Instant Pot IP-LUX60 6-in-1 Programmable Pressure Cooker, 6.33qt, Latest 3rd Generation Technology, Stainless Steel Cooking Pot and Exterior

***Update*** March 12, 2016...we've now had the unit for four and a half years, and it still works perfectly. Virtually no issues at all. Cheers! I cannot say enough about the Instant Pot. My wife and I owned another unit from a different company, but it's pot was made of aluminum (tied to Alzheimer's issues) and had a non-stick coating on it besides. We wanted a stainless steel pot to avoid all this...enter Instant Pot. This unit works awesome, and we are fully qualified to say so. Not only do we have an "Amazon Verified Purchase" label on our review, but we use the Instant Pot 4-5x a week, literally. Probably 7-8x if you count making baked/sweet potatoes for lunches too. (Just a note...always look for "Amazon Verified Purchase" on reviews, and if you don't see it, take the review with a grain of salt. Very few reviews of the Instant Pot were negative, and almost all of them didn't buy the unit, so their reviews are nonsense.) My wife and I have chosen to make almost all of our dinners with the Instant Pot...it is easy to clean, easy to use, and requires virtually NO oversight. It is inexpensive to use as well...when using your stove and/or oven, you will notice a marked increase in the temperature of your kitchen, and with the oven, it will be very noticeable indeed. The Instant Pot doesn't do this because it operates in a sealed environment, thus using far less energy as well. Because you can saute in this newest model, you can do almost all the cooking in this one pot, thus making cleanup far easier, as the inner stainless steel pot (but NOT the unit or it's lid) are dishwasher safe. Also, once one is accustomed to using this unit, you can bring it with you on trips, and use it to cook food in a hotel room or a friend's house. The Instant Pot is wonderful for this one fact if nothing else...once the food is in and the unit is pressurized, you can walk away...no stirring, no tending whatsoever. There is ONE time when you might have to pay attention. IF your Instant Pot is warm from previous cooking, i.e. you just used the saute function to brown something, or maybe you bought an extra inner pot (more on this below) and are cooking meals back to back....you may have to pay attention to make sure the unit seals properly. Sometimes, and this is NOT unique to the Instant Pot, if the unit is already warm, it may get confused and think that it has pressurized. I think you'll find that you used the saute feature before turning it on. So...if the unit is warm/hot from any previous cooking, try this. Watch to see if the unit pressurizes (you'll see the valve pop up)...if the unit starts counting down the cook time BEFORE it has sealed, hit cancel, and start your unit over. It should work the second time. If the unit is completely cool and your recipe requires no sauteing, it will almost always work the first time, but if not, this will work. This is the ONLY "issue" that I've encountered, and since it happened with another manufacturer's model as well, I can only assume this is common for electric cookers. All in all, a small compensation to make. Compared to normal cooking where one has to constantly hover over the stove, this is minor indeed. I HIGHLY recommend that you purchase a second stainless steel inner pot... see http://www.amazon.com/Instant-6-33qt-Stainless-Pot-Bottom/dp/B008BKHGX0 -----my wife and I bought one at the time of purchase, and we've never regretted it once. Since we use our cooker constantly, we are always putting the pot into the fridge with leftovers. With an extra inner pot, you can cook another dish while the other waits for you in the fridge. When you want the leftovers, just place them in the Instant Pot and warm them on the low setting of saute, and then put on keep warm once they've heated up a bit, until you're ready to eat. Accordingly, we'd suggest the lid custom made for these pots at http://www.amazon.com/Instant-Tempered-Electric-Pressure-Cookers/dp/B008FUJ2LK I also HIGHLY recommend that you purchase the book "Everything Pressure Cooker Cookbook" from Amazon at http://www.amazon.com/Everything-Pressure-Cooker-Cookbook-Series/dp/1440500177 ------we use recipes from this all the time, and although they are designed for a stove top pressure cooker, they basically translate over perfectly. The only consideration is the cooking instructions...because the author is using a stove top cooker, she references a low/medium/high setting which does not apply on the Instant Pot, or on any other electric pressure cooker I've seen. Just use the appropriate setting for the Instant Pot, i.e. if you're cooking beef, use the meat/stew setting. If chicken, use the poultry setting. I usually add about 20% more time as well, so e.g. if a recipe says put your beef stew on high for 30 minutes, put it on the meat/stew setting of the Instant Pot, and take 30 minutes x 1.2 = 36 minutes for your time. With pressure cookers, you can't "dry out" your meat, and the reverse rules apply...i.e. if you're meat seems dry, cook it LONGER. None of the moisture can escape because it's in a sealed environment. Enjoy! This appliance has changed our lives, and I don't say that lightly. Once you get good at using it and have recipes you like, it's an awesome little appliance which we use CONSTANTLY. Cheers!

Pressure cooker veteran here - thumbs up on this one! I have owned 8 different pressure cookers over the years, including an earlier version of the Instant Pot as well as the now-ancient oval (90 degree insert inside, pull up, turn back and clip-lock) lid with weight back in Europe in the 70's. This, so far, is the best pressure cooker I have yet seen. It functions as a slow cooker, as an above-average quality rice cooker and -let's not forget- a really good pressure cooker. Disclaimer: we do still use our trusted Zojirushi rice cooker when a lot of things are cooking at the same time (and as far as stand-alone rice cookers go, Zojirushi makes the best, btw.) Back to the pressure cooker... Some of the software limitations of the previous Instant Pot were fixed (namely, having to push the button for each and every minute, with only a 60 minute maximum timer - that was maddening). This control panel lets you click&hold and very quickly fly through the times, up until 120 minutes. It does fly through 0, so you can go up or down the shortest path to your desired time. Pluses of this particular pressure cooker: Much, much, MUCH more convenient to use than the "manual" type pressure cookers where you have to stand by until you hear the pressure has built up, then start the counter, then turn it off when it is done. This thing does everything on it's own. Put the food in, set the desired cooking time, press start. Leave for work, come home and it is done (with stand-by heat so as to avoid spoilage). Quality, pretty thick stainless steel pot (stay away from coated pots, aluminum pots, etc. as they leach bad stuff into food) Virtually silent, you also have almost no food smell coming into your home during cooking, thanks to the internal pressure sensor. Psst, psst, psst sound gone. Extremely energy efficient (much more so than the stove-top models, as you are heating only the inside, not the surrounding area. Energy savings multiplier during the summer, as you don't have to cancel out the cooking heat with air conditioning the way you would with gas stove types that heat up the kitchen. Very easy to clean - since only the pot has to be cleaned, it fits in the dishwasher better than the stove-top type with handles. Very good quality, overall. Ladies and gentlemen - this thing is officially awesome. ps: also get "Miss Vickie's Big Book of Pressure Cooker Recipes"... This is the pressure cooker book to get. Miss Vickie's Big Book of Pressure Cooker Recipes If you search the title on the web, her website also has a ton of the cooking times listed for free. "missvickie.com" (not a tie-in, I have no connection to them) or search "site:missvickie.com " followed by whatever food you need the cooking time for. Examples of Google Searches (the the lines below exactly as they are, including spacing): site:missvickie.com rice site:missvickie.com broccoli site:missvickie.com ribs I search for times of misc. food to cook on my smartphone like this, too. Very useful...

The thing I love THE MOST about this pressure cooker: I push a button, I walk away and do nothing else, it cooks and goes to stay warm mode after it's done. I don't have to babysit it at all, as I would a stove-top pressure cooker. I had an old rattle-top stove pressure cooker for a long time, and I liked it, but I burned things more than once because someone had a crisis and I couldn't get back to the kitchen on time. I researched many of the other electric pressure cooker options and settled on this one for these reasons: *stainless cook pot (not non-stick) *adjustable programming times *delay timer *saute, slowcook and rice functions I've had it for a couple of weeks now, and I am in love!!! As a mom of a toddler and infant, any time I head to the kitchen someone starts bawling and needs my attention, so the less I have to do the better. My slow cooker and I have been great friends, but sometimes I don't have things planned out far enough in advance. Now I can throw dried beans in the pressure cooker, walk away, and about 40 minutes later have fully cooked chili. I did a whole rock-hard frozen chicken in about 1.5 hours. Functions I have tried: *rice cooker works great for brown (multi-grain) and white (regular) options. Or I can make brown rice in 20 minutes (including pressuring up time) with the pressure cooker. The rice came out fully cooked and fluffy enough for me. *Soup function worked great for stock *Chili function worked great for chili from dried beans, although I wound up cooking it a tad longer *Saute works great *Slow cooker, I used a recipe I've used many times in the slow cooker, and this turned out just the same. I would say the slow cooker function on this winds up being about the same as the high setting on my regular slow cooker, but I've only used this function once. *Delay timer, made some "baked" potatoes, came out perfect at the right time! I throw the pot in the dishwasher, it seems heavy and well-made. It's easy to get the lid on and off, and I've released the pressure valve a couple times for a quick-release recipe, and it shot steam straight up and didn't seem scary to me. What could make it better: *two pressure level options Some have noted that electric pressure cookers run about 9 psi instead of 15 like a stove top. I have not found any difference in the recipes I have used. I checked out the Miss Vickie book from the library and tried some of her recipes, and everything turned out just fine with the same timing. If you are more particular and have the time to spend at the stove and never have to run to change a diaper blowout from one kid while the other kid is crying because she hurt her finger and needs you RIGHT NOW to comfort her, well, a stove top might be the best for you. But for me, knowing I will never burn beans again is a wonderful thing! *****UPDATE OCTOBER 2013****** I'm still so in love with this appliance! I used it almost daily during the summer. It doesn't heat the kitchen up as much as the slow cooker or the toaster oven. Now that's it fall, I use it all the time to make soups, roasts, shepherd's pie, etc. The only setting I haven't used is congee, cause let's face it, I'm just some white lady who doesn't know what congee is. Maybe I'll find a recipe that looks good... Everything still works well. Sometimes I do have to give it a little more time, but that's normal no matter what you are cooking. Seriously people, I love this appliance, it has made my life so much easier in the afternoons. *****UPDATE AUGUST 2014****** I still use this almost daily, and it still works great. The silicone ring is stained, and if you sniff it, it smells like food, but not bad or anything. I made rice and potstickers by putting rice on the bottom with the water, then the rack, then a silicone steamer basket with frozen potstickers on that. Done in 20 minutes, including pressuring up time. I threw it all in before my kid's swimming lessons, when we came back dinner was ready and warm. I've used it to cook jam and applesauce for canning, much less heat in my kitchen on hot summer days. I gave away my slow cooker and haven't missed it once.

I eat plain white rice every day and always use a Japanese rice cooker ($150). For years I have wanted to try the famous Japanese "Pressure" rice cooker ($450), but could not bring myself to spend that much on just plain white rice (how good can plain rice be that is worth $450?). I bought this one because it is a pressure rice cooker and could do other dishes like a regular pressure cooker (I figure if the rice coming from this pressure cooker does not taste better than my regular cooker, at least, I can use it as a regular pressure cooker, so no waste here.). The pros of this cooker are: 1. As a regular pressure cooker, it is much better than the conventional stove-top one. Very easy to use. Seals very well, no food smells before you open the lid. Turn off automatically, so if you forget and leave the house before it is done, there will be no explosion. 2. As a pressure rice cooker, this cooker is better than my $150 regular rice cooker. The white rice coming out of this cooker definitely is stickier than that from the regular cooker. It tastes as if you mixed sticky sweet rice into regular white rice. If anyone has tried the $450 Japanese pressure rice cooker (Zojirushi Induction Heating Pressure rice cooker), I still want to know if there is a difference (if there are people willing to spend $450 on a rice cooker, there must be a good reason.). I would have given this cooker 5 stars if I had not found out the following: The white rice cooked by this cooker looks grey. It seems that there is something coming off the stainless steel pot. You would not notice it unless you cook something white, like white rice. I have no prior experience on stainless steel pots. I am not sure if the problem is universal to all stainless steel pots. The grey color is annoying, but tasteless. I wonder if it is bad for health.... Updated -7-11-12: Per suggestion of one viewer of my review, I contacted the company in Canada. Their customer service is excellent. The person who returned my call did some experiments with his Instant Pot cooker as well as a regular Japanese rice cooker using his white rice (a different brand from mine) and found no color difference. He then contacted his factory in China and sent me the following answer: "All rice cooked with pressure over 70kpa (10psi) appears to be a little grey. This has nothing to do with stainless steel or taflon cooking pot, or bleaching impurities from the pot. Under high powered microscope, the cooked rice has pin holes which make them appears a little grey. The number of pin holes vary by the type of rice. Some rice appears to be more grey than others. To avoid rice being slightly grey, some Japaneses/Korean rice cookers use less than 70kpa pressure. We will also investigate introducing models allows lower pressure for rice cooking. Hope this assures you of the health concern." I think this addresses my concern, so I have changed my rating to 5 stars. Updated - 7-10-2015: I bought a Korean pressure IH rice cooker for $350 last week. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00WTJNWWS/ref=pdp_new_dp_review

I've had the opportunity to use most of the functions of the Instant Pot, since receiving it a few weeks ago. The only function I haven't tried is the Rice Cooker. The Saute function and the Pressure Cooker function work great. I like starting out a dish by sauteing the onions, garlic, etc., or browning the meat. Then I throw it all in and pressure cook it fast and easy. The only disappointment I've had was with the slow cooker. I don't normally slow cook, but my wife wanted me to try a recipe a friend gave her for some curried lentils that used a slow cooker. It was supposed to take four hours on high in a slow cooker, but in less than an hour I noticed the food was boiling and the lentils were nearly done. If I cooked them even another half hour at this temperature they'd be mush. I tried restarting the slow cooker at normal, rather than high, and it went back to boiling. So I tried it at low and it still boiled, though less vigorously. At that point, the dish was done, so I turned it to the Keep Warm setting and we ended up with a fine meal. I contacted Instant Pot customer service. They responded quickly, asking a few questions. After a little back and forth, the customer service rep responded: "To be honest it is perfectly normal for the LUX-60, it does run a little bit hot in slow cook: “Slow Cook” function: 88-99°C (190-210°F) I recommend using it on the low setting and making sure that the steam release handle is set to either "venting" positions. That's about it. If we send you another one, it will operate exactly the same way." This doesn't seem quite right to me, since I live near sea level and the boiling point should be above 212 degrees, but at least they were honest with me that it runs a bit hot for a slow cooker. Since I don't care much about slow cooking, I decided it was no big deal for me, but it might be for others. I now consider the Slow Cook function to actually be a Simmer function and will use it accordingly. I've spent a lot of words on the one negative I've had with the Instant Pot, but otherwise I'm very happy with it. I like how it has a stainless steel pot, rather than one of those non-stick aluminum ones. I like the versatility of the unit and look forward to many years of cooking with it.

I spent a lot of time reading Amazon reviews and looking at the features of electric pressure cookers, and finally decided on the InstantPot. It was somewhat more expensive than some of the others I looked at, but it seemed to have better features, and it actually has a website, where I could look at the manuals. It arrived just three days ago, and I'm really loving it. First I tried making rice, just to see how it would work. It was fine, and was faster than my current rice cooker (which I'm now getting rid of). Then I made Butter Chicken (Indian curry) and it turned out great. I sauted the onions and garlic and browned the chicken right in the pot. The next day I made pot roast, from Bob Warden's "Great Food Fast", which is a pressure cooker cookbook that's made for electric pressure cookers. It turned out great. I browned the roast in the pot itself, added a few spices and broth, and pushed the Meat/Stew button and adjusted the time to match the recipe (75 minutes). After the roast cooking time was done, I added the carrots and potatoes and cooked for just another 5 minutes. Then after removing the meat & vegetables, I made gravy in the pot. Everything was done just right, and it was delicious. Then I cooked a few artichokes, which only took 11 minutes, which I loved, because artichokes take so long and I'm always burning the pot dry. I put it away this morning, then only a few hours later got it out again to make rice. I think it's going to spend most of the time on my counter. My one complaint is the documentation, which is not very well organized and wasn't completely updated from the previous model. The "slow cook" feature has three different temperatures, according the the "Quick Reference" and the website, but the manual says it doesn't. Also it says you can't use the time delay feature on the 'slow cook' program. But I don't think I care. I'm not really sure why I would want to slow cook instead of pressure cook. I'd also like to know what the 3 different temperatures are for slow cooking (the temperature range listed is 190-210). It also doesn't come with very many recipes, but the website has more (instantpot.com) and there are a number of good pressure cooking recipe books out there. The website also has some information that's not in the manual. One thing that wasn't clear to me was what, exactly, the "program" keys do. On the website they explain that there are programs in the microprocessor that do somewhat different things with the temperature and pressure, depending on the "program". It also changes the cooking time depending on how long it takes to come up to pressure, which is also how the "rice" program handles different amounts of rice. So all you have to do to cook white rice is push the "Rice" button. You'll have to change the time for other types of rice or grains, of course. The stainless steel bowl is very shiny, feels very solid, and cleaned up easily. I've gotten really tired of "non-stick" pots, since the coating always ends up getting scratched or wears off. The lid locks into place easily. It can be hard to see the arrows on the lid and body that need to line up to put the lid on, but after doing it a couple of times you won't need them anyway. The rice measuring cup and scoops are kind of pointless. I would much rather have had a steaming basket to put on top of the steaming trivet. One of the recipes on the website is for sous vide duck breasts, which sounds kind of interesting. The woman who provided that recipe also has instructions for making yogurt, by using the warm function for 15 minutes and leaving the pot sit, since it's well-insulated and will keep warm for quite a while. So I guess you can use the InstantPot for even more than 6 different functions :-) Like other electric pressure cookers, this pot gets to a pressure of around 11psi. The InstantPot website says: "Instant Pot operates at 11.6psi. How fast food cooks depends on the temperature of cooking. The cooking temperature of 15psi pressure cookers is 121ºC (250ºF), whereas the operating temperature of a 11.6psi Instant Pot is 117°C (242°F). This is a difference of 3.4%. The cooking time difference is about 3.4~7%. This is how you can convert recipes for 15psi pressure cooker to Instant Pot." I think I'm going to move the slow cooker out of the kitchen, in addition to the rice cooker. The only problem now is -- what if I want to make more than one thing at the same time, like rice and a chicken dish? Maybe I'll contribute a recipe to the current recipe contest and see if I can win another one...

My daughter spent a few weeks with my ex wife recently... the ex is a great cook, and I... well, not so much. My kid was raving about how well she eats over there... when I said "hey, I cook for you!" she replied with "dad, there's a difference between real cooking and shoving something in the oven". That did it. I needed to figure out how to cook. I read all of the great reviews of the Instant Pot here, but the thing that sold me was a video on youtube of an older single guy who lived in what looks like a double wide trailer, saying that all he has to do is throw stuff in the thing, and out pops great food. (No, I don't live in a trailer park... but if he could do it, I could do it). After seeing all of the pressure cooking recipes on line, ranging from simple to sophisticated, I decided to press the button and buy the thing. I've had the instant pot for about 2 weeks now, and I've used it 5 times so far. It lives up to the reviews here. I am really pleased with it... because if I can come across as a "good cook" to my daughter (and I have, BTW) then an orangutan can - provided it's an orangutan with an Instant Pot. Right out of the box I made beef stew, using the recipe in the instruction book. Took less than 45 minutes from raw ingredients to steaming stew on the table. That particular recipe tasted great - but wasn't too pretty to look at. Next, I wanted to make pulled pork for a big super-bowl party. This was a big test, as one of the other guests was a professional chef, and he was making his signature carne asada tacos. The night before, I made a test run with the instant pot, before I publicly committed to bringing food to this party... heh heh... I didn't want to look like a fool if it failed. Well, I found a few pulled pork recipes on-line, so I got the gist of how to do it, and then I just "winged it", kinda making it up as I went, The results? Unbelievable. Pulled pork that was sooo tender, sooo tasty, sooo juicy, sooo FAST! Again, from raw stuff to finished dish in under an hour, with only 10 or 15 minutes of actual labor. (Typical non-pressure cooker recipes call for 3 or 4 hours of cooking time) Pulled pork is supposed to pull apart with just a fork... and that's exactly what it did. Practically fell apart. The broth left over was a great base for gravy, and was easy and plentiful. The next day - Superbowl Sunday - I made the big batch of the pulled pork, with similar, excellent results... I made 3 varieties of sauces too... Traditional BBQ, Spicy vinegar, and "Au Jus" style. HUGE hit at the party, people clamored for more. The next day, barley lentil soup for my daughter and I. Ingredients cost about 3 or 4 bucks, made about a half gallon of delicious soup, which lasted for several days. (I threw in a smoked pork neck bone... yu-hu-hummy). Time from arriving home from the grocery store to soup... about 45 minutes. Last night, I made lasagna. Yep, pressure cooker lasagna. Nearly as good as oven baked, but in under an hour, including prep time. The only negative comment I can make is that you have to be sure that the pressure valve closes. (It's supposed to automatically shut when the liquid gets to a good boil... it's a mechanical device, that pops up when there's a flow of steam... but sometimes you have to kinda give it a little jiggle to get it to pop up). The instant pot is also nearly perfectly silent, and the smells of the food stay in the pot while cooking. (I'm sure this will be a big plus when cooking corned beef and cabbage.) All in all, this thing is really great, I highly recommend it. It's easy, fast, safe and the results taste truly delicious. And if I can fool my daughter into thinking that I can cook, then anyone can masquerade as a good cook... if you're armed with an Instant Pot, that is. *** Update 3/31/2014 As I type, my Instant Pot has just come up to pressure, In about 20 more minutes, my daughter and I will be slurping up some of what has become my signature dish - a hearty soup with ham and sausage. I make this soup once or twice a month. Well, not EXACTLY this soup, 'cause each time I try some variations... with whatever vegetables are in season, whatever is on sale, or whatever I have leftover in the 'fridge. Today, it's collard and mustard greens, garbanzos and turnips, along with the usual carrots, celery and onions. Oh, and just last night, we had company - I made Corned Beef and Cabbage. Including prep time, it took just a little over an hour. It came out perfectly (and as a bonus, the broth that was left behind is what I used as the soup base for tonight's endeavor). My daughter has changed her tune since my first review... not only does she now think I can cook, but she has actually suggested that I cook at our annual family gathering. (I'm flattered, but this is a non-starter, as the rest of the fam are truly excellent cooks. I certainly don't want to steal their thunder - besides, I won't be able to bring the Instant Pot aboard the plane anyway.) So, its been a bit over a year since I bought my Instant Pot. It's held up well, with pretty frequent usage. As I mentioned in my initial review, it's not quite fully automatic... you have to babysit it, but just until the pressure valve "pops", which is in about 10-20 minutes after you turn it on, depending on how full the pot is. Before the pot pressurizes, it generates a bunch of steam first. You sometimes have to jiggle the pot a little to help the valve "pop up" so the pressure can start building. I've also found that it's possible to have the lid on imperfectly (or perhaps it's the ring seal along the edge of the lid). When this happens, steam can escape from around the edges of the lid, and pressure is never achieved. Even with those two caveats, I still recommend the Instant Pot highly. Five stars! Hey, the Instant Pot just beeped to tell me that my soup is ready! Bye!

My daughter has been talking about this cooker for some time now. She is vegan, a single mother, (husband passed), a working mother, and student full time. She has had 2 other different cookers and they died and had other problems with them. She bought the Instant Pot and told me how much she liked it. I have owned 6 stove top pressure cookers. I have been using a pressure cooker since I was on my own, and that was more years ago than I want to think about! I got rid of the first 2 because they were aluminum, which is a contributor to Alzheimer's. The the third was also an aluminum but was a canner for low acid foods. I sold that at a yard sale when I sold my house in MA. I was living in a place where I could not have a garden. I also had for many years 2 Presto six quart stainless steel pressure cookers. They did not come with a rack and frequently food would stick to the bottom. They were very convenient especially at holiday time when there are so many vegetable dishes to prepare. The Presto pots had to be thrown away unfortunately. For some strange reason, they independently and at different times became locked and I lost the food? I had a couple of VERY strong men try it dislodge the covers, but it was futile. I since bought a Fagor 6 qt stainless pot. It works well, but the same issue sometimes the veggies stick because there is no buffer to the bottom of the pot. I have had this pot less than a week, and I love it. I was concerned making just 1 cup of dried chick peas would be a an issue because of the small amount in the large pan. The chick peas were for hummus, and it was wonderful not to have to worry about the epoxy laden BPA that comes from the canned version. The chick peas were perfect. I also found the perfect way to make hummus is to peel the peas before processing them. (Do that if you can afford the time!) the left over liquid looks nothing like the liquid from the can, and the hummus was the best I have ever made!...and I have made a lot! My next endeavor was beef stew. I used the sauté feature to brown the dredged meat. It worked great. I had to do it in batches because I used 1.5# of stew beef. I promptly added a qt. of beef broth, onion and garlic and processed on beef/stew. I got involved in a movie, and forgot about it? When I remembered, I went to the Kitchen and it was on warm. I released the pressure added the veggies and some water and salt and pepper for 10 min. did a quick release of pressure, and had perfect beef stew. I live alone but when I cook, I like to make enough to freeze, and I did. After cooling for 2 more hours, it was still to hot to put into freezer containers!!! My resolution was to get out several mixing bowls and pour the stew in the bowls so it could cool enough to put into freezer containers. That is not a con in my opinion it just is a pro that the insert is such a high grade and thickness, that it holds the heat. Even after the dredging and and sautéing, the insert was a breeze to clean! Even though I have only had this a short time, I must say I am impressed with the quality of the product and the positive results when using the Instant Pot. I love that it is so easy to clean. I love that is is not Teflon. I love that it is healthy cooking. Con: the reading material is not what I would consider quality, but the web site has recipes and more information to get you started and cut the guess work out of using the appliance. That being said, I still gave it 5 stars.

One of the greatest products I have ever bought on Amazon, or from any retailer for that matter. This review represents approximately six months of experience with this machine. I still use my InstantPot almost on a daily level to make hearty soups, wonderful slow cooked stews, prepare all sorts of meats in half the time, gently steam veggies in 2 minutes and of course, make godly restaurant quality rice, that actually made me fall in love with rice. With your InstantPot, I will recommend you go ahead and get a steamer basket/trivet (such as the OXO Good Grips Steamer), which I find indispensable for vegetables and fish. The included grate is good for holding meats and other larger items above water, but it just won't do for smaller things. Alternatively, you may use a sheet of aluminium foil on top of the standard InstantPot grate, but in my experience a steaming basket is a lot more convenient. Another useful tip I can give you based on my experience, is to please inspect the gasket on the lid of the InstantPot. It is a solid, thick gasket, however, sometimes due to sliding the lid on and off, it can come slightly off it's position in a certain spot. If it does, the next time you use your pressure cooker, the steam will escape from around the lid, instead of the steaming hole and this may give your meal results that are not optimal, especially something moisture and time sensitive like rice. The good news is that it's a breeze to inspect and adjust the gasket as needed. Without further ado, here is my wonderful, simple and quick rice recipe that made me fall in love with rice. This recipe is for 2 medium size servings of rice. In a measuring cup, add 1/2 cup of pure Basmati rice. I'm a huge fan of Tilda, in the blue bag, because it's very fragrant, tastes amazing and is widely available at places like Walmart. Transfer the rice to the InstantPot. In your measuring cup, add exactly 200ml of water and then transfer the water to the InstantPot. Swish the rice and water in the InstantPot briefly just to distribute the rice equally across the bottom of the InstantPot. Press the Manual button and set the InstantPot to 6 minutes. After the 6 six minutes is up press Cancel button and wait for exactly 10 minutes. What you just waited for is a natural steam release. Open the InstantPot and add some butter to the rice. I also like to add a little saffron to my rice on top. This recipe should yield a fluffy rice that's not too soft, basically a restaurant quality, al-dente rice. If you like your rice softer or firmer, consider not changing the cooking time, but simply adding or subtracting a few millilitres of water from the recipe, to get the rice exactly the way you love. Enjoy your InstantPot!

This pressure cooker turned out to be one of my best purchases. It has so many genuinely useful functions, like cooking rice, soups, meat, porridge, and even sautéing. What really surprised me is how perfect it is for our road trips. We take it along, and it works great in hotels or cabins. I can brown the meat first, toss in vegetables, let it cook, and we have a full meal ready to bring along for the day. It’s become an essential tool for both home and travel. The build quality is excellent, very sturdy, and I especially love the stainless steel inner pot, much better than the coated ones. Truly a favorite.

This is the best appliance I've got, and I've been cooking for over 40 years. :) Like with anything new, reading through the instruction booklet is important. All the complaints I've read on this product are clearly addressed and pointed out in the instructions for use and maintenance. READ THE FINE MANUAL! You will save yourself a lot of concern if you follow the instructions carefully. It's easy to use, but everything needs to be used properly in order to function properly. They even point out that the seal must be cleaned after each use and replaced every 18 months or so, depending on use and condition. I ordered 2 extra seals so I am prepared for the inevitable. I also ordered an additional lining pot for when I want to make two dishes one right after the other. The inserts are very well made and virtually non-stick without some horrid coating that will wear off. They are polished stainless steel, so DO NOT scrub them with abrasive cleansers or steel wool, or they will lose their "non-stick" nature. The Instant Pot IP-LUX60 is a big unit, so keep that in mind when you order. It's not something you can hide away easily, but it looks great so keeping it out and handy makes the most sense. If you want something to use only occasionally then this might not make sense for you. Still, it's straight forward and easy-to-learn, WHEN YOU READ THE INSTRUCTIONS. One point I would like to make, about cooking white rice. The instructions say to use 1.5 cups of water per 1 cup of rice. This makes a very soft and sticky rice (like you get in those sticky rice wraps) and not the rice you would get in a Japanese restaurant. This can be remedied by reducing the water down to 1 or 1.25 cups of water per 1 cup of rice. Of course, your elevation may affect the length of the cooking process, so keep that in mind. I live at only 300 feet above sea level, so there are no differences in the cooking times described in the recipe book and my own experience with this device. If you live much higher, then the times will be noticeably longer. My husband and I are very impressed with the quality of the construction of the unit, it's very solid and well-built. The only possible weak point will be the electronics, which I'm hoping will hold up as well as the rest of the unit. All in all, a very good buy! Experiment to start with, don't expect to be able to create a 10-course dinner perfectly the first try. The instructions advise doing a test run of the unit before committing it to cooking actual food. The next test should be a small batch of rice or something else that is straight forward. This will let you get accustomed to using the IP without it costing you money and expensive food. Work your way toward more complicated or demanding dishes gradually. You will be glad you weren't impatient. Impatience in the kitchen can lead to disasters. UPDATE: After the first few batches of rice, you shouldn't see it coming out "grey" anymore. I've learned to wash my rice thoroughly before cooking, and this may have something to do with my rice coming out perfectly white now. :)

I purchased this device over 18 months ago with moderate usage through those months. I made various types of food ranging from soups to slow cooked meats. 1. Packaging The box is fairly large with the unit inside taking most of the space. Everything was neatly packaged with no issues. 2. Usage The device is fairly easy to use for making anything from soups to steamed rice. Simply put all your ingredients in the stainless steel pot and close the lid by putting it on top off center to the left, and then locking the lid by rotating clockwise. You can press the button on the front panel corresponding to the type of food you want to make, and it pretty much a set-it-and-forget-it ordeal. You can also select the temperature setting of by using the Low, Normal, or More buttons (which seems to only correspond to three different temperature settings). Unfortunately, the device itself does not tell you what the temperature is for each setting but the instruction manual gives you an indication of which setting to use for the type of food you're making in the pot. You can also increase or decrease the amount of time of cooking by using the - or + symbol buttons. This time is displayed on the front and ticks down to 0 as it cooks your food. When the cooking is complete, the cooker goes into a warming mode and a long beeping noise comes from the device to notify you that it is complete. Fortunately, it will stop beeping so it will not continue to annoy you. Simply turn the lid counter-clockwise to unlock the lid and lift to open it. You can tell how long the pot has been in the warming mode because a timer starts and is displayed on the front which starts ticking upwards from 0.Depending on your elevation, the time to pressure cook foods will vary slightly. I never follow recipes to the dot because I live on a high floor condo. In terms of how well this pot cooked my food, I have to say that everything has been outstanding! There's nothing greater than the smell of slow cooked food permeating throughout your household as your food is cooked to perfection! This is especially true if you're like me and you start the slow cooking process early in the morning and let foods like pulled pork, ribs, or even chicken slow cook and be ready when you come home. Simply start the slow cooking process on the low temperature setting and cook for 8 hours - there's nothing more succulent, juicy, and delicious than this kind of cooking process! Since the pot is really big, you can put a lot of ingredients in there of various sizes. I was able to fit three fairly large pork shoulders in there (to make pulled pork) with some room to spare for vegetables. If you plan on making ribs, you will need to cut the ribs into smaller racks to fit since this isn't like a grill. Just be patient and let the cooker do its magic. 3. Issues/Concerns When you use the device long enough, the silicone ring on the lid starts to discolour and retain the smell of the food that you last cooked. The smell/taste of the ring does not infuse with any other foods you make but it does seems strange that it holds onto that smell like a strong magnet. Additionally, if you are a rice eater like me, this pot cooks the rice very nicely. However, the rice will stick to the bottom of the pot fairly easy. Even with a 1-to-1 ratio of rice and water, there were some times where the rice burned and stuck to the bottom of the pot. Dedicated rice cookers from the Asian brands are much better rice cookers than this pot. Lastly, you have to be careful with the pressure cooking ability of this pot. There is a sealing and release valve located on the top of the module. You cannot open the lid until all the pressure is released which requires you to turn the knob either left or right to release it. This is a little dangerous because steam will shoot out instantaneously and could burn your hand if you're close to the release valve. Please note that you do not want to place this under lights or wood cabinetry because this steam goes on for a few minutes and is really hot! It could warp your wood if used in the same area over time or damage it (and any lights above it). 4. Conclusion Since this pot can cook so many different types of food, I have to commend the maker for making this an absolute joy to use due to its simplicity and its versatility! It replaces so many other types of cookware which makes this an essential tool for almost every type of cooker out there. It may not make all your foods perfectly, but it does it extremely well! I fully recommend anyone to buy this especially if you do not have a lot of time to cook. Slow cook recipes or soups are great when you're at work where you can come home with everything already finished!

I searched high and low before settling on this electric pressure cooker. It is by far the best product on the market. The interior pot is stainless steel - no non stick coating to flake off into your food. The stainless steel is thick and durable. It cleans very easily. I always wait to review an appliance until I have really had a chance to use it - giving a better review - and so far I have made: steamed corn on the cob, steamed carrots, carrots and turnips, potatoes - once with a roast and once just on their own, chili, pork roast, gravy, quinoa, rice and soup. Everything has turned out exceptionally well with little effort (potatoes only need to be scrubbed and can be cooked whole or cut in half - corn cobs need to be stacked on trivit with a cup and a half of water). This is my first experience with pressure cooking and I really couldn't be more impressed. It is a VERY well thought out product with a lot of high end features. There are a few things to take note of: 1. The steaming vent on the top of the lid (a large black knob) is supposed to be lose and wiggle around very easily. I thought my machine was broken when I first opened it. This knob rises as the steam builds up in the appliance when cooking and does become stiffer once the pot reaches proper cooking pressure. I spent a lot of time trying to research the venting knob to see if the sloppiness was normal and after about an hour of online searching, I figured out that the lid is specifically designed this way. I am hoping this hint will save some other customers a lot of time. 2. Don't cook a recipe that isn't designed for a pressure cooker without converting the recipe first. This might sound silly to an experienced pressure cook - but to a novice it was not. I learned this one the hard way. I made my Mom's homemade chili in the pressure cooker - thinking I would be clever and save myself a hour and half of cooking time - but I ended up with a burnt end result. Luckily, I was home at the time and shut the machine off and finished cooking my chili on the stovetop - so all was not lost. I have tried a chili recipe specifically desinged for a pressure cooker since then and it turned out great. 3. I find that I am having to cook my foods for longer than what the recipe book or other online recipes state. This is due to the fact that I live at a higher altitude. Be aware that most recipes are designed for sea level and you need to add time according to how much higher you are - a very easy thing to research and figure out...don't let this discourage you from buying this item...it is well worth the effort. 4. The interior stainless steel pot holds a fair amount of food/liquids - but if you put a roast, whole chicken, or corn cobs onto the included trivet - which is recommended - you lose a number of inches of space. I only placed 5 smallish sized corn cobs onto the trivet and it was as high as I could go. I cooked a 3 - 4 lb pork roast tonight and only had room for 5 potatoes to place around it and they had to be cut up to fit. It's not a big problem for me - family of 3 - but it is something to be aware of so you can plan ahead to cook foods separately if need be. 5. The instruction manual was unclear - to me, anyway - about when it is safe for me to open the lid after cooking my foods. Could I open it immediately after the cooker switches to keep warm? Did I have to wait? Did I have to manually vent the steam? Again, this might seem silly to an experienced pressure cook - but with me being a newbie, I was really quite intimidated to open the lid. I had watched the lid fly off my mother-in-laws stovetop pressure cooker at Christmas time and it just about took my head off. I had no idea before then how dangerous pressure cookers could be - so if you are a first time user - use caution. The trick is to make sure, before opening the lid, that the pressure has been released by turning the venting knob on the top of the lid to make sure that the steam is not built up. If you turn the vent to the side and it lets out steam - just wait for the steam to finish releasing. When it is finished releasing steam you are safe to open the lid. I used a kitchen towel to do this and now that I have used the machine a few times, I am an old pro. I was scared to open it for the first two or three times - but now I have a good handle on what to do and how it works. Hoping these tips will save some other new pressure cooks some valuable time. The pressure cooker is quite large. It does take up a lot of space. I have been keeping mine on the counter because I have been using it so much, but that might not be practical for some users. I love that I can sear in the pot with the lid off before pressure cooking. Many, many pressure cooking recipes require foods to be browned or sauted first or thickened afterward. This feature - which was only a feature with this particular electric pressure cooker - was a HUGE bonus. I love that I can slow cook in it if I want to. This pressure cooker cooks at approx 11 PSI - most recipes are written to work with 15 PSI - so expect to add some additional cooking time to your recipes - again something that I had to research individually - this is ontop of adding additional time for your altitude. It was very simple for me to register my product in the companies website. Took very little time for the item to arrive via courier. I am really enjoying my new appliance. The only real downfall I have found is that it does not come with a stainless steel steaming basket - something that you really will need - but collapsable ones are easy to find and should solve the problem. I would not hesitate to buy this item again, to give it as a gift or to recommend it to a family memeber. Great appliance. Take advantage of the free shipping while it is available. I was also charged no tax - an added bonus! Best of luck with your pressure cooking. Bon Appetit!