You may be thinking, “What IS an Instant Pot, April?” You may also be wondering if I’m getting paid to promote their product. Nope, not a cent. I just love it that much and want to make sure you hear about it. I had never even heard of it until Predominantly Paleo posted it on her Facebook page several months ago!
An Instant Pot is a programmable pressure cooker. And It. Is. Awesome.
Absolutely simple to program. You can use the preset programs or use it manually.
It cooks meals that normally take all day in a very short period of time. It infuses flavor, it tenderizes, you can saute in it, you can cook rice in it, you can steam things, you can make soup, stew, ribs, sauces, you can also use it as a slow cooker, and you can even use it to make yogurt! It’s only as limited as your imagination. And if you’re not the imaginative type, there’s Instant Pot Cookbooks and bloggers who will do the imagining part for you.
One of the best things about the Instant Pot is that it’s not terrifying and unpredictable like the old-fashioned pressure cookers.
A removable stainless steel inner pot that is a cinch to clean.
The 6 quart retails for about $235.00 but the good news is that it goes on sale on Amazon during special events. I purchased mine for about $99 last summer during Prime Days. They were also just recently on sale again on Amazon for Black Friday and I believe my sister-in-law was able to get one for around $83.00. A steal! And knowing what I know now after using it for a few dishes, I would have gladly paid the $235.00.
One tiny flick of the finger and it’s simple to release the steam valve.
It cooks a whole chicken in 25 minutes folks. Twenty five minutes. I did one a couple of weeks ago and it made such moist and tender sandwich meat. I also used the meat in a pasta dish, and a salad meal. I made French Dips last night, in fact I made them last week too. I didn’t have to worry about getting the roast browned in a separate pan and then transferring it to a crockpot by at least noon so it would have time to cook and tenderize by dinner and not taste like shoe leather either.
We ran errands most of the afternoon. We got home at 4:45, I browned the 2.5 lb roast right inside the Instant Pot. When was the last time you were able to do that in a crock pot?
Never.
When browning I place the Instant Pot on top of my stove under the fan. When it’s browned on all sides, I move the pot back to the counter and add the remaining ingredients.
Then I added 32 ounces of beef broth, half an onion, some herbs and sea salt, and set the timer for 45 minutes.
I buttered and seasoned a few gluten free buns to be broiled at the last minute.
Then I went up stairs and took a 35 minute bath. Seriously. That easy.
Right when I was coming downstairs, the timer went off, but I don’t have to worry because it kicks into warm mode immediately and continues tenderizing. So I popped the buns under the broiler, and with one flick let the steam safely out of the Instant Pot. If you don’t want your house to smell like dinner (I don’t know why you wouldn’t…but anyhoo), you can simply carry the pot outside to your back porch and release the steam there.
Once it stopped steaming, I removed the lid to see this tender and flavorful beauty.
We sliced it up, built our sandwiches, dished out the au jus, and that was that. SO. Incredibly. Easy. And tender and juicy! All things it would not have been had I cooked it in a crock pot for 45 minutes.
I’ve also made bone broth twice. The first time I did 3 roasted chicken carcasses. 2 hours flat. A far cry from 48 hours in a crock pot and it didn’t permeate our house with the smell of cooked flesh. The Instant Pot makes the most gelatinous bone broth I’ve ever been able to achieve. I’ve been making it semi regularly for almost 4 years, so that’s saying something.
For those of you who are new to bone broth, the gelling happens when it’s been cooled. When you heat it and drink it or use it in recipes, it tastes like broth and has the consistency of broth. The reason we get excited about the gelling aspect, is because the more it gels, the more we can see that the cooking process was successful at leaching out all of the collagen and good stuff. Bone broth is excellent for gut health, joint pain, and inflammation.
I made bone broth out of our turkey carcass day before yesterday. This time I cooked it for 2 hours, let it cool for about 20 minutes with the lid off, then set it for another hour just to make sure all the healthy goodness was utilized.
It’s incredibly easy. I pack in all of the bones and carcass, skin, and any leftover meat that isn’t going to be eaten. Then, fill it up to the Max Line with filtered water. Add 1 Tablespoon of apple cider vinegar, sea salt, and sometimes I add herbs and sometimes I don’t. Then I Manually set the cook time for 120 minutes, lock on the lid (it has a chime that lets you know it’s locked) and that’s it.
The chicken bone broth yielded 8 – 12 ounce mason jars of bone broth and the turkey yielded about 10 – 12 ounce jars. So just as many if not more than a regular crock pot, but so much more flavorful and gelatinous.
Below are some links you can click for more Instant Pot information and recipes.
InstantPot.com
Benefits Of The Instant Pot
Instant Pot Cooking Times
Predominantly Paleo Instant Pot Recipes
NomNom Paleo Instant Pot Recipes
InstantPot.com Recipes
AIP Instant Pot Recipe Round Up
Instant Pot Recipes On Pinterest
Instant Pot Cookbook
That should be enough to get us all started on some really tasty Instant Pot adventures. Good luck and have fun!