From what I read on the Instant Pot community FB site, you shouldn't have opened it until it released the pressure itself - NPR / natural release. That seems to be especially important for meat. It continues to cook while it is releasing the pressure. on things like pasta, you do a QR / quick release - often in several quick, short releases. pasta that stays under pressure once it beeps, will get mushy. I've been reading on several IP FB sites this past month and there is a wealth of info on them on how (and what) to cook in the IP. I've read on there of numerous users who have cooked a small chicken whole in their pot. It depends on the size of the chicken and the pot. I bought a 3 qt and some have cooked a whole chicken in that size! That's not something I'll ever do. I'd only do 2-4 chicken breasts and most of that would be cut into strips to freeze. There's a recipe for I think it's called Mississippi pot roast that many just rave about and so I'll try that - maybe with a very tiny piece of roast. More so than meat (I don't eat that much meat), I got one for making yogurt and possibly cottage cheese. Many say they use the plain yogurt sometimes in place of sour cream. I also want to be able to cook beans without soaking them and make my own refried beans (no more canned beans). For those who make bread, you can proof it in the IP if it has the yogurt button. I think the LUX is the one that doesn't have it. It can still be used to make yogurt, but not to proof bread. hard boiled eggs usually take 5 min cook time and 5 min of release time and then 5 min in cold water. From what I read, the shells easily slip off of the egg. you can go to the site and read. I think you need to 'join' (which is no big deal to do) in order to ask questions or comment on posts. I had to join on other sites just to read the posts. They also post links to many of the better recipe websites. I'll post a few in a bit if I can find them. It's a fast moving site but most questions are asked frequently by those who have just received their new IP (and answered by those who are seasoned in using it) . You can just scan down the pages and look for things you might want to cook. I skip over a lot of them because they aren't things I'd ever make for myself. In the past week they had a lot of posts on making dog food in the IP - that's something I am interested in for my furgirl. tomato products can easily cause a burn notice as can sugary sauces / liquids. and if you're making something like spaghetti, there's an order to how you layer them in the pot for pressure cooking. Always water on bottom, then any meat (on the trivet), pasta is spread out over that with the sauce poured over that. they often say to then add the water around the edge of the inner post / food so that it reaches the bottom of the pot (which is why I listed it first - it needs to be on bottom in order to heat and create the steam). And do NOT stir it or mix them together. here's one sample on cooking chicken that I copied out (making pages of notes for myself) - Moist, Sliceable chicken breast using a 6 QUART Instant Pot 1 minute per oz This recipe is for a 9 oz breast..Manual 9 minutes with a 10 minute NPR 4 to 6 ounce breasts..1 minute per ounce with a 5 minute NPR 7 to 11 ounces breasts.. 1 minute per ounce with a 10 minute NPR Ingredients Fresh or frozen 9 ounce chicken breast 1 cup of water Steps Add 1 cup of water to your pot Put your trivet in with the breast on top. You'll need to know the weight of the breast Close and seal your pot Set your pot to manual 9 minutes Allow for a 10 minute NPR sites often posted as good and safe recipes are Amy and Jacky, this old gal and pressureluck. and I think all 3 of those have videos for newbies on how to use the IP - things to know before you start cooking. I'll be watching those in the next few days before I even run the water test. there are many more recipe sites listed on it also, I just don't remember them all. it's also a great source for when things go wrong - like the burn notice, steam coming out from under the lid, it won't come to pressure, etc.

So I have owned 3 pressure cookers. The first one was from QVC I believe and stopped working a month after warranty :\ The second was an Instant Pot. I believe it was a 6qt. I liked it but noticed it took forever to come to pressure and on certain dishes I'd get a burn notice. So during spring time I saw another 6qt Instant Pot on sale at the grocery store and got it. It was a little different than the one I had. Man what a difference. It comes to pressure so much quicker and haven't had a burn notice yet. I have a love/hate relationship with the sauté function. It's nice to have but it gets way too hot and sometimes things tend to stick. I've tried posting some "What's your favorite instant pot recipe" posts on here but unfortunately not many respond. :( I'd like some new recipes. One quick recipe you can make is with small potatoes, baby carrots and chicken (I use thighs). The recipe says to sauté the chicken but I just toss it in. Then you add a bottle of Italian salad dressing. I usually use greek dressing. It's very good and an easy recipe :) Best Instant Pot Chicken

I have a funny story to share re instapot. Two years ago we started a massive kitchen renovation - I got my 6 burner Bluestar range, a walk in pantry, wall ovens - heaven ! Well, in the midst of it, DH discovers IP and started testing out Asian Indian cooking in it. Since we were kitchen-less for a longgg time and his engineering sense of precision to cooking naturally lent to IP cooking, I went along. Well here we are two years later and now we have 2 IPs (and threatening to buy a third small one ... for "those times when you we might need one ! LOL ".DH is turning into a IP-dictator whereby he automatically assumes that any cooking I do can be done faster and taste better in IP. It doesnt help that HIS instapot recipes are really yummy and a great hit with our boys and with friends ! I was half joking to him that instead of upgrading to bluestar rangetop, we should have bought 6 IPs for a fraction of the cost :) If anyone wants to try good IP dishes for Asian Indian cooking I highly recommend https://ministryofcurry.com/top-10-instant-pot-recipes/ Note: No relation to the author, just a blog DH swears by for his IP recipes. HTH

I can't help you with accessories, the only one we've gotten is a steamer basket and we've never used it. The InstaPot is Elery's and I don't touch it because the minute I do, it will break. He mostly uses it for cooking the really tough cuts of beef, like neck roasts, for the dog, but he did use it last night to cook some fresh greens. 45 minutes in the InstaPot and they were still tough, but I think that was just the greens, which were fresh from the garden. Elery used the IP a lot when he first got it, but now he almost never does. Amanda would like to have one because they have a camper. It does have a stove, but it's nice to have something you can just sit outside on the table and plug it in instead of standing over the stove while everyone else is enjoying the outdoors. Her cousin has one and she uses it to heat water to wash the dishes when she takes it camping, but I think it would be useful for more things than that, LOL. Elery did mention a couple of days ago that we should get an extra silicone gasket, apparently those take on odors that won't wash out. CC, I don't "do" Facebook either. Elery does but I have no interest, mostly because it's such a time-sucker. I don't "do" Pinterest for the same reason. Annie