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Slow cookers have been around for decades, and they are still one of the most popular kitchen appliances to date. For the longest time, no kitchen appliances could rival the convenience and the cooking power of the slow cooker. However, recently that has changed drastically. Since the release of the instant pot, slow cookers everywhere have felt the heat.
The instant pot is considered a multi-cooker because of its ability to replace your slow cooker and a handful of other small kitchen appliances. In this article, we will be reviewing the Instant Pot Smart Wifi 6 Quart Multi-Cooker.
What the Instant Pot Capable of?
The instant pot became a household favorite almost instantly because of its ability to make your time in the kitchen as quick and easy as possible. One of the ways the instant pot achieves this is through fast cooking. The instant pot claims it can cook your food up to 70% faster than other multi-cookers, slow cookers, pressure cookers, and even your frying pan.
Additionally, your time in the kitchen is cut in half because of the cleanup. There is nothing quite like being able to make your entire meal in one pot. We all love stews, soups, chilis, and good stir fries. Part of the reason might be because it is just so simple to make.
Simply through your ingredients in the vessel and let it cook. However, many of these meals require searing your meat, sautéing your vegetables, and simmering the overall dish to get the perfect meal.
This requires frying pans, sauté pans, and a pot. This is where the instant pot comes in. You can still sauté, sear, and simmer, the only difference is you will not have to wash three pieces of cookware when you are done or use three different cooking elements during the process.
First sear your meat in the instant pot, throw in your vegetables and let them sauté. After the bulk of your meal is done you can toss in your spices, sauce, liquids and let them simmer until it is complete.
What the Instant Pot Capable of?
The instant pot became a household favorite almost instantly because of its ability to make your time in the kitchen as quick and easy as possible. One of the ways the instant pot achieves this is through fast cooking. The instant pot claims it can cook your food up to 70% faster than other multi-cookers, slow cookers, pressure cookers, and even your frying pan.
Additionally, your time in the kitchen is cut in half because of the cleanup. There is nothing quite like being able to make your entire meal in one pot. We all love stews, soups, chilis, and good stir fries. Part of the reason might be because it is just so simple to make.
Simply through your ingredients in the vessel and let it cook. However, many of these meals require searing your meat, sautéing your vegetables, and simmering the overall dish to get the perfect meal.
This requires frying pans, sauté pans, and a pot. This is where the instant pot comes in. You can still sauté, sear, and simmer, the only difference is you will not have to wash three pieces of cookware when you are done or use three different cooking elements during the process.
First sear your meat in the instant pot, throw in your vegetables and let them sauté. After the bulk of your meal is done you can toss in your spices, sauce, liquids and let them simmer until it is complete.
8 Different Programs
The instant pot comes with a few different programs that promise to replace up to 8 of your kitchen appliances. We will go through each of them now.
Slow Cooker
The slow cooker function is without a doubt the most sought after program on this unit. Everybody loves a good meal that was prepared in a slow cooker or over the stove for hours at a time but not many people want a single-use appliance or to stir chili for 8 hours.
The instant pots slow cooker program has 3 different temperatures you can choose from. These settings allow you to make meats and vegetables as tender as you would like without spending hours waiting for a certain consistency.
Yogurt Maker
The yogurt making program is a pleasant surprise for anyone who buys this unit. The last thing you expect to do with a multi-cooker is to make yogurt but instant pot delivers! The yogurt maker allows home cooks to make healthier yogurts without all of the sugar and preservatives that come with the store-bought options.
Rice Cooker
A rice cooker is a staple in any home but like the slow cooker, it is a single-use appliance that many of us just do not have space for. This rice cooker program works as good as any dedicated rice cooker.
It makes fluffy and tender rice that is the perfect consistency every single time. The days of scraping burnt rice off the bottom of the pan and chewing hard rice are over. It can be white rice or brown rice, the instant pot can handle it all.
Steamer
Steamers are incredibly useful tools. Whether you have an insert that sits inside your pot or you have a dedicated machine for the job, the steamer is a tool that gets a lot of use. Steamers make your meals healthier by reducing the need for oils and butter.
Additionally, the quick and gentle heat from the steam maintains more of the nutrition in the vegetables that might be destroyed during the cooking process.
Warmer
Last but not least we have a warmer. The warmer is a really useful program that many of us didn’t realize we needed until we got it. One of the worst parts about cooking is different cooking times.
For example, if you are making a stir fry and want rice but your rice finishes before the stir fry, it is going to be cold. The last thing you want to do is nuke a delicious and nutritious meal in the microwave. The instant pots warmer setting allows you to keep the rice warm until your stir fry is finished.
Cake Maker
Like the yogurt maker, this one might surprise you. Yes, it is true, the instant pot can make a cake.
- Cooks fast and saves time: The Instant Pot Smart Wifi combines 8 kitchen appliances in one: Pressure cooker, slow cooker, rice cooker, yogurt maker, cake maker, Saute pan, steamer, and warmer
- Consistently delicious: 13 1-touch smart programs put cooking ribs, soups, beans, rice, poultry, yogurt, desserts and more on autopilot – with tasty results
- Connected for ease of use: Compatible with Alexa and wifi - control your Instant Pot Smart Wifi in the palm of your hand with the Instant Pot app or through voice with Alexa. Includes access to 1,000 plus pre-programmed recipes and verify cooking progress, share cooker access with family, and receive alerts on your mobile device
- Accessories included: Stainless steel steam rack with handles, rice paddle, soup spoon, measuring cup and condensation collector. Power supply - 120V-60Hz
- Advanced safety protection: The 10 plus built-in safety features, including overheat protection, safety Lock and more to ensure safe pressure cooking
Additional Features
If all of those programs weren’t enough you will be excited to find out that there are even more programs in this unit. These programs are called smart programs and they are just that, incredibly smart. The 13 smart programs include soup/broth, meat/stew, bean/chili, cake, slow cook, sauté/sear, rice, multigrain, porridge, steam, yogurt, keep warm, and pressure cook.
These programs are considered smart because the temperature and time are pre-determined. All you need to do is add the ingredients, press the desired programs button and walk away. The instant pot will let you know when your food is ready.
Appearance
The instant pot is aesthetically pleasing as it is a useful machine. The entire pot is wrapped in a brushed stainless-steel that is fingerprint-resistant. This keeps the unit looking clean and new for longer periods. The top and bottom are a heavy-duty black plastic.
Even if the unit gets dirty and needs a wash, the entire exterior is easy to clean. The smooth and fingerprint-resistant materials mean that you can simply wipe it down without requiring any elbow grease. Additionally, the lid, steam rack, cooking pot, and included accessories are dishwasher safe.
Conclusion
When it comes to buying kitchen appliances, the instant pot is probably the easiest one to buy. It comes in at a great price point with a handful of great programs that will replace most if not all of your kitchen’s small appliances.
This will not only free up counter space and time in the kitchen but maybe it will add some extra change to your pocket. We hope that you enjoyed reading this article and got all the information you were looking for.
Guidance Videos
Here are a couple of videos to give you a better understanding of how this amazing machine works!
