It’s also helped with meal prep since I can have that going while I cook other stuff. Also makes perfect brown rice.
It took me a while to get into the instant pot as a rice cooker, what with Trader Joe’s frozen rice being ready in 3 minutes. But it puts out spectacularly fluffy rice, even at altitude. If your diet allows it, use a tablespoon of coconut oil as your fat, and you’ve got the best rice ever.
i have one and i should use it way more than i do. they’re pretty great.