Does anyone DISLIKE the Instant Pot? Why?

[mikala]

I adore mine. There was definitely a learning curve and I was flat out terrified of the pressure release at first but I use it several times a week now. I don't use mine for time savings as much as the ability to walk away without frequently stirring or checking on the meal. The dinner witching hour is real at my house so I have a hard time standing at the stove to cook but I can do the instant pot. I'll sometimes load it up whenever I have time, pressure cook, then leave on slow cook until dinner. I use it for soups, hard boiled eggs, meats like cubano sandwiches, pulled pork or shredded chicken.

To the point about the included cooking instructions contradicting common recipes...well...the few recipes I cooked from the included book didn't turn out especially well so I've switched to cookbooks and bloggers anyway. I'm careful when I release pressure and do it really slowly.

[JustMe]

I have had mine a couple of years and am still on the fence. We are vegetarian and I have the Vegan under Pressure books as well as a few others. I joined the fb group a while back, but it overwhelms me so I don't visit there. There are a few recipes I like, but in general I find one thing I don't like is I dont like mushy veggies. For example, I love stir frys and prefer that to the mushy mixed in veggies the IP produces. I do think it is great for things like soup, so when I have time I want to go find a couple of veggie soup recipes that work well with the IP.

[Globetrotter]

I’m A huge fan. It may not be faster than a traditional pressure cooker, though I find for beans it’s much more efficient than my old pressure cooker, but you don’t have to watch it, and that is huge to me, and I can sauté in the same pot. I use the Facebook pages to get recipes. I haven’t even used the manual for recipes. There’s a bit of a learning curve initially, but it’s not hard and the FB pages have been quite valuable - as long as you follow the same steps you should get similar results. And since We have the same device, I find I get better results from following IP recipes, which is good for people like me who are not great cooks. If you don’t want to join a Facebook page, though I highly recommend doing so, just Google whatever recipe you want and instant pot and recipes will come up. For example, minestrone soup instant pot. We are vegetarian and I use it almost daily, Sometimes a few times a day.
I started a WhatsApp group for my friends and we post to that And give each other ideas.

[MommyAllison]

This is my experience. I haven't had any recipes not work except for a chicken and rice recipe that was like three times as much rice as anyone needs. But, I've had recipes not work on my stove, and I haven't thrown it away or stopped using it. I got my IP in January 2014, before all the mega-hype there is today. I probably just expected a small appliance, not a miracle worker.

I'm a big soup fan, maybe that's why I like it so much. Black bean soup in 1/2 an hour from dry beans. And no matter what, I always have chicken breasts and salsa on hand, so on any day I can have salsa chicken on the table in 30 minutes without worrying about being interrupted to stir or anything else while with my kids. And if the timer goes off, I don't have to jump up and turn it off immediately, it goes into warm. Five years ago when I had two five year olds, OMG it was my dream come true.

Ooh which black bean soup recipe do you use?

[ArizonaGirl]

I have an amazing vegetarian Southwest lentil dish in the IP, it's one of my favorites.

https://www.platingsandpairings.com/...ls-brown-rice/

OMG so good with cheese and sour cream, or not if vegan.

Delish

[TwinFoxes]

Ooh which black bean soup recipe do you use?

I feel like I posted before. I will look for it. At this point I don't really use a recipe, I just throw stuff into the pot! The keys for me are lots of cumin, garlic, and smoked paprika.

ETA: I found the one I use as a "base". Again, I add much more cumin (I love cumin) garlic and I think maybe a 1/2-1 tsp of smoked (not sweet) paprika. The step of removing like 1/2 a cup of the beans, using an immersion blender on the remainder, and stirring the whole beans back in can be skipped if you're not in the mood. I just use the immersion blender to get the consistency I like. (I like to chew beans, I don't like it super smooth.) I don't think I pressure cook them for an hour. I'm pretty sure I do 30 minutes, I like firmer beans.
https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/...3?soc=sharepin

ETA2: Just to make sure I wasn't crazy, I checked another recipe. Bon Appetite says cook them for 20 minutes. I think I've used this one before too. (not vegan).
https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/in...lack-bean-soup

[Melaine]

I love mine so much and I have had it for over 3 years now. I recently bought a second and you would be surprised how often I use them both side by side! Two soups, bone broth in one, dinner in the other, rice in one, meat in the other. I have had friends who didn't like it but I just don't get it!

[Myira]

I just came across this Indian IP cookbook while looking at books on amazon https://www.amazon.com/dp/0399582630...ustomerReviews

I don't own this cookbook but I have made several recipes from her youtube channel ministryofcurry and they have always turned out good. She is not vegan or even vegetarian and I'm dairy-free so I substitute with non-dairy alternatives when required.

[legaleagle]

One ingredient that’s good for all cooking but invaluable for the instant pot is better than bouillon broth concentrate. Since you use much less liquid, you don’t get as much broth flavor as a traditional recipe than concentrates flavors. Since it’s a paste/gloppy consistency, you can easily add to taste at any point in the cooking process to adjust flavors.

I think it tastes better than packaged stock as well, and is a great bargain particularly if you get at Costco.

[MommyAllison]

I feel like I posted before. I will look for it. At this point I don't really use a recipe, I just throw stuff into the pot! The keys for me are lots of cumin, garlic, and smoked paprika.

ETA: I found the one I use as a "base". Again, I add much more cumin (I love cumin) garlic and I think maybe a 1/2-1 tsp of smoked (not sweet) paprika. The step of removing like 1/2 a cup of the beans, using an immersion blender on the remainder, and stirring the whole beans back in can be skipped if you're not in the mood. I just use the immersion blender to get the consistency I like. (I like to chew beans, I don't like it super smooth.) I don't think I pressure cook them for an hour. I'm pretty sure I do 30 minutes, I like firmer beans.
https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/...3?soc=sharepin

ETA2: Just to make sure I wasn't crazy, I checked another recipe. Bon Appetite says cook them for 20 minutes. I think I've used this one before too. (not vegan).
https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/in...lack-bean-soup

Thank you! It's going on the menu for next week