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Post by soupandstew on Nov 3, 2017 20:58:38 GMT -5
I have purchased two IP cookbooks, Instant Pot Obsession and Instant Pot Miracle, and joined the IP Facebook page. I see a wide variance of opinions and recipes between the three sources. Instant Pot Obsession recommends far short cooking times, Instant Pot Miracle recommends QPR for almost everything, and the FB group recommends really long cooking times and only NPR for proteins like chicken and beef.
Since I don't want to waste food or time, what are your thoughts on this? Is QPR the death of all meat and poultry? How done is done? Have you used recipes from either book?
TIA and happy weekend
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Post by PattiA on Nov 3, 2017 22:39:23 GMT -5
Is the IP your first experience with pressure cooking? I think that really understanding the principles of pressure cooking might help you master the IP. I started out with stovetop pressure cookers and read a lot about pressure cooking when I first started. I need to dig through my collection and find it, but I think the book that helped me figure it all out was Lorna Sass' Pressure Perfect. The principles of pressure cooking don't depend on whether you are using a stovetop or electric pressure cooker. The book I am thinking of has tables with the amount of time different foods need and whether they should be quick or natural release. Once you have that info, you can do almost anything in the IP. I will dig out my basic pressure cooking books over the weekend and let you know which ones I recommend.
As far as quick release vs natural release, there are some things that you don't want to use the longer natural release for because they do continue cooking while the pressure drops and releases. Vegetables and grains are in that category. But sometimes meats are too. I often Quick Release chicken, particularly chicken breasts. Thighs and other dark meat chicken parts can take the extra cooking that happens during natural release, but I usually want to stop the cooking faster when I am cooking chicken or turkey breasts. If I am in a hurry, I also quick release beef, pork. and lamb. I might cook it a minutes longer than the recipe calls for if I know I am going to quick release because of time constraints. Quick release is fine for any food. Natural release is not the right choice for very quick cooking foods and for small pieces of foods.
How done is done is an interesting question. For example, cooking time for a hunk of chuck roast will determine whether it is sliceable like pot roast or shredded. That is also true with other cooking methods.
What are the types of foods that you want to cook in your IP?
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Post by soupandstew on Nov 5, 2017 17:35:17 GMT -5
Thanks for the guidance PattiA. I've tried a few recipes from various sources and overall I'm pretty happy with the results. I just found it interesting that the two cookbooks and the FB page had such wide ranging ideas of the proper technique and timing for proteins. Of the recipes I've tried, I am leaning toward the shorter times and quick release for things because I like slices, not shreds. Of course, if I was doing pulled pork, I would embrace the longer time and NPR. I'm going to try a German pork loin roast with carrots and potatoes from the Instant Pot Miracle book. It seems very sensible with a staging of ingredients so the roast is tender but the veggies aren't mush. My next experiment will be a whole chicken. I think the IP will be a great helper for braises like lamb shanks, or soups and stews and beans.
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Post by PattiA on Nov 6, 2017 8:16:26 GMT -5
The weekend got a little crazy and I haven't found the book yet, but it's on my list. The German pork loin roast sounds great. I haven't used the staging concept in my IP yet, but I did it all the time with my stovetop pressure cooker. Another trick I used from Lorna Sass is for beef stew where the meat is in chunks, not large pieces, leave your carrots whole and wrap them in foil. Place on top of the beef and other ingredients. They cook along with the beef but the foil package protects them from overcooking. When the beef is done, unwrap the carrots and slice.
The thing about going with shorter times is if you release and things aren't quite as done as you want, you can bring it back up to pressure and cook longer. If you go with longer times, there is no going back.
If you've ever made the ubiquitous Crockpot Italian Beef, it does great in the IP. Crockpot recipes translate well to the IP.
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Post by soupandstew on Nov 7, 2017 21:55:27 GMT -5
Last night I did the German Pork Roast from the Instant Pot Miracle cookbook. Even though I had done a lot of prep early in the day (scrub and trim carrots and potatoes,slice onions and garlic, prep spice rub) it was still two hours before serving. I'm grateful for the time I've spent reading various posts on the Instant Pot FB group, or dinner would have been a disaster. I knew from everything I've read that there simply wasn't enough liquid to bring it steam so I added 1 cup chicken broth. I also knew that failing to deglaze the pot would probably result in a BURN notice and pot shut-down. With that said, it was a wonderfully tasty meal. I will definitely try the foil wrap trick for carrots because that's honestly the only complaint I had about the recipe - the carrots were too mushy. Potatoes were perfect and the roast was divine - moist, tender and very sliceable.
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