Recs for slow cooker?

[elephantmeg]

What is the inside of the lid of the Instant Pot made of? Plastic or stainless or?????? They sound intriguing.

the lid is stainless with a clear plastic/rubber? gasket that seals it for pressure. The outside of it is plastic but no plastic touches the food. I used the slow cooker function yesterday and it did great. I actually used it 3 times in a row-made a slow cooker chicken in it, stuck it in a covered bowl to keep warm, then pressured some apples (15 min of steam function with some cinnamon and a touch of sugar=completely mushy apples which is the way my family likes them) and then dumped them into a bowl and made rice. The rice turned out amazing too!

[94bruin]

I am totally intrigued by the Instant Pot. Where's the best place to purchase? Is it available at a B&M store?

How does the rice turn out? We are picky about rice, lol! If this could replace my rice cooker, it'd be great to have one less appliance (this 6 or 7 in 1 unit vs slow cooker & separate rice cooker.)

[elephantmeg]

I got mine on amazon. I've not seen it IRL but I also haven't been anywhere besides costco/walmart/food lion in a LONG time. I'm not picky about my rice but it does have instructions for every type of rice. I just stuck regular white rice in and hit the rice button and it came out like Chinese restaurant rice.

[DualvansMommy]

I got mine on amazon. I've not seen it IRL but I also haven't been anywhere besides costco/walmart/food lion in a LONG time. I'm not picky about my rice but it does have instructions for every type of rice. I just stuck regular white rice in and hit the rice button and it came out like Chinese restaurant rice.

I saw two different versions. which one did you get?

http://www.amazon.com/Instant-Pot-IP...ds=instant+pot

or http://www.amazon.com/Instant-Pot-IP...ds=instant+pot

seems the first one is a newer version with 7 programmable options as opposed to just 6 for the second link. I'm very intrigued! i have a old rice cooker that's sitting in my lazy susan, i didn't want to buy another big appliance that just only have one function.

think i'm gonna bite the bullet and buy this one today

[elephantmeg]

the first one

[AustenFan]

This looks like it could be the one for me. As I wouldn't feel too guilty over spending on an applicance that I don't use often. If it breaks down or turns out to be disappointing, the price would be easier to swallow vs the one i was considering over in WS.

Can you brown/saute your meat in that though? i only just looked at it briefly, so i'll have to look more info up.



i love the fact you can saute and brown your meat in it as opposed to using a pan and putting it all in the cooker.

I don't brown my meat ahead of time, but no, the insert of the Hamilton Beach is ceramic, so I wouldn't use it on the stovetop.

[WatchingThemGrow]

Yes again to the instant pot. The Instant Pot is to slow cookers as The Advantium Oven is to microwaves. It just blows ALL the others out of the water. I have the older one, and am jealous of the yogurt and multigrain buttons on the new one.

Thanks for the blog posts, PP. I want to read up. My recent IP rut is to chop all the leftover veggies from my CSA box, toss them in with some broth and whatever random meat (cooked or not) from the freezer, push the soup button and call a kid to set the table. Then I sit down, enjoy some water and watch a show on the TV.

Or...on a snow day or rainy day when the DC are playing, I can fly through recipes just making whatever we have into prepared food so I don't have to cook at all. Because it's so easy and quick, I love making batches of potato soup to hand out to all our elderly neighbors.

[klwa]

*laughs* And here I love my plain old Crock Pot. http://www.target.com/p/crock-pot-6-...Fa_m7AodbysAUw Not programmable, no bells and whistles, just cooks all day while I'm gone.

[123LuckyMom]

What do you use/ make it daily if not using the slow cooker feature?

I use mine as a steamer every day and as a rice cooker. I have used it as a pressure cooker with a couple of good results and some not great ones. Like everything else, I need to find my go to recipes. I still use it daily, though, and I'm really glad I bought it!

ETA: the lid is stainless on the inside with a silicone gasket. The outside had plastic. I have the 7 mode one that can make yogurt, but I've never done it.

[larig]

I saw two different versions. which one did you get?

http://www.amazon.com/Instant-Pot-IP...ds=instant+pot

or http://www.amazon.com/Instant-Pot-IP...ds=instant+pot

seems the first one is a newer version with 7 programmable options as opposed to just 6 for the second link. I'm very intrigued! i have a old rice cooker that's sitting in my lazy susan, i didn't want to buy another big appliance that just only have one function.

think i'm gonna bite the bullet and buy this one today

I have the 7. It was released last fall. I believe the gasket is silicone. It does not touch food. You'll love it. Get the 7.

ETA: I wish I could tell you about the rice cooker, but I've never used it for that, because we have a zojirushi that I'm in love with. I will tell you it makes fantastic yogurt. You can steam your containers in it for it too to sterilize them