Insta is one of the few I felt wasn’t as gimmicky as the air fryers and all the other fads. Works as a pressure cooker. I think they went bankrupt, though. Don’t know how. Seems like they were a great seller.
I recently read an article that said (or implied heavily) that they were in financial trouble because the product is too good. Although they may not last as long as a purely mechanical stovetop pressure cooker, they seem to be pretty sturdy and most of the people who want one have now gotten one, and it’s still working for them. Mine was a work anniversary gift in 2012 and I’ve never had a problem with it. So now they’re at the phase where they’re essentially waiting on new people to grow up and want one.
OTOH, I’ve gotten 2 of them in boxed, brand new condition at the Humane Society thrift for 2 of my daughters for $11-$14 each, and there’s another one there waiting for someone to buy it (edit - 3rd daughter says she doesn’t want one), so I guess a fair number of people either get them as unwanted gifts or buy one and then decide they don’t want to mess with it.
My most frequent use is for cooking down bones into stocks - a huge improvement for me vs. 18-20 hours on the stove because I’m not very attentive and often ended up with an accidental boil that clouded the stock with fat. Then I’d have to make the egg white “raft” thing to clarify it. With the IP, as long as you let it come down from pressure on its own, it can’t boil. But I do also use it a lot for pulled pork (as I’ve mentioned before, “Don’t tell my Texan friends”), oxtail and goat meat stews, both Indian style like curry/vindaloo and West African/Haitian style.
I’ve tried an all-in-one linguine and Italian sausage dish (analogous to what @mts mentions) and it was pretty good but not as good as it would have been stovetop. I’d like to see what Chris at Milk Street did because I’m betting his version (whatever it was) would be far better than what I made.
I still don’t own one; but I use one at school and am always impressed how easy it is to use and how nicely it works. Safer than old school pressure cookers, IMHO.
A good bone broth is a heavenly thing. I’ve got a mess of oxtails I’ve been meaning to braise. Maybe I’ll go to school to do it and see that sucker in action.
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