Some months ago, I told James that I was going to need a new slow cooker – the crock in mine had developed a crack. He asked me to wait a while, and a few weeks ago he presented me with an Instant Pot. Not just any Instant Pot, but one which looked like R2-D2.
Now, using a slow cooker is very easy – you bung everything in, choose low, medium or high heat, and come back a few hours later to enjoy a lovely meal. I used mine for many things – soups, curries, and my signature rolled turkey breast, which is a family favourite. Apparently, I would be able to do all these things in my Instant Pot, and would also be able to do pressure cooking and a host of other things.
Full disclosure, I have never used a pressure cooker before. I find them slightly terrifying – probably because I was scared of the noise my mum’s pressure cooker made when I was a small child. I was given one when James and I got married, but it sat at the back of a cupboard, occasionally being used when I need a large saucepan, but never actually being used for its intended function. When we got a new induction hob for our kitchen a few years ago and I discovered that the pressure cooker wasn’t compatible, it didn’t break my heart to get rid of it.
But so many of my friends tell me how much they love their Instant Pot, and there was one in my kitchen, waiting to be used, so I decided it was time to conquer my fear, and try it out.
Instant Brands describes it as “The classic Instant Pot Duo with a Star Wars facelift! Bringing a new hope to your cooking with the help of R2-D2. It’s a multi-tasking, space saving, time saving appliance that pressure cooks quickly, sautés, steams, slow cooks, warms and makes delicious meats, eggs, rice, soup, yogurt and more.”
The standard Instant Pot Duo is black and stainless steel – functional but somewhat utilitarian. The Star Wars version is immediately recognisable as R2-D2 due to the blue/white/silver colour scheme and the droid-like markings. The pot is 5.7 litres (equivalent to the middle-sized Instant Pot Duo) and according to the blurb, it is seven appliances in one, a pressure cooker, slow cooker, rice cooker, steamer, yogurt maker as well as being able to sauté and keep food warm. The instruction booklet is basic, containing suggestions rather than recipes, but there is an excellent app with many recipes developed both by Instant Brands and also members of the public. The app is very clever; the first screen tells you everything you will need (ingredients and utensils), and then every step is broken down with its own timer function, so you can step away from the kitchen whilst the appliance is working away, knowing that your phone is keeping track.
The first thing I did was follow the instructions for the pressure cooking function using only water. Yes, I literally boiled water and then watched the steam vent away. Having done that, I decided to try pressure cooked hard boiled eggs using the instructions on the app. Hard boiled eggs aren’t that difficult to master when cooking on a stove, and using the Instant Pot doesn’t necessarily save much time, but it is easy, and the result is eggs which are perfectly cooked every time, and as a bonus, easy to peel.
The next recipe I tried was my trusty rolled turkey breast. According to the instructions, you treat the Instant Pot exactly like a normal slow cooker, choosing the slow cooker function on the touchpad. James said it was ‘slightly drier’ than usual, but the kids didn’t notice any difference, even our fussy youngest child, whose favourite meal it is.
I did another batch of eggs (as perfect as the first batch) and then I found a bag of chickpeas in my freezer – soaked but uncooked – so I thought I’d try a batch of hummus. Searching on the internet, I found a suitable recipe, adjusted it slightly because the chickpeas were frozen, and instead of boiling them for 40+ minutes, I used the pressure cooker function to cook them for 6 minutes. Once drained and rinsed, I blitzed the chickpeas in the food processor with garlic, lemon juice, olive oil and seasoning (there are many recipes for hummus – I don’t use any of them, I just taste as I go). I think the chickpeas could have done with another minute or two of cooking time, but they made a very acceptable hummus.
It’s clear that the Instant Pot is going to get a lot more use – I haven’t used the sauté function yet, nor made rice, soups or curries, but I will certainly be trying all these things in the near future.
Pros: easy to use, simple controls, versatile, good sized inner pot, no scary noise.
Cons: too large for my cupboards (but since it is so pretty and suits the aesthetic of my kitchen, I don’t mind that it lives on the worktop).
Buy it now from Amazon.com (R2 is out of stock but other Star Wars models are available) and Amazon.co.uk.
This Instant Pot Duo 7-in-1 5.7L (R2-D2) Star Wars Multi Pressure Cooker was kindly given to us by Instant Brands to review.
