Have you heard of the lastest craze in the appliance arena? Instant Pots! It is like having 6 appliances in one! The Instant Pot can Saute, Steam, Cook Rice, Slow Cook, Pressure Cook, Make Yogurt with just the touch of a couple buttons! It even has a delay setting and a keep warm setting. I purchased an Instant Pot nearly 4 years ago with my birthday money and I am ever so glad I did!
Many of my friends raved about pressure cookers but I have always been scared of them! When I was young, my grandma was using a pressure cooker to make jam and her cooker exploded knocking out a tooth and covering the ceiling with jam! I decided then and there I wasn’t going to risk using one myself!
But then I started reading more and more about how much time pressure cookers could save and how delicious the food turned out. And then one fateful day I read about the new instant pots. Not only could they do just about anything, they had built in safety features that prevented them from exploding! I was sold!
Now I have found that it has a learning curve (as do most worth while things) and I am still working towards perfecting my technique. But the more I use it the better I get at it. One of the biggest things I learned was that just because a recipe says it takes “20 minutes” to cook doesn’t mean that is a real “20 minutes.” It takes time for it to come up to pressure and then you have to wait for the pressure to release at the end. I generally plan for 30 minutes more than the cooking time to account for the getting it assembled and the extra time it needs for those steps.
I regularly make yogurt, cook roasts, whole chickens, beans, “baked” potatoes and broth in it. The 8 quart stainless steel insert makes it super easy to clean and impermeable to absorbing the smells of the different foods I cook in it. It has earned a permanent spot on my kitchen counter.
I love how easy it is to make yogurt! You just pour in the milk and push the yogurt button until it reads boil. After it beeps you open the lid and let it cool down to 115 degrees, add the yogurt culture, put the lid back on and push the yogurt button again setting the timer for at least 8 hours (more if you like it tarter) and leave it until it beeps again! It maintains the temperature at the perfect temperature creating wonderful creamy yogurt for 1/3 the price at the store.
So if you are looking for a workhorse in your kitchen for just over $100 I would highly recommend an Instant Pot! I bought mine at Amazon and the link will take you there.
Let me know if you have any specific questions I can answer!
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