Instant Pot thread

[HLS]

Funny, I hear a lot about this item. I really want one. It seems to be the thing everyone wants

[Blossom]

Oh no! I don't remove the ring on mine but every so often. It doesn't seem to get dirty much. I just wash the entire lid and wipe dry.

Sent from my XT1528

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by ApK

Surprisingly enough, we have started doing our chili in the IP rather than low and slow in the Dutch oven like we used to.
I must admit though, our chili seasoning comes out of a brand-name box, so we might not be quite on the same chili level as some.
But my wife, who is a bona fide Texan, is perfectly happy with it.

A couple of things that come to mind that we still do low and slow: Spaghetti sauce with sausage and meatballs, and my wife's gumbo. We've tried various IP recipes for the sauce and, like Ralph's chili, they just never get that long-simmered flavor.

I don't think my wife has ever tried to do her gumbo in the IP, but one does not mess with perfection.

ApK

I have not yet had the gumption to try my pasta sauce (Italian, meat) in the IP, because like you, I feel that the flavors and spices need the long low simmer time; I typically cook my sauce for 6-8 hours on the stovetop. But I've been quite surprised at the depth of the flavor in some dishes where I didn't expect it--Stew, Stroganoff and the like. I had thought that if I used the thing for stew, I'd get viable meat, but that the potatoes would be mush, ditto the veggies, and I'd get no complexity of flavor--but that's simply not what happened. Potatoes were fine and the depth of the flavors was great.

I've considered making my sauce in the IP, but I confess that on "sauce day," for me, part of the pleasure is the making of it; the simmering; the smells in the house, the disastrously-sprinkled and splattered stove, etc. It's all much of a thing, "sauce day," so I haven't quite considered "just" using an IP to try to make it. (PLUS, I like to really MAKE SAUCE, and lots of it, when I do, b/c I freeze a bunch. The IP only makes, what, 6qts? That's not a ton of sauce.)

Chili? Another confession--I LOVE the Carroll Shelby's spice packet, and we use that mix all the time. It's the only boxed/mix food we use, of any kind, because we tasted it someplace nearly 40 years ago, loved it, and you know the saying--if it ain't broke...so I'll use that with a crockpot, or if I have time, a long/slow stovetop, too, but I see no reason that wouldn't work well in an IP, either. You'd get very nice, tenderized meat, and the beans are pre-cooked, anyway, so..why not?

Hitch

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by Hitch

You'd get very nice, tenderized meat, and the beans are pre-cooked, anyway, so..why not?

Hitch

As a Texan, I should disown for this. You just ruined 2 good foods.

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by Cinisajoy

As a Texan, I should disown for this. You just ruined 2 good foods.

Not even for a Texican will I eat chewy nasty meat. I'm one of those folks who is sensitive to texture, so I like to make sure that chili or stew beef is WELL cooked, to tenderize the collagen, etc.

As far as beans--you said yourself you hadn't tried making chili in a crockpot, right? You should. (n.b.: making first-stage ribs in a crocker is also an easy way to "falling-off-the-bone" ribs. Cook them in the crockpot first; then slather them with sauce and either run them under the broiler or on the grill. Presto, instant (ish) tender ribs.)

Hitch

[issybird]

Originally Posted by Hitch

As far as beans--you said yourself you hadn't tried making chili in a crockpot, right?

Surely Texans find beans in chili to be anathema?

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by issybird

Surely Texans find beans in chili to be anathema?

Y'know, true, as far as I know, but I like 'em. ;-) (Plus, from a more-modern viewpoint, far healthier to pound some beans than meat. Just is.)

Hitch

[tubemonkey]

Chili comes from a can

Nuke it for 1.5 minutes, stir, add some shredded cheese, nuke for 30 seconds, add some chopped onion, eat.

Y'all are doing it wrong

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

Chili comes from a can

Nuke it for 1.5 minutes, stir, add some shredded cheese, nuke for 30 seconds, add some chopped onion, eat.

Y'all are doing it wrong

OK, now, I'm going to side with Cin. You deserve to be hanged.

There is no food, that I know of, that's edible from a can. Some soups, perhaps, maybe, but food? NO.

Hitch

[Greg Anos]

Originally Posted by Hitch

OK, now, I'm going to side with Cin. You deserve to be hanged.

There is no food, that I know of, that's edible from a can. Some soups, perhaps, maybe, but food? NO.

Hitch

And mess up a perfectly good rope?

[Greg Anos]

Originally Posted by issybird

Surely Texans find beans in chili to be anathema?

Beans are a separate dish. Very separate. Different seasoning. (And go well refried.) I use Fiesta Pinto bean seasoning, myself. (None of the expert ladies at making beans would part with their recipes. . . )

They also do well in a crock pot.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by Hitch

OK, now, I'm going to side with Cin. You deserve to be hanged.

There is no food, that I know of, that's edible from a can. Some soups, perhaps, maybe, but food? NO.

Hitch

I no longer live in the southwest, so I'm beyond the long arm of southwest justice

Lots of good food comes in cans - chili, tamales, beans, black-eyed peas, soup, tuna, etc.

Originally Posted by Ralph Sir Edward

And mess up a perfectly good rope?

I'll settle for yarn

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by Ralph Sir Edward

And mess up a perfectly good rope?

LOL, good point. Chili from a can? Say nay, sir, say nay!

Originally Posted by Ralph Sir Edward

Beans are a separate dish. Very separate. Different seasoning. (And go well refried.) I use Fiesta Pinto bean seasoning, myself. (None of the expert ladies at making beans would part with their recipes. . . )

They also do well in a crock pot.

I find that they do. I love my crocker for all those sorts of things; beans, chili, and all that good stuff. I'm always forgetting to soak my beans, so I end up doing a quick-cook-soak, and then throw them in the crockpot overnight, especially pintos or some of the other tougher beans, like kidneys. I wish I had more great bean recipes, because it would be good for Mr. H to eat more of them. As we've, cough, matured, beans have that unfortunate side-effect--of which I'm sure some of you are aware--and Mr. H is temperamentally unsuited to being musical, lol!!! (Actually, I should try the IP for beans; people SWEAR by it...)

I've never heard of Fiesta seasoning--is that one of those jarred things? The fajita seasoning? Is that what you use? I'm always open to new things...

Hitch

[HLS]

Is there an instant pot recipe where you do not need to cook the veges and meat first? yes I am that lazy.

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by kcladyz

Is there an instant pot recipe where you do not need to cook the veges and meat first? yes I am that lazy.

Hunh? Do you mean, not even brown/sear the meat? I haven't ever cooked most veggies, although I always saute onions, etc.

Hitch