Zojirushi or Instant Pot?

[123LuckyMom]

I got a Zojirushi rice cooker and steamer for Christmas, but as I've been reading the directions, I think it's not what I want. We eat brown rice, wild rice and wild rice mixes, quinoa, basmati, and jasmine in that order of frequency. Occasionally, we'll have something like Uncle Ben's or a Spanish rice with oil, spices, and beans. Very rarely, I'll use a box rice with the packet of spices. I steam fresh veggies daily.

I'm replacing my old, super cheap rice cooker that I basically used as an extra pot for rice or steaming veggies. I thought the Zojirushi would cook rice (all types) quickly and easily without burning the rice at the bottom of the pot, but the cooking times are LONG, longer than on the stove, you have to use their measurements, they want you to wash the rice, which removes a lot of nutrients, and they say not to use oil! It seems like the veggie steaming times are also complex.

The Instant Pot seems to be a do-it-all machine that cooks rice FAST! It seems it might be able to handle a box rice with a packet, but I don't know. I've never used a pressure cooker before, and I'd have no clue about adjusting water or timing. The Instant Pot is also a slow cooker, which I don't have. I'm tempted to exchange my Zojirushi, but since I've never used either, I just don't know.

Do you have any advice about which I should choose? I'm also tempted to just buy another cheapy, uncomplicated rice cooker/steamer and use the credit from these expensive machines to buy other stuff. WWYD?

ETA: We only eat poultry, fish, and seafood, so we don't make stuff like pulled pork or chili that's so popular in a slow cooker, if that matters.

[hellokitty]

It sounds like you need an instapost more than the zoji (rice cooker).

[MMMommy]

Not familiar with Instapot, but I do love my Zojirushi rice cooker. I use it almost daily, mainly for white long grain rice and calrose rice. We are Asian, so rice is a staple. Making rice without a rice cooker would be a challenge for me. I love the convenience of Zojirushi's quick cook and timer functions. Rice will be done at whatever time I need it to be done. I do rinse the rice (white rice needs the rinse), and I use the quick finger test for how much water. You just stick your middle finger touching the surface of the rice and make sure the water reaches the first line segment on your middle finger (first line segment from the tip). The quick cook function on mine takes about 25 min. Regular cook prob takes 40 min, I think.

[123LuckyMom]

25 minutes is reasonable, but I'm concerned about the washing and the differing kinds of rice I like to make. I feel like the Zojirushi is really for Asian rice and food and not as versatile. I'm just torn, because I'm scared of the Instant Pot, because I've never used a pressure cooker, and since I will be using it often for rice, I want to know that it makes good rice! Ugh. I can be so indecisive about stuff like this!!!

[hellokitty]

You are right. The instapot is very versatile. I had one from amazon that I ended up returning, b/c it was faulty. HOWEVER, I am a traditional over-the-stove pressure cooker user and I think it is great that they have counter top versions. In fact, our asian rice pot IS a pressure cooker as well. However, the instapots can do all sorts of things, including rice, and you are right, rice cookers are good at making asian rice. Even though my cuckoo rice cooker is also a pressure cooker, I've never used it for cooking other non-grains, b/c we need it for it's rice cooking. However, if I were in your shoes, I really feel that the instapot sounds ideal and I would not hestitate to get one, except that I already have a rice cooker and I already have a pressure cooker. The only downfall of the instapot type of pressure cooker is that it may not offer as much pressure as a stove top version. This basically applies to meats, but you can get around it, by cooking it longer. I think that there is only one instapot (maybe cuisinart?) whose pressure feature is as high as the stove top version.

[athompson]

25 minutes is reasonable, but I'm concerned about the washing and the differing kinds of rice I like to make. I feel like the Zojirushi is really for Asian rice and food and not as versatile. I'm just torn, because I'm scared of the Instant Pot, because I've never used a pressure cooker, and since I will be using it often for rice, I want to know that it makes good rice! Ugh. I can be so indecisive about stuff like this!!!

I completely understand being scared of the Instant Pot. That is the only reason I haven't purchased one. I just bought one for my sister for Christmas and she loves it. I have heard that they offer terrific customer service and will walk you through the steps if you have any trouble at all. They want people to be able to use their product and then recommend it to others. I'd get the Instant Pot and return the Zojirushi.

[TwinFoxes]

Whether or not you get an Instant Pot, it sounds like the Zojirushi is definitely not something you need, so I'd return that regardless.

FWIW, I totally plan to get an instant pot, but the new model is coming out soon, so I'm waiting.

[123LuckyMom]

Whether or not you get an Instant Pot, it sounds like the Zojirushi is definitely not something you need, so I'd return that regardless.

FWIW, I totally plan to get an instant pot, but the new model is coming out soon, so I'm waiting.

Oh, that's good to know! Maybe I'll just return the Zojirushi and wait. Do you know when it's coming out and what the new features will be?

[TwinFoxes]

Oh, that's good to know! Maybe I'll just return the Zojirushi and wait. Do you know when it's coming out and what the new features will be?

It's supposed to come out at the end of January. From what I can remember, it will now make yogurt (which sounds like a joke, but I swear it's not!) And it has some design improvements, which I don't remember...something about condensation. It's now the 7 in 1, since it makes yogurt. I found a coupon somewhere, let me see if I can dig it up (I'll post in Bargains too).

ETA:
OK, I found the discount, $50 off. It's through this site:
http://www.hippressurecooking.com/pr...re-cooker-lid/

When you click on the Instant Pot link through Hip Pressure Cooking's site, it takes you to a "special" that includes a clear lid. But you can actually use the $50 off coupon on any of the pots. i skipped the glass lid, and my pot was $119. The glass lid isn't much money, I figure if I am dying for one, I'll just buy one later.

There's also info on pressure cooking, and a video that shows the differences between the soon-to-be-released Instant Pot, and the previous version. I have to say, I'm quite excited! The woman who runs the site/does the video is engaging I think.

BTW, the Instant Pot site is a little weird, but it works fine. It looks like it's not asking for payment, but then it takes you to PayPal.

[magnoliaparadise]

Hi,
New to this thread and slow cookers in general, but a quick question - why does everyone say that they are scared of Instant Pot? Are they hard to use?