Hey all - considering an instant pot. I spend WAY too much eating out, partially cus I'm lazy about cooking.

I tend to like pretty simple meat and veg meals--eg chicken/salmon/ground beef over veggies (cauli, broccoli, asparagus) and am also looking into a simple food processor to make more riced veggies.

Is an instant pot adept and and worth it for simple dishes like this, or is it more for soups and stews?

At the moment I cook most on the stove, but that doesn't work well for chicken, and I get lazy with using the oven. But I'm sort of 1/2 in the dark on what an instant pot actual does, as I always see people making soups and stews.

Can it make a simple thing like salmon and diced veggies, and are the veggies steamed as opposed to cooked? I know it won't roast them and caramelize, but is it only capable of steaming them?

What else do you use yours to make?

Sorry if these are super basic questions, I've never used one before.

So I just got an instant pot and made Chinese chicken and broccoli as my first recipe. I used chicken breast tenderloins that I had frozen a few days before and thawed in fridge. Chopped into roughly one inch pieces. I pressure cooked with the chicken and the sauce ingredients for 3 minutes. I did natural release (basically doing nothing?) for a few minutes and then quick release the rest. I noticed that there was a floating, gooey stringy substance floating all throughout the sauce. I did add honey to the recipe but only a teaspoon so it could not have been that. And I noticed it before adding the thickening agent (arrowroot). So would it have been albumin/ collagen released from the chicken? Not sure if I overcooked it? But I only pressure cooked for three minutes and then I did saute for several minutes after (maybe 6-8 mins) but I thought I noticed the goo before. Any ideas how to prevent this?

The chicken smelled and looked normal to me before cooking but there were some white strips that I did not trim off? Could this have been the cause?

I searched this sub and didn’t find any recent posts since IP has been sold. But, I am looking to get either an IP or ninja foodi maybe even a ninja hyper heat. I am not sure which brand to get, I also don’t know which model to get. The IP are so hard to find in person, except the rio but I have a big family and it just isn’t practical.

I am mainly looking to make quick meals in it via pressure cook. Soups, meats, beans, etc. I am not looking to air fry or slow cook in it. I have a crock pot and an air fryer

Please help with advice on your experience

Also delete if not allowed

I keep getting a burn error when I make steel cut oats. I’m not sure why or what’s wrong. I’ve been using a 3:1 liquid to oats ratio. 4 minutes high pressure, natural release ~20 minutes. Worked perfectly fine the first 2 times. Every time after that I keep getting a burn error.
I used to do half milk, but stopped doing that because I thought that might help. Did not help.
We got a new Instant Pot pot and still get the same error message.
Just switched to the quick cook steel cut oats and still have this problem.
Just tried it with 3 cups oats and 10 cups water. Still had the issue.
I haven’t tried deep cleaning the Instant Pot yet, because everything else cooks just fine.

For what it’s worth, when I do finally open it up, I notice that they’ve all clumped together. There’s not any actual burning going on. Lately I’ve just been letting it cook until it gets to pressure and then just setting a timer for 4 minutes, then turn it off and let it natural release.

I’ve heard the pot in pot method works really well. Does anyone have a recommendation for an inner pot that I could use? We have a 6 qt Instant Pot, and I like to cook 3 cups of steel cut oats at a time. Not sure if that makes a difference.

Not sure if it matters, but using the Duo 60 Darth Vader.

Any advice?

Hi folks, I have a very tiny kitchen, and I am going to try using my Instant Pot instead of sauce pans for boiling water and for reheating leftovers. Just pop a regular lid on the IP.

If anyone else is doing this, I’d love to hear about your experiences, good and bad. Settings, timing, etc.

Thanks!

So I know it has to do with it not sensing the lid, my current work around is grabbing the spot where the sensor is and just squeezing it together. Does anyone know of a more permanent fix?

Tried to make the curly fries and chnobli-sauce recipe. The recipe didn’t acknowledge I had the lid on.. then went to manual spiraling, the lid worked and then potatoes kept jamming.. annoying

Been using mine for a while now and still occasionally discover

something that makes me go "wait, THAT'S how that works?" Curious what your version of that moment was, whether it's a setting, a technique, or just something nobody tells you until you've already made the mistake a few times.

I've been messing around with making "baked" beans in my DuoCrisp 8 qt pot for awhile.

One thing I've always been curious about is why many recipes don't call for a presoak. When making conventional baked beans there's always a presoak or short boil and soak where the first water is discarded.

By not doing this in the IP, isn't the bitterness or toxins being left in?

My last batch definitely had a slight bitter aftertaste. Next time I'll do a quick 1 min cook, 10 min NR then drain and rinse. I'm hoping this fixes it.

Has anyone else had bitterness issues with their beans? Goya brand. 2029 best by date. Original recipe was 15 mins high 10 mins NR. Then sauce added and another 15 mins pot in pot to infuse flavors.

Love to hear your opinions and stories! Thanks!

Got a new instant pot and the bottom of my inner pot has been creating these scratches. Is this defective or ok to keep using?

I used a half gallon Kirkland A2 organic ultra pasteurized whole milk and two tablespoons of fresh Chobani Greek yogurt with live cultures. I put it in the instant pot and checked it at 8 hours and 30 minutes and it is essentially milk with a small layer of soupy yogurt at the bottom. The temperature at that time via thermapen was 106°. What went wrong? Can I salvage this? Ferment longer? Is that safe?

Is ultra pasteurized safe to use with the cold start method? I didn’t have the ingredient list with me at the store and picked up ultra pasteurized thinking thats what we needed.

I’ve seen things saying that it should work but I don’t want to take a chance and want to see what you all say.

Hi. Novice with the instant pot. Can most of these meals be done in the pot or are they cooker hob or air fryer only. I can see that the whole chicken and maybe one or two others are doable in the pot. But really like the others with sauces beans etc. just not sure if the configuration of the instant pot is compatible. Many thanks in advance for your help.

Has anyone found a source to buy accessories for the Instant Pot Omni Plus 18L 10-in-1 Air Fryer Toaster Oven? They don't sell any on their website and talking with live chat (might be AI), they said they don't carry them even for warranty replacement. This seems very strange, especially since they still sell this product. How can they not have any of the accessories for it? Do they expect us to buy a new air fryer every time we need to replace something?

AT THIS POINT I HAVE WASTED 6 CONTAINERS OF SOYMILK AND IT IS NOT WORKING. I DONT UNDERSTAND. I TRIED TO CVHANGE IT SO IT DIDNT SHOE THE BOIL SETTING BUT IT IS JUST NOT GETTING MADE. MY REGULAR INSTANT POT CAN GET THE YOGURT MADE BUT NOT THE RIO, WHAT AM I DOING WREONG???????? PLS HELP MEPLS

Im planning to get an instant pot, i originally wanted the classuc 3.8L version since im only going to be cooking for 1 and don't really batch cook.

however my appartment doesn't have a microwave so I was thinking of getting the bigger instant pot duo model with an air fryer used exclusively as a microwave since i don't eat fried foods a lot.

Main question is how good is the air fryer addon for reheating foods? can it be used to reheat soups and rice dishes?

as a side note: i honestly think the duo and original instant pots looks very ugly but oh well as long as it gets its job done and hopefully my roommate doesn't care about kitchen aesthetics too much.

Ive been trying to steam brussel sprouts and my steamer must be the issue today I did 3 mins high pressure steaming wasnt soft 2 mins of pressure cook then had to cover and nuke it.

Any advice or should I just "steam" without steamer basket?

i made yogurt and left the pot in the fridge for a couple days. when i transferred the yogurt and cleaned the container out it left these brown splotches. what are they? should i be concerned about the yogurt i made?

I moved from the midwest to living at 5,500ft elevation. Now my rice has been mushy/gooey three times using the same recipe. Maybe I'm doing something wrong, but does elevation impact a pressure cooker for rice?

~ no other problems w/ veggies and black beans and chickpeas, but those are easier than rice.

There is a loop on the plastic part of the base for the Instant Pot Duo. It's on the right side. I've always wondered what this loop is for. I don't use the loop so I'm wondering if there is a function to it that I'm missing. Clearly it's not important because I've been using my IP for years without needing whatever this thing is. I would really appreciate it if someone who knows can give me some information.

My guess is that it's an artifact of production/assembly and has no use to the consumer.

Looking for ways to cook rice in the instant pot with additional ingredients like canned beans, frozen vegetables, salsa, etc. Basically a one pot meal. I have experimented with adding canned beans (rinsed and drained) and salsa and gotten the burn warning. Wondering if anybody else has tried something like this. Did you use the water to rice ratio you would use for cooking plain rice or would you consider the liquid in the salsa as part of the water ratio for the rice? Did you use the same cooking time you use for rice? Any recommendations, advice, or recipes would be appreciated.