Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

My daughter spent a few weeks with my ex wife recently... the ex is a great cook, and I... well, not so much. My kid was raving about how well she eats over there... when I said "hey, I cook for you!" she replied with "dad, there's a difference between real cooking and shoving something in the oven". That did it. I needed to figure out how to cook. I read all of the great reviews of the Instant Pot here, but the thing that sold me was a video on youtube of an older single guy who lived in what looks like a double wide trailer, saying that all he has to do is throw stuff in the thing, and out pops great food. (No, I don't live in a trailer park... but if he could do it, I could do it). After seeing all of the pressure cooking recipes on line, ranging from simple to sophisticated, I decided to press the button and buy the thing. I've had the instant pot for about 2 weeks now, and I've used it 5 times so far. It lives up to the reviews here. I am really pleased with it... because if I can come across as a "good cook" to my daughter (and I have, BTW) then an orangutan can - provided it's an orangutan with an Instant Pot. Right out of the box I made beef stew, using the recipe in the instruction book. Took less than 45 minutes from raw ingredients to steaming stew on the table. That particular recipe tasted great - but wasn't too pretty to look at. Next, I wanted to make pulled pork for a big super-bowl party. This was a big test, as one of the other guests was a professional chef, and he was making his signature carne asada tacos. The night before, I made a test run with the instant pot, before I publicly committed to bringing food to this party... heh heh... I didn't want to look like a fool if it failed. Well, I found a few pulled pork recipes on-line, so I got the gist of how to do it, and then I just "winged it", kinda making it up as I went, The results? Unbelievable. Pulled pork that was sooo tender, sooo tasty, sooo juicy, sooo FAST! Again, from raw stuff to finished dish in under an hour, with only 10 or 15 minutes of actual labor. (Typical non-pressure cooker recipes call for 3 or 4 hours of cooking time) Pulled pork is supposed to pull apart with just a fork... and that's exactly what it did. Practically fell apart. The broth left over was a great base for gravy, and was easy and plentiful. The next day - Superbowl Sunday - I made the big batch of the pulled pork, with similar, excellent results... I made 3 varieties of sauces too... Traditional BBQ, Spicy vinegar, and "Au Jus" style. HUGE hit at the party, people clamored for more. The next day, barley lentil soup for my daughter and I. Ingredients cost about 3 or 4 bucks, made about a half gallon of delicious soup, which lasted for several days. (I threw in a smoked pork neck bone... yu-hu-hummy). Time from arriving home from the grocery store to soup... about 45 minutes. Last night, I made lasagna. Yep, pressure cooker lasagna. Nearly as good as oven baked, but in under an hour, including prep time. The only negative comment I can make is that you have to be sure that the pressure valve closes. (It's supposed to automatically shut when the liquid gets to a good boil... it's a mechanical device, that pops up when there's a flow of steam... but sometimes you have to kinda give it a little jiggle to get it to pop up). The instant pot is also nearly perfectly silent, and the smells of the food stay in the pot while cooking. (I'm sure this will be a big plus when cooking corned beef and cabbage.) All in all, this thing is really great, I highly recommend it. It's easy, fast, safe and the results taste truly delicious. And if I can fool my daughter into thinking that I can cook, then anyone can masquerade as a good cook... if you're armed with an Instant Pot, that is. *** Update 3/31/2014 As I type, my Instant Pot has just come up to pressure, In about 20 more minutes, my daughter and I will be slurping up some of what has become my signature dish - a hearty soup with ham and sausage. I make this soup once or twice a month. Well, not EXACTLY this soup, 'cause each time I try some variations... with whatever vegetables are in season, whatever is on sale, or whatever I have leftover in the 'fridge. Today, it's collard and mustard greens, garbanzos and turnips, along with the usual carrots, celery and onions. Oh, and just last night, we had company - I made Corned Beef and Cabbage. Including prep time, it took just a little over an hour. It came out perfectly (and as a bonus, the broth that was left behind is what I used as the soup base for tonight's endeavor). My daughter has changed her tune since my first review... not only does she now think I can cook, but she has actually suggested that I cook at our annual family gathering. (I'm flattered, but this is a non-starter, as the rest of the fam are truly excellent cooks. I certainly don't want to steal their thunder - besides, I won't be able to bring the Instant Pot aboard the plane anyway.) So, its been a bit over a year since I bought my Instant Pot. It's held up well, with pretty frequent usage. As I mentioned in my initial review, it's not quite fully automatic... you have to babysit it, but just until the pressure valve "pops", which is in about 10-20 minutes after you turn it on, depending on how full the pot is. Before the pot pressurizes, it generates a bunch of steam first. You sometimes have to jiggle the pot a little to help the valve "pop up" so the pressure can start building. I've also found that it's possible to have the lid on imperfectly (or perhaps it's the ring seal along the edge of the lid). When this happens, steam can escape from around the edges of the lid, and pressure is never achieved. Even with those two caveats, I still recommend the Instant Pot highly. Five stars! Hey, the Instant Pot just beeped to tell me that my soup is ready! Bye!