Instant Pot Cooking

I have an old stove top pressure cooker that my husband bought for me 35 years ago second-hand from a newspaper ad.  Nowadays we don't even read the newspaper much or its ads nor do I buy much that is second-hand.  But in those old days of  newly married economizing it was more common.  I used that old pressure cooker for years and even canned in it.  But lately I haven't used it much because it just requires too much attention.

Recently my daughter called me and said I should buy an "Instant Pot."  It was on a great deal on Amazon and everybody, she said, was getting one.  Since it was right around my birthday, I went ahead and ordered one not really knowing how it worked or whether I would even like it.  Basically it is an electric counter top pressure cooker.  It is wonderfully convenient because it is all programmed and shuts off when the desired cook time is achieved.  A great improvement over the old stove top one which had to be watched and timed.  I have made a variety of meats, chili, and soups in it and things come out quite tasty with little effort.  You can saute your meat in it to begin and then switch it over to pressure cook or use it as a crockpot without pressure.  Pretty versatile along with yoghurt, rice, and grain settings also.  So eventually it might replace my rice cooker and crockpot and free up some kitchen space.  You can also purchase extra pots, racks, glass crockpot lids, and silicone storage lids for it.  Pretty sweet!

Most of the time when I purchase something new like this, I buy one for my daughter also.  It seems to be more fun when we can explore something new at the same time.  But for some reason, I only purchased the one appliance this time.  As my daughter was sending me all kinds of new recipes to try, I felt increasingly bad I hadn't bought one for her also.  She wouldn't have expected me to do so, but still I knew she would enjoy one.  I found out that several of our friends had also purchased the same appliance at the same Amazon sale last summer.  Amazon has not had the appliance on sale again.  I was thinking it might be on sale again around Black Friday, so I was waiting.

One friend had purchased an Instant Pot with the rest of us, but then had chickened out on trying it.  It sat on her pantry shelf for several months.  Every time I would post I had tried out another recipe, she would bemoan the fact she hadn't used hers yet.  Finally I got an idea and offered to buy hers for what she had paid for it since it seemed to be a purchase she regretted.  She accepted my offer and now my daughter has one to play with also and we are having fun trying out different recipes in them.  With our busy schedules, it is nice to have a quick way to make a tasty dinner.

Jane