Instant Pot Duo 7-in-1 Electric Pressure Cooker

I have a lot of kitchen appliances, basically everything you can imagine: vitamix blender, food processor, dehydrator, rice cooker, pressure cooker, waffle iron, juicer, etc. Needless to say my kitchen is full! That's the first plus of the Instant Pot, 3 of my appliances (plus some) are now in 1! More counter space! Yay!
I primarily eat at home and I cook A LOT. I only cook unprocessed, healthy, plant based foods so it can be quite time consuming and difficult at times. I'm a full time student, Mom to 4 pets, I work, have a boyfriend, train on my bike, and practice yoga daily. I'm SUPER busy which is reason number 2 why I decided to give the Instant Pot a go and it hasn't disappointed me! I've only had it for a week and I've already saved hours in the kitchen!
One other benefit that I wasn't planning on is less dishes and easier clean up. I can sauté garlic and onions, add in other ingredient, let it boil, then throw on the top and pressure cook it without ever changing pans and in 1/2 the amount of time. This makes my life so much easier!
Without any reservations I can say that the Instant Pot is the best kitchen appliance I have ever owned and I imagine the longer I have it the more I'll love it. I've used it every day since it's arrived, sometimes 3 times a day! I've made split pea soup, steel cut oats, millet porridge, sweet potatoes, rice, lentils, and I even tried my hand at making vegan yogurt for the first time, it was SO EASY and AMAZING! I'm just absolutely blown away with how great this thing is and how easy it is to use!
It's so great that I talked my Dad into getting one and he LOVES it! He's a bachelor who lives in a space that doesn't have an oven, or much of a kitchen right now which makes cooking difficult for obvious reasons. Thanks to the Instant Pot he's eating at home more often and he says he "doesn't even feel like he's cooking."
Long story short, everyone should own an Instant Pot! I wish I could give it more than 4 stars! And for the price I got it for on Cyber Monday?!?! I can't even believe it! It's already paid for itself!

I adore my Instant Pot; what a great pressure cooker/multipot. It's the ideal place to start if you're new to pressure cooking, like I was.

Just know that "Instant" is a misnomer: pressure cooking is not necessarily the faster way to cook some items! It frees up your stove/oven; it forces flavors deep into ingredients (e.g. potatoes in stew, brown to the core with meat juices); it keeps strong food smells from infiltrating every room in the house; it provides a blessedly consistent cooking environment for certain foods that need it, like cheesecake (PHOTO: best cheesecake I've ever made, and so much easier than in the oven); and yes, for very long-cooking items like pot roasts and dried beans, it cuts the overall cooking time significantly. However, the time it takes to come up to pressure and then, afterward, to release pressure (for foods that need the natural pressure release) can add up to 45 minutes to the stated cooking time on the recipe.

[PHOTO: I made the best chicken stock (AKA bone broth) I've ever made in the Instant Pot: 2 carcasses--1 hour under pressure--natural pressure release, strained, and reduced to 1 quart liquid--refrigerated for later. It had gelled so hard upon chilling that I had to dig it out of the jar with a spoon! And the flavor was outstanding. (The smell in the house--i.e. NOT like chicken stock--was also outstanding!)]

The sauté function is an excellent feature of this machine for browning ingredients and for reducing stocks and sauces. It works well. The stainless steel cooking pot is another feature that put the Instant Pot well above its nonstick competitors, in my mind: nonstick coatings never last, and their production puts all kinds of nasty chemicals into the environment, if not also your food. I haven't had issues with sticking in this pot.

Recommendation: definitely get an extra set of gaskets to use with desserts and delicate flavored foods, because the silicone does absorb strong flavors.

Okay, this is my new best friend. One of the RV bloggers I watch put the Instant Pot in her video. Started reading/researching since it would replace 2 large stock pots, crock pot, pressure cooker and rice steamer.... and space is dear in an RV. It will do everything from roasts to cheesecake... seriously, cheesecake! You can bake bread, steam rice, make soup and hard boil eggs in it! It steams, slow cooks, pressure cooks, browns and sautes.

The other big thing is no heat build-up from cooking on our gas stove. For maiden cook, it's carnitas pork roast w/gravy, garlic mashers and fresh peas, none of which was cooked with gas. DH gave it a major thumb's up and said 'keep cooking'.

UPDATE 10/4/16: I've been Instant Pot cooking most everything with great results. Ribs are fabulous and fast. And chicken broth to die for. Hint: Save bones from baked chicken, throw in the pot with water or organic broth, sage, thyme, oregano, chopped onion, fresh garlic, celery pieces, carrot chunks and 1 tsp vinegar (leeches marrow for richer broth) and cook for 30 minutes. It's absolutely the best I've ever made... and very quick. I can't say enough positive things about this pot.

Tomorrow.... fresh applesauce (no added sugar)!

I ordered this Instant Pot DUO 7 in 1 after reading a lot of reviews and hearing from others how they like theirs. I was as concerned as others thinking of the thought of a pressure cooker and how it could "blow up"....rest assured it won't!! They are not the pressure cooker your mother or grandmother had. There are so many safety features built into it It isn't only a pressure cooker but it is a slow cooker, rice cooker, there is a bean setting, one for soup, one for meats, for poultry, steamer, yogurt maker, porridge, multigrain, etc. It preserves and seals in the nutrients that you want to keep in your food.

Hands down....the greatest kitchen appliance ever! I received this 2 days ago and cooked a stew from start to finish in under an hour, an almost 8 lb. turkey breast this morning in 1/2 hour and a full rack of meat falling off the bone ribs tonight in 30 minutes and also made my own turkey stock from the turkey this morning. It is phenomenal! It allows you to cook a healthy meal in a minimal amount of time. Who would have thought turkey could cook in 1/2 hour? You can even make cheesecakes in it that taste better than if you cooked them in the oven. Want hard boiled eggs? Put them in there and steam them. Steamed vegetables take no time at all also.

It is a very sleek stainless steel design with black appliance with digital readings and buttons for all the functions. The inner pot is stainless steel with a reinforced bottom that heats the food faster. Cleanup is a breeze with the pot.

I would suggest when you buy it to buy an extra silicone ring just to have on hand.

I bought the Instant Pot IP-DUO60 in the beginning of December. It was on sale for $124 and I have heard nothing but amazing things about it so I jumped and purchased it. I am incredibly impressed with this kitchen tool, as it does virtually everything. The first thing I made was an entire chicken in 20 minutes, which was fall of the bone tender. Next I made hard boiled eggs, which peeled easier than any other hard boiled eggs I've ever made. Since then, I have made over 50 meals in this pot, and it works perfectly every single time.
The pot is built to last, and it is very heavy duty. The buttons are very self explanatory but I would recommend looking up recipes online to figure out how to use the built in functions to their maximum abilities.
I would recommend buying an extra inner pot because it is a hassle to cook a main dish and then clean the pot and then cook the side dish and I would also recommend buying an extra silicone sealing ring because it catches smells easily and it can make lighter foods such as yogurt smell funny.
I tell everyone I know how amazing the Instant Pot is, and how everyone should have it. This pot is truly a kitchen miracle once you learn how to properly use it. It is worth every single penny, and I promise you won't regret your purchase!