I have the Breville version of the same kind of thing. I needed it like a hole in the head. But I use it! I like it a lot better than any slow cooker (other than the oven and a cast iron pot) which I've ever used. I've mostly cooked beans and stews in it, but also caramelized onions and a couple other things.

What I really love about mine, and I think Instant Pot is supposed to be similar, is that you can sear and saute in it, as well as reduce, so while you might need a dish to reserve different bits in, you don't need another pot or the stove to use the multicooker. By the time I was preparing things to go in a regular slow cooker, and reducing after, I figured it might just as well use a dutch oven anyway.

I also like having the pressure cook ability. I've only used it on beans, which I usually slow cook, but it worked really well when I only had an hour.

Do you need it? Probably not. You know how to cook and have a full kitchen. I think it would be ideal in an RV that doesn't have an oven, or whenever one might want to oven cook outdoors (where there's electricity), like during a heavy summer.

Check the prices for the different sizes on Amazon, and the discount chains near you. The market's price is probably competitive, but this time of year there will probably be a lot of sales on it.

Do you want it?

I can't think of the name of what I have right now, but same concept. I quite like it, although I just don't tend to cook as much any more with my kids not home now. It pressure cooks well, it slow cooks nicely, like pillog said, you can sear in it. I've cooked rice in it too, it did fine, but I think I need to work on that a bit. I may have just put too much water in it, had to drain the rice but it was a good texture. If I could just learn how to make a smaller pot of chili I would get rid of my large crock pot.

Here there's a sale for $49! Still doesn't convince me I need one,though, LOL, I just have no storage space for anything else. No one else I know here has one either, so I can't check it out.

I did see a paleo gravy recipe using a InstaPot, but it involved using a saute setting to saute pork belly, then adding shallots for another saute cycle, adding a smoked turkey leg poked full of holes for two poultry cycles, then adding tapioca starch mixed with broth for another cycle. I thought I could do it with a pan a lot faster than that, LOL.

That said, our local "Try it Before You Buy It" newscaster loved the one she tried. She made a meatloaf and mashed potatoes in 30 minutes and a pork loin filet and sweet potatoes in the same time. The drawbacks to the 6 quart model was that it wasn't big enough to fit two squash, so not enough to feed her whole family and the pork chop was gray in spite of being browned before cooking in the InstaPot.

So, maybe you DO need one. (grin)

Annie

You better hurry! They may sell out early. grin

http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/will-instant-pot-set-black-friday-record-1.4407355

I checked it out on Youtube Best Kitchen Rviews. I wasn't impressed.

I have an electric pressure cooker. My husband bought it on impulse a couple of years ago after seeing one of those dang infomercials on TV. I wasn't keen on the idea then, but now I've grown to like it.

For example, a couple of weeks ago, my hubby had dental work and I wanted to make soup for him, but I couldn't get to the store that day. I noticed a package of short ribs in my freezer, so got them out. I browned them in the pressure cooker while still frozen, added some beef broth, and set the timer. An hour later, the meat was fork tender, and the broth was richly flavored. I quickly shredded the meat, added a couple of cups of mixed frozen vegetables, and soup was ready.

I've cooked pot roast, short ribs, turkey breast, and chicken broth from a carcass. It works faster than a slow cooker and works particularly well on tougher cuts of meat like chuck roast.

To me, it has two drawbacks. First, you must use a certain amount of liquid in order to create pressure. And the meat itself exudes liquid. So you might end up with more liquid than you want. In that respect it's sort of similar to slow cookers.

Secondly, often times the silicone sealing ring takes on the odors of the food just cooked. And it's quite difficult to get rid of the smell. I've taken to storing my ring in a zip-lock plastic bag with cotton balls drenched in lemon and peppermint extract. (FWIW, I never had that problem with the ring from a regular stove top pressure cooker.)

So, to me, an electric pressure cooker is not a perfect appliance, but if this one ever kicked the bucket, I'd buy an Insta Pot.

I do not have the Instant Pot but have one from Aldi and one is a Wolfgang Puck, it is the biggest of the two. It was a gift to me. I do not use them much as at this stage in my life, I only do a lot of cooking at certain times, holidays and such. I think you would like it for the speed in which they cook. Let us know if you get one.

Sue

Target had them on sale on Friday--I bought two, for my adult sons both of whom do most of the cooking for their families. I got the gift receipts in case they want to return them.

I've thought about getting one. My sister loves her's and uses it often. But I already own a 5 quart pressure cooker, a slow cooker (seldom use that), and an Aroma rice cooker/steamer (which is fantastic. I have to store all of this and end up keeping it on a shelf in the cellar.

We used to make Jasmine rice in the microwave (worked really well), but I got lured by the Aroma cooker.

If I got a combination cooker or instapot, it would be one more thing to store (and pay for). If I were to re-home my other cookers to free up storage space for the Instapot, I'd be very inconvenienced when & if the I-pot finally failed. But maybe It would outlive me. I don't believe I'll be buying one.