As promised, I have put this Instant Pot Duo hard to the test! She is the maker of your bone broth dreams and the key to perfect yogurt every time.
Instant Pot Duo is a 7 in 1 programmable dream! She has a stainless steel inner pot and serves as a pressure cooker, slow cooker, rice cooker, and yogurt maker. It steams, sautes, browns, and warms… With 14 built in smart programs and 10 proven safety mechanisms, this amazing little pot is safe, efficient, and kitchen friendly.
I purchased the 6-quart capacity with my husband in mind, because he has a metabolism that runs at rocket speed, and I needed to be able to cook enough food for a small village. This was a good insight, and I would not recommend a smaller model. In the past, I would have prepared my bone broth and meat stock in a 20-quart stainless steel pot on the stove. I would slowly simmer bones for three days and three nights, filling the house with the warm delicious aroma of home cooking. My husband would come home and go on-and-on about how amazing the house smelled.
Check out that knife standing on end! Can you cut your broth with a knife?
Since we have now become a GAPS household and we have meat and bones cooking nearly everyday, it was an enticing thought to be able to cook in a pressure cooker, without the smell of bone broth filling the house! Finally, my hair would not smell like food!!
I can now prepare a large chicken in 20 minutes, with fall off the bone tender meat and stock that will knock your socks off. Yes I said 20 minutes! This cooking time does not include the pot coming to pressure and releasing, so you should plan on a total prep time of about 30 minutes. This is far less time than it takes me to preheat the oven and roast my bird. Because I fill the pot with water to the fill line prior to cooking, I also get the delicious and nutritious meat stock, that is incredibly healing for the gut. I then make continuous batches of bone broth reusing the bones I have collected and saved in the freezer up to 5 or 6 times in my Instant Pot. Stretching our family’s grocery budget and increasing the healing capacity of our meals is a fantastic bonus. This broth is beautiful, clear, and gelatinous!
Homemade Bulgarian Yogurt strained to make a yummy yogurt cheese.
In addition, on the GAPS diet we use yogurt and sour cream, beginning in Stage 1, and throughout the diet. I wanted to be able to make yogurt without the struggle of trying to keep the proper temperature. I had tried using my dehydrator, slow cooker, and even the oven with light on in the past, but never had success. I am a yogurt making goddess now with the Instant Pot Duo. I make large quantities right in the unit, and then strain it to make a thick Greek style yogurt and yogurt cheese.
Moving into other functions of the Instant Pot Duo, it browns, sautés, and warms fabulously. It’s built in timer makes having dinner ready when you get home a breeze, and will even keep it warm until you’re ready.
I no longer eat rice so I cannot comment on it’s rice cooking ability personally, but I do know it works well, because it is the staple appliance for every good sushi restaurant! I have seen the 10-quart Instant Pot around for years!
Moving on I have to share some of my recommendations…
If you plan to purchase your Instant Pot Duo, go ahead and throw in an extra ring, inner pot, and the clear glass lid for slow cooking mode. You will not regret it. It is wonderful to be able to pull out your hot pot of meat and stock to cool, and start preparing your next item right away. The clear glass lid allows you to watch the magic happen in slow cooker mode, and everybody knows that is the best part!
Be sure to deodorize your Instant Pot of savory odiferous meals by filling with 2 cups water, 1/2 cup of white vinegar, and 2 tablespoons of baking soda, and running the built in steamer program before switching to something like yogurt… I learned that the hard way. But seriously, that was the tastiest chicken flavored yogurt I have ever had:) I no longer use the ring when making yogurt and that makes all the difference. Use your secondary ring for things that are light in flavor like your Instant Pot cheesecake. Yes I said cheesecake! You are not going to believe what masterpieces are coming out of this dream machine!
The Instant Pot cookbook that comes with the machine can be thrown away with the box! I found the book to have inconsistent times, and I don’t trust it with my grass-fed organic ingredients! A much better resource to turn to is HipPressureCooking.com. Laura Pazzaglia does an amazing job, and has recipes, her own cookbook, as well as step-by-step videos to help you get started on the right foot.
So I believe, the Instant Pot Duo, is the perfect tool for any cook. Whether you are a knockout cook looking for the perfect tool to streamline your kitchen, a busy parent who wants dinner ready and waiting all warm and delicious when you come home, a bachelor looking for simplicity, or you are looking for something space saving for your small office, dorm, studio, or camp trailer; I am confident that the Instant Pot is the perfect tool for the job!
Since purchasing my Instant Pot, I have become a member of the Instant Pot Facebook community page. They are an amazing group of folks, who are eager to help answer questions and problem solve any possible failures. So far, my experience could not be better!
So don’t delay! I wish I would have known about the Instant Pot years ago! I have been using a stovetop pressure cooker for years, and the noise and steam was such an irritating mess. All that is history with the Instant Pot. I have been able to increase my kitchen space by getting rid of the slow cooker, pressure cooker and rice maker. I considered investing in a yogurt maker for years, but had no idea where on earth I would be able to store it!
Instant Pot Duo is my number one recommendation for my GAPS students and practitioners. When consuming quarts of meat stock a day, this handy little appliance saves time and heartache, making a perfectly delicious, gelatinous broth, quick and simple, every time!
Hope you enjoy it as much as I do!
Wanna learn more about the science of pressure cooking? Go here
Robbie, your review was so very well written. I belong to the Facebook Instant Pot Community and agree that they are a very special group of helpful people. I grew up in a home where a stovetop pressure cooker was constant and sometimes DANGEROUS cooking tool. I had a small stovetop cooker that never saw the top of my stove due to bad memories. Then came Instant Pot. Oh, how I wish I’d had this many years ago. There are many electric pressure cookers out there and I did begin with another brand that I lovingly passed along to my daughter. It just did not have the features of the IP-DUO-60 and the lid was tricky to get into place and would leak steam. I have cooked so many dishes in my IP and not had a single fail. As long as people will go to the Instant Pot site and view the well constructed How To videos and become familiar with the product, I can’t imagine anyone being disappointed. My husband of nearly 41 years ( and happy with my cooking) has been extremely pleased with everything that I have made in the IP. We’ve enjoyed Chicken & Dumplings, Beef Tips, Stew, Soups, Beans, Lasagna, Ravioli with meat sauce, and to his delight “CHEESECAKE”. The list goes on and on. We could not be more pleased with this one pot wonder.
Thanks Genene! I am so glad that you are loving your Instant Pot Duo! Can’t wait to hear what you make next!
I love my Instant Pot! I made a whole chicken the other night and had PERFECT broth leftover – like the kind of bone broth you strive for! I tried to make bone broth with the bones the next day and although it tastes great, it didn’t jiggle once cooled like the first batch did. I need to learn how to make the perfect bone broth. I’m looking forward to trying yogurt and appreciate your tips!
Michelle it is my understanding that the gelatin that creates the jiggle actually comes from the skin, cartilage, and ligamentous type materials. That is why we want to make our bone broth with knuckle bones! It is best to use a variety of bones. Craig Fear talks about that in his book Fearless Broth. You want to use knuckle bones, marrow bones, and preferably a bone with some meat on it as well. Your first broth was perfect because it had this present. Add chicken backs, feet and heads to your pot of bones next time to recreate jiggle or add gelatin from Vital Proteins if you have a hard time finding these items in your area.
how can you reuse your bones? mine bones were mush after the first round of chicken feet, backs and 1 ham bone.
Sherri, that is a great question! When making bone broth in my Instant Pot I use it’s max time of 120 minutes. I begin by putting bones in the pot and then top with just enough filtered water to cover the bones. Be sure you never fill past the max fill line! I will run the max time and then dump the broth and refill with fresh filtered water and repeat the process. I have never had my bones mush in that amount of time. If your bones are spent than I would say you have reached your potential for that batch. Hope that helps!
You mention that you reuse the bones 5 or 6 times. According to Kaayla Daniel, concerning research that she did for her book with Sally Fallon, bone broth does not contain a lot of minerals (contrary to popular belief), but the real healing benefit of it is the collagen. Do you feel that you are continuing to get collagen as you reuse the bones? I’ve always wondered how much benefit we get from reusing bones; I only tried it once, and got weak, watery broth. Maybe I’m doing something wrong?
I agree Mary! As a GAPS practitioner, our main focus is on consuming the meat stock. Meat stock is rich in collagen… the bones however are not as beneficial and are believed to be high in histamines. I use bone broth for the base of my soups and drink the meat stock as tea through out the day. Be sure when you are making your bone broth that you only use enough water to just cover the bones, this will keep your broth from becoming weak. Consider adding chicken backs, feet, and heads to your bones to get the collagen your looking for into the bone broth. I myself include all the skin with the bones as well…
I too love my IP! Last night I came home to a cold stove so I sauted some onions, celery, and peppers in my IP, added 16 oz DRY beans, yes I said Bone dry, not soaked beans, about 6 cups of HM chicken stock , salt, pepper, thyme, and a frozen solid ham bone I had in the freezer. 40 minutes later I had one of the best 13 bean soups I have ever made! Seriously about an hour and a half after getting home from work I was sitting down to dinner! This IP is a wonder, I wonder why I didn’t buy one years ago!