When my We Know Products editor told me to review kitchen appliances I already own, my first thought was to tell the world about my budget coffee maker. I’m lucky they took the post, but turns out they were more interested in the fact that I own an Instant Pot. (So that is just something you are expected to divulge to potential employers? Noted.)
Anyway, it is true. I joined the masses this past Christmas by adding the Instant Pot to my kitchen. I can’t say I’ve used it as much as my coffee pot Hazel (I haven’t even gotten around to naming my Instant Pot yet. Any suggestions?). I have definitely used it, though, so I can surely write a review!
If you haven’t been living under a rock since Amazon Prime Day 2016, you already know the basics of the Instant Pot. It is a multifunctional kitchen appliances that can act as a pressure cooker, slow cooker and a bunch of other things. You might not know that the Instant Pot comes in three sizes – 3-quart, 6-quart and 8-quart. I generally only cook for myself, so my parents got me the 3-quart model.
There also are various generations of the Instant Pot — including the Max, the Lux, the Duo, the Duo Plus and the Ultra. I have the Ultra. (I want it on the record that I did not ask for the Ultra!) Apparently the Ultra comes with more functions than the early versions, including cake, egg and sterilize. The only one of those I’ve used is egg. You know what? It works great! But I’m going to be honest with you (at risk of being told never to write for We Know Products again), I prefer the hard-boiled eggs at my Saturday brunch spot. They “devil” them (is that a verb?) way better than I do.
As a more positive anecdote (that I assume my editor will move up to earlier in this article), this year I was conscripted to make chili for our not-quite-Super-Bowl-Party (my roommate, her boyfriend and me). Everything I read online beforehand said that you needed a 6 or 8-quart Instant Pot to make chili. Not so! I successfully mixed the chili ingredients my grandmother swears by with those recommended by some woman online for a 6-quart Instant Pot, scaled down as I deemed fit. If you ask me (and my roommate and her boyfriend, I promise), it had a quite delectable result. (The secret? Liberal use of cumin.)
The upshot here is twofold. On one hand, I don’t think the 3-quart Instant Pot Ultra is meant for people like me (sorry Mom!): I don’t cook a lot, and in cases like the chili example, a pressure cooker or Crock-Pot (RIP Jack Pearson) would have done the job. On the other, in cases when I would cook (a real Super Bowl Party, other gatherings), I don’t think I have the adequate size Instant Pot. Unless you cook for yourself (and just yourself) every day, get a 6-quart or 8-quart model.
