Instant Pot!

[anthonyg]

I'm a fan of pressure cookers, although I use old school pressure cookers.
I like Hawkins pressure cookers. It's an old school British design that is still made and used ostensibly in India, yet is just a great design that has stood the test of time.
The main design feature of a Hawkins pressure cooker is its oval shaped lid which fits INSIDE the body of the cooker. The cooking pressure keeps the lid on, and the seals don't wear out like an outside fitting lid does. A simple weighted valve regulates pressure.
A very simple and sturdy design.
In Australia, and I guess everywhere in the Western World, you find them at Indian grocery stores.

 

[Arcy]

I'm cutting out of this thread before acute PCAS (Pressure Cooker Acquisition Syndrome) breaks out

(btw: not only does Amazon have Hawkins pressure cookers, but Instacart offered to bring me one tomorrow morning. Not that I went looking)

 

[anthonyg]

I'm cutting out of this thread before acute PCAS (Pressure Cooker Acquisition Syndrome) breaks out

(btw: not only does Amazon have Hawkins pressure cookers, but Instacart offered to bring me one tomorrow morning. Not that I went looking)

LOL. Hawkins pressure cookers are quite well priced compared to all other pressure cookers on the market.
No features, yet you get a safe, good quality product.

 

[Arcy]

LOL. Hawkins pressure cookers are quite well priced compared to all other pressure cookers on the market.

About the same price as similar sized non-electrics here.

And when I counted 3 pressure cookers earlier I didn't include the pressure canners (plural). Approaching more pressure cookers than ukes in the house!

 

[anthonyg]

About the same price as similar sized non-electrics here.

And when I counted 3 pressure cookers earlier I didn't include the pressure canners (plural). Approaching more pressure cookers than ukes in the house!

OK, well that's different from Australia. Maybe the other pressure cookers are more expensive in Australia, or the Hawkins are cheap here, yet there is a price difference in Australia.

 

[ploverwing]

And when I counted 3 pressure cookers earlier I didn't include the pressure canners (plural). Approaching more pressure cookers than ukes in the house!

I have a weighted-gauge All-American Pressure Canner/Cooker, it's cast aluminum, and it is an essential piece of equipment in this household. It has a self-seal (i.e. the lid fits inside the pot with a bevel) and has locking cogs to keep it snug. I can use it for pressure cooking but I choose not to, because I want it clean for canning, and because aluminum. My husband suggested that I could use the stainless steel pot as a liner, so if I ever have to resort to that, I will. I have three pressure cookers of the plug in variety. I like the brainlessness about them. I appreciate the simplicity of my pressure canner, it has not a lot that can go wrong with it as long as I make sure to clean the vent, and it works very well.

 

[Arcy]

Turns out we aren't suffering from as much PCAS as I thought. The stovetop pressure cooker went when the second InstantPot came in, and one of the pressure canners disappeared when the storage unit was robbed.

Counting the pressure canner is a bit disingenuous as ours is also used only for canning not cooking. It's ginormous, we don't cook quantities to justify it, and the electrics are soooooo easy.

 

[ploverwing]

It's ginormous, we don't cook quantities to justify it, and the electrics are soooooo easy.

Exactly this. Buuuut... In a pinch, we could use the canner for cooking, if necessary.

 

[Stoneyrun]

My favorite is to cook walnuts in butter in the bottom of the instant pot. Then toss in some peeled apple slices and cook under pressure until fork tender. Sprinkle with a couple pinches of sea salt and equal parts brown sugar and cinnamon. Stir. Plate it. Drizzle with caramel. Serve beside a single scoop of vanilla ice cream.

 

[Patty]

My favorite is to cook walnuts in butter in the bottom of the instant pot. Then toss in some peeled apple slices and cook under pressure until fork tender. Sprinkle with a couple pinches of sea salt and equal parts brown sugar and cinnamon. Stir. Plate it. Drizzle with caramel. Serve beside a single scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Mmmmmmm.

 

[Jimpro]

We are true believers.

How about you?

What's your favourite dish to make in the IP?
What's the most surprising thing you've made in your IP?
Do you have favourite recipe resources for the IP?

I am also a believer! I generally make stews but have also made and enjoyed risotto and even pasta with meat sauce, and pulled chicken and pulled pork. Here is a Veal stew recipe I like.

 

[ploverwing]

I am also a believer! I generally make stews but have also made and enjoyed risotto and even pasta with meat sauce, and pulled chicken and pulled pork. Here is a Veal stew recipe I like.

MMM. That looks yummy. No veal around here, though, just because we've got so much of our own meat, but that would be delicious with rabbit or duck, too (which we do have plenty of).

 

[ploverwing]

I especially like the IP for dry beans—no pre-soaking necessary, and even dry garbanzo beans are ready in under an hour.

SO MUCH THIS!! YES!!!! In fact, having beans & hammy bits turned into soup for tonight's dinner (our ham, our beans - we grow lots of weird and wonderful varieties; I wish they stayed that beautiful once cooked, sigh).

I'm most amazed at how well the IP cooks polenta

THIS TOO!!! That's interesting to use the bowl-in-pot method. I never tried that with polenta; I boil the water, ghee and a pinch of salt first, then stir in the polenta, lock things down and yummy breakfast 20-odd minutes later.

We use it to make oatmeal (with rolled oats, not quick oats) and teff (whole teff) for breakfast. Dump, turn on, hot food for breakfast. It's awesome.

 

[TimWilson]

We use it to make oatmeal (with rolled oats, not quick oats) and teff (whole teff) for breakfast. Dump, turn on, hot food for breakfast. It's awesome.

Try millet too! Now my favorite breakfast grain, and works so much better IP than stove top!

 

[ploverwing]

Try millet too! Now my favorite breakfast grain, and works so much better IP than stove top!

Are you able to obtain foxtail millet in HI? that's something I'd like to try. My Mom can't eat millet or buckwheat or barley (other stuff I do in the IP) so I'm limited to polenta, oatmeal or teff (and rice) for breakfast grains. But yes, millet is great in the IP!

 

[baconsalad]

FYI, the IP was invented by an ex-Nortel engineer from Ottawa. The IP Duo Crisp does 90% of all my cooking/baking. Rent for a 600sqft apartment in Vancouver is over $2000. My 'oven/stove' is used as cabinet/counterspace. The duo crisp is 8L, plus does air fry and sous-vide. I steam frozen dimsum, make rice/congee, airfry wings and fish 'n chips, sous vide chicken breasts, roast roasts, slow cook chashu pork belly, bake brownies, or humidify room if humidifier can't keep up.

 

[ploverwing]

Rent for a 600sqft apartment in Vancouver is over $2000

Ouch

 

[ploverwing]

the IP was invented by an ex-Nortel engineer from Ottawa.

I know, I especially love that about this appliance!

 

[TimWilson]

Are you able to obtain foxtail millet in HI? that's something I'd like to try.

I wish it weren't true, but the general answer is, "If Amazon delivers it?" And indeed they do! I've only been working with the usual from Anthony's Organic so far, and it's really good. (I buy a LOT of stuff from Anthony's Organic -- cocoa, nutritional yeast, tigernut flour, etc etc.) But I've heard good things about foxtail millet, so I think when it's time to reorder, I'll give that a try. Thanks for the reminder!

 

[Stoneyrun]

Sweet potatoes cooked whole in an instant pot. Spoon out the sweet potatoes from the skins into a mixing bowl. Add cooked crumbled bacon. Add one small drained can of sweet corn. Add a cup of chopped pecans. Stir and form patties. Fry the patties until golden brown turning over once. Add a dab of salted butter. Drizzle with maple syrup.