theraineysisters knitting and so much more

I LOVE my Instant Pot!  I bought it from Amazon with 1-click while hubby and I were watching someone cook with it.  John said, “We should buy one of those.”  I said, “It will be here tomorrow!”

It makes the best ribs, corn on the cob, HARD BOILED EGGS (that peel perfectly every time), and Coq Au Vin.  But yesterday I tried a recipe that had caught my eye for Salted Caramel Cheesecake.  OMG.  OMG.  The.  Best.

The picture from the Cookies and Cups Website

I bought a 7 inch spring-form pan and then followed the recipe as written.  You set the Instant Pot for 35 minutes, and then let the pressure release on its own.  I suppose it took an hour from start to finish in the Instant Pot.  My crust had “issues” because I didn’t use enough butter (long story).  BUT, it dropped out of the pan perfectly – just like on the Great British Baking Show!  The Ritz Cracker crust was crumbly and I suspected soggy.  I let it cool a while and then into the fridge.

After dinner I drizzled a piece with Smucker’s Salted Caramel Topping, so I did not sprinkle it with salt as directed in the recipe.  It was delicious – smooth, creamy, perfectly baked.  Not too sweet, not cloying and heavy like a lot of cheesecakes.  Perfection.  The crust was actually crispy, not soggy as I expected.  It was amazing.  Hubby RAVED about it!!  I like the smaller size, too.  Nice size for a small dinner party – or you could make a couple of different types if you had more people.  I would say it makes 8 small servings.

This could be VERY dangerous!!

PS to Surly: An Instant Pot is an electric pressure cooker with a lot of settings to broaden its range of capabilities.  Do I use all of the features?  NO!  But the fact that you can set it and let it do its thing is wonderful.  My old pressure cooker had to be watched like a cat because it needed to get to the “rocker” stage and be turned down, etc.  You had to set a separate timer.  This just does the work for you.

I set eggs and corn on the cob for 5 minutes.  It takes 15 minutes total from start to finish.  The only problem I have is that I cannot hear the finish beep.  It is in my “hard of hearing” sound range.  John will say the beeper went off, and I did not hear one peep.  SO, what I do is set the timer on my range, adding 10-15 minutes to the time I set on the Instant Pot.  After the Instant Pot gets up to pressure, the timer you set kicks in, which is very visible on the pot.  I will sync my oven timer then, but I am always very close.  That is not a problem with the Instant Pot but with my own hearing loss!!

PS to Purrlie: Pressure cookers have been used as a replacement for slow cookers, often using the same recipe but very different cooking times.