Instant Pot Review: Why Everyone Should Have One in their Kitchen!

What is an Instant Pot & Why You Need One?

An Instant Pot is an all-in-one cooker. It can legitimately do all of the things that a rice cooker, pressure cooker and slow cooker can do. There are multiple different functions that can be used (the amount and type do vary slightly based on the type of Instant Pot you buy), and different times and settings that are programmed for different types of food that you cook. For example, there is a setting to cook meat that is different than if you were looking to steam vegetables or to cook rice.

While being able to do all of that, the real plus-side is that it does everything quicker, without compromising the quality or taste of the food! It is also great if you are looking to reduce space taken up by your other kitchen appliances because you do not need to have a separate appliance for each function.

How is an Instant Pot Different from Other Products on the Market?

The main difference is the inclusion of the pressure-cooking function. This is a game changer because it really helps to speed up the cooking process. I really cannot stress it enough. Let us take the very common example of cooking rice. If I want to cook 3 cups of brown rice, it would take me over 1.5 hours in a traditional rice cooker. However, with the use of an Instant Pot, I can cook those same three cups in less than 30 minutes (including the heat up and cool down time). An even quicker example is with cooking beans. It would take me at least 4 hours (plus the two hours of soaking time) to cook beans on the stove or in a slow cooker (crock pot), but with the Instant Pot, I can cook them from start to finish in 20 minutes (including heat up and cool down time).

The Different Types of Instant Pots

There are multiple different sizes of Instant Pots to choose from, that also have a multitude of cooking functions/options to choose from. When looking around at brick and mortar stores (e.g., Costco, Target), it seems that the 6 quart Instant Pot is the most popular option that is offered. However, as someone who never cooks just one meal and always cooks with the goal to have leftovers, the only real, feasible option for me was the 8 quart Instant Pot. 

Benefits of Using an Instant Pot

Once you get into the groove of using your Instant Pot, I do not think you will ever look back! Here are what I consider to be the main benefits of using an Instant Pot:

• Food is ready quicker
• You can make a wide range of different types of food using one kitchen appliance
• A lot of saved kitchen space

The idea is to have an all-in-one appliance that only enhances your quality of life. Based on my experience with it, I believe it to be true and it has also led me to experiment more in the kitchen!

How to Use an Instant Pot

I have shared extensively about my experience trying the Instant Pot for different types of food on Instagram and have received a lot of feedback. One of the most commonly asked questions is whether I am afraid of the Instant Pot exploding on me (because it does have the pressure cooker function). The answer is no. However, I will be honest and say that I was afraid the first few times that I used the Instant Pot because I had never used a pressure cooker before and there are different sounds that it makes that you just have to get used to (e.g., there is a whistling sound during the slow and fast release once the cooking timer has finished). 

With that being said, the Instant Pot does come with a really great instruction manual that tells you how to set up the machine based on the setting in which you are cooking your food (e.g., sauté, steam, rice, etc.). I followed the steps exactly the first time and continue to do so! There are also safety steps included on the box, so you really cannot miss them!

In general, though, it is like cooking with any other appliance. If you are cooking meat, stew, soup, rice or anything that you would cook in a rice cooker or slow cooker (e.g., Crock Pot), you would just place all of the components into the bowl, close the lid and follow the instructions. 

The only instance I have encountered where this is different is with steaming vegetables. You need to have an additional accessory to place inside the large bowl to separate the vegetables from the small amount of water that you include at the bottom of the bowl in the Instant Pot.  

Suggested Cooking Timeframes versus Actual Cooking Timeframes

Based on my experience, I would suggest following the suggested cooking timeframes when starting out. You will find that you will need to make adjustments based on the amount of food you cook and the ingredients in the food you are cooking, but this gives you a general place to start (that is, unless you are following a specific proportioned Instant Pot recipe). But, just as an example, cooking one cup of rice is not going to take as long as cooking three cups of rice. What will happen is that you select the specific type of food that you are cooking on the face plate of the Instant Pot and a suggested time comes up and that is your starting point, but you can always add or subtract time from that. 

You also have to keep in mind that that is not really your total cooking time. That is the actual “cooking time”, but there is also the heat up time and cool down time that is not taken into consideration. So, although the vegetable steaming option is only 2 minutes long, it will really take closer to 20 minutes to steam vegetables because you have to wait for the Instant Pot to heat up before the 2 minute timer starts, and then the pressure has to release at the end (this will be quicker if you do the fast release option, but either way will take more time). 

Slow versus Quick Release

When you are using the pressure cooking function (which is what I always use because it makes everything cook quicker), there is a timeframe at the end of the cooking session where the pressure needs to release. At this point in time, you have two options: a slow release or a fast release. 

The slow release is where you just let the machine naturally release the pressure on its own. And just as it sounds, this is a slow process that takes way too long! The fast release is where you move a handle and the machine whistles out all of the pressure. This option is not instantaneous, but it is significantly faster than the slow release option. For safety purposes, one of these options needs to be followed and you cannot just open the lid once the cooking time has finished.

My initial suggestion to you would be to always go for the quick release option, just because it takes up less time. However, there are recipes to follow where they commonly suggest doing the slow release (mainly recipes with meat included). When I have encountered those situations, I still always do the quick release option because it still takes time and mostly always works. However, sometimes, I have had to close the lid and cook the food for longer, so it is a kind of ‘go at your own risk’ sort of thing. 

How to Clean the Instant Pot

It is essentially just a large pot, so if you cook something with liquid, you can remove the contents once it is done cooking, and wash it out right then. If not, and you are cooking something like rice, you can just leave it to soak for a few hours and then circle back to clean it.

One thing to pay attention to is the lid. I read a lot about this during my research where people complained about the smells that would get stuck in the seal of the Instant Pot. I personally have not had a bad experience with this, but we also do not cook with a lot of crazy flavors, so if there is a little bit of a leftover smell from the meal before, it is not that big of a deal. However, I will say that I am still very careful with the lid and clean it immediately after the cooking process has completed. If you think of how a rice cooker lid gets during the cooking and aftermath of cooking rice, this is kind of similar since there is an opening at the top, but if you clean around it, there is no problem. One thing to note, though, is that during my research, I found that you can easily buy new seals for the Instant Pot. This way, you can switch out the seals based on what you are cooking – similar to how you switch out cutting boards based on what you are cutting (e.g., meat versus vegetables). 

What Other Accessories are Needed to Use an Instant Pot?

One of the major cons of the Instant Pot is that not all of the necessary accessories are included with the Instant Pot in the box. With that being said, the Instant Pot does have a pretty high price tag, but when you consider all that it does, it is not that much in comparison to buying all of the cooking appliances separately. I would much rather pay a few more dollars when buying the Instant Pot to have all of the accessories included, than to do what I did and to buy the Instant Pot and want to steam vegetables, only to realize that I needed an additional accessory to do so!

Fear not, though, because I have found the perfect vegetable steamer accessory for you! I tried a random option from the nearby grocery store that “worked” but did not maximize the space of the Instant Pot and did not allow me to steam as many vegetables as I wanted. However, this vegetable steamer fits perfectly into the Instant Pot and allows you to maximize the amount of vegetables you want to steam.

All you have to do is put one cup of water into the bottom of the Instant Pot and place the steamer accessory on top. There is a handle that comes with the steamer, but I have found that it does not fit properly when you put the lid on, so I keep it off and either use it when I go to take the steamer out or I just use a pot holder if it is feasible.