What Do You Make in an Instapot?

I added an Instapot to the Lazy Budget Chef Kitchen and Thunderdome this Christmas. Both Husband and I read the instruction manual that, let’s face it, is written for people who already know how to cook in an electric pressure cooker – which isn’t us.

So exactly, how do you use an Instapot and what do you cook in it?

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Lately, the only thing I’ve made in the Instapot is gallons of soup and chili because we are currently Plague House and broth is the only thing I’m up for right now.

Eventually I’d like to start experimenting with ingredients and developing Instapot recipes like I do with our slow cooker. I can find Instapot recipes and cookbooks on Amazon (affiliate links for your convenience) out the kazoo so that part isn’t the problem. My problem is I can’t find information on:

• How long and at what pressure the programmed settings are set.

• When I want to use dried beans in a recipe like chili, do I need to precook them first or can I toss them in the pressure cooker with all of the other ingredients and use a manual setting? Husband tried this last night using the Bean setting and they were undercooked.

• How to you cook dehydrated vegetables in an Instapot? I added some to a chili recipe and they came out fine. Can I steam dried vegetables as a side dish on the days (which is pretty much all of them) I forget to hydrate the dehydrated vegetables overnight?

• When and how do you determine what manual pressure and time settings to use for cooking an item?

• Do I need to use water when cooking everything in an electric pressure cooker? Sure things like making broth, rice, and dried vegetables are a given but what if I want to cook a chicken or roast in an Instapot?

• Are the water to rice ratios different when you cook rice in an Instapot versus cooking rice in  a pot on the stove? My first attempt at Instapot rice was undercooked.

If you have answers to my questions or know of a good resource that answers my questions share them in the comments below. Thank you!

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