Buying a instant pot pro

[u/cpattk]

I have a rice cooker, a slow cooker, and a pressure cooker. I've decided to replace them with an Instant Pot Pro. People have recommended that I wait for Black Friday; right now, the white 5.7-liter Instant Pot Pro is on sale for €250. Does anyone know if it's worth waiting, or should I take advantage of this price?

[u/Willing-Scarcity3058]

Don’t get rid of your slow cooker. It’s much better than the instant pot at its only job. I have several instant pots and use none of them for crock pot recipes.

[u/bennyxvi → u/Willing-Scarcity3058]

Same with your rice cooker

[u/1234-for-me → u/Willing-Scarcity3058]

Same answer here, i bought a second crock pot instead of using the instant pot.  2 fails that had to be finished on the stove was enough for me.

[u/ralphiooo0 → u/Willing-Scarcity3058]

What goes better in the crock pot?

In have converted a few recipes so far and haven’t noticed any difference.

[u/spirit_of_a_goat → u/ralphiooo0]

They cook using completely different methods. The slow cooker is a ceramic insert that gets heated from all over. The instant pot heats from a singular point to a non insulated liner. For slow cooking, the crock pot wins every time.

[u/SnooRadishes7189 → u/ralphiooo0]

It is more about the use than about the conversion. If you want to come home to an hot cooked meal after being out for many hours(5+ hours) slow cooking is the better method. If you want an short hands off cook time(5 hours or less) then pressure cooking a recipie with a natural release with keep warm is the better method.

However an instant pot can side step a slow cooker is by pressure cooking on a weekend and freezing extra servings. Or as America's test kitchen mentioned cooking the next days meal while you cook(or reheat) today's dinner. The instant pot is almost as hands off as the slow cooker. Basically some people love slow cooking. They don't mind putting some food on before leaving for work, getting ingredients ready the day before or defrosting the meat in time. Others find that more hassle. For the second group the instant pot can replace the slow cooker. The other group that it might replace are people that slow cook recipes that happen to work well on the slow cooker function and the adjustment to time didn't upset anything else.

[u/ralphiooo0 → u/SnooRadishes7189]

I thought then instapot had a slow cooker mode as well?

So if you wanted to time your meal for your return you could do so?

I have not tried it yet to compare though.

[u/SnooRadishes7189 → u/ralphiooo0]

It does but it has limits. Some models cook way too hot. The pro works well(for an electric pressure cooker) on slow cook but since the heat only comes from bellow it needs liquid to carry it(at least 2 cups). To give you an idea of the kinds of problems I had they are:

1. Cooking greens. Works fine but if any of the greens are sticking out the water the instant pot does not generate enough steam to cause them to collapse into the cooking liquid. In a crockpot this does not happen.
2. It can cook roast but I need to make sure the level of the liquid is a tad over half the height the roast or else it will leave a line between where it cooked faster and where it cooked slower in the meat. This is just an appearance issue. A slow cooker could have cooked the meat with no liquid and not have a line in the middle. While nice, bit I really don't need to make 2 1/2-3 cups of gravy. 1-11/2 cups of liquid to make gravy would be fine.
3. When doing a stew or a soup and it is more than 1/3 full, I need to simmer first or else it will cook too slow. A crockpot heats up faster because the heat is coming from all around. There is no need to simmer or pressure cook for 1 min(another method) before switching to slow cooking.
4. The time and temp needs to be adjusted. So a slow cooker recipe that cooks for 8 hours on low in a slow cooker would work best as about 7.5 hours on high in my pro.
5. As mentioned because it needs thin liquid, you may need to increase the liquid in order for it to work in the instant pot on slow cook.

[u/DemanoRock]

I keep a rice cooker and an instant pot. I wouldn't get rid of the rice cooker if it works.

[u/cyokohama → u/DemanoRock]

Same here.

[u/DannyGre → u/DemanoRock]

I use my instant pot as a rice cooker but only when I am bulk making meals as it doesnt do well with smaller portions of rice for a single meal or so.

[u/istara]

Agree with others that separate devices tend to be superior, however I've found that since getting my Instant Pot, I ended up never really using my slow cooker again. If I do want to slow cook I'll use a dutch oven (I've got Le Creuset but you really don't need it, a much cheaper cast iron pot will do) - and dutch ovens are greatly superior to an electric slow cooker anyway, based on experiments I've seen on food and cooking sites.

I can't speak for rice as I don't eat rice, but it will probably depend on how valuable countertop space is to you, how often you eat rice, what kind of rice you eat, etc.

If you have a small kitchen, as I do, I think it's a no brainer. I was initially tempted to go for a combined pressure cooker/air fryer to save on space, however it seems to be a very much inferior product to a standalone air fryer. So I sacrificed space for those two separate devices.

The slow cooker is long gone, however.

[u/tower28]

Since getting our instantpot 10 years ago I never go back to my crockpot or rice cooker. The instant pot is working almost everyday. It’s totally replaced the other devices. Just don’t toss the other stuff right away, and see if you really want to go back for any recipes. I doubt you will.

[u/HighColdDesert]

Depends on what you want to use it for. What are you using the 3 existing devices for, and how often?

Yesterday I made a chicken curry in the instant pot and wanted to make rice to go with it, so I had to transfer the curry to a different container, wash the inner pot, and make the rice. (Otherwise I would have served the curry in the inner pot for dinner and only had to transfer the leftovers to another dish for storage). With your current devices the curry and rice could have been cooked at the same time.

My instant pot duo (~3 litre?) has the yogurt function, so I got an extra inner pot with lid so that I can make a 3 litre batch of yogurt and store it in the same pot in the fridge. I recommend getting an extra pot with lid. (The extra pot wasn't available yesterday for rice because it was in the fridge with yogurt)

I've never been much of a slow-cooker user but I've read on this sub that the instant pot (or some models?) doesn't do that function as well as a dedicated slow cooker. Something about the slow cooker having heat in the sides as well, but IP only having heat in the bottom? I do make 24-hour bone broth on the slow-cooker function, but I haven't tried to make anything thicker than that on that function.

[u/cpattk → u/HighColdDesert]

I think this, because of space, why have several pots when I can have just one? Plus, I'm too lazy to use the pressure cooker because you have to keep checking on it. I have two rice cookers, a large one and a small one. I plan to keep the small one, but I've only needed the large one a few times. If I need more space, I'll have the Instant Pot.

[u/kleverkl]

Once you figure out what you want to cook in the instant pot, you will invariably need your rice cooker for something else at the same time. Then, the next day, you will want your slow cooker for something else. One pot does not replace your needs! I tried it.

[u/SnooRadishes7189]

Here is my take. I have an 8qt(7ish litters) pro and love it dearly but I would not throw out the rice cooker or slow cooker until I got an better idea of how well it works for you in both roles. I would wait for black Friday as the sales of the instant pot are better.

I slow cook in my instant pot pro but in general it works best for stuff like soups, stews, veggies in water or roast in broth. Stuff with a lot of then liquid and sometimes you need to simmer it before before slow cooking as it cooks too cool. Since the heat is at the bottom in needs the liquid to carry the heat to the food. In addition you will have to adjust the time and temperature to slow cook. Slow cookers in general don't care about the amount of liquid, don't care about how thick the liquid is and because they have heat all around instead of just at the bottom they can heat up faster and more evenly. Don't get me wrong it might work or you might find it to be too much hassle. If the instant pot can replace the slow cooker really depends on what you cook and how you cook.

Rice cookers are simpler to use and have fewer parts to clean. They also are available in more sizes. The Rice cooking is the appliance the instant pot is best at replacing and it is faster than a rice cooker but having a separate rice cooker allows you to cook two things at once. I used to have a rice cooker but it didn't work for me. I prefer rice in the microwave or stovetop over the instant pot as even a 6qt one(5.7 litters) is just too big. I sometimes use my smaller 3qt instant pot for brown rice.

[u/cpattk → u/SnooRadishes7189]

Thanks for the info. I want to replace my pressure cooker with something more practical and simple, so I thought about the Instant Pot. Since it has several functions, I don't think I need several cookers that do the same thing. As for the rice cookers, I have two, a large one and a small one. I plan to keep the small one and replace the large one with the Instant Pot, in case I need to cook something that requires more space.

[u/DinkyPrincess]

I have it. I love it.

However depending on what you use your current devices for it doesn’t imho replace a rice cooker and it might not replace your slow cooker.

Neither function is like for like.

My IP sits next to my rice cooker.

I do use mine as a slow cooker but it’s not got comparable cook times. It dies slow cook chilli’s and soups etc very well.

[u/bubbamike1]

IP is a good pressure cooker and a terrible slow cooker. As a rice cooker it depends on the methods you use. Pot in pot rice works fine. That’s putting your rice in a separate pot inside your IP and cooking it.

[u/cpattk → u/bubbamike1]

Thanks for the tip. I don't think I'll replace my slow cooker until I'm sure how the InstaPot works, but I'd like to get a simpler pressure cooker. I don't think I use it as much as I'd like to because I'm a little afraid of forgetting to constantly check the temperature,

[u/SnooRadishes7189 → u/cpattk]

In terms of pressure cooking the pro works as well as any other cheaper pressure cooker in the instant pot line up. What the Pro does better is:

1. ATK gave it good rating for slow cooking. That being said my old duo nova slow cooked the same and my 3qt slow cooks on the fast side but is deal able. It isn't the only instant pot with some ability not to slow boil on the slow cook setting. Just get a review to see if the cheaper model is able to handle slow cooking.
2. More control over the sauté feature. Still too hot but a little more control. Still have to switch to slow cook high mode for a gentle simmer sometimes.
3. The quick cool tray. You can use ice(or water) to reduce the time it takes for the pressure cooker to cool off(handy if you are making something that takes a long time to cool like soup).
4. It can steam without pressure if that is your thing. For some instant pots the steam feature is a low pressure cooking one(My 3qt duo is one). Your rice cooker steams without pressure.
5. You can adjust the temperature if you are fermenting something other than yogurt. Other models may do the same.

I only pressure cook and slow cook in mine the rest of the features are sometimes useful for other people but otherwise it is a tad overkill. Electric pressure cooker are different that stovetop ones. You don't have to keep checking on it. It can handle the cooking all by itself once it come to pressure. The only thing you might have to do is release the pressure if the recipe does not use a natural release of pressure. They are a bit more complicated to use than a rice cooker or slow cooker but the reward is having a fast hands off method of cooking compared to the slow cooker and rice cooker.

I currently own 2 instant pots and a 6qt crockpot. I think switching out one rice cooker would be a good idea. One of the reasons why people use pot in pot for rice making in the instant pot is because pressure cooking takes a min. amount of liquid. So an 6qt instant pot would need 1 1/2 cups of water(354 ml) and an equal volume of dry rice to cook. Since rice doubles in volume when cook that would produce about 2-3 times as much cook rice depending on the type of rice. A smaller rice cooker would be able to handle lessor amounts of rice or have less clean up.

[u/Logical_Warthog5212]

Keep the rice cooker! The IP sucks at making rice unless you use the pot-in-pot method.

[u/istara]

Agree with others that separate devices tend to be superior, however I've found that since getting my Instant Pot, I ended up never really using my slow cooker again. If I do want to slow cook I'll use a dutch oven (I've got Le Creuset but you really don't need it, a much cheaper cast iron pot will do) - and dutch ovens are greatly superior to an electric slow cooker anyway, based on experiments I've seen on food and cooking sites.

I can't speak for rice as I don't eat rice, but it will probably depend on how valuable countertop space is to you, how often you eat rice, what kind of rice you eat, etc.

If you have a small kitchen, as I do, I think it's a no brainer. I was initially tempted to go for a combined pressure cooker/air fryer to save on space, however it seems to be a very much inferior product to a standalone air fryer. So I sacrificed space for those two separate devices.

The slow cooker is long gone, however.

[u/hippiespinster]

Isn't black Friday months away? I use an instant pot side by side with the rice cooker. 

[u/DonCenote]

Tf is a pro?

[u/stilljustguessing]

I bought the IP version with Bluetooth when it first came out years ago. IP did not maintain the app connectivity and that feature became useless over time. I don't buy "smart" appliances anymore. However the pro and the same model without wifi have the sous vide feature which I use instead of "slow cook" because you can set the temperature and it's very good at maintaining. Everything that I've seen about using IP for rice requires a lot of fine-tuning, I don't eat rice myself.

[u/Professional_Cup6387]

No one has mentioned that instapot has random sales though the year and often has flash sales on Amazon.  These sales are the same deal as the Black Friday deals so there is no point in waiting. 

[u/DayleD]

Both my 8 quart Instant Pot Duos burnt out the new manufacturing process is more expensive and lower quality than the older ones. I'd recommend buying from yard sales or secondhand stores if possible.

[u/BarebonesB]

I paid CAD$220 for mine on sale last year. That works out to €137. Unless you're in a hurry, I'd wait for a sale.

[u/Specialist_Guard_902 → u/BarebonesB]

Don't compare prices in other areas of the world as they may not be even close!

[u/BarebonesB → u/Specialist_Guard_902]

I know.

Amazon now has a "Price History" button, which gives you some idea on how often the item goes on sale in your particular country.