Where have you been all of my (adult) life?

[RevolverRob]

My mother bought my wife and I an 8 quart Instapot for Christmas. I used it to cook a pot roast today. 2.5 pounds of pure Angus chuck roast with 3/4s of a pound of red potatoes, 1/2 pound of carrots, half an onion, and 2 quarts of water, made a pot roast stew in 90 minutes that was like the ones my great aunt used to make on cold fall days in east Texas, when I was a child. The kind she used to cook for the whole day. Just meat, veggies, water, and some salt and pepper, that's it.

After I cooked, super easy clean up. Clean the pot and then I threw some water in there and steamed it for a couple of minutes to "flash sterilize" the pot and lid. I'm not really a big germophobe, but I'm prone to food poisoning for some reason and anything where I can do to reduce that risk is good with me. Being able to quickly do that pre and post cooking/cleaning is very nice to me. My wife has been a big crockpot fan for a long time. I'm not really that into the crockpot, preferring a closed/sealed cooker that maintains a more constant temperature. The Instapot is a nice middle ground for us in that realm. Not too mention I can use it to steam chicken, fish, and pork. All things my wife cannot consistently cook to the proper temperature (my last two bouts of food poisoning where undercooked pork induced).

If I have my way, we'll start getting rid of almost every pot and pan in the house in the near future, replacing it all with the Instapot. Suffice it to say, I love this thing. My wife is more leery of it, but she'll come around.

[David S.]

Welcome to the club. The Instapot and sous vide are my favorite kitchen gadgets.

[Matt O]

Instant pots are amazingly versatile. The pressure cooking function is awesome and very usable, but it's multi-functionality is what makes it truly fantastic. We can cook everything from porridge, to rice, to roasts, and all the way up to boeuf bourguignon. The ability to saute, deglaze and then stew all in the same pot and then pull it out and throw it in the dishwasher is incredibly convenient.

Our slow cooker, a cooking implement I used to swear by, is gathering dust and sad in the back corner of the cabinet.

[Mirolynmonbro]

My wife got 3 instant pot cookbooks for Christmas. One is Indian food. I'm excited.

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

[mtnbkr]

Meh.

A plain pressure cooker can do everything an Instant Pot can do except the slow cooking part. The only thing the IP brings to the table is a timer and auto-shutoff. It's overly large for what it does. I will say it's good for users who aren't comfortable with a traditional pressure cooker.

I have an Instant Pot and have used regular pressure cookers.

Chris

[David S.]

Meh back.

My OG pressure cookers are now collecting dust. You’re not wrong, I just find the electric easier.

[RevolverRob]

The only thing the IP brings to the table is a timer and auto-shutoff.

Chris

That's basically all I need.

I'm pretty...lazy...or busy...yea busy...when it comes to cooking. The more "set it and forget it" it is to use, the far more likely I am to use it. I've never cared much for traditional pressure cookers, because they require more effort than they are worth in my opinion. Plus a stove to provide heat...I can't (okay won't) leave my house with the stove on. But I walked the dog and ran errands today while my roast was cooking.

That's precisely what I need in my life, in lieu of a personal chef.

[willie]

Store the pots and pans. Folks who are serious about cooking have more than one "tool". You will eventually need at least one sauce pan. The roast going into into the fancy pot should be seared first on the sides to form a barrier to hold in moisture. Also searing kills bacteria on the surface. Use a frying pan for this. The correct name is braising. Google it. We use such pots also. Some have to figure out the sequence on adding carrots and potatoes to prevent them becoming mushy from over cooking. No doubt you know this information. As a former health inspector who inspected food establishments, let me provide some numbers.

41 degrees F should be the minimum temperature in your refrigerator. If you haven't measured the temp, then you don't know if it's correct. Colder is better.

0 degrees F is the minimum for freezers.

135 degrees F is the minimum temp for food to be maintained on hot hold status. Otherwise bacteria are growing.

165 degrees F is the minimum temp for reheating food once removed from hot hold for storage or for correcting problems with food stored incorrectly.

Any ground meat has more bacteria. The reason is that blades that grind the meat become contaminated with bacteria present on the meats surface.

Poultry and eggs have much more salmonella bacteria than other products. Both require special handling and higher temperatures when cooked. In restaurants scrambled eggs are held on hot hold status in the kitchen. I seldom saw it done correctly. Personally, when I order eggs in a café, I require that they be fried hard and look like a frisby when brought out. Don't laugh, but I insist that the wait person write this on the order ticket. I dare not eat scrambled eggs when not at home.

Even at home using a bleach sanitizing solution is a great idea for sinks and counters. The procedure helps reduce contamination. Google it to learn about using household bleach. The solution must be left on the counter surface and not dried. The cleaning rag must be returned to the solution. Even at home try not to wash hands in the kitchen sink and avoid placing grocery bags, holsters, purses, or other stuff on kitchen counters. They are food contact surfaces.

My guess about why you tend to get food poisoning is that you are acquiring it through cross contamination. Google that as it relates to food borne illness. You might check your kitchen faucet or faucets to see whether or not there is a screen at the very end. Do the same for bathroom faucets where you would brush your teeth. If screens are present, I suggest that you remove them. It is probable that the screens are contaminating cooking and drinking water.

Salads are big offenders, especially lettuce because lazy people in commercial places won't wash it before serving.

About Asian restaurants. I can comment only about the four that I inspected. All were nasty. Owners cared not. In one case workers were slaves from China and were human trafficking victims. I can't generalize to the rest. I repeat that my sample was four.

I had the exact ticket book that police officers used. My colleagues wrote many tickets. I was criticized for not writing more. I wrote three tickets in three years, but should have written four and whipped one guy.

Explanation: Your mentioning the tendency to get food poisoning prompted my thread drift, and I thought I could write the food safety comments without offending anybody.

[Baldanders]

My younger stepson is a big fan of his Instant Pot, but at least when he was experimenting while he lived with us, I felt like it had the "crock pot problem" of everything in the dish tasting the same. Distinct flavors seem to be lost.

Much like the Crock Pot, it is handy, however.

[Yung]

I'm anticipating an Anova in your future, Rob.

On a side note some folks I know who pay the Netflix brain tax can't shut up about Salt Fat Acid Meat Heat.