An electric pressure cooker review: What I learned

Electric pressure cookers (like the Instant Pot, Power Cooker and others) are all over the place today. And people are raving about their speed and convenience. Well despite so many raving electric pressure cooker reviews in favor (pretty much the whole world), here’s what I discovered.

Mục Lục

The trust factor

I can’t expect you all to trust me if I always say “This is so great! Eat it!” Don’t you get sick of that? That’s why I feel like it’s my job to tell you the truth even when I know it’s not going to go with the flow. You need an electric pressure cooker review that’s totally unbiased, and I’m going to give you mine.

I’m not much on gadgets–it’s true–but I borrowed my aunt’s Power Cooker because I was curious (and obviously cheap) so I could try it before I bought an electric pressure cooker for myself. Truthfully, it looked fabulous and I was excited to get started testing recipes and transforming fast dinners.

And it was fast. Like a lightning bolt. But that’s pretty much the last nice thing I have to say.

The trying

I had such high hopes of creating one-pot recipes you could use and love forever. I dreamt of recipe miracles I could pass down to you with pride. So I started studying all kinds of recipes, reading books, and joining Facebook groups dedicated to their love of these things. I asked a lot of questions. I studied some more. And I cooked in it. A lot.

And I hated every single thing that came out of it with the exception of some salmon fillets that I poached from frozen in 5 minutes. That was one of the seven wonders of the world right there.

And what’s worse? My family hated the food even more.

I started with mac and cheese (yes it’s safe to make pasta in an electric pressure cooker) and my family gave it a 3 out of 10. It went uneaten in the pot and I threw it out.

The trying again

So I kept thinking it was just me. Maybe I was doing something wrong. So I asked more questions. I read more, I studied more. I found a site that told me that the key to the perfect roast was 40 minutes on a roast no more than 2 inches thick. Any longer than that and all the flavor would force itself out of the meat and end up in your cooking liquid.

Okay.

Roast, carrots and potatoes. That would be awesome.

I seared the meat first, I seasoned it, I added beef broth and sealed ‘er up. 40 minutes later, I could not have prepared myself for the disaster inside that hunk of metal and plastic.

Bone dry, hard as a brick, and absolutely no flavor. Dinner was ruined, but we ate it anyway. Actually my daughter did and the rest of us had peanut butter and jelly.

I say all that to say this: There will be some of you out there who will hate me for my opinion. And I’m sure that somewhere in this world, there are a few recipes that might turn out okay in the electric pressure cooker. If you can live off of hard boiled eggs and rice you’re a better man than I am.

What you’ll have to like to enjoy your electric pressure cooker

In order to like what it produces, you have to be okay with soft food. One texture, and mostly one flavor. You have to be okay with forcing food that was meant to be cooked differently (and maybe more slowly) to cook quickly–compromising what it could have been had you cooked it in a different way or saved that recipe for a day when you had time to make it differently.

It’s just been an all around disappointment for me.

I’m not your judge, but apparently I am a snob

In discussing my frustrations on my personal Facebook page, someone (gotta love your family) called me a “food snob” and “out of touch with the reality of what life is like for busy families”. But that’s not true. The truth is I KNOW 100% that slow cookers and electric pressure cookers are one of the few ways that lots of families make a meal.

I know that most people don’t have time to make food from scratch and have to choose between the drive through and convenience of one of these. And for you all, do whatever you have to do. I am totally for you. But you won’t find those recipes here. I’m committed to giving you easy meal ideas–but they won’t come out of an electric pressure cooker.

Is there anyone out there like me?

And for the rest of you, what I hope is that somewhere out there, some of you can say “Yes I want my food to taste good. I want my family to enjoy what I make and I’d rather have that over rushed convenience.” Even if you’re busy, instead of using an electric pressure cooker, make a fast pasta, a hot sandwich and salad, or a make-ahead casserole that was meant to be made quickly instead–and we can all save our money for something that’s really worth it.