Instant Pot thread

[omaniphil]

The DUP Plus is only $69

Check again. It's down to $55.99 for Prime Day

[iamsmu]

The DUP Plus is only $69

Check again. It's down to $55.99 for Prime Day

I was just about to post that. It's a very good deal! That and the $10 off from buying something from WholeFoods last week and I got it for super cheap.

Looks like there are Prime Day discounts on all sorts of stuff. . . .

[BostonRugger]

@augeleven’s Prime Day post inspired me. Got this one for $48 including tax. I had some kind of Whole Foods $10 discount automatically applied at checkout

[augeleven]

Sweet. All prime day deals should include an @Allentown tag...

I’m not using mine for yogurt or anything fancy like that, but I have quite a few variations of the same shredded meat dish:
Put chicken or pork in instapot with favorite salsa/jarred marinade/Trader Joes simmer sauce/ etc.
After cooked, remove meat and reduce the leftover juice, maybe throw in some beans here. Mix in the reduced sauce, some steamed broccoli/spinach/appropriate vegetable and maybe more seasoning if needed and put under the broiler for a bit to crisp it up
This covers everything from BBQ pulled pork to chicken masala to whatever is covered with dust in the back of my pantry. Last weekend I made a shredded chicken with cannelloni beans and TJs pineapple jalapeño salsa. Don’t do that. Kinda gross.

[OrderInChaos]

... with favorite salsa/jarred marinade/Trader Joes simmer sauce/ etc.
After cooked, remove meat and reduce the leftover juice, maybe throw in some beans here. Mix in the reduced sauce...

I do something similar and have a technique to save my (rare) good sauces/marinades. A common dish for me is 5-8 pounds of pork or chuck or chicken, with 12-16oz of Dr. Pepper and a can of Chipotles+Adobo added. I add some salt, good quality pepper, and a bunch of Goya adobo and a pack of Sazon.

Usually cooks down pretty wet; I remove the meat then shred it with forks in a separate bowl, then use a stick blender to smooth consistency of the sauce directly in the IP, then add a small amount of liquid back to the meat. While I've done beans in sauce like you mentioned, a great way to save it for later is to pour most of it (the remainder that wasn't added to the shredded meat) into some heat-safe vessels, then after cooling in the fridge, pour into ziplocs and lay flat in the freezer. The frozen consistency is easy to divide up and add to other dishes.

Also, Kenji's Texas chili con carne recipe's lazy microwave technique for pepper prep is a great way to prep up some dried peppers into a delicious paste. Once that solution's cooked with a meat, that's a great candidate for saving in bags and adding to whatever later. Directions #1 at this link https://bit.ly/2XTYKjL

[heidikay]

So many great ideas! I do something similar with pork butt in my regular old crock pot: cook it in a Korean style marinade (soy, ginger, sesame oil, brown sugar, garlic) then when it's done crisp up chunks of meat or shredded meat in the cast iron. Eat wrapped in lettuce leaves with miso chili paste I make and rice. Ssam basically.

[iamsmu]

The Insta-Pot arrived. It's huge. I made an ASMR unboxing video for you guys.

[OrderInChaos]

Saw cwd's pretty cool breakfast in that thread and wanted to share a quick thought:

.5 cup dry oats, 1.25 cups water
1 chopped apple
fresh grated ginger, diced jalapeno pepper, cinnamon

After microwaving, add:
1 scoop unflavored protein powder, 5g creatine
milk, walnuts, peanut butter, blueberries, and a sprinkling of granola

Also, 20 oz coffee.

Same thing every morning, no need to mess with the perfect breakfast.

Y'all ever use the pot-in-pot technique before? I got out of the habit but thanks to some new Pyrex and better liquid/grain ratios/recipes on hand, gave it a go.

3-to-1 liquid to steel cut oats work too damned well. And 1-to-1 water to white rice cooks extremely fast in the very container it's going to be packed.

Really convenient because all you do after is dump water in the sink, towel then air dry the trivet and lid and you're done. Beats the hell out of scraping oat or rice starch out.

[cwd]

I'd like to try that, I own a box of steel cut oats that I want to love, but you can't cook them in 5 minutes.

[omaniphil]

I'd like to try that, I own a box of steel cut oats that I want to love, but you can't cook them in 5 minutes.

steel cut oats take about 15 minutes from start to finish in the instant pot. I do 2 cups steel cut oats, 3-4 chopped apples, and 6 cups of water, along with about a cup of raisins.

10 minutes to get to pressure, and then 5 minutes cook at pressure, and then you're done. Very tasty and breakfast for a week.

[iamsmu]

With the instant pot all you have to do is press the yogurt button three times till it says "boil" and it will heat slowly and evenly and automatically turn off at 180F. Then you let it cool, but you can put it in the sink with cold water and cool it rapidly, because even if it gets too cold, it will go back in the instant pot where it will be warmed back up to 105-110. To do that, you just press the yogurt button twice, and set the time (4-5 hours for basic set, less tart yogurt, 12 hours for nice and tart yogurt, less lactose). Then you strain it for 2-3 hours and presto, Greek Yogurt.

I like this bag to strain the yogurt - fits a gallon perfectly, and it is easy to wash and keep clean.

Trying this right now with a half gallon of skim milk. I've got 7:45 on the incubation. We'll see. I wish I had a glass lid. Found one on Amazon for $13. . . .



I tried using Fage as a starter. I let it cool to 110. If it fails, it must be the Fage. To be safe, I might go to 105 next time.

I got a larger colander, but it's a little too big for the bag you recommended. I guess it will be fine.

I'm not sure if I'm going to chill it before straining or strain while chilling. Thoughts?

This site seems to have some helpful tips.

https://thisoldgal.com/instant-pot-greek-yogurt/

[omaniphil]

I recently discovered that the yogurt comes out a little smoother and less lumpy if you let it incubate at the lower temperature. If it tastes lumpy or grainy, try that change.

I chill while straining. Haven't tried the other way, but might try it to see what happens. So many different variables to try out. I recently discovered that unless I am super careful about sanitizing things before using them, I can't use the yogurt I make as starter for the next batch. The 'bad' bacteria load is not noticeable in the first batch if you don't sanitize, but becomes more noticeable in subsequent batches.

[omaniphil]

Trying this right now with a half gallon of skim milk. I've got 7:45 on the incubation. We'll see. I wish I had a glass lid. Found one on Amazon for $13. .

How'd the first batch turn out?

[brkriete]

This is my favorite instant pot recipe right now: https://tastesbetterfromscratch.com/ins ... ken-pasta/

I could damn near eat a whole batch (and would then need to be rolled out of the kitchen). My fiancee makes it with like 1/4 of the recommended amount of cheese and it's still pretty good but with the full cheese amount it's totally decadent.

[iamsmu]

Trying this right now with a half gallon of skim milk. I've got 7:45 on the incubation. We'll see. I wish I had a glass lid. Found one on Amazon for $13. .

How'd the first batch turn out?

The first batch came out about 50% liquid, the second batch was excellent.

Batch 1: 2 quarts skim milk. Added 2 Tbs 2% Fage as a starter after cooling to 110 degrees. 8 hours in IP. 50% water on top. Cooled. Strained.

Batch 2: 2 quarts 2% milk. Added 3 Tbs 5% Fage as a starter after cooling to 105 degrees. 8 hours in IP. Almost no water on top. Cooled. Strained.

I think I might have had some hot spots on the first batch and the temp was too high. I made sure to stir and check a few times on the second batch. Also, the starter was from a just opened thing of yogurt.

Whatever did it, it was lovely. I probably got 6 cups of yogurt after a 2-3 hour strain. It was just tangy enough and smooth. Very nice yogurt. I'm going to try it again.

[OrderInChaos]

Had the same issue as you on my first batch recently, 1/2 gallon of full fat milk with 2-3 Tbps 0% Kirkland branded greek. Cooled to ~100, 8-9 hours in IP, bunch of water on top. About 24-30oz Yogurt and double that in liquid after strain-and-cool.

I saved some starter but will get a small tin of some brand-ier full fat greek on the next go.

[iamsmu]

Had the same issue as you on my first batch recently, 1/2 gallon of full fat milk with 2-3 Tbps 0% Kirkland branded greek. Cooled to ~100, 8-9 hours in IP, bunch of water on top. About 24-30oz Yogurt and double that in liquid after strain-and-cool.

I saved some starter but will get a small tin of some brand-ier full fat greek on the next go.

Interesting. It's hard to debug. The process is so slow, I hate to just change one variable at a time.

I wonder what making beer is like. . . .

[OrderInChaos]

Below approach is a damned alright method of making stupid fast meals that are at least B+ in flavor/etc, and the pressure makes the meats pretty tender if lacking in perfect Maillard effect, Kenji magic, and all that. I can save those types of meals for the weekends.

1. Put 1-3 TBSP high-temp oil (canola, avocado) in base of pot
2. Put meat in, 16ish oz. (2-3 breasts or thighs, one tenderloin cut in halves, etc.)
3. Add canned veg, salsas, frozen or fresh veg
4. canned legumes if using
5. evenly spread 1-2C rice, dry and powder/paste spices
6. add chicken broth or water roughly 1:1 with rice - account for canned veg/beans/etc. liquids

With frozen meats, 10min high pressure, otherwise 8min high. 12min release then fluff the rice, close the lid again, let the rice continue hydrating another 10min. Try to avoid making a rice soup by stirring it all together. I don't do large batch cooking with this method, try to get 3-4ish meals, or two days of entrees, because the leaner meats lose the tender/good qualities much longer than that.

A high RoI choice would be to sear the meats before step one, I'm too lazy to care most weekdays. I've had success with a taco bowl version and a teriyaki/stir fry type bowl, some spices and sauce changes and no beans in the Asian-themed ones and I have a good bit of variety my work meals and don't have to live the sad-faced chicken and broccoli with rice life.

[cgeorg]

I wonder what making beer is like. . . .

cheap and quick if you want it to taste like homebrew, pretty damn intense if you want it to be good

[brkriete]

A high RoI choice would be to sear the meats before step one, I'm too lazy to care most weekdays.

I do this. You can do it in the same instant pot insert with the pot set to sear and the fact you're adding some heat helps it come up to temp faster when you seal it anyway.