My first cook with my Black Friday 6qt. Instant Pot Ultra


 
R

Robert McGee

TVWBB Gold Member
You guys have done it AGAIN! Yep, you have ENABLED me, with, of all things, an electric pressure cooker.

I did some serious online research after reading the IP adventures on this forum. My new authority on Pressure Cookers (both old school and the electric pots) is Laura Pazzaglia: https://www.hippressurecooking.com/

Laura has close ties to Instant Pot but she "Tells it like it is". I bought her book, and did a lot of reading, on here, on line, and several books on the advantages and disadvantages.

At any rate, after I received the Instant Pot, I ran a test run with just water and checked the pot out for function. My first cook was a 4.5 lb. boneless Boston Butt. I wanted to make pulled pork. I used my favorite
rub, Harry Soo's "Slap yo Daddy" (home mix, of course;)), and ran the pot as pretty much directed.

Just like every piece of new gear I have ever used, there is a bit of a learning curve. The first cook was slightly over cooked (my fault entirely, as I added a bit more time than recommended:o). However, the pork came out quite well (at least 4.0/5.0). I did not saute' the meat before pressure cooking it, and I will the next time. I will also replace one of the cups of water recommended in the recipe with a cup of either apple juice or apple cider. It was reccommended to spread the pulled pork out on a sheet pan and place under the broiler. That is a VERY good idea and I did. At this time it is a good idea to use some of the pot liquid to wet the pork. Broil until browned on one side, them flip the pork and do the other side.

I was very pleased with my first efforts and it will be even better the next time.

Use Laura's recipe for Carnita's for the pulled pork. I think you will like it.

No pictures this time, but I will follow up...

So now, I, TOO, will have an indoor Weber:p! It's going down into the 20's tonight and having an indoor cooker will be lots of fun this winter, I guarantee!

Keep on smokin',
Dale53:wsm:
 
I did a chuck pot roast last night in pressure cooker. Flavor was off the charts but texture was only a 2 out of 5. Not sure if I used too much time or not enough. Tried the site you indicated but no mention of chuck roast anywhere. I found the closest cut in the tables in the Fagor book which indicated 25 minutes so I did 20 on the heat under pressure, than pulled the pan from the heat where it stayed under pressure gradually decreasing over the next 10 minutes. I cannot figure out if I need more time or less time.
Thinking about buying a 2 pack at Sam's. Putting one in and trying it for much less time, pulling it and seeing what it's like. If not good putting it back under pressure........pot roasted chuck is the only product I have trouble with in the pressure cooker
 
Robert McGee said:
You guys have done it AGAIN! Yep, you have ENABLED me, with, of all things, an electric pressure cooker.

Dale53:wsm:
Click to expand...

LMichaels said:
I did a chuck pot roast last night in pressure cooker. Flavor was off the charts but texture was only a 2 out of 5. Not sure if I used too much time or not enough. Tried the site you indicated but no mention of chuck roast anywhere. I found the closest cut in the tables in the Fagor book which indicated 25 minutes so I did 20 on the heat under pressure, than pulled the pan from the heat where it stayed under pressure gradually decreasing over the next 10 minutes. I cannot figure out if I need more time or less time.
Thinking about buying a 2 pack at Sam's. Putting one in and trying it for much less time, pulling it and seeing what it's like. If not good putting it back under pressure........pot roasted chuck is the only product I have trouble with in the pressure cooker
Click to expand...

Just guessing here but a recipe ( HERE ) suggests 60-80 min of high pressure cook time (not counting warm up/pressure down time) for a 3 - 5 lb roast.

It seems your time was too short (again, depending on the size of your roast).

My suggestion to you and Robert is this: for the example of the pot roast, review 3-4 different recipes and compare the differences. ALSO review the comments that are posted by folks who used the recipe. Now, that can be VERY misleading. I say that because I know from personal experience that if you criticize their recipe or suggest a better way of doing something , your post will NEVER appear on their site.

Similar to glowing reviews on amaz and you wonder how that ever happened, your experience is nothing like what those (paid, as it turns out) reviewers said.

I can almost guarantee there will be differences in different recipes. Then try to "merge" those 4 recipes into one, using your own gut feeling as to what you should do.

I had one where I wanted to do back ribs in my pot. Cooking times varied from 10 minutes to 17 minutes on one site to 40 minutes on another. Well, I found that when I used most of the first sites recipe, I did it at 14 minutes. Way too fall-off-the-bone. Can't imagine what 40 minutes would have done.

Anyways:

1)compare 3-4 recipes and note similarities and differences
2)take the best ideas
3)combine with what you like and
4)just do it :D
 
So my roast was about 2.5 lb. So maybe I needed just a little more time "under pressure" to get it over the edge. I only did it 20 min timing it as soon as my indicator "popped" up indicating that at least 7 psi was reached. Perhaps I needed to go a little longer with it actually "hissing" lightly which indicates it is holding at 15 psi?
 
At least with mine, once the indicator pops up fully, it's fully sealed and starts the cook timer. There is no hissing whatsover.

If yours is always hissing, it's not getting to "cooking" pressure. There may very well be a leak with the sealing ring. It may not let steam out along that ring BUT if that indicator is always hissing, you've got a leak.
 
Len;
Excellent advice on comparing recipes. While I was making up my mind on which pot, I downloaded several books on My Kindle. Using Prime Kindle Unlimited I downloaded a couple of books on loan, then I bought a couple on Kindle before deciding which books I wanted in hardback to use in the kitchen.

I am pretty happy with my first attempt and it WILL get better, too. Some things are better done with other methods, for sure. I rather enjoyed cooking pulled pork inside where it is warm as opposed to twenties with 20-30 moh winds outside, too��. I’ve got a couple of interesting cooks lined up, too. Short ribs and loin back ribs. We’ll see how those work out...��

keep on smokin’,
Dale53:wsm:
 
Len Dennis said:
At least with mine, once the indicator pops up fully, it's fully sealed and starts the cook timer. There is no hissing whatsover.

If yours is always hissing, it's not getting to "cooking" pressure. There may very well be a leak with the sealing ring. It may not let steam out along that ring BUT if that indicator is always hissing, you've got a leak.
Click to expand...

Len On the Fagor the first indication of pressure is the indicator, it is designed to "hiss" lightly to let you know you're at full 15 or 7.5 PSI and is "regulating" itself at the proper pressures. Heavy hissing is an indication to turn the heat down and light hissing is telling you it's perfect. It is not like the IP however I have experienced people cooking with the IP twice now and they too hiss lightly.
The Fagor uses a 2 stage valve (takes the place of the "jiggler") we're used to seeing on some of the old fashioned types like the Mirro. So in the case of the Fagor you WANT the slight hiss. It's the sound of successful cooking
 
My parents had one of those "jiggly" type pots you describe. Read too many storys about issues (after so many years) with the sealng ring. I didn't feel comfortable using it. Which model Fagor do you have?

You know your (new) pot the best so unfortunately I can't help there.

Hope you get it sorted ;)
 
I actually have 3 Fagor pots. Yes I like them that much LOL. They're called the Fagor Duo IIRC. They were voted the best overall pressure cookers by ATK. I have not been disappointed. I like simple things. IMO nothing simpler. Place it on the stove, place ingredients, seal it, when it begins hissing loud turn the heat down to just a tiny bit of hiss. Cook prescribed time and either release pressure or let cool off heat to do a "natural" pressure release. No cords, no spare countertop things cluttering the kitchen, they stack up and I can store all 3 in the space of one IP. IMO I have more than enough stuff on my counters, Cuisinart Mini Prep stays out as I use it almost daily, the KitchenAid Pro 600 stays on the counter only because it weighs more than my grand son and is nearly as tall :D, and toaster oven. When I need larger food processor (rarely) I pull out the big KA unit, when I want to pressure cook I pull out the necessary one(s) (yes I have been known to use them all at once, oh and my KitchenAid burr coffee grinder (this too quite large and heavy) and my coffee maker both used either daily or every other day. Forgot those 2.
My only pressure cooker fails happen with chuck roast. That has been the only downfall. I even do spare ribs in them when I am in a hurry. I will season them with my rub, pre-cook in the Fagor and than smoke them on the grill with either a little more rub (or sauce) depending on my mood. They come out beautifully. I do soups, risotto, Sunday gravy, braised short ribs all wonderfully. I just cannot figure the chuck roast puzzle.
 
Damn, I didn't think to look at their site I was going from all the books that came with the cookers. Scuse me while I go slap my head against the wall :D
 
Well, I am trying to download a picture from my iPad;

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