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Comment by jaytaylor | Hacker News Reader

Great in theory, but I've just been reminded that I haven't liked anything that comes out of it. Things turn out kind of weird imho.

For example, carrots we're too soft, spinach was completely crushed and an ugly green. The texture always put me off.

Anyone else have a similar experience?

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I'd argue that's just how stews are. It's quite rare that they have an interesting mouthfeel or look particularly appetizing. I can understand making a stew out of tough beef but I'd rather rather spend money on a nice cut of meat or just eat chicken.

This is of course 100% subjective, sautéing is to me a much more interesting way to cook food (boiling things that needs to be boiled beforehand), I'll probably get cancer before the stew-heads though.

This is probably the reason I don't use my stovetop pressure cooker all that much. I just don't make a lot of the one pot stews and such that they especially excel at. I have a few recipes that I make now and then but it isn't a go to appliance for me. It's also the case that I work from home a fair bit of the time so getting a meal on the table with a short cooking time isn't major consideration.

That's a typical description for "set it to run for way too long" that comes with using any make/model pressure cooker.

Remember that the time it takes to pressurize the vessel is not dead time, if you tell it to run for 5 minutes, it's going to run for 5 minutes plus the several minutes it needs to reach pressure, plus however long you leave it before releasing the pressure valve.

Halve the time you typically use (seriously) and see whether that results in better texture for you.

Most meals with varied ingredients you shouldn't just throw everything in at once. Also it's not uncommon to add things at the end (sliced almonds, french fried onions, scallions, etc) to vary up the texture. There are 'one pot' set it and forget it meals you can make if you want but you'll get more out of it if you use a variety of techniques for the different ingredients used.

I use my Instant Pot several times a week. I do not cook vegetables in it, with the exception of artichokes (18-20 mins for that is a game changer).

Use it for meats, chili, rice, steel cut oats, soups, beans. Give it a try for one of those.

You were probably just overcooking things. Try setting up shorter time.

If you want varied textures, throw some frozen vegetables in after you finish cooking it. (Peas, carrots and corn are good options — anything with some snap that are small pieces.)

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