Needles & Grooves

I work with a guy that HATES Traegers and smokers in general.. he says it takes the passion out of grilling (set it and forget it). Even he swears by the Instant Pot. I’ve had one for 4 years now and it’s money... especially with little kids controlling you life.

@IrishGoodbye It has been a lifesaver with our busy lives. I always got onto her for not using it because she specifically wanted one. Now that she has started using it, we never wonder about dinner, we get to choose what goes in it and how healthy we eat. Aside from last night. She cooked a rack of ribs in 15 minutes and it was sliding off the bones kind of tender.

Instant pot is an amazing invention. @IrishGoodbye I have a charcoal cabinet smoker and learning to use it is the most work I've spent learning any type of cooking technique since I apprenticed as a chef. Of course, I'm old school and there is no setting and forgetting on mine.

Keeping a consistent low temp for hours on end is Damn near impossible and an art form I have spent three years now even getting close to understanding, but the food is amazing.

@Lee Newman i have a cabinet smoker as well. Not as skilled as you are but you’re right, it is a time consuming process to learn the right temperatures and process. I usually grab some kind of meat(small chicken breasts at first) on sale to keep practicing. It never ends.

@Lee Newman @IrishGoodbye Nothing will ever replace a charcoal grill, some whiskey and a nice day though.

There's a part of me that just wants to build a pit in my back yard. Or, if you've watched the Chef Show on Netflix (seriously that's the name... It's Favreau and Choi). They visit a barbecue joint in the last episode of the first season that has these cool "cigar" smokers that seem like a much better solution for maintaining temp.

Agreed. I have friends who think it is just that I will.light a chimney so my wife and I can have burgers but I think doing burgers any other way is madness. Hell, I lit a chimney to grill BLTs last weekend.

I will have to queue that show. I got my smoker from Sam's Club a couple years ago and now they carry ones where you control the temp via your cell phone. I just think that's crazy. I always love burgers on the grill. A favorite of this household is also a potato "boat". Red potatoes cut up into cubes in olive oil, onions and a nice glaze. All put in two layers of tin foil wrapped up and cooked.

Thanks, @Lee Newman, I am hungry again.

Love our Instant Pot. Single serving grits! Perfect rice! Quick red sauce! Delicious broths!

Pro tip: if you haven’t yet, get a second inner cooking pot so you don’t have to stress about washing the one it came with before cooking something else.

I bought one on Prime Day and it's still in the box because I usually grill this time of year. But I can't wait to get into using it once the weather turns. I guess I'll need some recipes...

@ranbalam Serious Eats has a good collection.

@bettim84 She was actually insisting we get a second pot for just that reason last night. No joke. We looked and even the biggest ones are so inexpensive(right now). We are looking at getting one for her mom.

Thanks @kvetcha ! My wife is having knee surgery (ACL repair) in early November, I am thinking I'll be Instant Potting quite a bit through her recovery.

@ranbalam i can link you more sites that my fiancée looks at daily if you’d like.