pod's blog: 2019 New Years Resolution ~ Success or failure?

The year of the Instant Pot ~ New Years Resolution for 2019
I picked up an Instant Pot as a replacement for my deceased slow cooker in 2016. I liked the variety of features it offered.
At that time, I was having the house rebuilt and was living in the small shop. I used the slow cooker often. Without internet access, I never researched recipes or hints for the pressure cooker feature. The manual included was mediocre at best.
Later that year while moving back into the house and still working, the slow cooker was still being excercised but I never slowed down long enough to experiment with the pressure cooker feature of the Instant Pot.
Fast forward to 2019... I was determined to master the pressure cooker and decide how useful this feature was.
Lots of tips and recipes later, this is what I've found.
I found that it is excellent for boiling eggs. Yes, boiling eggs. It is quick and the past years worth of boiled eggs have never failed to peel neatly, even yard eggs which are normally relentless about giving up their shells.

I found that fresh vegetables steam wonderfully in the instant pot. Wash and prepare by cutting if desired, add 1 cup of water, place produce in the steamer basket, seal and set the manual timer set at 0 pressure. That's right zero pressure. It took me a bit to wrap my brain around this one. Seal the lid and set the timer at zero. When the pot reaches pressure it immediately turns off. I have cooked fresh asparagus, broccoli, cauliflower and beans in this manner and all taste wonderful!
One of my Labs has a skin allergy that is suspected to be food related. I decided to start cooking the soft food that I add to their grain free dry. I have used many ingredients, simply chopped and dumped into the pot, then cooked thoroughly and mashed with a potato masher. Foods that have been included are:
beef, boneless chicken parts
using broth for a liquid,
sweet potatoes, brown rice, squash, pumpkin, beans, quinoa, barley
cauliflower, broccoli, peas, carrots, green beans and blueberries
I'm sure more that I am not thinking of at the moment. I read that if you had (and I did) part bags of frozen vegies, they can also be added. This helped clean out the freezer. After it is cooked and cooled, I portion it and freeze to be used on a daily basis. I have yet to have these guys turn their noses up at this food. Easy to fix and healthier for them, I can't see a down side. The kitten and some of the big cats love this as well.
Tips, bonuses and hints:
My water left deposits in the base of the inner pot. When boiling eggs, I occasionally add a splash of vinegar.
Food stains can be removed using ceramic cooktop cleaner.
Make sure the eggs to be boiled aren't cracked in the least or they will expand, leaking. It makes the steamer basket difficult to clean.
If you do not want food over cooked, release pressure immediately or it will continue to cook.
Always use natural pressure release for meats. Quick release will make the meat tough.
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Instant Pot accessories I have found useful:
A steam basket by Hatrigo. Thank you for this suggestion @gasrocks
A second inner pot liner so I can cook in succession.
A lid to keep the first inner pot food warm.
Spare gaskets ~ Because the gaskets will take on the odor of food cooked, some people use one for seasoned foods and one for sweets. I haven't noticed it imparting the taste to what I am cooking but did want a spare gasket.
Silicone moulds with lids to cook egg bites.
Springform cake pan ~ to make cakes bake thoroughly, I find using a pint jar in the center will help.
Trivet with handles to remove the egg bite molds and the cake pan easily.

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I don't mind the preparation of food but I am not a cook. I dislike standing over the stove to tend to things. I get distracted and what is cooking often gets neglected.
The Instant Pot requires assembling the food, programming the settings and being near by when it is done. My kind of cooking.
It is also easy to clean up. The preparation tools get washed while the Pot is cooking and all that remains is the inner pot when finished.
I find that I have not used the slow cooker feature one time this year.
I believe my New Years resolution for 2019 was successful!

A few recipes I have experimented with follow... most have been snagged from the internet. Some have been tweaked to suit me.

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