Do Chefs Use the Instant Pot (Pressure Cookers?) (2024)

FAQs

Do Chefs Use the Instant Pot (Pressure Cookers?)? ›

They are most commonly used in industrial settings to quickly prepare meat or stocks. However, in most scenarios, Elite Chefs avoid using pressure cookers because they provide less control over the final dish. Chefs often prefer slow cooking techniques that accentuate and pull out the flavors of the food.

Despite its popularity in professional kitchens, a pressure cooker is rarely featured on cooking shows. But that doesn't mean celebrity chefs don't appreciate their value. In fact, many renowned chefs have sung the praises of pressure cookers.

It depends on the chef and the type of dish they are preparing. Pressure cookers are great for quickly cooking tough cuts of meat, beans, and other ingredients that would normally take a long time to cook. Pressure cooking also helps to retain more nutrients and flavor in the food.

Sales for multicookers such as the Instant Pot fell by more than half in 2022 compared with 2020, The Associated Press reported. Instant Brands faces many struggles as it restructures, but the Instant Pot's impact deserves to be celebrated even if it's no longer considered the hottest gadget in the kitchen.

In the ultimate showdown between the Instant Pot and traditional pressure cookers, there's no clear winner – it all comes down to your cooking style, preferences, and kitchen needs. If you're a tech-savvy home chef looking for versatility and convenience, the Instant Pot might be your ideal match.

They are most commonly used in industrial settings to quickly prepare meat or stocks. However, in most scenarios, Elite Chefs avoid using pressure cookers because they provide less control over the final dish. Chefs often prefer slow cooking techniques that accentuate and pull out the flavors of the food.

If you're looking to save counter space or don't want to spend a lot of money on separate appliances, then an Instant Pot could be worth the expense. However, if you're only going to use one or two functions of the Instant Pot, it's worth considering if separate devices would be more cost-effective.

Con– The Instant Pot uses steam under pressure to cook food and not everything is meant to be cooked in the Instant Pot. I attempted a crustless quiche which turned out well but it was too wet and moist to my liking and I prefer to cook it in the oven with dry heat.

1. The Instant Pot doesn't cook things as quickly as it seems. While you can supposedly cook recipes such as potatoes, soup, stews, rice, and more in a shorter amount of time, there's a major catch: For most recipes, you have to wait for the machine to properly release the pressure slowly.

“In particular, tightening of credit terms and higher interest rates impacted our liquidity levels and made our capital structure unsustainable,” Mr. Gadbois said. Instant Brands said in a statement on Wednesday that the new financing would allow the company to continue paying workers, vendors and suppliers.

How long do instant pots last? ›

If you're using your pressure cooker on a daily basis and investing in regular maintenance, it may last you up to five years. On average, though, most pressure cookers perform well for up to three years. After that, it's time to consider investing in a replacement.

Ninja Foodi 11-in-1 Pro Pressure Cooker features:

Pressure cooks, steams, slow cooks, makes yogurt, sous vides, air fries, bakes, roasts, broils, dehydrates, and warms. Both the Instant Pot and the Ninja Foodi offer the same functions with the exception of yogurt making and dehydrating.

If you are interested primarily in slow cooking, you should buy a dedicated slow cooker. They're more reliable with a range of slow-cooker recipes than an Instant Pot. We found Instant Pot multicookers specifically could not successfully slow-cook dense, high-volume recipes such as beef stew or pot roast.

These days, cookware options are endless: ceramic, copper, nonstick, cast iron — they all have their positives and place in the kitchen. But the prized possession and frequently sought-after by professional chefs and serious home cooks alike is stainless steel.

“[Induction] is absolutely fantastic,” says Massimo Capra, Toronto-based restaurateur and celebrity chef. “And you can control it very, very well. If you put it at a certain temperature, it stays at that temperature.” During the pandemic, Capra and his wife installed an induction cooktop in their home kitchen.

Officially, the device shouldn't be in professional kitchens at all. “Our current products are designed and certified for household use only,” Yi Qin, vice president of product management at Instant Pot in Ottawa, Ontario, told Bloomberg by email.

Typically, a layer of Teflon makes up the non-stick surface of a non-stick fry pan. Restaurants don't have non-stick pans as they do not match the basic demands of a busy kitchen. For a chef who has to send a dish out every two minutes, non-stick cookware is not a viable option as it wouldn't last longer than a week.