Pressure Cooker Recommendation

[Grumman]

After 15 years of marriage my wife and I have accumulated quite a few of kitchen gadgets but still lack a pressure cooker. Everyone at work is talking about the Instant Pots. I like the build quality of the All American brand but my wife is funny about cooking in aluminum. Most of our uses would be ribs, chickens, quick meals etc. Anybody use a pressure cooker much to have a recommendation on a specific make or model?


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[bikerdavet]

Instant Pot is what we have. Use it at the house and in the RV. Took it "camping" with the tent in a campground as well. We like it.

 

[Hackleback]

For overall utility, a 5 qt will fit most of your needs, it is small enough to cook a single meal, but still be able do do pint jars of caned meat and fish, all be it rather small loads. For tenderizing tough cuts of meat, I have been using a larger slow cooker (crockpot) more than the pressure cookers as of late.

 

[pods8 (Rugged Stitching)]

I like the instant pot more for roast meat than the slow cooker these days, fast and tender. We have a 6qt. For canning I have a different larger/old/manual pressure cooker.

 

[justinspicher]

We used a can cooker the last couple of nights in elk camp. Chow was absolutely delicious.

 

[AK Troutbum]

All American is the only way to go as far as I’m concerned, but buying American made is also very important to me, so I’m biased. I own two (21.5 quart) and have used them for years. I’m thinking/hoping my children will also use them when I’m dead and gone.


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[LostArra]

Our crock pot became unreliable and my kids bought me an Instant Pot as a replacement. Works well for my needs: roasts, stews, beans, chili.
I like the sear/browning feature along with the pressure cooking since it keeps everything in one pot.
Suggestion 1 if you get an instant pot: throw away the instruction manual.
Suggestion 2: Google up the Mississippi Pot Roast recipe. Works great for deer and elk roasts when more fat is needed. I change up the spices from the recommended ranch dressing.

I would think if you do a lot of canning that a larger dedicated pressure cooker would be better than the Instant Pot.

 

[Grumman]

Thanks a lot for everyone’s input. I think I am going to get an Instant Pot at this point. If we fall in love with it and decide to can stuff an upgrade to All American may be in our future.


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[LongWayAround]

I'm pretty sure the inner pot is stainless steel in the Instant Pot. We just got one and it's been awesome.

One night I got home from work about 5:00. No dinner at the ready so I threw a whole (thawed) pheasant and some vegetables in the pot. Sealed the cent and set the timer. When I got home two hours later, the meat was falling apart. It was delicious.

 

[Idaholewis]

All American is the only way to go as far as I’m concerned, but buying American made is also very important to me, so I’m biased. I own two (21.5 quart) and have used them for years. I’m thinking/hoping my children will also use them when I’m dead and gone.


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I agree here, the All American canner/cookers are TOP shelf, truly built to hand down generations!! I have the 21.5 quart for Canning (model 921) and recently found a brand new smaller 10 Quart (model 910) at an estate sale for 40 bucks! I only paid 75 for my big 21.5 Quart

 

[Grumman]

You got a bargain on those All Americans. We ended up getting an Instant Pot for now. My wife has joined some Facebook recipe page for them and has been enthusiastically trying lots of new meals in it. So far so good. I dread when the new wears off of it actually.


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[mtswampfox]

try a lasagna recipe !!

 

[Mosby]

I would not recommend All American pressure cookers for cooking. They are really designed for canning IMO. Nothing better for that purpose but way to big for daily use and the aluminum will react to certain foods.. For cooking I have have a few different stove top models. I would recommend India made cookers. Pressure cookers are used daily in Indian cooking in just about every house. I figured they must know what they are doing. I have and would recommend Prestige or Butterfly brand. Both are made in India and I have found them to be extremely well made. Bought mine on Amazon. Hawkins is another well known brand. All are reasonably priced IMO. Mine are SS. As an FYI, they 'whistle' and you have to correlate the number of whistles to time in recipes. I mention because they work a bit different than some other brands. I am still learning. There are expensive European brands as well. Presto is an american made PC but they didn't seem as well made as others but I am sure they work fine.

I bought mine to speed up cooking at camp and expand the menu a bit. I think 8 quart is the most popular size. You can't fill a PC like a regular pot so make sure you get one big enough for what you are planning on cooking. I bought a few different sizes so I can cook rice etc., The bigger they are the longer it takes to heat up and come to pressure.

If you want an electric PC the Insta Pot is a good recommendation.