I remember when I was a young girl my mom had a pressure cooker and the noise it would make near the end of it's cooking always scared me!
This is the next Crock Pot setup that I want. Because it's just my Honey and me most of the time for meals, these 3 smaller crockpots would easily could plenty enough food for the both of us. Meat, etc. cooked in one, maybe a starch in the second, and veggies in the third. I would have to adapt some of my recipes but I'm sure work just fine.
I don't care for food cooked in crock pot. It mostly all tastes the same and I don't like the texture of meat cooked in it. The one exception is pork for "pulled pork"; my grandson likes it. So, convenient yes. Tastes good, no. The pressure cooker is better if time is a factor. But even in that, everything seems to have that " pressure cooker taste". If I had to choose between the two, it would be pressure cooker.
I do it, but not as often as I should. I do have a few great recipes and I'll post them when I have a little more time than I have now... one is my homemade spaghetti sauce... thick and really good! There's also a PA Dutch recipe I'll try to find that I do... and my beef stew. Uh... okay, I hope I remember to do it. @Babs Hunt , you just kind of spooked me by telling MY story. My original is round and what I mostly use, too.... it's a Rival and from the... probably late 70s or early 80s. Works *great*! Got a new oval a few years ago, too (see what I mean?!) and that's an original "Crock Pot" brand. I bought it specifically to do the Thanksgiving turkey breast because it didn't work in the round one (where's Rod Serling?!) and the turkey gets sooooo nice in there!
Okay, @Sheldon Scott I have a question for you. I've thought about getting a pressure cooker for years... always chickened out, though, because of a book I once read. In it, someone had a pressure cooker going (not electric, though, if that matters) and it *blew up.* I've always had that visual in my mind about the dent it made in the ceiling and walls, and never wanted to risk having one because one of us could be in the room when the darn thing explodes. Can you assure me that it's no longer a concern with the new electric models?
The pressure cookers made these days, electric and stovetop, have pressure relief valves and are no danger at all. The stove top kind do have to be watched. The electric ones just set the time and it'll shut itself off when done. We have a big stove top pressure canner that uses a weighted jiggler which is probably the noise you remember. If you are canning things from the garden a pressure canner is essential.
I follow the channel on YouTube of a camper van couple and they cook a lot in an Insta Pot. She makes it look like a really nice device but they are also a pressure cooker type thing which I find scary. I think they would be good to use in summer as they would generate much less heat than a stove top. You can even buy cookbooks geared just to them. Anyone use one?
I don't but it sounds familiar...maybe @Lon Tanner mentined it on here or there. I know somebody did if it's the same thing you're talking about.
I have heard of them before, but was not exactly sure what they are, so I looked them up on youtube. Basically, it is a pressure cooker, but a much more modern one than the old fashioned ones we all remember with the little cap on top. I used to have something similar to this many years ago, and I really liked it. It was electric and had a gauge on it, and you just let it heat up until the little cap started hissing and rocking, and then you set the temp for that heat, and let it cook. It made food really fast, and it tasted good and meats were always tender. It was best for a one-pot meal, like you would make in a crockpot, although you could cook your meat, then turn it off, and when it cooled down enough, then you opened the lid and added potatoes or veggies and then cooked it a few minutes longer.
We've been using the electric pressure cooker for years. Best thing we ever bought for the kitchen, Ours is an AROMA brand. I' don't know about instant pot or any other brands but we use ours all the time. Ours can also be used as a slow cooker although we have never tried it that way.
We have a pressure cooker have never used it myself. Probably because once when young my mom was cooking pinto beans in one. I was in the other room when it blew up! I just knew my mom was dead....but she had being in another room also. The site of the kitchen mess from ceiling to floor...naw I don't want to mess with that.
A really neat pressure cooker was marketed (several, actually) years back, for use in the microwave oven. Made of super-strong plastic of some kind. We had one, but used it rarely, my wife being so adroit with the 'wave, she didn't need the extra speediness. Still, a pressure-cooker's ability to raise temperature higher than boiling point of water tenderizes meats very effectively. Frank
The Insta Pot has a lot of good reviews on Amazon, etc. so definitely is worth considering IMO. They also come in different sizes which is helpful if you have limited space.