About a week or so ago Betty, (my 82 year old beer drinking, Orange Is The New Black watching mother) called me to ruminate about gum or cats or ISIS or something - I can't really remember. In the same conversation she told me she needed to borrow my Instant Pot. There was a recipe in the newspaper she wanted to try but it required an Instant Pot. The Instant Pot, if you don't know, is the new "miracle " small appliance that has taken the blogging world by storm. I have no idea if it's taken the world of regular home cooks by storm or not, but according to my nephew who works at Canada Post a plethora of them are being shipped to homes across Canada on a daily basis.
The Instant Pot, which looks like a large slow cooker, used to be a 6 in 1 machine, but the new and improved version is a 7 in 1 machine.
MY REVIEW OF THE INSTANT POT.
WHAT 7 GADGETS DOES THE INSTANT POT REPLACE?
- SLOW COOKER
- PRESSURE COOKER
- RICE COOKER
- STEAMER
- YOGURT MAKER
- SAUTE PAN/OVEN
- WARMING POT
This one machine is capable of doing all of these things. Unfortunately for The Instant Pot, I'm capable of doing all of these things as well, usually without the aid of a special machine. As you may have guessed, this review isn't going to bode well for the Instant Pot.
By the way, it's the yogurt maker that they added to the latest edition of the Instant Pot that turned it from a 6 in 1 to a 7 in 1 machine. And it's a good thing they did because without the addition of that, my review of this thing would have gone from underwhelmed to abysmally underwhelmed. And guess what? They now make a 9 in 1 machine!
I'm Karen. And I'm the only blogger to hate The Instant Pot. Or so I thought but in truth ...
Nope. No, I was not the only person to hate The Instant Pot. I am joined by a long line of people who didn't like the Instant Pot but who aren't quite as vocal about their distain for this thing as the people who are obsessed with it. The obsessed people who will herein be referred to as The Cult of Instant Pot Lovers Who Maybe Don't Actually Love Cooking so Therefore Love That The Instant Pot Allows You to Lock Your Dinner Up And Out Of Sight Like a Kidnapped Baby.
Kaitlin from TheKitchn didn't like it.
Lisa from 100DaysofRealfood didn't like it.
And, and ... well I'm sure I could find more detractors out there if I could just figure out how to make it into the small kitchen appliance section of the dark web.
The Cult of the Instant Pot is the group of people who are willing to do or say anything to prove that this very useable, yet kind of unremarkable gadget is going to change your life. After owning the 7 in 1 Instant Pot for a few months my life has not changed any more than it changed after getting a teeth cleaning and WAY less than it changed after buying a Soda Stream.
But I like cooking. I like the process of cooking. I like stirring, and tasting and adding salt. You do not do these things with an Instant Pot. You put the food in, close it up and hope for the best. Which is my biggest beef with it. Cooking for me is something to be enjoyed and experienced and food is to be nurtured and tasted throughout the cooking process. There is none of that with an Instant Pot.
Imagine you're an artist and you have a blank canvas and all your oil paints and brushes in front of you. You take your time building the perfect painting, adding things and blending them and taking your time lovingly creating it. That's cooking.
Now imagine you whip off a kind of shitty paint by number in 13 minutes. That's cooking with an Instant Pot.
I know The Cult is currently looking for ways to poison me with some sort of Instant Pot concoction (that has gooey, rubbery chicken skin in it) but if that's the case I know I have at least 2 hours because even though the Instant Pot Cult claims they can make "Bone Broth" soup in 20 minutes, what they don't mention is you can't.
Why not? Because of reason #1 I didn't like the Instant Pot.
WHY I DIDN'T LIKE THE INSTANT POT
- The Instant Pot isn't as fast as its cooking time. Even though it works great and really did create the most delicious chili I've ever made in my life, the Instant Pot takes a really long time to come up to pressure before you can start cooking in it. At least 20 minutes. So you spend all your time prepping, doing whatever you need to do to make soup or chili (just like you would if you were doing it on the stove) and then you have to sit and wait for 20 minutes while it comes up to pressure. Once it does you really do have a reduced cooking time for a lot of things. My chili cooked in the Instant Pot in 10 minutes. You heard me. I pressure cooked it for TEN minutes. Normally I'd simmer that sucker for 3 hours. But then after it's insanely quick cooking time you need to let it depressurize. Another 20 minutes in most cases. For chili or other slow simmering dishes the Instant Pot excels. It really and truly does. The pressure cooking blends and melds all the flavours right into the meat (just like any pressure cooker would). But if that's all you want to do with the Instant Pot you'd be better off getting a better, stronger pressure cooker that comes up to pressure faster.
- The Instant Pot doesn't allow you to taste your food as you go. Or even check on it. Want to cook some chicken or duck or other meat that might dry out and get rubbery if it's overdone? You throw it in The Instant Pot and hope for the best. Ditto for seasoning which I always do at the beginning, middle and end of making almost any recipe. The good news is, because the Instant Pot does such a good job of bringing out the flavours of most ingredients, underseasoned food usually isn't an issue.
- The saute function isn't hot enough. I guess hot enough isn't maybe the right choice of words. The pot gets hot enough for sauteing but the second you add any food to it, the Instant Pot isn't strong enough to keep it hot so you have to wait for it to heat back up again before anything can brown. So it takes 3X as long to saute or brown meat in an Instant Pot as it would in a pan on the stove.
- You can't do big batches. I was really excited about making broth in The Instant Pot because everyone who has done so said it's fast and it's great. Sign me up. Then I started thinking ... that's not a lot of broth. When I do chicken or beef broth/stock I do a LOT of it, and then I can it all. I do this maybe 3 times a year. The Instant Pot comes in 3 sizes: 5, 6 or 8 quarts. By the time I got my ingredients into the Instant Pot and accounting for the fact that you can't fill it up completely because it's a pressure cooker, that wasn't going to leave me with very many quarts of broth. So in the end I didn't even try making broth in it.
- There's no temperature gauge. I mentioned the yogurt maker was the saving grace of this thing and as someone who makes homemade yogurt on a regular basis it really is a feature I liked. BUT ... there is not temperature gauge and with yogurt (as with a lot of other things) you need to know what temperature your food is at. To test the yogurt to make sure it's at 180 degrees you need to use a manual thermometer. The first time I made yogurt it didn't turn out at all. The second and third times it turned out perfectly. I attribute this to the fact that the later times I checked the temperature with a thermometer.
- Most things I did with it I could do better and easier without The Instant Pot. The Oatmeal I made with the Instant Pot was fine but using my method for Overnight Oatmeal is easier and faster. Plus there's something in me that thinks an old fashioned dish is better when cooked the old fashioned way. If I'm making a dinner that includes rice it's easier to just put some rice and water in a pot on the stove than to drag out the Instant Pot. If I'm cooking a whole chicken the only reason I'm doing that is so I can either stuff it or get a nice crispy skin. Neither of which is possible with the Instant Pot.
Over the course of my review I made Cherry Cheesecake, Yogurt, Oatmeal, Chili, Chicken and rice, Hard Boiled eggs and a bunch of other things in my Instant Pot. Some turned out great, some turned out terrible. Some cooked quicker than normal and some took longer to cook than my regular way of cooking them.
Believe it or not I do have some good things to say about the Instant Pot. Really I do. Although I still overwhelmingly hate it for my own cooking needs for the most part, I would say ...
WHY I LIKED THE INSTANT POT
- It's easy to clean. If you don't consider you can't get the stink out of the rubber gasket no matter what you do. I know this is going to get the other two Instant Pot haters riled up but I really didn't find cleaning this thing to be difficult at all. It's stainless steel which means it cleans really easily with just a sponge. The only issue is the rubber gasket which takes on the scent of each and every thing you cook in your Instant Pot. Mine currently smells like ground beef cheesecake. I haven't noticed that the smell of the gasket translates into flavour mingling in the dishes. The gasket itself just doesn't smell good and HOLDS the smells. True Instant Pot enthusiasts order extra gaskets online so they have one for sweet and one for savoury cooking.
- YOGURT! I know how to make yogurt with my eyes closed, my hands tied behind my back and a gag ball in my mouth. This is the method I have used for years and it's served me well, but the Instant Pot really does make it easier. And as long as you check your temperatures the results are perfect.
- Flavour enhancing qualities. Stews, chilis and other meat or bean based dishes will taste better because of the pressure cooking. Pressure cooking not only cooks meals faster because it raises the temperature inside the pot, but because it pulls liquid into the meats and beans making them softer and full of whatever flavour your sauce/liquid has. It took me years to perfect this chili recipe of mine and with God and all the Instant Pot nerds as witness, I will never cook it on the stove again. Instant Pot all the way.
So what about that newspaper recipe my mom wanted to borrow my Instant Pot for? After explaining the Syrian conflict in a nutshell to her and asking her if she had any white thread, I asked her to read me the recipe over the phone. Turns out the recipe said you needed an Instant Pot but ... you didn't. Not even a little bit. In fact, they were just using it to cook the chicken for a stir fry which would be 10 gazillion times faster to just cook in a pan.
And therein lies my true distain for The Instant Pot and it's gurgling cult of followers. They want you to think you can and should cook EVERYTHING in the Instant Pot. Just because you *can* do something doesn't mean you should.
I'll fully admit that I kind of had my back up about this whole Instant Pot craze right from the beginning but I truly kept an open mind throughout my review.
I do not recommend the Instant Pot to anyone who enjoys the art of cooking.
I don't even recommend it to people who want to be able to make cooking easier. It doesn't really do that.
It's not like The Instant Pot chops and measures out your ingredients for you. If you're looking for something to make cooking easier, I'd recommend Blue Apron or another food delivery service that pre-portions meals and ingredients and delivers them to your door before I recommended an Instant Pot. Yes, I've worked with Blue Apron before on posts and no they aren't paying me to mention them in this post. It just truly makes more sense to me.
But ... I like cooking. I like stirring and tasting and seasoning. I like the smell of something simmering on the stove all day long. I like the take my time with the painting.
If you don't by all means ... buy an Instant Pot this instant.
This post was paid for by Instant Pot.
Just kidding.
I purchased an IP Pro in a fancy color with high expectations and only used it once. That said I guess I should explain the reason for why I was so excited to get it. I have Hashimotos disease (otherwise known as autoimmune thyroid disease) and it has been getting so bad that some nights I barely have the energy to move much less cook. And I hate the prep work, which breaks my heart since I used to love the "zen" experience of cooking. But now that I have low energy a lot of fresh stuff goes bad in my house and I wanted to be able to avoid that and cook from frozen and do quick and easy Paleo and AIP (Autoimmune Protocol) meals. So, the social media board ive been on for years has a half dozen women on there who swear by the IP and how easy it is, how great it is for "batch cooking" etc.
So I tried to saute' in it, what a disaster, there ended up being more coating on the bottom of the liner than on my chicken and my counters are so high that I could barely see over the 6qt. to sir (not the fault of the IP but an annoyance.) I added the other ingredients, switching it over to pressure cook as per the recipe. Well, the screen started flashing burn burn burn! I thought oh God im doing something wrong and the thing is going to spontaneously combust on my counter! It ended up being fine (I omitted the 5 minutes of pressure cooking since the chicken was already overcooked) but after that incident I began to wonder how complicated it would be to convert all my slow cooker recipies since my basic slow cooker had died previously and I missed it. And I balked at all the prep work for all the IP recipies I read. So I am seriously thinking of packing it up and getting rid of it. I don't need the stress.
There are definite Instant Pot camps. You and I? We're in the same camp. ~ karen!
Thanks for your honesty! I got an IP to replace my Crock Pot, so I like that it has the option to use it as a slow cooker. I love the rice it makes, but yes, I agree with you. Basically, if I wouldn't cook it in a Crock Pot, I don't cook it in my Instant Pot. If you need anything crispy, pressure cooking is not the way to go.
I'm really late to this party, but thought I'd add this comment now, for anyone else who is a caregiver to an aging patent. gosh, how I wish I'd gotten one of these a year ago, but Im the sort that avoids and defies bandwagon trends with probably too much pride and ego.
mom has Alzheimer's, and I have to be hyper vigilant in the kitchen with her, I'm constantly trying to keep her from lifting lids, turning dials, opening the oven door etc etc when I'm cooking. so last week I finally broke down and ordered one of these things on Amazon Prime day, and it truly, literally, for real.....has changed my life. ugh....still hate to give it that much credit, but in my circumstances, it really is the truth. Ive been filling the pot and then bringing it outside on my small patio to cook, which allows me to relax and not have to try to keep my mom busy in the next room while I cook, constantly checking on her while I try to get a healthy meal on the table. Ive resorted to more packaged and processed foods in this past year, simply to cut my time in the kitchen, which has resulted in less healthy eating, and it shows on my belly and thighs and I hate it. cooking for a person with dementia - especially one who was a cook herself all her life - has become chaotic and even treacherous, and I've even lost my love of cooking, it's hardly joyful or fun when you're trying to keep an adult with Alzheimer's safe at the same time.
so in the short time I've had my IP, I can say it's been a true godsend, mom doesn't recognize it as an appliance shes familiar with - I tell her it's a very dangerous machine, and so far, has been staying far away from it. I love that I can spend time with her outside, where she still busies herself deadheading flowers, or just relaxing. inside the house, mom is restless, wants to cook, clean and do all sorts of things that I would have to supervise continuously.
I wish I hadn't let my pride and love if cooking stand in the way, this appliance is neither good nor bad, it isn't about being a 'real' cook or not, it's simply about what works for each individual's lifestyle and circumstances.
if you or someone you know is in a similar situation, you will know the nearly unrelenting stress of being a full-time caregiver, and I highly recommend the instant pot for anyone in this circumstance. it really for real has changed my life by reducing my stress level and allowing me more time each day to relax physically, emotionally ( no more anxious shooing mom away and having her get mad at me for it) and mentally.
btw, I'm much funnier than this post shows, I've kinda lost my funny in recent years, I don't think the instant pot will help much with that, but I do get a nice dose of your funny when I come her. thank you that :)
Today is the last chance to buy a deeply discounted Instant Pot on Amazon. It appears, according to CNN, that the Insta Pot is the front runner of Amazon’s Prime Day promotion. I love a bargain but held back until I re-read your review. Thank you Karen for talking sense to me! I’ll save my money.
Ack. Yes. Save your moeny. :) ~ karen!
I have just bought one of these not used it yet I already had a slow cooker/pressure cooker which I used all the time when I worked it was nice to come home to a meal already cooked.
This version says not to leave it on when not at home so what's the point. I am thinking of sending it back apart from being able to do rice which I don't eat, sous vide, yoghurt not much point making for one. Wish I had read these reviews before I bought, a recipe book with it would make it more attractive
What I hate about the Instant Pot is the mess that is made with the quick release. The cord isn't long enough to use the IP under the kitchen vent.
I was very disappointed. Nothing.. I mean NOTHING i tried using the pressure cooker came out as well as if I did it by other methods. Rice is better and to me.. easier on the stove. Ribs? Well, it may be fast but it came out too soggy. This is across the board, veggies, roasts, you name it! And from someone who cooks, if you're making a soup or stew and you can't taste it while you go, what's the point?
So it makes things a little faster and sometimes simpler, at the cost of quality. I can only figure that people who like this thing really don't care much about how things taste.
And why.. would you EVER, want to sear something in this thing? Any job worth doing is worth doing right. So if you want yucky rice, meh stew, or soggy veggies and roasts, by all means.
This thing is more useless than an air fryer...
Well. Clearly I agree. ~ karen!
Yes, I realize This is an Olde Post.
Right now there has been a flurry of IP sales emails. And while I never wanted one, seeing these 'deals' might almost tempt me, but your final review corroborated my sense: I don't want one for multiple reasons.
Thank you again for your true review of Instant Pot. It has to be one of the best marketed items ever.
It is the Chia Pet of Kitchen Appliances. I am proud of this descriptor, and it is really for that reason I am writing now!
🙃
EVERY recipe I’ve ever tried in the Instant Pot has been bland as f*ck. I’m so tired of dragging this stupid thing out for “fast” food that tastes like nothing. I have 3 cookbooks and have tried a handful of recipes from each that didn’t sound nauseating. BLAND. BLAND. BLAND. I can’t stand that people don’t give anything to go by in their recipes as far as salt...and that I can’t taste the food along the way to adjust the flavor. This machine is trash.
Yikes! The Instant Pot is not a gadget, it's a tool. I love to cook and there are things it will do that make my life much easier. I especially like it for curries which I prefer to cook outside because I dislike the way my house smells the next day, especially at the top of the stairs where these formerly enticing aromas invade my bedroom.
The saute function can be quite hot -- you can choose if you want it hotter or not. For Indian cooking I do the onions, garlic, and spices first, remove them, saute the veggies [or meat], add tomatoes and liquid whatever, cook under pressure for a short time, add the sauteed onions and spices back in, saute -- here's where you taste to correct the seasoning -- and let it simmer on slow cook for a short while. I also never buy canned beans -- Iove the fact that I can put in soaked beans and liquid, set it, and forget it. One pot, easy to clean -- and I am spared that constant stirring at the stove.
I would do a stew the same way.
I also have a bread machine that I use to make the dough. Then I take over.
Call me lazy.
I'm a recent reader of your blogs, and working my way through them. This is much more enjoyable than other choices around here. By the way, I loved your cheese experiment. Also peeling the kiwi.
I do the same ( Indian curries) on the stove in one pot or a regular stove top pressure cooker. Beans and dal in the pc too.
Wife is a good cook but is hooked on ease and speed of Instant Pot. I don’t like mushy chicken, mushy pork, mushy shrimp, mushy kielbasa. Great once I lose all my teeth, but I like texture and some firmness and stewing everything is a disaster. Kids are frustrated because they don’t like it either and wife gets upset about the thought of longer cooking times again.
Advice: keep an open mind and ask your spouse and kids to rate the Instant Pot food against other cooking and read their faces you’ll probably learn that we put up with it but would never pick an Instant Pot meal. Use it as a crock pot on occasion is fine. Wreck everything else?...no thanks!!!
I know this post is old, but THANK YOU! I found this post by googling “I hate my Instant Pot”. I bought an Instant Pot when it was on sale. What a waste of money. When I made rice I still had to steam veggies in a different pot. When I used the pressure cooker function, it kept saying “BURN” on the display (no info in the manual about that - I had to look it up on the internet) and wouldn’t come to pressure. When it finally did come to pressure it took longer than my stove top pressure cooker. I used the slow cooker function and the food wasn’t done in 8 hours. Glad I bought it on sale. It’s being re-homed and I’ll stick with my rice maker/steamer, slow cooker/roaster oven, and real pressure cooker.
Yeah. It's not my favourite kitchen appliance, lol. ~ karen!
I just bought it last week and I have to say I freaking HATE IT BEYOND ANYTHING. It has never cooked anything proper for me. I like to cook, I like to taste, I like the process of cooking. But this thing was horrible and it’s put me in such a bad mood trying to find the damn recipes. I’m so glad I saw this bc I feel better
Hi Abira. Yep. I still don't like it. Although! I have used it for yogourt and like it better than my regular method and it also does good chili. That's where it starts and ends for me though. ~ karen!
It's good to know we're not lone weirdos and there are others out there that also dislike the Instapot. 🙂
Thank you for saving me $129.99 plus tax, and sorry for being the neighbour who knocks on your door whenever I have a question. Obviously not sorry enough to not do it.
So I’m a pretty good cook. I was taught at a young age by my mother, who is also an amazing cook. I enjoy cooking when I have the time. I bought this piece of trash to make my life easier and so far, I HATE it. Absolutely hate it. Nothing I cook ever comes out right in it, and prepping is still a thing, so it really doesn’t save me a lot of time. If anything, it’s wasting money because I have to throw everything I make in it out. I’m about to “Office Space” this thing in my backyard with a baseball bat. Thank you for writing this, so I don’t think I’m crazy for not loving this thing so much I build a shrine to it like I feel everyone else does.
Yup. No shrine here. I may not have the same level of hatred as you, lol. I do like it for chili and yogourt. But anything else is horrible out of it. ~ karen!
Hi Karen. Just awaiting delivery of my Instant Pot. Thought I'd mention that mention of The Kitchn not liking the Instant Pot isn't true anymore. Here is her 8 month update: https://www.thekitchn.com/i-tried-the-instant-pot-and-heres-what-i-really-think-about-it-8-months-later-226178
I think the think to do is use it for what it excels in, and leave the rest.
Just as nobody pleases everybody, an appliance has lovers and haters too :)
Yeah. I know. And I'm a hater. More of a disliker actually. And my particular position on it hasn't changed. ~ karen!
I tried my 7th recipe last night. Pretty much same as others. I open the pot and have to do something conventional to make it better. I'm a good cook. I taste a small I go and love coming home at day end smelling food from slow cooker. I don't think I can have another disappointment. It's a big hassle as far as I'm concerned.
Oh my.. loved your instal pot review!! Yup, yup and yup ..you nailed it.. nice work! And the kidnapped baby line made me laugh harder than I have in a while.
Thank you
Hmm. Now I'm gonna have to go back and reread that line. Thx. ~ karen!
After talking with my cousin and sister-in-law (one cult member, one not so much a fan), I decided to go looking for reviews. I noticed one big difference. The "cultists" tended to be people who had started "cooking" when they got their IP. The few less than stellar reviews tended to be from people who cooked on a regular basis. I no longer have any desire for one. Fans tell you it is dump it in and press a button, but then describe all the pans they got dirty prepping the food for the IP. My favorite is the rice. I didn't know anyone had a special appliance for cooking rice until a couple years ago. I can cook a cup of rice on the stove in 20 minutes. Not sure that 12 minutes is that much of an advantage! I'm curious to see how much it would speed up refried beans, but not $100 curious. I'm going to stick with my sister-in-law's advice. "Don't get one. You'll hate it. Everything comes out gummy and sticky."
You're my spirit animal! As a BBQ Chef, Blogger, and Caterer, my heart sinks every time an "Insta-Potter" tells me, "Dude, I can make ribs in a fraction of the time that you do!" *SIGH* In my head I think, "Really? How are enjoying the taste of that liquid smoke?" You GO, girl!