You can use the Instant Pot for a variety of things, from slow cooked stews to pressure cooked whatever. I use it for everything from making rice to chicken soup to boiling eggs to stewing fruit to making yoghurt.
The advantage of an Instant Pot is that it does many different things (pressure cook, slow cook) so you need fewer items in the kitchen, and you just plug it in and program it, so you don't have to be watching it as you would a pressure cooker left on the stove. It took me a while to get used to using it but now I don't know what I would do without it.
FWIW, the US has more/better versions than the UK, and the US versions will also work in Europe if you have a voltage converter. The FAQ on the Instant Pot (US) website confirms this. So this might be useful for those with US connections.
I am talking about shop-bought rindsragout, which is very consistent in size and texture across the supermarkets. Even with careful slow cooking on low heat it goes very tender but somewhat stringy after 6-8 hours.
All meat will eventually fall apart along the muscle fibres provided it's sufficiently cooked
The instant pot has 3 settings for pressure, mild, normal, strong. I'd say rinds ragout cooked at mild pressure for 20 minutes and then left for a few minutes to rest will be perfectly melty without falling apart.
I make curry or stew with 1 inch + cubes at medium pressure for 25 minutes until stringy melty.
Thanks everyone for posting the helpful information about getting an Instant Pot in Switzerland. It turned out that I could not get amazon.uk to ship one to me in Basel... but anyway, lo and behold, in the Interdiscount shop in Basel Center (the shop across the street from Globus) and also in the LeClerq super market just across the border in Saint Louis, France, I found this thing called a Moulinex Cookeo (both places had similar prices) that apparently does the same thing as the Instant Pot-- that is, it's a high pressure cooker, and also a slow cooker, and does sautee, and it's electric and programmable. When I got it home I almost accidentally threw out the vapor collection thingie with the wrapping, and boy howdy it all generated a ton of styrofoam packing, but... so far so good.
Hi Traubert - Has the distribution method changed again? I don't see much on eBay UK or Amazon UK. Also, do they have dual voltage capability? If so, i will wait til i go back to the US where they seem to be 50% cheaper.
been trying to get one since I read this thread over christmas, hopelessly sold out in whole europe (official UK page, amazon UK, DE, FR, IT).
it blipped for few days on amazons with delivery date in may, then again disappeared. official support in canada said something about restocking in march.
I realize one option is to get it from US/Canada, but price hike would be probably big and it would have to be used with 110->220V adapter on top of CH plug convertor (or something combined), again annoyance and price hike.
anybody is aware of some other way, apart from ridiculously priced ebay UK-type offers?