People rave about these multifunction pressure cookers but I got one for xmas and have really struggled to find a reason to keep it around. Yes, it makes chicken stock very nicely, but it’s not like this was a real challenge to begin with, nor is it something i absolutely have to do within 30 minutes since i can easily throw a carcass in the freezer and wait until I have an hour or more to make stock. I have made a few “one pot” meals, and for the most part they have not worked out because different things cook at different times. Even my beef stew required putting veggies in at different times or cooking them separately to make sure it didn’t all turn to mush. Anything that needs to thicken (stew, chili, soup) requires additional time at the end for simmering, or it’ll just be watery. I haven’t tried whole chickens and such, but I’ve read that they require additional browning or else you just have soggy chicken. And in any case, I haven’t met a chicken that wasn’t just perfect in 80-90 minutes at 375.
And that leads me to my biggest complaint; the time. Recipes often say “40 minutes on high pressure” but that doesn’t take in to account the 15 minutes it takes the unit to get up to pressure and the 10 minutes it takes to release the pressure. And if you have to open it up in the middle of a recipe, practically the same additional time is required yet again. I will say it’s made for easy cleanup, but it hasn’t been a time saver and it hasn’t been some magical kitchen appliance that has produced fantastic meals. At least not for me. I’m a very good home chef (if I do say so myself), and I’ll just stick to my pots and pans, thank you very much. Oh, and my sous vide. And my smoker. And my grill…
