An instant pot is a fantastic machine that offers to save time and increase convenience. It is especially useful these days, seeing as many of us are confined to our houses, and restaurants are still not fully open around the country.
What is an instant pot pressure cooker?
An instant pot actually comes in a selection of designs, each with its own specialized features. Some even come with WifI, meaning that you can control the device if you are out.
An instant pot is a programmable pressure cooker that you can place on your countertop at its most basic level, and it is always ready to cook delicious food. Often, they will have preset programs making it much easier to just set and forget.
These will vary from pot to pot, but will usually have settings for:
- Rice
- Soups
- Porridge
- Stew
- Cake
There are many more options, but those are the most commonly found in every instant pot. Other factors to look for will be the capacity of the actual container. If you are cooking solo, then a smaller pot is perfect, but you will need to consider a larger one for couples or families.
Why are they so useful?
I will get to specific points later in the post, but the main draw of an instant pot cooker is its flexibility and size. You can cook almost any kinds of dish that you might desire, and once you have the ingredients prepped and ready, you just throw them into the pot, press a few buttons and then go and have a cup of coffee and wait for the beep saying your food is ready to eat!
How is an instant pot different from a rice cooker?
The most significant difference comes in pressure, an instant pot is a sealed pressure cooker. A rice cooker is unsealed and is only good at steaming rice. Sometimes a high-quality rice cooker will have some other functionality, but its main job is cooking rice to perfection. This is great if you only need rice, but for different dishes and more convenience, a pressure cooking instant pot will give you more diversity as to what you can cook.
What kinds of food can I cook with an instant pot?
As long as you have a good imagination, the skies the limit. Some example dishes include:
Instant Pot sushi rice
An instant pot can actually help you cook perfect sushi rice (no mean feat), and if you get the settings correct, it will come out perfect every time. You can see an example of how to cook delicious sushi rice over at https://www.corriecooks.com/instant-pot-sushi-rice/
Ramekin eggs pressure cooked.
Easy and quick and oh so versatile. If you need a fast but super soft egg to spread over your avocado toast, this is a fast method.
Steamed cod with sauce
This dish’s beauty is its simplicity and speed with which you can have a meal from a frozen state to a plate. It should only take around 5 minutes to fully pressure cook frozen fish, and while it is cooking, you just need to make a simple sauce to go with it.
5 Benefits of an instant pot
Convenience
I have already hinted at the convenience so far, but it should not be understated. The convenience factor goes up the more features you have, and if your instant pot is wifi enabled, you will find that your main oven might never be used again!
If you are going out, you can simply fill up the pot with your ingredients, and either used a delayed timer setting or start the cooking process via your cell phone.
Being able to batch prep your meals in advance on one day then freeze them until needed, is such a massive time saver. The fantastic thing is that you can eat exceptionally healthily by ensuring you prepare your own food and add in lots of lovely vegetables. The among of money you will save from not ordering take out shouldn’t be overlooked.
Energy efficiency
Alongside induction cooktops and microwaves, an instant pot is one of your kitchen’s most energy-efficient devices.
Because it is sealed and insulated, only using energy when it is needed, you won’t suddenly find a massive spike in your electricity bill.
The pressure cooking process requires far less liquid to get up to a boil, and this will provide a thicker, deeper flavored sauce and less water wastage.
Simple to clean
This benefit is self-explanatory! Who wants to spend more time washing and cleaning up kitchen equipment.
This makes an instant pot easy to clean because there is only one pot to take out and clean. Even if you manage to get the front facia dirty, they are often waterproof and wipe clean.
Maintains flavor
Thanks to the even way that pressure cooking applies heat, your food will taste delicious all the time. The electronics make sure to start and stop the cooking process so that your food is neither over nor undercooked.
An added plus is that you will get softer more tender meat by pressure cooking in an instant pot, even if you are using very tough meat cuts. You can actually save money by choosing the less popular cuts of meat from your butcher and then making a delicious, slow-cooked stew.
Fantastic for smaller kitchens
Those of you who have small apartments and/ or small kitchens, an instant pot can be a real space saver. Its footprint is tine, and moreover, once you have finished cooking with it, you can simply unplug it and store it away in a cupboard for later use
If you really wanted to simplify your kitchen, an instant pot, a microwave, and a toaster will probably be all you need to cook a wide assortment of tasty meals.
Summary
An instant pot is a very worthwhile investment for anyone interested in cooking, even more so those limited in space or time.
The array of meals you can create is endless, and the efficiency of the device makes it a fantastic option to eat healthily and adequately.
No Comments