Instant Pot Hands On Review

In previous reviews, I ran through the basics of the Instant Pot. Those reviews should serve as more of an empirical tool to find out all the specifications of the device and how it can fit in your vegan kitchen

Now I would like to give a hands on review for my favorite appliance in the kitchen. After using the Instant Pot daily for more than three months now, I know it to be one of the greatest inventions of humankind. 

I will take you through the process involved with making a standard dinner at the McNeile household. Through demonstration of pictures, I hope to provide info for all of you out there thinking about buying an electric pressure cooker.

Let's Get Cooking

Rice, Pinto Beans, Peas, Corn, Broccoli

To begin, our meal for tonight will be brown rice, pinto beans, and mixed vegetables. By no means a complex meal, which is a huge plus in my book. As you can see, all the food goes into the single pot all the the same time, making this a one-pot meal.

I will fill the Instant Pot with water and water only after the ingredients have been added. In my experience, I simply try to fill water up to the amount of volume the food ingredients already occupy, and then a bit more. I know this not scientific, but my food turns out great by eyeball measurements each time. 

After everything is loaded up into the stainless steel cooking pot, I seal the pressure cooker with its lid. It is important to make sure the pressure valve is set to correct position so that pressure can actually build within the pressure cooker. Once all that is done, I press the 'Multigrain' function.

Cook time is approximately 40 minutes. Before owning the Instant Pot, I used an Aroma Rice Cooker to make my rice dishes I ate for dinner. Cooking brown rice in these machines could take up to two hours at times! Cutting my cook time in half has been a real life saver for my bus schedule.

When everything the cooking function is complete, the Instant Pot will loudly beep to let you know its time for dinner. You will need to slide the safety valve to the right or left to release the pressure, this will let forth a large amount of steam. My first few times using the Instant Pot I was scared I would burn myself when flipping the pressure valve, but it is completely safe as long as you do not stick your hand directly over the vent.

I added Kale to the dinner.

As you can see in the picture, the rice an beans have cooked thoroughly and are extremely firm. No sort of soupy mess exists and everything is perfectly moist.

Now, I am a big eater when it comes to starches. The Instant Pot stainless steel cooking bowl is 6 Quarts. For dinner, I tend to eat about 3-4 Quarts each day. Now, I only eat breakfast and maybe a piece of fruit throughout the day, so dinner is always a big meal for me. It is certainly possible to feed a family of three with the Instant Pot alone. Beyond that, I think more food would need to be brought in to supplement the output of the Instant Pot.

Pros of the Instant Pot:

• Easy to Use. Press a button and forget it.
• Low Cost. Cooking with pressure saves on energy costs since food cooks so much more efficiently.
• Stainless Steel Pot. Have no fears of chemicals being scraped off into your food.
• Simple to Clean. Stainless steel is so easy to clean, use either the sink or dishwasher.
• Extremely rare to have a starchy mess. I regularly ran into trouble with the Aroma Rice Cooker when it came to starchy overflows while cooking rice.

Cons of the Instant Pot:

• I wish it had an On/Off switch. To power it on and off, you have to unplug/plug an electric outlet cord.
•  Some of the functions are pointless for vegans.

Conclusion

I would recommend the Instant Pot to anyone and everyone. Not knowing how to cook healthy food is no longer an excuse with the Instant Pot. Something as simple as rice and beans can be made night in and night out. Dependability and craftsmanship of the Instant Pot truly has put my mind at ease when it comes to planning meals. I give the Instant Pot 5/5 Stars.