What size instant pot should you buy?

So, you've decided to buy an instant pot but you are unsure of what size to get. This is a common question when considering to buy an electric pressure cooker. I am here to help you!

There are 3 sizes of current models being sold 3qt, 6qt and 8qt. There was previously a 5qt size available and you might still find it if you buy a second hand one. I haven't seen it sold online since summer 2017 and even then I think it was retailers clearing out their stocks.

3 quart Duo mini
Only the duo model is sold in the mini size. The name "mini" should be your clue here, this is the smallest size. In my opinion, this size is best for making side dishes, or perhaps cooking for 1 person (even then I'd recommend the 6qt). If you already have a large IP and you love it, you might want to add a mini to your arsenal.

3 quart duo mini

6 quart, Ultra, Duo, Duo plus or Lux
This is the size I personally own (family size of 2 adults) and I would recommend this size for most smaller households (1-3 people). For small households you can cook with plenty of leftovers and batch cook in this size. This size can also work for larger households (4-6 people) if you prefer not to have many leftovers and don't batch cook.

Other benefits of the 6 quart:

• Other pans fit more easily inside your instant pot (I recommend this pan) for pot-in-pot (PIP) recipes
• Most recipes are written for this size
• Large enough for a whole chicken (4-5lb, possibly larger) and other large foods

I would actually also recommend this size for those only cooking for 1 person because even though it will take up more room, there will be times when you want to cook more or do PIP which would be difficult in the mini. 

8 quart Duo

The 8 quart is best for cooking in large batches or if you have a larger family (4+ people). Keep in mind that the base of the IP is fairly large and this bad boy will take up a fair amount of counter space. I do personally know one couple without kids who bought the 8 quart because they wanted to be able to batch cook and have the extra space for holiday gatherings. 

Bonus: 6 quart GEM 

The GEM is not a pressure cooker. I repeat, this model of “instant pot” is not a pressure cooker. It is made by the same company and has confused many hopeful pressure cookers who saw the brand name and thought it would pressure cook. The GEM is a “multi-cooker” and can be used to slow cook, roast, stew and sear/sauté. 

If you like recipes where you sear the meat and then slow cook the GEM would be great for that because you can do both with the same appliance but it’s not a pressure cooker.

Are you a newbie? Tell us in the comments what your concerns are!

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6 Tips for newbie instant pot users

I've written before about how much I love my Instant Pot with suggestions for what size to get and where I think the IP excels but I can understand why the IP would be overwhelming. Well, I'm here to help you get that bad boy out of the box!

1. Read the manual
I will say that I never, never, never read the manual for any appliance but one of the best suggestions I received when I got my instant pot was to look at the manual. It is a very different style of cooking and it will take some getting used to but trust me you will get a feel for how long things take to cook just like over time you learned how long you should put things in the microwave.

So, take a browse of the manual, do your water test and get cooking! You got this.

2. Your pot has a built in lid holder!
This is kind of neat huh? And it just might keep you from knocking your lid off the counter and breaking the plastic :-)

Nifty, huh?

3. Your sealing ring might get funky
Personally, I have not had this problem but I see this asked about online constantly. Your sealing ring can absorb odors and get a little funky. I store my lid upside down on my pot and I think this helps to keep it aired out. If your sealing ring gets smelly you can clean it by putting 1-2 cups of white vinegar in your pot and putting it on the steam setting for 2 minutes, then allow it to air dry. If that doesn't work, you can order new sealing rings.

They're pretty inexpensive, so it's not a bad idea to replace them occasionally regardless of smell issues.

4. What accessories do you need?
You can get a lot out of your IP without buying a bunch of accessories but depending on what you want to cook in your pot, some accessories might be useful. The first one I bought was a silicone lid for storing leftovers right in my pot (I bought this one, it's not IP brand but works well). I wrote a whole post on what different accessories can be used for and how useful I find them to be if you are wondering what you should get.

A cover for your pot to go in the fridge can be handy!

5. What is NPR, QPR and PIP?
The IP has an almost cult following and you'll soon see why but what in the heck are these people talking about? These are the most common acronyms you'll see online and in recipes. They mean:
NPR = Natural Pressure Release: this means after the cooking time ends, that you let the pressure release naturally for a certain amount of time, in other words you wait and do nothing. The pressure will slowly come down and your food will continue to cook somewhat.
QPR = Quick Pressure Release: this means that you open the valve and the let the pressure come out as quickly as possible. It usually takes 2-3 minutes for my pot to release all of its pressure in a quick release. Some recipes will call for a certain amount of NPR followed by a QPR and some you can QPR as soon as they're done cooking.
PIP = Pot in Pot: this is a cooking method to cook two things in your IP at the same time without them getting mixed together. I talk a little more about this in my post on accessories, including what kinds of pans/pots can be used.

6. The steam could damage your cabinets
Many people have a problem with where to put their new IP in a kitchen with limited counter space because if you use it a lot the constant steam releasing can damage your cabinets over time. You might think you could put it on the stove and turn your vent on but the internet is full of tales of woe where people have accidentally melted the bottom of their new IP when they put it on the stove because they accidentally turned it on.

I honestly don't think I have ever accidentally turned on my stove but if you do this proceed with caution. I warned you! Another solution is to get a 3 inch plastic elbow joint and place it over your vent to direct the steam away from your cabinets. If you're lucky there is an obvious home for your new appliance that isn't on your stove or under your cabinets.

This could save your cabinets!

Now, do you feel ready to get cooking? Check out my post on easy newbie recipes and get cooking!

Most useful instant pot accessories

If you are a new instant pot owner, and you've fallen in love with your IP you might be wondering which accessories you need to get the most out of your new appliance!

I have the instant pot 6-quart duo - if you have a different size (such as a 3-quart mini or an 8-quart), take that into consideration when looking for accessories. The recommended items won't necessarily fit.

You can easily buy a bunch of accessories so I suggest living with your new IP for a little while before diving it and thinking about your want to use your pot. I've sorted accessories into what I deem to be useful and some others which are popular but might depend on how you want to use your pot.

Most useful accessories

1. Silicone pot lid
If I make a big batch of something, I like to be able to store it directly in my IP. So the first thing I bought for my new baby was a pot lid. I did not splurge for the IP brand lid because I'm thrifty. I bought this one and it has been great so far.

2. Interior pan
You'll probably want a small pan that can fit (make sure to get the 7in x 2 or 3in size!) inside your pot, which is at max 7 inches in diameter. It needs to be able to have space around it and it needs to be safe for the IP so metal or silicone most likely. I do not recommend using anything glass or ceramic, though I know some people use mason jars in their pots. I have personally never tried it, proceed with caution. 

7in fat dadio pan

Having a pan to do "pot-in-pot" meals (called PIP in instant pot lingo) can really open up your meal options because you can cook one part of a meal below, such as potatoes and one on top in the other pan, such as meatloaf at the same time.

You could also use this same pan to make baked goods like cheesecake, but if you want your cheesecake to be pretty, you'll need a separate spring-form pan. I personally, use the same one because I already have a 10 in spring-form for full-sized cheesecakes

3. Steamer basket
Similar to having an interior pan, a steamer basket can allow you to cook some veggies at the same time as whatever you are making below, such as your chicken main dish. This accessory opens up more cooking options. I think this is a little less useful than an interior pan because you could probably use the same interior pan for most veggies but they're not quite steamed...

4. Extra pan instert
If you start using your instant pot every day, you'll want to get an extra pan insert. I often have mine either storing something in the fridge or in the dishwasher and realize it's not available when I go to cook something new. Having an extra can easily solve this problem.

These 4 items are what I would consider to be the most helpful accessories for your new instant pot! There are some other popular accessories, which are useful, depending on what you plan on making but less universally so.

5. clear glass lid
This lid can only be used with the instant pot in slow cooker or saute mode. You cannot use it when pressure cooking! If you plan on using this feature, you'll like one of these.

6. Egg bite mold
The copycat starbucks sous vide egg bites have a cult following! If you want to make them or the lava cakes you will need a mold like this one. Amazon can hardly keep these bad boys in stock at times, if you need to search you want to look for "silicon baby food mold" and find one in a round shape with wells that are approximately 2oz.

Baby food container or instant pot accessory? Same. Same.

7. Extra sealing rings

Some people complain that their sealing ring gets a smell after some time. After months of use, my ring hasn't had any odor. I store my lid upside down in the pot and I think this helps but if your ring gets funky, you can soak it in vinegar. If that doesn't work sufficiently, you can order replacements from IP. 

8. Silicone sling

Again, the usefulness of this accessory will depend on how you use your IP. If you do a lot of PIP meals, having a sling like this to lift the hot interior pan out will be really handy. If you only do PIP occasionally, it will be less useful. If you don't buy a silicone one, you can DIY a foil one each time you need it. 

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My almost instant love affair with my instant pot!

I first heard about the instant pot about two years ago, and I didn't have any experience with pressure cooking. My mom didn't do it, I wasn't into canning and I'd never encountered one before but I was intrigued by the quick cooking times. Then my work-wife got one and kept bringing delicious instant pot leftovers for lunch and I knew I needed one too. Now, I am totally in love with it!

If you are thinking about getting on the instant pot bandwagon, here are some tips for you!

Size

We are a family of two but like leftovers, so we got a 6-quart. Since you can't fill the pot as full as say a crock pot, it's good to have some extra space, personally I wouldn't bother with a mini. If you have several children (especially teenagers!) you will probably want an 8-quart, or if you do a lot of big batch cooking. They have a 5-quart but if you are thinking about that size, you might as well get a 6. If you are on the fence about size, check out the post I wrote devoted to what size Instant Pot to buy!

Keep in mind it does take up a fair amount of space, our 6-quart is about the same size as our toaster oven and basically lives on our counter because we use it enough.

Preparation!

You definitely need to give a cursory read to the manual. I have never read a manual for a cooking appliance before that but I was really glad that my work-wife told me to do it when I got mine. Otherwise, you will not take it out of the box.

What can you make with the instant pot?

You can make the same kinds of things generally in an instant pot that you would make in a crock pot but much faster. If you generally like crock pot meals, you will probably like instant pot meals too. There are some additional things you can do in the instant pot too however.

It's great for soups, stews, pulled pork and shredded chicken that taste like they have been cooking all day but are ready in less than an hour. Often much less.

Some of the cook times you see for the instant pot are a little misleading because they only list the 5 or 10 minute cook time but you also need to wait for it to come to pressure, which can take a while if it's really full. However, for certain items I feel like it's still a huge time saver (ie baked potatoes, winter squashes).

You can speed up the amount of time it takes to build pressure by warming it up using the saute function while you are adding your ingredients. Also, keep in mind that your oven also needs to preheat. :-)

So where is the instant pot advantage?

There are 2 big areas where the instant pot kicks a crock pots ass!

1) Cook time: have you ever planned on having a crock meal for dinner but then you were too busy in the morning to get it ready or just plain forgot to do it? Well with an instant pot you can still have pulled pork in an hour and a half if you want.

2) Saute mode: You can braise or cook your meats or other items right in the same pot before you pressure cook everything else. Fewer dishes! I really love this feature also for melting cheese on things after it pressure cooks, it's really fast too because it's higher temp (there are multiple temp choices) than even a slow cooker on high.

And it kicks my oven's rear in area number 3:
3) Not watching it: In this area it's like a slow cooker. You turn it on and go about your business, then it will beep, you release the pressure and it's ready to go. This is really great for pasta for example that you'd watch on the stove to make sure it didn't cook over.

The one thing that was weird when I first got it was not only do you not have to watch it, you can't see what it's doing at all. You can't open it to check it while it's pressure cooking. Now I trust it to work but at the beginning I was like what is this? What's happening in there?

There is definitely a learning curve with the instant pot but I am really glad I got one, even though I didn't need it, I love it.

Check out my suggested recipes for new instant pot owners and which accessories are the most useful.

This post contains some affiliate links, I will receive a small commission if you buy from these links. Thank you for your support.

Whipped cream explosion!

For my birthday last year, I asked for a whipped cream dispenser. What can I say? I'm a woman with limited interests and these days they primarily consist of food and sewing.

It started when I saw the one Boyfriend's parents have a few months beforehand, before then I had really only seen them at like Starbucks and it did not occur to me that this was something people had in their own kitchens. And it was amazing. You fill it with cream, snap in the little nitrous cartridge, shake it and bingo! Fresh whipped cream.

Yes, I know it's not that hard to make the old fashioned way. Be honest, how often do you do it? That's what I thought. Plus after the Thanksgiving when I made it alone with a whisk, not a mixer, I have become lazier than normal.

Since getting my new gizmo, there has kinda been fresh whipped cream on every dessert. And not just plain, flavored. Some of my best experiments are below. You can make this the "old-fashioned" way if you don't have the gizmo :-) or you can buy the gizmo from amazon for $30-100. I have this one from Amazon.

All of the recipes I have below call for Agave syrup because I have found it mixes in easily when using the dispenser, you can substitute 3-5 Tb of powdered sugar. The cream will keep in the dispenser for at least 3-4 days, I suspect up to a week but we always use it all before then.

Plain
1 pint of heavy cream
3-5 Tb of Agave syrup (really, I do three good squeezes of the bottle)
1 tsp of vanilla

Orange dream (I served this with at New York Style cheesecake)
1 pint of heavy cream
3-5 Tb of Agave syrup
1 tsp of orange extract*

*Do NOT use orange juice, the citric acid in the juice will curdle your cream.

Chocolate cream (I served this with a raspberry swirl cheesecake)
1 pint of heavy cream
2-3 Tb of Agave syrup (Or 2 squeezes of the bottle)
3-5 Tb of Chocolate syrup (Or 3 good squeezes of the bottle)

I also made a chocolate with coco powder that was more a subtle chocolate, too subtle for my taste, but if you want something less chocolatey (I can't imagine why!), you could use 4 Tb of coco powder.

Peppermint (excellent on a chocolate cheesecake or in coffee)
1 pint of heavy cream
3-5 Tb of Agave syrup
1 tsp of peppermint extract

Broccoli & sausage stuffed shells

Sometimes, I don't want to make lasagna because I don't feel like eating lasagna for, you know 9 meals. While it does freeze very well for a quick, take-to-work lunch option, I'm just not feeling like eating it so often! Or I make lasagna and have just a little bit of ricotta left over. What does one do with just a little bit of ricotta? (I recently tried a ricotta pasta sauce that was a icky, so not that...)

Enter suggestion from my friend Kim: stuffed shells. Alright, so this isn't so different from lasagna but it does scale a little better and it's at least arranged a little differently! I made a tad much this first time so I've scaled it down for you below.

Broccoli & Sausage stuffed shells
1/2 head broccoli, (or about 1 cup chopped)
1 Italian sweet or spicy sausage, cooked (I used turkey sausage and boiled it in advance while I was making breakfast one Sunday)
1 cup of ricotta
15-20 Jumbo pasta shells (or you could use manicotti)
1 small jar of marinara sauce (or half a large jar that might be left over)
1/4 tb of pepper
1/2 tb of garlic salt
1/4 cup mozzarella cheese

cooking equipment: small food processor (you might be able to get away with using a blender)

Broccoli, sausage and ricotta mixture

Cook pasta shells according to package directions, rinse and allow to cool slightly. Preheat oven to 350 degrees (I used my new toaster oven!). Grease 11 x 7 in baking pan and spoon small amount of marinara sauce in the bottom, just enough to coat the entire bottom. Place broccoli and sausage in food processor and chop until almost a paste (you can also do them individually). Mix broccoli and sausage with ricotta and using a spatuala or spoon fill each shell and place in pan. Filled shells can touch each other but should not be layered on top of each other. Cover with remaining marinara sauce and bake for 20 minutes. After removing from the oven, top with cheese and serve.
2-3 servings

Note: if you double the recipe you can use a 9 1/2 x 13 in pan

Before going in the oven, you might want to put on a little more sauce than this.

These were pretty good. As I said, my friend Kim makes this with broccoli, I added the sausage (Kim doesn't eat much meat).

First time I flipped an omelet

I can't flip an omelet. Welcome to my secret cooking shame. I normally make scrambled omelets (ie scrambled eggs with lots of stuff in them). Mom is of course an omelet flipping pro, makes it look easy. I think I take after my grandma, who could not even flip pancakes and hence made scrambled pancakes. At least I can flip a pancake!
My friends Jess & Cherise thoughtfully sent me a housewarming gift, which included, among other delights, an Omelet-Ease pan. Could I wait to try it out? No. To be fair, I did have a house guest who needed breakfast and had also served as the postal carrier of my gift from Kansas.
The pan definitely was easy to flip but I felt like I ended up with more of an quiche than a true omelet. There was egg on all sides but the toppings were sort of distributed throughout the whole dish than being in the middle. A little different than a folded omelet. I also did not have any bacon to put in them, since they were spur the moment omelets. Everything is better with bacon. I will have to experiment a bit more with the pan to see where I went awry.

New kitchen and new challenges

It has been a whirlwind of a month, which I have only survived by subsisting on Lean Cuisine. I am more or less recovered from moving, an 8-day work trip and Lord knows what else that I already forgot about!

At the end of January, I bought and moved into a new place. That's right bought. My first place. The new kitchen is fantastic overall, with lots of cabinet space, counter space (the rental was lacking in this), granite counter tops and stainless steel appliances. It also features a more open layout so I can easily chat with guests while I'm making tasty treats and a bar area, which will be great because let's face it, I wasn't sitting at the kitchen table during my average Wednesday night dinner.

What is the one drawback? An electric stove. All kitchens have to have one little negative and the lack of a gas stove is this one's. I just can't believe how long the cook-top takes to heat up. I will starve while waiting for water to boil. However, as drawbacks go, I can live with this one. When I first looked at the condo, I said to my fantastic real estate agent, "I can cook in this kitchen." Pretty sure the kitchen also sold my scrutinizing mother. So I will survive without a gas stove. Maybe in house #2.

Look forward to meals to come from the new kitchen!

PS: That is my dog Megan, isn't she cute?

Moving on up...

I just found a new apartment and I'm super excited about it. signed the lease last night. But why do I feel the need to talk about it on a blog about cooking for the single girl? A few reasons...

First, over the next couple of weeks while packing, moving and unpacking posts will be a little scant. Moving date will be around the 28th of December, so there will be a few posts before the lull.

Second, the new apartment promises several upgrades on my current kitchen set up. While the new kitchen, is actually smaller and without a pantry (I have a pantry now and it's FAB!), I will actually have more counter space. The dishwasher in the new kitchen is also a full-size one, rather than the apartment-size one I have now. This is both good and bad. Good when I cook because there will be room for all the pots and pans and bad because when I don't cook, it will take forever to fill it with just me.

And one upgrade that I was so excited about, I actually called my mom - a gas stove. If you haven't cooked on a gas stove, it is a whole new experience. There is a reason professional grade stoves are typically gas, they are amazing. My stove in the Netherlands was gas and I cannot be more pleased to move back to one. Now that I've raptured for several sentences, the two big pluses to a gas stove are that it's heats up faster (both oven and cook top) and the temperature changes much faster (almost instantly) on the cook top (both up and down) making it much more precise and that it will yield better results.

The major drawback to a gas stove is that they are normally more expensive to run because of the higher price of natural gas but I won't be paying utilities in the new apartment. The best of both worlds! Mom was happy for me too.

Update: One thing I forgot, the new place also has a yard space to BBQ! So look for some BBQ recipes coming this summer!