Instant Pot Pressure Cook-all

There is truth to needing a spare seal. One for cooking savory stuff, and another for desserts/yogurt are all one usually needs.

We also have found the glass lid to be extremely useful when using the instant pot for cooking which doesn't require pressure.

I'll concur on the seals. We have one for savory, one for sweet. The seal gets super funky. Before buying a glass lid, check to see if any of your existing pots/pans have lids that would fit while sauteing/slow-cooking.

Also, do not put the glass lid on immediately after pressure cooking (released). The sudden heat could cause it to shatter.

CptDomano wrote:

Quick question: I notice that some people say you should pick up spare seals because they tend to pick up the flavor of whatever you're cooking. Is there any truth to that? Should I pick up some spare seals and just switch them out depending on what I'm cooking (savory, sweet, etc...), or is it enough to just make sure I'm thoroughly cleaning everything after every meal?

I haven't noticed any need for a spare seal yet, but we also have not cooked anything sweet unless you count steel cut oats with a bit of dried fruit.

What I have noticed is the seal (or other parts of the pot) definitely smell like stuff we've cooked. We made pork chili verde (which someone linked earlier and is AWESOME) in our Instant Pot and even after cleaning it smelled like pork chili verde for weeks. However, pork chili verde smells pretty great, so this isn't necessarily a bad thing.

That said, I have not noticed any flavors carrying over between foods.

My wife made a curried fish dish and a trip through the dishwasher solved any residual smell.

You do want to check your seal every now and then, especially if you use the dishwasher often. If it's starting to get brittle or show signs of heavy wear, it will cause the Instant Pot to not keep pressure. If you ever see steam coming out around the rim, it's almost always a bad seal. It might be as easy as just readjusting the seal, or it may need to be replaced.

Homemade chicken soup last night. Mmmm...

If the seal is silicone (I don't own one), I believe the typical lifespan is expected to be five or six years of reasonably heavy use. My Fagor manual says that applying and maintaining a light coating of a food-type oil, like peanut, will improve its longevity.

I haven't had to replace mine yet, but it's starting to get pretty discolored. Fortunately, they're only about $10. I assume it'll be similar for the IP.

Malor wrote:

If the seal is silicone (I don't own one), I believe the typical lifespan is expected to be five or six years of reasonably heavy use. My Fagor manual says that applying and maintaining a light coating of a food-type oil, like peanut, will improve its longevity.

I haven't had to replace mine yet, but it's starting to get pretty discolored. Fortunately, they're only about $10. I assume it'll be similar for the IP.

I'm glad you mentioned this. Our's has been getting kind of funky and it never occurred to me that you could replace it.

Only $8.

astralplaydoh wrote:

Also, do not put the glass lid on immediately after pressure cooking (released). The sudden heat could cause it to shatter.

That would be odd. I would hope any glass lids used in cooking are COE 33 ( or close ) like Pyrex and can handle the heat expansion. They might not be COE 33 if they aren't made for the oven, though, so maybe it does make sense.

If the lid is thick enough, I guess a lower COE lid could shatter in that situation.

Ok, I've talked myself into it.

-BEP

Hoping to catch a good fall/gobble gobble/Christmas sale on this.

Hobear wrote:

Hoping to catch a good fall/gobble gobble/Christmas sale on this.

It's on my wishlist and camelcamelcamel for Black Friday too. I'm all of this in a month or so.

Finally! Amazon is selling the 8-quart Instant Pot for $82 today. I've ordered one!

Mongolian Beef will be mine!

Godzilla Blitz wrote:

Finally! Amazon is selling the 8-quart Instant Pot for $82 today. I've ordered one!

Mongolian Beef will be mine!

soo goood.
It's been a while since we've had that. I think that will be this weekend.

Godzilla Blitz wrote:

Finally! Amazon is selling the 8-quart Instant Pot for $82 today. I've ordered one!

Mongolian Beef will be mine!

You need an 8 quart for the mongolian beef recipe? That's a lot of food....

Rainsmercy wrote:

You need an 8 quart for the mongolian beef recipe? That's a lot of food....

Well, of course, it's Mongolian beef.

My wife asked for one of these for Christmas this year, after learning that her sister made all of her Thanksgiving in hers. I've got the 6 quart version. Anything I should know?

tanstaafl wrote:

My wife asked for one of these for Christmas this year, after learning that her sister made all of her Thanksgiving in hers. I've got the 6 quart version. Anything I should know?

My wife asked for one for Christmas as well, although honestly it seems to be as much a gift for me as for her.

Two meals I've thrown together that were awesome:

Seafood Boil - potatoes, corn, old bay, chorizo sausage, chicken stock + mussels, clams and shrimp. I can't tell you exactly what order or temps I did this in but there are recipes out there for this type of dish. It's quick and f'ing delicious.

Irish Bake - chopped cabbage, onions, garlic, sliced kielbasa, spices. Same as above and also f'ing delicious.

Wow, I didn't realize how popular these are as Christmas gifts. Amazon, Walmart, and Target are all completely sold out of the 6 quart model. Managed to snag a 6 qt duo for $99 off of ebay this morning.

Anyone looking for this as a Christmas gift needs to move on it now.

tanstaafl wrote:

My wife asked for one of these for Christmas this year, after learning that her sister made all of her Thanksgiving in hers. I've got the 6 quart version. Anything I should know?

The big thing is to pay attention to whether it needs to be set to sealed or not when cooking (usually sealed.) After that just check the crib sheet it comes with and it's super easy.

I had not heard of these things until Friday, and then everyone was talking about them including a whole segment on a podcast I edit. About half way through the edit of the podcast I decided to look on Amazon to see what they were all about and found there were a bunch on sale.

Long story short, I bought an 8qt Duo, for 99.00 canadian plus tax. LOL

I just ordered the 6qt Duo from Amazon for $75.

The wife will yell at me for wasting money.

Then she will steal it and not let me take it to NC.

Built this one to eat while watching the CFL Grey Cup this past weekend.
https://www.dadcooksdinner.com/press...

It's super fast and simple and has a ton of flavor. I removed 2 cans of beans and added a can of corn. Was awesome. We're not a family that likes heat in our food so the piquant-ness of the chili powder was just right.

Ours arrives Thursday but will go under the tree...

IMAGE(https://scontent-iad3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/24174152_10211693513228399_562596698187244453_n.jpg?oh=b936bbb7699b37f0da109a1df271fb0c&oe=5AD49076)

Korean galbitang. I hope it turns out. We'll know in 30 minutes.

FUN! Experimentation!
Most recipes tell you to pre-brown meat using the saute setting. I wonder if it's mostly to just get some scrapings and charring.

IMAGE(https://scontent-iad3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/24294288_10211694266847239_5393591723277940027_n.jpg?oh=b2a8942a4a0bb71e9a6598087a6ae75c&oe=5AC9BB45)

It was delish

Paleocon wrote:

It was delish

Looks like a complete fail to me. Vacuum seal, pack in dry ice, and send it to me and I'll verify.

-BEP

Paleocon wrote:

IMAGE(https://scontent-iad3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/24294288_10211694266847239_5393591723277940027_n.jpg?oh=b2a8942a4a0bb71e9a6598087a6ae75c&oe=5AC9BB45)

It was delish

Mind sharing your recipe? My wife really wants to try this now.