How My Instant Pot Saves Me Time
With it’s pressure-cooking magic, cooking food in the Instant Pot that once took hours to make, now take minutes. Some of my favorite dishes I would rarely have the time to make conventionally have been risotto, BBQ ribs and pork roast. Of course if I prioritized the the time I could put a roast in the oven at 2 p.m. Or if I wanted refried beans for dinner I could take the extra step to soak them the night before. But that is one extra thing on my to-do list. When my to-do list is already full with things like doing laundry, going to meetings, writing blog posts and walking Alton.
When I want to make dinner, I just want to make it all at once. And for the first time, for more complex or time-consuming meals, the Instant-Pot has allowed me to do that.
And it’s not just about being busy. Because of my disability, my daily schedule is always somewhat tenuous. I plan as best as I can, but I never know when my ambitions will have to take a back seat to my health. The Instant Pot increases my opportunity to make more complex and high quality meals because of it’s simple and quicker cooking time. For example: say I want to make stroganoff one night. Cooked conventionally, I’d have to cook the meat, boil the noodles, and prepare the sauce, all in separate steps and dirtying several dishes. With the Instant-Pot everything just goes in the pot! If I’m not unexpectedly not feeling well one day, there is no way I’m making stroganoff without the Instant-Pot. It’s microwave burrito night. And let me just tell you, pre-Instant Pot, we used to eat a lot more burritos for dinner.
Oh, and did I mention dirty dishes? That is been a great side bonus! The Instant-Pot cuts down on so many dirty dishes.
I’ve read people complain online about how some of the boasts about the quickness of the cooking times are exaggerated. And it is true, as with any pressure cooker, the Instant-Pot does take time to come up to pressure, which can be anywhere from 5-15 minutes depending on what’s inside, and, if it’s been pre-heated or not. And cooking time can be prolonged if a food requires a natural verses quick release. But with that said, there is no other cooking method that provides a result with the speed, quality and simplicity of the Instant-Pot. And for that, in my kitchen, it has been a game-changer for my meal-preparing productivity.
When I was first learning how to use the Instant-Pot I used recipes out of this cookbook: The Instant Pot Electric Pressure Cooker Cookbook. I continue to cook out of it and I highly recommend it, especially if you are new to the Instant-Pot. There is a little bit of a learning curve, but if you follow the instructions on the recipes closely, everything will turn out delicious— and fast. Now what is not to love about that?
Mmmm.... what am I going to make this week?
