instapot versus crockpot

[LivingAlmostLarge]

Do you have an instapot? Or a crockpot? Or both? How do you like either or both? Why both? What do you find different between them?

[riverwed070707]

I have both. I don't really see them as comparable. Things I would cook in the instant pot I wouldn't cook in my crockpot. I suppose some things I do in the crockpot could be done in the instant pot, but for example, chili simmering all day in the crockpot wouldn't be the same as pressure cooking it...For soups and such you need a crockpot or all day to be home while its on the stove.

I've recently been looking at getting the air fryer lid for my instant pot but haven't pulled the trigger yet as I feel the basket is too small for what I'd want to do like roast chicken, etc.

[kork13]

I love when we have cooking threads here.

I've got both (2 crock pots actually, different sizes), and they all get regular use. The instant pot CAN be used for many things, including as a slow cooker. If you don't have any & are trying to decide between one of them, I'd probably lean toward the instant pot for the added option of pressure cooking. But they do each have things they're better at.

For slow, even, consistent heat (for soups, stews, chili, etc.), the slow cooker is better. If you want your entire house to smell like your pot roast (yes that's a factor in my decision making!), there's no sub for the slow cooker. Also keep in mind that the instant pot only (or mostly) applies heat through the little half-dollar sized button in the bottom of the pot. So if you do use it to slow-cook, or to sear stuff, the heat isn't very even. Also great for "set and forget" meals. The instant pot has a timer that you CAN set & forget, but it doesn't start cooking until it's time. All the while, your food sits in the "danger zone" temperature range.

The instant pot is great for saving time. I can make brown rice in less than half the time as my rice cooker (almost totally replaced by the instant pot). Likewise, for pulled pork or pot roast, they turn out great in just 1-1.5 hrs vs. 8 hrs in the slow cooker. Besides being super fast, beans actually turn out better (IMO) in the pressure cooker (from dry, no less--soaking not required). I also started (and love) to make yogurt in the instant pot. 1 gal of milk + 9-10hrs becomes ~3 quarts of yogurt & a quart of whey (great for smoothies). But yogurt is one of those times that the uneven heat becomes a problem -- the yogurt around that button gets overcooked & I normally toss that stuff.

[mo0n]

I've recently been looking at getting the air fryer lid for my instant pot but haven't pulled the trigger yet as I feel the basket is too small for what I'd want to do like roast chicken, etc.

The air fryer lid IS small. We usually make chicken wings in the Instant Pot (2 batches, somewhere between 35-40 Wings), and it couldn't fit all the wings in at one time for the second step when airfrying with them sauced up. That said, it's pretty neat for smaller meals and heats up almost instantly it seems like (well, a lot faster than the oven).

[riverwed070707]

I love when we have cooking threads here.

The instant pot has a timer that you CAN set & forget, but it doesn't start cooking until it's time. All the while, your food sits in the "danger zone" temperature range.

I had NO idea you could do this! Going to have to give that a try.

Also agree we should have more cooking threads I have plenty of fb pages I check in with regularly, but I always love ones that are budget related!

[riverwed070707]

The air fryer lid IS small. We usually make chicken wings in the Instant Pot (2 batches, somewhere between 35-40 Wings), and it couldn't fit all the wings in at one time for the second step when airfrying with them sauced up. That said, it's pretty neat for smaller meals and heats up almost instantly it seems like (well, a lot faster than the oven).

mmm now I want homemade wings! I'm definitely going to end up getting one at some point, just waiting for something to spark my interest enough to pull the trigger. Any favorite air fryer meals?

[kork13]

I had NO idea you could do this! Going to have to give that a try.

Yep, works great for when I'm prepping a meal & want the rice done at a specific time or something... But as I said, I'm not really as comfortable leaving meat or similar in the instant pot, unrefrigerated, waiting to start cooking. If I'm doing "set it & forget it," I'm almost always going the crock pot route.

I'm definitely going to end up getting one at some point, just waiting for something to spark my interest enough to pull the trigger. Any favorite air fryer meals?

My SIL bought us an air fryer for Christmas, but I haven't used it yet (I was deployed when we got it, and we started the process of packing up/moving shortly after I got back)... Seems a bit faddish, and I'm not sure how useful it really will be. But DW wanted to try it, in hopes of it being a healthier option (she's a sucker for fried food, especially french fries).

But anyway, I'm planning to finally try it out tomorrow, on what is probably a safe bet -- tater tots. In general, I've heard that if it's meant to/can be fried, and has some fat in it already, it'll do just fine in the air fryer. To be seen is if it can do stuff like roasted veggies, or lean meat like chicken breast, or otherwise. I'm withholding judgement until I try it out.

[bjl584]

We only have a crock pot.

I enjoy it because of the ease of use and the versatility of dishes that you can make it.
Especially now with the weather starting to turn where I live I like to make chili, soups, and roasts

[LivingAlmostLarge]

I'm considering the breville toaster oven. DH hates one use items and barely tolerates the crockpot. Granted a lot of it has to do with space. It's a premium. But we are going to try and make our pantry more efficient and couple of other kitchen stuff. Our kitchen is small for the size of home. It really is well done but it's tiny and unfortunately when we bought it, it had just been renovated. But they wasted a lot of space. We have an island that doesn't have two cabinets. The stove is the biggest and fridge too they could get but it's not efficient use of space. But that means we don't have space for storage and we do cook a lot. We know a ton of families who barely cook but have kitchens that are so great and tons of space and tons of appliances. DH uses a pour over top for coffee since he's the only one. We have one cheap pot. We stack our pots and pans and that's it.

Our crockpot which I am using now is making curry and it is 5qt. I was thinking 6-7 qt crock pot or instapot. I can't decide if we should ditch the crock pot for the instapot since it is a pressure cooker and I have space for 1. Just like the air fryer we don't have space so I need to get it with the toaster oven. Thought is breville toaster over with air fryer setting. Do people have that as well? Air Fryer toaster oven?

[riverwed070707]

I'm considering the breville toaster oven. DH hates one use items and barely tolerates the crockpot. Granted a lot of it has to do with space. It's a premium. But we are going to try and make our pantry more efficient and couple of other kitchen stuff. Our kitchen is small for the size of home. It really is well done but it's tiny and unfortunately when we bought it, it had just been renovated. But they wasted a lot of space. We have an island that doesn't have two cabinets. The stove is the biggest and fridge too they could get but it's not efficient use of space. But that means we don't have space for storage and we do cook a lot. We know a ton of families who barely cook but have kitchens that are so great and tons of space and tons of appliances. DH uses a pour over top for coffee since he's the only one. We have one cheap pot. We stack our pots and pans and that's it.

Our crockpot which I am using now is making curry and it is 5qt. I was thinking 6-7 qt crock pot or instapot. I can't decide if we should ditch the crock pot for the instapot since it is a pressure cooker and I have space for 1. Just like the air fryer we don't have space so I need to get it with the toaster oven. Thought is breville toaster over with air fryer setting. Do people have that as well? Air Fryer toaster oven?

I'm 100% with your DH. When blog rolls used to be a thing, I used to follow this blog called the unclutterer and she would have unitasker wednesdays where she'd feature some ridiculous kitchen gadget that only had one purpose. I loved it and grew to despise unitaskers. In August, I moved from a 9x10 kitchen with roughly 2.5 ft of counter space to a home with probably 18 feet of counter space and so many cupboards I have prime location reachable cabinets right next to the sink that still have nothing in them, whole drawers that are empty, and I still don't keep things on my counters. I have picked up a few new things now that i have the room but trying to still keep it clean and clutter free.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

We have 8 ft of counter space mostly it's the island and that's it. The cabinets rae not as much space. We have four. Everything is nice and pretty but functionality is lacking for us. Considering how much we cook we need more storage. Our "pantry" needs to be more shelves and less dead space. We will focus on that after DH builds his shed and we are indoors and hoping we are still on quarantine so then we won't go out and instead focus each weekend on fixing the house.

[Snicks]

I have almost every cooking gadget but never got an Instapot. I have had crockpots for decades. And, I also have a pressure cooker and a rice cooker so saw no real need for the Instapot. However, people that have them tell me they really love having one.

[JBinKC]

I have a smaller size instapot knock off, a programmable crock pot and a low end Farberware toaster oven that is off by about 100 degrees on the low side where you have to compensate for baking time. I use the latter 2 quite frequently which are actually used in the garage during the hot months to save on cooling costs.

After a major failure of a recipe in my instapot where it burned I am apprehensive to use it for recipes and now limit it to canning very small batches and processing pumpkins. So it is not used often as I hoped for. (Note: I would not recommend using an instapot for pressure canning at higher altitudes where you need more than 10 lbs of pressure).