My best culinary investment cost me less than €100, and it has become an essential

My me-only Instant Pot has nothing to do with the Yankee brand from which it takes its name. It is only the “no name” version of a brand unknown to the battalion, purchased in a moment of weakness on a private sales site. And I might as well say it straight out: if I initially thought I had wasted a hundred euros on a gadget that was as useless as it was bulky, this machine was undoubtedly my best culinary investment!

The thing looks like a classic electric pressure cooker, and that’s pretty much what it is… but better. It comes with a 6 liter bowl with non-stick coating and is dishwasher safe. friendlywith a stainless steel plate for steaming food, and that’s it. We are in the accessories economy, and that’s so much the better. Aside: some research tells me that a grid to be placed at the bottom of the tank was delivered with the casserole, but we must believe that it has regained its freedom.

Saving also concerns the device controls. There is no question of a complete screen to use it. Here we are entitled to an LCD panel, but reserved for displaying the cooking time, that’s all. At least we can salute its minimalism. Below this screen, +/- buttons are dedicated to adjusting the cooking time, while all around there are buttons, each dedicated to a specific cooking mode.

And this is where the magic happens: each button corresponds to a use and defines the associated temperature and cooking time. It’s simple, effective, and it is possible to add or subtract a few minutes from the planned duration if necessary. Everything is indicated in English on my machine, but the vocabulary is reduced to its strict minimum – the instructions have disappeared a long time ago and I can do without them without difficulty!

Trust the presets or your instincts

The big difference between Instant Pot-like and Cookeo is that the settings offered are minimal and, above all, nothing takes my hand to guide me through personalized recipes. Generally, I trust the presets offered; but for the rest, I proceed by trial and error. In other words, I modify the cooking times as I judge.

It is therefore a machine suitable for those who have mastered the art of cooking, at least who know more or less where they are going in terms of useful cooking or necessary quantities. With a pressure cooker of this ilk, we’re not necessarily talking about great cooking: I can prepare rice (vade retro bulky rice cookers), cook my soup after browning small onions in the same tank (or, I mix it directly in the casserole using my old hand blender). It is also possible to reduce the cooking of marinated meat that you wish to shred to less than an hour: lovers of pulled porkyou know the cooking time you save.

I even tried, and with success please, to make yogurt during the bored hours of Covid confinement. The tank is not gigantic, but allows you to obtain half a dozen per batch. Not sure it’s profitable, but at least we have the pleasure of homemade. Add to this that I was able to throw away my old steam cooker which systematically flooded my kitchen. My pressure cooker certainly has a small capacity and its support plate attaches quite high in the tank, leaving little space for food, but it is fast and does not leak. You have to know how to appreciate the gifts of life, right?

A parallel world to discover

You will have understood, I am unable to find the date of purchase of my all-purpose casserole dish, but I swear to you that it was acquired before 2020, your honor. It is robust enough for my use, serves me every week, is not burdened with guided recipes that do not necessarily correspond to my habits, and still has a few surprises in store for me. So, I have never attempted to bake a cake in its bowl, but I am planning on doing so!