Yes, it has a very good seal, or it wouldn’t be a pressure cooker. The silicon sealing ring can get flabby over time, and having another one handy is recommended by many reviewers. It does seem to have a wide range of temps, yes, including a keep warm setting when it turns off after the timed cooking has stopped whether slow cooking mode or pressure cooking.
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Yes to both of those presumptions. I have not yet needed to replace the silicone gasket – I’ve had my Instant Pot for almost a year, and use it on a weekly basis.
Depending on the model, they have different pre-programmed settings and capabilities. The DUO model can even be used for sous vide, since you can set it to hold at a specific temperature.
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Oops, meant to say the “Smart” model, not Duo.
Thanks everyone. For awhile, I just thought it is one of those shiny gimmick gadgets, but many of you have convinced me otherwise. I personally probably won’t need one due to my cooking pattern. However, it is good to know what this is.
Keep the advises coming.
Lots of cool uses mentioned upthread!
I’ve used mine for risotto (never doing stovetop again), steel-cut oatmeal (no stirring needed!), tomato sauce, and lots of beans. It makes brown rice better than I’m able to on the stove, and frees up a burner to boot.
The major caveat is that recipes are often deceptive when they extoll the virtues of the quick cooking. A “Five minute soup!” might take 5 minutes to cook, but it will take several minutes to come up to pressure, and if it needs to reduce pressure naturally, can take 10-15 more minutes. From start to finish, steel cut oats take about the same amount of time on the stove and in the pressure cooker. The advantage is you don’t need to stir anything, which is perfect for getting ready in the morning. The disadvantage is the cleanup is worse.
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I’ve had one for almost a month and love it. My first meal was bbq ribs and potato salad (HB eggs and potatoes cooking in the PC separately).
Perfect HB eggs that peel like a dream and the potatoes full of flavor. Plus one pot to clean for the whole meal!
Buffalo-ish chicken wings were falling off the bone tender and juicy. Skin doesn’t fare well but it’s not disgusting. Wonderful pot roast, stuffed Cornish hen and last night made “packets”. One packet of sliced zucchini & carrots, one packet of BLSL chicken breast with goat cheese and a spicy jam. Cooked both at once for 9 minutes. Had salad and a microwave mixed grain package ready in that amount of time so dinner was served within 20 min. of starting to cook!
This has been a game changer for me since my commute makes for a very long day. I’ll appreciate it even more in the summer since it doesn’t heat up my west facing kitchen which feels like the depths of hell in July.
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Just bought one and have made two meals with it. First one was braised pork carnitas. Not true carnitas, these are braised in chicken stock with tomatoes, onions bell peppers and mexi spices. It’s a recipe I love when done in a dutch oven, but takes 4 hours. It is rich and delicious and I always want more. In the PC the flavors were muted and you get no carmelization. It was OK, but was disappointed and was thinking of sending the thing back. I did some reading I used more chicken broth than I should have and didn’t realize that many PC meat braise recipes call for putting the meat under the broiler for 10 to 15 minutes to get the carmelization. I did do that to the left overs and they were better. I may also have over cooked the meat. The timing said 50 minutes and I went Tim Taylor and said if 50 is good 60 will be better. But after more reading it was clear with 2 inch cubes 30 was probably plenty. Certainly will try it again. Especially after the success that was attempt number two.
Attempt number 2 was this recipe from Serious Eats, http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2015/04/pressure-cooker-fast-and-easy-chicken-chile-verde-recipe.html
Followed the recipe fairly close. I added beans that I’d cooked in teh PC, which turned out great. The only issue was there wasn’t enough liquid for it to pressurize. It was a bit unnerving when after the saute part, put the lid on and set it to pressurize and the valve doesn’t pop indicating it’s good to go before the counter goes off. I reset it and the second time it didn’t pressurize. Head scratching and mild muttering under the breath and then I remember reading that it may not pressurize if there isn’t enough liquid. I added some bean slurry, reset and off it went. This was truly delicious. Could have been spicier and needed a bit of acid. I’m a Tobassco fan and that did the trick nicely.
I’m looking forward to trying more things and do like that it is a multi function device.
Ha. I do that from time to time too.
Melissa Clark yesterday reviewed the Instant Pot in the NYT and posted some good-looking recipes as well. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/31/dining/instant-pot-electric-pressure-cooker-recipes.html?&moduleDetail=section-news-0&action=click&contentCollection=Food®ion=Footer&module=MoreInSection&version=WhatsNext&contentID=WhatsNext&pgtype=article
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How dilute is the oatmeal? I’ve found that in a regular pot, unless I have a very high water to oatmeal ratio, I end up having to stir quite frequently because of oatmeal settling at the bottom.
I cooked it for 10 minutes, so that it wasn’t too creamy, and found there wasn’t much excess moisture. I used 3 part water to 1 part oatmeal. You need to grease the top of the cooking vessel so that there’s not excessive foaming.
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I got one several months ago, and tried it out in several applications. I thought it was less than mediocre and returned it.
You felt that it was mediocre for a pressure cooker or that it, as a pressure cooker, was mediocre compared to your regular methods of cooking?
I think that New York Times article cited above is a fair characterization of the pros and cons. I currently cook a lot of legumes, so it’s a game changer for me however, it would’ve been useless to me when I was cooking differently.
I think it is a poor pressure cooker. It’s a one stop shop that does everything poorly. And it burned a crust on the inside every time, no matter the adjustment. That’s about all I remember at this time since I didn’t take notes. It performed so poorly that I returned it after a half dozen test uses.
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Burned? Sounds like yours might have been defective. Wondering what you cooked?
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Might have been vegetables with a high sugar content…Lorna Sass deals with this problem in her recipes by specifying that those ingredients are put in the pot last and not stirred.
Do you find her recipes reliable? I am pondering entering this whole pressure cooker world as I want a better way to cook big pots of beans from scratch.
I’ve been a fan of hers since the late '80’s/early '90’s. Her Ecological Kitchen had a big influence on me when it came out.
I’ve looked at 8 or so newer PC cookbooks over the last month. Lorna’s Pressure Perfect had the most concise info - allowing one to understand the process and be able to adapt recipes. I learned much more from her book than any of the others. Each recipe gives several flavor or protein adaptations and tips (if using frozen meat, electric vs stove top PC adjustments, etc.). So far this is the only book I’m interested in purchasing…but the library is holding a few more for me!
I’ve made 3 recipes from that book with slight variations. The methods and timing have been spot on. The pot roast recipe and chicken “packet” idea I’ll be using again. The Cornish hen flavors weren’t to my taste but the proportions and timing were perfect and I’ll adjust it to my liking.
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I bought one for my daughter over a year ago. She just had the courage to pull it out. I keep getting reports of nice meals from the IP. I would have bought one for myself but I have a stove top and if I put anything else on the counter top i was threatened with divorce. Well not exactly but I got those eyes
Finally. 
So what you are saying is that you are a better father to your daughter, than your wife to you. 
Wow, one stone, two birds… what a double attack.
I have a stovetop pressure cooker, and I realized that (beside the first couple months) I have always used it as a regular big pot without the pressurizing.
