I bought an Instant Pot — here's why it's not everything it's cracked up to be

Instant Pot

The INSIDER Summary:

• People are obsessed with the Instant Pot, a seven-in-one appliance that is everything from a slow cooker to a pressure cooker and rice maker.
• I bought one, and it has two fatal flaws in my opinion.
• For example, I find that the cooking times it promises are way off.

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I cook a lot.

From mango Thai curries to homemade falafel, I make a from-scratch, homemade meal at least four nights a week.

Often, that means I don't eat before 9 p.m.

Then I read about the Instant Pot. People were OBSESSED with the little kitchen appliance — seriously, I saw writers, bloggers, homecooks, and professional chefs singing its praises wherever I looked, from the New York Times to Twitter.

The inanimate device even boasts a fan page on Facebook with almost 700,000 members, and has an incredible 4.6 stars on Amazon with almost 22,000 reviews.

Why do people love it so much?

First off, the magic little pot is seven things in one. It's a slow cooker, pressure cooker, rice cooker, porridge maker, sauté pan, steamer, and even a yogurt maker (though I haven't tried that function yet).

It claims to make rice in four minutes, boil potatoes in 12 minutes, cook a whole chicken in 24, and have beef ribs ready in 20.

The writers, bloggers, and cooks said this baby would cut my cooking time in half. That it would improve my meals. That it would make me healthier.

I needed it.

Expecting the worst, I looked it up on Amazon, anticipating a three-digit price tag. When I saw that it was only $69.99 I didn't hesitate for a second before buying it.

However, a few meals in and I can't say that I share everyone's enthusiasm.

There are two reasons for this.

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1. You can't tinker with recipes.

While I definitely use recipes for my cooking, I tend to see them more as suggestions. I'm more of a sprinkle, dash, pat, and glug kinda cook than a 1/8 teaspoon and 2 oz of liquid one. I like to taste my food as I go, adjusting seasonings as I see fit.

With the Instant Pot, this isn't really an option.

With it, you assemble your meal, literally barricade it inside the pot with a lid that reminds me of the door to a bank vault, and hope for the best.

When your meal is done, that's what you've got. If it's too watery, too bad. Too bland? Well, you can try and fix it, but generally, what comes out of the pot is what you get. While this might be great for novice cooks or those who don't like to stray from recipes, I find it difficult to work with.

Even worse, you can't check whether something is done or not because the lid is fastened shut until the end of the pressure cooking/rice making/sautéeing cycle. So when you put chicken or something in there, you better hope you got the timing right.

Which brings me to my next point.

Han Chau / Unsplash

2. Those cooking times are a lie.

The cooking times you see on recipes are the time they take after the pot has pressurized.

Sure, you can cook potatoes in 12 minutes, but it takes around 10 just to get the pressure going, and another five to 10 minutes to depressurize the pot after use. In other words, once you put the potatoes and water in the pot and press the pressure cooking button, the pot will build pressure for around 10 minutes before the timer starts. That's 22 minutes right there.

Then, once your 12 minutes are up and the potatoes are "done," the pot needs to depressurize before you can open it (you don't want it exploding in your face). That usually takes another five to 10 minutes, in my experience.

So all of a sudden, that potato you were expecting on your dinner table in 12 minutes needs around 27 to 32 minutes. And that's only if you actually got the timing right (how long something needs to cook obviously depends on its size and weight). If you miscalculated, you'll have to go through the whole building pressure/depressurizing spiel all over again.

While I will certainly continue to use this nifty device, buyers should know that it's not necessarily the silver bullet many make it out to be. In my opinion, there are simpler, faster ways to make healthy weeknight dinners.

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