Are you looking for a cooking appliance that saves you time when cooking and cleaning? The Instant pot ultra 8-quart is your best bet if you are looking to pressure cook large batches of food with ease. Read on to discover the best features and qualities to get your meal-prepping underway.
What Is the Instant Pot Ultra 8-Quart?
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This freestanding Instant Pot with an 8-quart capacity creates a highly-pressurized environment to cook your favorite meals in less time. This 10-in-1 pressure cooker is also available in smaller quantities, such as an 8-quart and 3-quart pot for cooking smaller meals.
Image source: Instant Pot
Unlike when you have to use different pots and pans for a full course meal, you will love the versatility of different cooking styles offered by this Instant pot. Besides pressure cooking, you can also slow cook, steam, bake, saute, warm, and even boil different recipes.
If you want to buy your first Instant Pot, you will love that pressure cooking is one of the safest and healthiest cooking methods. According to this study, unlike boiling and steaming broccoli to lose over 20% of nutrients, pressure cooking preserves more than 90 of broccoli's nutrients.
Now that you know this appliance is life-changing in your kitchen let us delve deeper into its features and qualities.
Pros:
Cons:
1. Design
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The Instant Pot Ultra 8-quart is a freestanding pressure cooker that comes in a beautiful and easy-to-work-with design. At first glance, this Instant Pot comes in a classy, brushed steel outer construction and features a large control panel on one side. On the other side is the power connection port, which also comes out easily when you need to clean the appliance.
The control panel has a large display that shows you which cooking preferences you set. In addition, the Instant Pot also offers different cooking methods whose settings you can access by touch from the control panel.
Besides the different buttons for cooking methods, this Instant Pot also comes with a large knob for adjusting your cooking preferences. For instance, you will only need to turn the knob to select higher or lower temperatures, altitudes, and timers. On either side of the knob, you will find the start and cancel button.
When you select your best setting, you need to press start so the cooking pot can start heating and cooking. Alternatively, if you feel the chosen setting could endanger your recipe, the cancel button makes it easy to choose another cooking method. You can as well press the Cancel button if you forgot to set the timer to prevent overcooking your food.
When you get this Instant Pot, you will also appreciate the stay-cool handles that make handling the appliance much safer. In addition, the lid also inspires feelings of confidence when you have to handle hot steam. Unlike other pressure cookers, the Instant Pot Ultra 8) 8-quart comes with a quick-release button that you press to release steam through the separate pressure valve.
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You can choose continuous venting or pulse steam release with the quick-release button. You need to firmly push the button for the first option, which will automatically set the valve in the right position to release all the steam.
After venting, the valve will reset its position to sealing. On the other hand, you can also gently press and hold the quick-release button for controlled venting. Luckily when doing so, the venting valve is a safe distance away, which reduces the chances of injuring yourself.
Besides being a multi-use programmable pressure cooker, this Instant Pot comes with a stainless steel cooking pot and a durable lid. The lid also comes with a lid holder, which means you won't have to worry about extra space for the lid after the cooking is complete. In even better news, you can hold the lid on either side to suit your dominant hand.
2. Accessories
As mentioned above, the Instant Pot comes with a stainless steel pot, making the appliance ideal for cooking different recipes. In addition, a stainless steel pot does not attract stains and flavors nor contain harmful chemicals, so you only need to clean it before cooking your next meal.
Image source: Instant Pot
In addition to the food-grade stainless steel pot, the appliance comes with a lid with a silicone seal, a steaming rack, a rice paddle, and a spoon. Finally, the package also comes with a 35-inch power supply cord that connects to a 20V – 60Hz supply.
3. Features
The appliance is a 10-in-1 multi-use programmable pressure cooker with the following features;
a) The pressure cook feature. This cooking preference is ideal when you need to complete certain recipes in less time. You can customize the time to suit your recipe. You can cook grains, meats, and other hard foods.
b) The slow cooker feature. An exact opposite of the pressure cook option, the slow cooker allows you to cook meals under low heat for a longer period slowly. Meat is one of the best meals to slow cook for many hours until soft.
Image source: Instant Pot
c) The rice cooker feature. Fancy a good meal of rice? Why not cook it in a few minutes in this Instant Pot? While you will need to get your rice: water measurements correct for your type of rice, this large cooking pot can prepare a meal for many people in one go. Luckily, you can cook white, brown, long-gran, and short-grain rice in a few minutes.
d) The yogurt maker feature. One of the best features of this Instant Pot is its ability to lock in temperatures, which means it acts as a good incubator for making yogurt. All you need is pasteurized milk and a yogurt starter to start the process. However, note that it takes a long time for the yogurt to be ready, so it is best to make it on a day you won't be leaving the house.
e) The egg cooker feature. Are you looking to enjoy some boiled eggs? You can use the Instant Pot to boil your eggs in as little as six minutes.
f) The cake maker feature. Since the Instant Pot can maintain constant high temperatures, it is also a good appliance to bake a cake in. All you will need are ingredients and a good recipe to follow. Luckily, you can also adjust various settings like temperature and timers to guarantee the baking is a success.
Image source: Instant Pot
g) The multi-grain feature. This feature is suitable when you need to boil different kinds of grains. You can boil beans, peas, corn, and other grains in as little as 30 minutes. In addition, boiling grains also seal the steam to lessen the cooking time greatly. Remember to turn or press the steam release valve when the timer goes off.
h) The saute feature. You can also choose to saute your potatoes or veggies in little time using the saute feature.
i) The steam feature. When you want to steam your favorite veggies, using the steam feature with the included steam rack will have your plate or bowl full in no time.
j) The meat/stew feature. You can use this feature to prepare your best spicey stews. With the feature, you can prepare meat, grain, or vegetable stews in little time.
k) The bean/chili feature. If you want to prepare different bean stews, this feature will let you prepare in a little time. In addition, you can also prepare batches of chili for the whole family.
l) The soup/broth feature. The feature is ideal when you need to boil broth or any other liquid for your recipes.
Image source: Instant Pot
m) The porridge feature is suitable for making grain porridge or thick soups for the whole family.
n) The keep-warm feature keeps all your foods warm as your family gathers to enjoy the meal. You will only need to select the feature and leave the appliance plugged in for as long as it takes you to set the table.
o) The sterilize feature comes in handy when you need to clean some utensils of foods thoroughly. It is especially helpful for moms looking to keep baby bottles and foods extra clean.
p) The Ultra feature is what sets this Instant Pot apart from others like the Instant Pot Duo. The feature allows you to customize all your settings for the above features. Thus, you can adjust time, temperature, and altitude for DIY recipe conversion.
4. Set-Up
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When your receive this Instant Pot model, it is best first to clean the main accessories, including; the lid and silicone seal, the stainless steel pot, the rice paddle and spoon, and the steam rack. Then, ensure you wipe the pot dry before reinstalling it.
The set-up process is quite easy; you will only need to put the stainless steel pot inside the pressure cooker, add your ingredients and cover with the lid if boiling. First, however, ensure the silicone seal is in place for boiling as it prevents steam escape.
Once the foods are in the pot, attach the power cord to the pressure cooker and the wall. Ensure you have wiped any water on the exterior before turning the power supply on. Once you turn on the power supply, choose your preferred cooking setting or use the Ultra feature so you can customize everything.
Before cooking, ensure the steam release valve is in the sealing position, then press start. Wait until the timer goes off, then press the quick-release button to vent the steam before opening the lid.
5. Performance
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The Instant Pot Ultra 80 8-quart is the best option for families or people who host guests occasionally. So whether you want to cook fluffy rice, yummy yogurt, or a banana cake, you can prepare them in quick succession in the same pot and spot.
In addition, this pot is also ideal for cooking small meals depending on the occasion. You will enjoy superior cooking performance where your foods are ready in a few minutes r hours in more complicated meals.
Then, the ability you enjoy to control settings, plus the blue LCD to show you what's happening inside the pot, makes it easy to collaborate on the meal preparation with someone else.
Finally, this pot saves you energy even if you slow cook for many hours. It is better than many electric or Wok cookers that are more energy-consuming.
6. Cleaning
Are you tired of scrubbing pots and pans or cleaning cooktops for hours after hosting a few guests? You need this Instant Pot that is easier to clean than the plates you eat on. Since the pot is made of food-grade stainless steel, it hardly burns your food.
But, in the rare case you burn your food, all you will need is to soak the pot water and dish soap for a while, then gently scrub it, and it's squeaky clean. In addition, the lid comes in a brushed stainless steel interior, making it easy to clean as no food will stick hard onto it.
Please note you only need to clean the pot, lid, silicone seal, condensation cup, and steam valve. You can throw the stainless steel pot and the silicone seal into a dishwasher, while it is best to wash the other parts by hand. Only wipe clean the exterior pot, and make sure it is unplugged as you do so.
7. Price
This powerful Instant Pot is affordable for the features it offers. Coming under $150, you get to enjoy your favorite meals without worrying about losing the necessary nutrients. In addition, the pot is made with food-grade materials and is UL- and ULC_certified.
Featured image source: instantpoteats.com
