Can’t argue with that. That is the LCD I mention.
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It’s an electric pressure cooker. Things that wouldn’t come out well in a stovetop pressure cooker probably won’t come out well in the Instant Pot either.
I got one because I use a stove top pressure cooker to make lentils and beans (mostly Indian style), goat and broth/soup. We eat Indian style beans and lentils a couple times a week. I liked the idea of not having to monitor and babysit the stove top one. For my purposes, it’s great. I’m not a huge slow cooker user (I use mine 2-3x/year) so I haven’t attempted using that setting, and honestly probably won’t use it.
Looking at reviews online, a lot of the people complaining about it are trying to make foods I would never do in a pressure cooker. Like one woman said she hated it because she tried to make a cake in it and it came out dense. No idea why anyone would even attempt to cook cake in a pressure cooker.
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" It’s really a pressure cooker"
Tell them (below) that!!!
As I stated above, great for a busy mom/dad needing to prepare
dinner in a limited amount of time … but that’s about it
IMO a very expensive rice / bean cooker
ps that said my cousin who has works in the food/ wine industry in CA
and knows her way around the kitchen loves it because she has a family
and very little time to prepare meals at home on week nights
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I paid $79 for my Duo Plus Instant Pot during the Cyber Monday sale. I paid $65 for my Fagor stove top pressure cooker, so it wasn’t really much more for the Instant Pot. I have a separate fuzzy logic rice cooker.
We’re Indian, and Indians are big on pressure cookers and rice cookers because many Indian foods come out better in a pressure cooker, and we eat rice multiple times a week. 
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I should have clarified the point of my response which was really in response to what JMF posted.
Why should he or anyone else expect anything but great results when using the instant pot for more than just a pressure cooker considering how it is advertised and how it has and still is being reviewed.
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Understood. I saw you had replied to my post so I thought your post was directed to me.
I agree with you – it’s a pressure cooker. I don’t understand the people trying to make things that aren’t pressure cooker friendly, like cake, and then complaining the IP sucks. 
"I don’t understand the people trying to make things that aren’t pressure cooker friendly, like cake, and then complaining the IP sucks. "
Because it is being advertised as being capable of doing so much more! 
I’m referring to the Duo!
By the way, I have several pressure cookers and use them as needed. The Instant Pot Duo was, for me, a piece of garbage. It didn’t pressure cook well, crock pot cook, or rice cook. Cheap junk.
I have 2 stove top Fagors, which only got used when I was making something that really needed pressure (dried kidney beans, goat, etc). For everything else, I’d just cook in a pot for a long time until done. But I don’t make things like pot roast and I have stew maybe once a year, if not longer. My pressure cooking is almost always for Indian foods, like dal makhani, kidney beans, goat curry, etc. For those types of foods, the IP works really well. I did red beans in it for red beans and rice, and those came out nicely as well. I don’t really understand using it for spaghetti, cake, risotto, etc. But for Indian foods, it’s great! 
Doing goat curry this weekend, so I’m excited to see how it works for that.
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Since this thread seems to have migrated to the merits of pressure cookers in general, I’ll throw in that Ming Tsai recommended them for pot roast on his show, and Jacques Pepin demonstrated using them for chili. He discussed high altitude cooking as regards dried beans, explaining that they don’t soften enough if cooked in a regular pot at altitude.
I bought an IP on sale in late 2015 but haven’t opened the box. I really should, since pressure cooking uses less power and, in summer, doesn’t heat up the kitchen as much as stovetop cooking does.
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I think you guys all nailed it. Instant pot is nothing but an electric cooker (function in pressurized and non-pressurized modes). There is nothing special beyond this. It is helpful that it is programmable, so you don’t have to babysit it. However, it cannot do the impossible. Like you said, if it tastes nasty on a stovetop pressure cooker, then it will still taste nasty in an electric pressure cooker.
It is really a product for busy people who wants to do slow cooker and pressure cooker.
I have zero problem with a pressurized electric cookers. Unfortunately, some people describe the Instant Pots like some Holy relics which can save the day. They usually become a faith-based discussions. Let’s just say that you can never debate religion with people.
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I bought a mini Instant Pot to do three things, two of which it is suited for. I have an AirBNB in my home. Private third floor suite and have offered a cold Continental-style breakfast since day 1. But winters are cold here in Boston and the Chinese want a warm breakfast. So, I use my Instant Pot to make Chicken or Vegetable Congee and Irish Oatmeal for my guests who want a hot breakfast.
The Instant Pot is well suited to the task. I weigh the ingredients the night before, get them into the pot in the morning, and push the right buttons at 7AM. Breakfast is ready at 8:30, and the warming function means that guests can come down whenever.
The third task was making rice for a Korean breakfast of rice with banchan. I didn’t like the texture, the warming function just dried out the rice, so I now do that on the stovetop. Very few folks have ordered this breakfast, so it has not been onerous.
My daughter who is a very good cook has a full sized instant pot and at least two meals per week come out of it. They are stew like dishes, well suited for the Instant Pot. With a 19-mo old, trying to finish her doctoral thesis, and manage life in general, it has been a great help.
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I have a Duo and its a LOT better and easier to use than my Fagor. Its not cheap junk, IMO.
But I am horrfiedly amused at the IP Facebook page …
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Thought I’d let everyone know that the goat turned out great. I had bone in pieces cut into 2" pieces. I cooked it on high pressure for 45 minutes, and it came out super tender. After the 45 minutes, I quick released the pressure, and added some cubed potatoes and then cooked it on Saute for about 10 minutes to cook the potatoes through. It sat for about an hour on Warm after cooking until it was time to eat.
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Did you “fry” spices first (and did you do that step in the IP?), then add the goat? I find that that (plus chopping onions, garlic, ginger, etc.) to be the time consuming stage. The actual cooking, on a slow simmer, does take time, but it’s entirely unattended. (The most useful burner on my stove is for me not so much the high heat one, but the lowest. My food improved significantly after we got a stove with one burner that can be lowered to the point that it’s barely on.)
I do agree, though, that if you want to bring the curry to the table quickly, the reduction in cooking time is worth it.
Yes, i did everything on the Saute function. The onions/spices aka the masala took about 15 minutes on the “more” saute function. Then i added the meat, sauteed for a couple minutes to seal the outsides, and then added rhe water.
We’ve always made goat/mutton in a pressure cooker. In my family, no one simmers it for hours on a stove. Everyone uses a pressure cooker, even my mother in law in India.
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Yes “everyone” (almost) does use a pressure cooker these days in India – starting around the 1950s/1960s. Prior to that, though, the only option was the long-simmer.
I’ve often wondered what textural differences you get between long, slow cooking and short pressure cooking. It would seem (without having done a side-by-side test) that pressure cooking leads to mushier textures of beans, meat, etc., than a long simmer.
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I only recently started using a pressure cooker again (about 2 years ago). I actually had one blow up on me about 5 years ago (not literally on me, but in my kitchen). I was cooking kidney beans and somehow the valve got blocked, and the cooker built up too much pressure and exploded. Luckily, no one was in the kitchen at the time, but I had beans everywhere, and the lid cracked a couple of my kitchen floor tiles when it landed on the ground. I was always good about checking the valve before using it each time, and I’m still not sure how the valve got blocked, but it was practically sealed in place when I checked it after the blowup.
So for a long time, I didn’t use a pressure cooker because I was a little scared off. I was slow cooking everything on the stove or in my slow cooker. But, I lead a busy life, and I have things to do – I don’t have 3-4 hours to watch goat curry simmer on the stove, or getting home at 6pm and then spend 2 hours making dal that takes 20 minutes in the pressure cooker. I did it for a long time because I was hesitant to use a pressure cooker again, but a couple years ago, I decided it was time to get over my fear and get another pressure cooker since Indian foods do well in a PC. I’m very careful about checking both the sealing rings and valves before I start cooking (although I did that the day my cooker exploded too).
Texture wise, if your food is getting overly mushy in a pressure cooker, then you’re cooking it too long. I’ve had dal turn into puree a couple times because I overcooked it, but for the most part, I know my timings and just set a timer or keep an eye on the clock. The Instant Pot makes that part easier because it stops pressuring at whatever time you set it for. But with dals, you want the lentils to be mushy because that’s where the consistency comes from. Otherwise, you’ve got watery lentils.
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I think you are right. Pressure cooking can definitely speed up the cooking. However, let’s get back to the basic. Pressure cooking is about heating the water higher than its normal boiling point (110-120oC). Where as the long simmering cooking is about cooking at 85-95oC. This can yield some difference.
Afterall, we know that is true for baking too and other form of stovetop cookings. Baking at a higher temperature for a shorter duration is not always the same as a lower temperature for a longer duration. There are some “translation”, but not exact.
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I don’t own one but am a fan of pressure cooking where applicable. The IP is just not applicable to every meal option
