The first part is just that. Tell me about Instapots. I have been looking at them for sometime, but I'm unsure on what I would need, use.

What is the best to get and why?

I have been looking at them for my use, as sometime time is short and a lot of the time I end up having fast food for dinner, or if really late canned soup, microwave meals.

Also, I make homemade food for my pup, she doesn't eat that exclusively, but it's part of her everyday diet. I have a couple of recipes that are dog nutritionist developed and Veterinarian approved.

The thing is, it takes about 3 hours to cook, and then the cool down time, so you are looking at 5 to 6 hours to cook my pup's food every month, and sometimes time is tight and it's hard to get it done.

As a matter of fact I'm making it right now, which is usually done end/beginning of the month but I have been so busy I haven't had the time. So I'm hoping that this gadget will buy me some valuable time.

So. Let's hear your thoughts and experiences, and if you make homemade food for your pups, let's hear about that also!


ARman

Have had one for a while now and wish had got one sooner. There are several cooking pot sizes and even one that has the air fryer . Depending on what you are cooking for the fur baby. It should cut down on cooking time quiet a bit....There a specific cookbooks or you can just wing it ..... If you get one keep us posted. ............................................ drill sgt.

I can not say about an Instapot, but we feed our little dog a raw meat diet recipe that has a bunch of things in it. Package and freeze in three-day servings.

Will share recipe if interested.

I have an Instapot but I really have no use for it. If I lived in a tiny apt. and didn't have room for my cookware, I might find it useful.
Otherwise, mine takes forever to heat up and seal and then w/ the cool down, I don't find it that fast. Sure, you can pop the exhaust to cool it but still, to me, I rather just do things my usual way.
I don't think it makes things better. Maybe a little faster but I don't fall into that group where I can't plan ahead and need things pressure cooked.

If you have a specific need for it, I would go for it, though. I just don't.

I was interested in using it for canning but the internal isn't that large but appealing if you might have a limited use for that.

Get one with handles on the inner pot.

I have a Pro with handles, and a Duo SV without, and use both. Handles make it much nicer, but I like both.

I hear they are making a model for canning now too.

Also in the dogfood recipes. I plan on cooking and freezing venison scraps for my dingos.

I've got an Instant pot and a Nu-Wave Nutripot. They both work equally well, I use the one I grab first.

They're great at some things- cooking roasts or cooking from frozen. They really are time savers in those cases. Other times they really aren't. Some people use them religiously for everything, but I've found that for most things by the time you wait for them to come to pressure and cook you could have done it in a pan on the stove and ended up with less to clean up (even more so if the recipe calls for a natural pressure release). They are also not great at searing, if a recipe calls for that I do that part on the stove.

They are probably great at making dog food, but I don't have experience with that so I can't give any pointers. Overall I find it a nice tool to have in the kitchen if you have room for another appliance, but I've found out I actually prefer cooking a lot of instant pot recipes normally outside the instant pot.

We use our Instant Pot 2-3x a week, and absolutely love it. It is best for shortening the cook times of things like a pot roast, which can take hours to do in a conventional oven.
Also great for pasta dishes. Toss everything in and it's ready in just a short time.
Our typical use: Put the Mississippi Pot Roast in, set timer for 45 minutes, and go out for our one-hour walk in the evening. When we return, dinner is ready to go.
No experience with dog food (we are cat people), but it sounds like the IP could reduce your cooking time substantially. There are internet forums and social media pages dedicated to all things Instant Pot.

The instant Pot is for "fast" food, but it will speed up some meals.

The convivence really comes from being able to sear then cook in the same pot, and not needing to keep eyes on it. Or cooking from frozen. That has been the big time saver for us, throwing frozen chicken, broth, and veggies into the pot and having it cook while we do other things.

As for dog food, we have friends that rescued Great Pyrenees and St. Benards, and they would cook up a large batch of brown rice and frozen mixed veggies, and would feed a scoop of that with raw chicken thighs and added fresh veggies.

I've never seen malnourished dogs bounce back so fast as I did watching their animals. I can't say if it's recommended for every breed, but for large frame dogs it sure did work. As always, discuss with your vet beforehand (they worked very close with theirs, being a rescue situation).

Isn't an Instapot basically a fancy pressure cooker?

Yes, that’s it. We had one and ended up getting rid of it. My wife and I aren’t huge fans of one pot meals. Also the pressure cooking element never appealed to either of us. If we do stuff like that we just put it in a crock pot and let it cook. It takes longer but that isn’t a big deal to us.

Pressure cookers you need to do your homework. It’s easier to get burned or scalded.

People who love them really love them though. For us it’s a hard no.

quote:

Originally posted by PASig:
Isn't an Instapot basically a fancy pressure cooker?

Yes, but operates at lower pressures that the stove top models and with timers to automatically turn off the heat after the cook period is done.

Great addition, we have the Instapot, I've made chili, chicken alfredo, cooked chicken from frozen to ready to shred in no time. They also slow cook like a crock pot.

Clean up is a breeze with the stainless pot, lighter and easier to use than a crock pot.

In fact just cranked up black bean soup for the wife in ours.

Costco has a larger unit than we needed at a good price, well worth the price, and they are not super expensive either.

Slow cook or pressure cook they work well and they have auto shut down or switch to warm mode when the timers up... No overcooked food.

quote:

Originally posted by pedropcola:
Yes, that’s it. We had one and ended up getting rid of it. My wife and I aren’t huge fans of one pot meals. Also the pressure cooking element never appealed to either of us. If we do stuff like that we just put it in a crock pot and let it cook. It takes longer but that isn’t a big deal to us.

Pressure cookers you need to do your homework. It’s easier to get burned or scalded.

People who love them really love them though. For us it’s a hard no.

I'm with you. One pot cooking often produces a grayish, braised mess. Braising or stewing is fine in their place, but they aren't the way to cook everything.

quote:

homemade dog food

Don't leave us hanging - Post your Dog Food recipe. We make our own for our old Pom who eats better than some people.
Chicken, green beans and sweet potato.

quote:

Originally posted by RGRacing:

quote:

homemade dog food

Don't leave us hanging - Post your Dog Food recipe. We make our own for our old Pom who eats better than some people.
Chicken, green beans and sweet potato.

Like to see it as well

Probably an ideal way to cook dog food. I had a Boston Terrier who required homemade dog food, and it would have simplified his meals.

We have an Insta-pot and about once a week, my wife makes a roast with potatoes and carrots.

We always use a Chuck Roast and treat it as if we were buying a rib eye steak-looking for marbling. She sears it in the pot, then cooks it, adds the veggies and, after all is done, makes the gravy.

All done in about an hour, or just a little more. We get two meals out of it and the taste is, to me, fantastic. Incredibly tender roast. Cost is right around $20 total for the meat and veggies.

So, five bucks each for two meals. Pretty economical (though when it comes to food, economical is not really part of my vocabulary).

We do most of our cooking in the air fryer or oven, and breakfast is always a skillet job, but the Insta-Pot has won a place in our rotation.

Bob

I've been using an insta pot for several years. Last one went to the ex so I dropped $25 on a sale model at Best Buy. They always go on sale for Black Friday (coming up).
Anyhow, I've made a ton of different recipes from rice, curries, stews, etc. I have a friend that makes her yogurt in hers.
They are very versatile, but you have to remember there is still time in prep like all cooking.
The savings is in the cook time. Anything that takes a while on the stove (like beans) can be done much quicker with pressure and heat.

Cheers~

I've heard they can do flavor infused potatoes, and easy peel hard boiled eggs. Haven't tried either yet.

There is also a sous vide and yogurt setting on mine. My crock pots are crude tools when compared to the Instant pots.

I've wondered if I could set it to the right temp and attach a condensor to the pressure port to distill uhm, uh, water.

^^^ What slyguy said.

I use it mainly for making vegetable/chicken stock, beans and various soups.