Kitchen

[MsSuze]

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@jackthebear wrote:

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@MsSuze wrote:

I eat a vegan diet and cook most of my own food. I no longer buy canned beans. In the IP, I cook large batches of beans and freeze them for later use. I do not need to soak them over night. I cook a variety of lentil, yellow split pea, green split pea recipes in the IP. I also cook sweet potatoes and winter squash in it. I make my own soy yogurt in it.

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I have not tried cooking dried beans I buy the canned works for me.  

but the freezing sounds interesting  because they can go bad quickly if you don't use them.  

I will buy beans on sale  

so please tell me more about how you freeze them

and I will give you a nice bean recipe in the IP

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Jackthebear, You should really try cooking beans in the IP. I cook garbanzo beans the most because as a vegan I eat a lot of hummus. In the IP I put 3 cups of non-soaked dry garbanzo beans and 9 cups of water - that is, 3 cups of water for each cup of beans. I use the manual function and set the time for 53 minutes. They come up to pressure in about 15 minutes. When done, I use natural release and the pressure comes down in about 30-40 minutes. They come out slightly soft but for me they are perfect. If you want them a bit more firm, cut down on the cooking time. So the whole process takes about 1 hour and 45 minutes.  Some people might say that is a long time and not "instant". However, I did not have to soak the beans or stand over the stove many times to make sure there is enough water in the pot. You just set the IP, never have to look at it, and come back when the pressure has come down.

When the beans are done, I drain them. I then put them back into the IP stainless steel pot with the glass lid on it and put them in the refrigerator to cool. You can buy the glass lid on Amazon. Then later that day or may be even the next day, I put the beans in glass pyrex containers with a lid, of course, and no liquid and put them in the freezer. I prefer to use glass rather than plastic containers. When I want to use them, I take them out a day or two before and let them thaw in the refrigerator. That is it. I have never put canned beans in the freezer before, but I am sure if you drain them and put them in a container and then the freezer, it will work fine. Some people first freeze the garbanzo  beans individually on a cookie sheet and then put them in a ziploc bag or container so they don't freeze all together in a clump. That is too much work for me and once I thaw them out, they are not in a clump. I hope this information helps you.

[MsSuze]

Those of you who use the "egg button" on the newer IP models to cook potatoes, can you please tell me how to do it. Do you simply put water in the IP pot and put the potatoes on the trivet, press the egg button,  and set the time? How much time?

[kiamom23]

I just made potatoes in the IP.  My potatoes were pretty big.  I put a cup of water in the bottom, then 3 XL potatoes on a trivit over the water.  Put another trivit on top and placed the 4th potato on it- probably didn't have to do that.  Set manual pressure to 20 minutes and then a natural pressure release of 10 minutes.  I think you are supposed to poke them with a fork but I forgot this time.  Two had a small split in them.  They were great!  2nd time I've done it this way.  Put taco meat on top with chopped tomatoes, green onions, cheese, salt and pepper.  Yum!

[In-x-s]

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@MsSuze wrote:

Those of you who use the "egg button" on the newer IP models to cook potatoes, can you please tell me how to do it. Do you simply put water in the IP pot and put the potatoes on the trivet, press the egg button,  and set the time? How much time?

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I peel (sometimes) and quarter the potatoes, sprinkle with salt as if boiling in a pot of water, add about a cup of water and set it to "egg" OR for my one that doesn't have the the egg button I do low pressure for 6-7 minutes.  PERFECT and no pot watching!!  A true "set it and forget it" cooking.

[RinaRina]

OMG!  Just an FYI ---

There's an Instantpot group on Facebook.  They have 173,000 members!

[CLEM]

I am not sure yet if I want to get the InstantPot or a regular pressure cooker.  Here are pictures of 2 InstantPot models.  Which one would you suggest.  Do they come with a clearly written manual?

Sorry, the pictures won't post.  But there is a 9 in 1 and a 7 in 1 model.  Which is the mroe dependable?  And how do they compare to the pressure cooker?

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[MsSuze]

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@CLEM wrote:

I am not sure yet if I want to get the InstantPot or a regular pressure cooker.  Here are pictures of 2 InstantPot models.  Which one would you suggest.  Do they come with a clearly written manual?

Sorry, the pictures won't post.  But there is a 9 in 1 and a 7 in 1 model.  Which is the mroe dependable?  And how do they compare to the pressure cooker?

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CLEM, when I clicked on reply in your message and then quote, the pictures showed up. As I mentioned on the first page of this thread (comment #7), I have two of them - the IP Duo60 6qt 7-in-1 and the IP Duo Plus 6qt 9-in-1. The 9-in-1 is a newer model and I would suggest getting that one. It has the added functions of egg cooker and cake cooker. Although, if you can get the Duo 60 7-in-1 at a good price, that is just as good. They are both dependable. I don't know why one model would be more dependable than the other. A pressure cooker only does pressure cooking and the IP has many more functions. Plus the IP has a removeable stainless steel pot. No Teflon coating. Mch more healthy to cook that way. Read the reviews on Amazon.

[MsSuze]

The pictures did not show up again even though they were there when I typed out my message.

[Free2be]

Clem, I'm new to this gadget and wasn't even aware of the various models when I made my purchase.  I have a 6 qt duo 9 in 1 model, I like the simplicity it offers with the various options (buttons) but it is a little frustrating reading "how to" recipes on the internet when the directions are with other models that have different buttons.

The directions and pamplet cookbook that came with it are meager. Plan on using the web for ideas, including YouTube and cookbooks that aren't so old they cause confusion.

I like this pot better than any of my past pressure cookers.  I really like the stainless insert -- no more worries or problems with scratched non-stick coatings.

My overall impression of these pot models is whatever model you buy, you will end up "knowing" yours for its own particular options well enough that you will be able to make it work no matter what the recipe directions are.  At least, that's what I'm counting on!

[aubnwa01]

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@RinaRina wrote:

OMG!  Just an FYI ---

There's an Instantpot group on Facebook.  They have 173,000 members!

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The Instant Pot Facebook group I'm in has over 1.29 million members in it.  It's the Instant Pot Community & is actually sponsored by the company that makes the IP.