So do you have a slow cooker? If so, then why did you get this?
I would drop the slower cooker and invest in a pressure cooker (and you also wouldn’t need a IP in that case)
I don’t always agree with Kenji but he is completely right about slow cookers - a waste of money for low quality food
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Speed. While it may take 2 - 3 hours to braise a short rib on stove top or 6 - 10 hours on a slow cooker, it only takes about 40 - 60 mins on the instant pot and even less on a traditional stove top pressure cooker.
On the other hand, an instant pot is a multi-function cooker which can also act as a slow cooker.
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I always thought Crock Pot Food tasted meh, maybe a slight step up from fast food (that’s not a compliment). Karen go use a Dutch Oven!
When I use my slow cooker I brown/sear/etc. the ingredients. Here’s an example - actually pretty much the only thing I’ve used it for in a long time 
https://tiphero.com/slow-cooker-pork-chops
Could just as easily do in the oven.
going to make a pot roast. so I’m going to brown the meat, not in the IP, the put in the IP, then what? I am using onions, mushrooms, small yukon gold potatoes. How would you do it? This is the first time using it.
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Yes I just made a roast today. Add stuff you like. Garlic. Seasonings. Beef buillion. Parmesan rind. Bay leaves. Chicken stock. Can’t really go wrong.
We add cabbage, onion and carrots. Garlic powder, TJ mushroom umami powder, onion powder, paprika, cumin, salt and pepper. We wait until the last 2 hours to add the veggies otherwise the veggies can turn to mush.
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Adding potato is a little tricky since anything you dump in along with the meat from the start would turn to mush by the time the meat is done.
Here’s what I would do with the ingredients you gave:
- brown pot roast
- brown onions and mushrooms
- dump pot roast and onions along with cooking liquid of choice into IP and cook to desired doneness
- when meat is done, take meat out of IP and dump in mushroom and potatoes and cook to desired doneness
- skim oil off sauce
- serve everything on plate with sauce straight from IP or reduce sauce and glaze your meat with the sauce before serving
Note: I purposely left out seasoning since you can do what you like with seasoning!
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Ok. I can see it’s not a crockpot where I dump it all in. Will follow your instructions. The post above said after 2 hours put in potatoes. How long does it take? For some reason I thought it was going to be super fast. My roast is 1.7lbs. So not quite 2lbs.
Thanks again to both of you, but especially for your detailed instructions.
My roast the other day was ~3 lbs. In the Instant Pot I usually start with the stew function which I believe is 2 hours.
That’s generally when I add the veggies then move to slow cook. The slow cook function is usually 4 hours but you don’t necessarily need all that time.
I don’t put potatoes in because of the reasons Moonboy listed. We also skim off all the fat. We had quite lot of fat this time. His instructions are much better than mine.
It depends on the texture you’re looking for. I always stick with high pressure but time-wise, Google is your friend in that regards.
I didn’t get a chance to make this today. My place is being painted and they really threw me off my game. Will make tomorrow.
Anyway, I decided to make a broth from all the leftover veggies and meat I have. I used chicken and the bone marrow left over from @Nemroz’s recipe I tried. I froze a couple of them, I browned the bone marrow, then added a ton of garlic, celery, onions, thyme, bay leaf and rosemary and beef bullion cubes. Hopefully, it’ll be ok to mix beef and chicken. Will see how it comes out. I am going to slow cook it in the crock pot all night. I figure it’ll be better than the can.
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In case you needed another reason to get an instant pot:
All joking aside, I’m a little curious why it’s recommended to use the sous vide function rather than pressure cook it like an actual autoclave. I’m assuming that could break down the filter too fast but I’ll be honest, I didn’t read the actual DHS link.
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I do it the opposite way, steam the meat with salt and a little water on the 90 minutes, when compose two or three dishes around that over the course of a week.
i have a electric pressure cooker but not an instant pot. i went with the model i have because it has a 12 qt capacity which is useful since i cook a lot for larger groups.
perhaps it’s a shortcoming of the particular model, but i prefer the texture of beans made in a slow cooker. OTOH, i’m very pleased with my take on clay pot rice: seared chicken thighs, dried shiitake slivered, sliced lop cheung, soy sauce, rice wine, garlic, oyster sauce at 15 minutes at which point the meat separates pretty easily from the bone. bones removed, medium grain rice/water (1:1) & sliced bok choy added and then cooked at the “steamed” setting. i’ve made this for crowds and it’s been well received.
when making beef cheeks/shanks i put the potatoes on a separate rack and let them steam and then mash them. steamed potatoes have much better texture steamed vs. boiled.
ragus are pretty foolproof. i then add pasta and steam in the sauce, steam time about 1/2 of the cooking time suggested for the pasta. works pretty well.
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Finally used this thing. Made mississippi pot roast. I’m in love. 
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I’ve had good luck with the “Duo Evo Plus” Instant Pot for searing. The insert is a full-blown stockpot that you can use on a stove. A nice sturdy pot at that.
Being able to move back and forth between stove and appliance makes a big difference. Even if I’m not searing, I sometimes pre-heat on the stove to speed things up. And lots of times you want to add certain things and finish on the stove.
Posting now because black friday has the 6qt for $70 and 8qt for $80 in various places.
Looking at photos, the inner pot looks fundamentally the same as mine, except with collapsible handles. So I guess mine should be safe for stovetop use, albeit less conveniently.
what does it mean when I see cook on npr for 1hr? does that mean let it sit w/o opening the lid after cooking?
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@Luluthemagnificent You are absolutely correct. NPR = Natural Pressure Release let the pressure release on its own.
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