Is the Instant Pot Worth It? — The Kitchen Gadget Test Show

On today's episode of the Kitchen Gadget Test Show, Esther Choi is testing out the Instapot. This thing is so popular right now, is it worth all the hype??

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[donnalynn]

The instant pot has changed my life. I have literally been able to make things I never attempted before because I'm disabled and cannot stand for hours in the kitchen over the stove. Everything I have made has been so simple, flavorful and my husband cannot get over the wonderful food waiting for him after a long day at work. I have made beef stew for him several times which turned out incredible but it's not going to happen in 15 minutes. Yes they take time to reach preassure but as someone who grew up in the 70s I remember those old pressure cookers. Whenever my mom would get ready to release the pressure she made sure all is kids were out of the kitchen. I grew up so afraid of the things. You won't get me within 100 feet of a regular one. These are safe and comparing it to a standard one isn't fair. How about testing it out for how it's intended?

[OUSWKR]

I feel that the instant pot offers another layer of safety that a traditional pressure cooker does not have. I love the fact I can put stuff in it and go about my routine till it’s done. For me it’s not about the time savings as much as the convenience of not having to babysit it.

[Shahrdad]

In my family, we've used real pressure cookers for decades. Stovetop pressure cookers reach a higher pressure (15 PSI) which results in much hotter water inside. Electric cookers only reach 10-12 PSI, which results in a lower temp and a longer cooking time. Also, a stovetop pressure cooker can be removed from the stove and allow to depressurize naturally in 5 to ten minutes, which is much better when cooking beans or meat, whereas an Instant Pot can take up to 40 minutes to depressurize. Also, a stovetop cooker can be taken to the sink, have cool water run over the lid, which causes it to depressurize very quickly, which is useful when cooking things like risotto. This is much faster than opening the steam vent.

[techdavis]

Instant Pot cooks at 11 psi. Stovetop pressure cooker at 15, so the instant pot will take longer. But... you don’t have to let it come to pressure and turn it down, you don’t have to monitor it to ensure it’s simmering. You don’t even have to watch the time; it will switch to keep warm and slowly depressurize automatically at the end of cooking. I have both, but I only use the instant pot anymore. Convenience wins.

[notarookee]

At age 71 I’ve use a true pressure cooker over 50 years. I’ve also tried 2 different Instant Pots. The first one broke after a couple months of use the pressure valve disintegrated. I return the second one to the store and I decided that this was just not for me. I was surprised by this review/comparison as I figured she’d favor the new version which was not the case.

[stephenhill]

I have an instant pot and I can easily say that she simply had no idea how to use it.

[mangoldm]

The Instant Pot resting on the cooktop is setting my OCD alarms to overload.

[zenastronomy]

everyone saying she messed up 2 ways.

1) she sautéed at lowest setting, which took longer to sauté and also meant took longer for instant pot to come to boil when preheating
2) she brought the stove top pressure cooker to boil and then started counting time for it. but didn't wait for the aame for instant pot. which due to being set on low setting saute probably took longer.

if true. then it wasn't a fair comparison

[calibomber]

I agree the instapot is legit! At first I was like this glorified ricecooker can never beat my slow and low technique(simmering 3 hours or more). I was wrong. I’ve made so many dishes that take hours to make in under 1 hour including pho, braised meat dishes, connective tissue tendons, beef stock etc. but I also make perfect rice with less water and fluffier finish and kept nacho cheese hot for hours. It’s very versatile. Plus amazon had a Black Friday sale for only $48 free ship so I got it. I forgot to mention that you can sauté your aromatics then sear your meat and finish with a braise and have perfect result every time. Worth it for sure!!!

[reiofsunshine]

I think what’s also great about the instant pot is that is multi functioning. I use it a lot as a rice cooker since my real rice cooker broke. Also it introduces pressure cooking to the general public. Before I wouldn’t have even batted an eye about pressure cooking. But since I’ve been gifted the instant pot it has made making stews so quick and easy for me.

[stefcervantes]

I mean, pressure cookers are pretty scary but if you know how to use them, they make everything way easier/quicker, in Mexican cuisine there’s a lot of frijoles (beans) and cooking them in a pressure cooker reaaally speeds up the process (and I think without losing on the flavor side), the same with other hard legumes and meats. My mom swears by it.

[NathanBLawrence]

It's definitely a trade-off. The Instant Pot can get most jobs done, but it doesn't have the power of a good stove underneath it, and that means everything does take a little longer. I think it's a question of if the convenience it provides (not necessarily in terms of speed, but in terms of the dishes you have to do and the amount of babysitting it takes to make sure nothing goes wrong) is worth the extra time things may take.

[walksoflifesixnine]

It's not a fair comparison in this case. 1: She set the saute setting too low. Honestly, the saute setting at anything other than high with beef is pretty much useless! 2: With the much lower initial heat especially considering she used the low setting, of course it is going to take longer to come up to pressure. 3: The standard cooker she used was MUCH larger than the IP she used. Pressure cooking 101 is that the more room you have in the pot for steam, the more effective the cooking will be. It does look like she is using the 8quart IP, but the standard PC she used was enormous. 4: I'm not saying the IP is perfect, just that this was not a fair comparison really.

[luizbattistel]

Completely agree with her. With my standard pressure cooker + induction cooktop it builds pressure in about 30 seconds 😂 compared to 15 mins in this instant pot. I can run my stainless steel pressure cooker under water making it lose all pressure again in 30 seconds while this thing takes at least several minutes.

[MiaSabathy]

This is my first time trying to find out how to use the instant pont. I was really confused, but am relieved now seeing the comments 😅

[peggyunderhill]

I have both. I have been using pressure cookers for over 50 years so they’re not a mystery to me. My stovetop cooker sits in the cupboard most of the time. My Instantpot is used almost daily. It cooks at lower pressure than the stovetop one but it’s hardly noticeable. Cooks everything beautifully and is so convenient.

[nolanmartin]

"A little bit of oil to saute the meat" *Glug glug glug*

[grace]

Funny true story. My husband had his parents visiting from Europe.
He borrowed my mother's pressure cooker and wanted to do chili with red kidney beans.
Thank goodness I was at work. This is 30 years ago. He always knew everything about
Everything. He put all the ingredients from the recipe into the pot. Started it and waited,
and waited, and waited. You guessed right. I got home when the MESS was just about cleaned up. The cover blew off and the chilli made it to the walls and ceiling. I just purchased an instant pot because I NEVER felt safe using a pressure cooker (my mom's) ever. We celebrated our 50th anniversary. The good news was that I got the kitchen re-painted.

[GypSeaRNC]

With enough people saying she used it wrong, I’m now questioning the validity of this video.

[sile]

I love my instant pot, it's very versatile. It does stews and soups well, great rice or grain cooker, and cooks veggies in a flash. Plus it's easy to clean.