Instant Pot Fun

As I am about to start this story. I hear my Mom say "What times we live in, how they are changing".. All the new fancy stuff that comes out is growing every day. I always knew technology was going fast but it seems I can not keep up anymore. And that is so unlike me. lol 

This Christmas my daughter got me an Instant Pot. First, let me add. I was told that it is Instant Pot and not Insta Pot. Actually, I read somewhere where it ask you did you know this? Nope. I did not. lol But I do now. I really still am not sure what I am going to do with this thing. I love my crockpot. I use it all the time. This instant pot thing has me wasting too much time trying to figure it out. lol So let's start the adventure. 

I read the instructions that came with the "said" pot. They are not very clear. I did go ahead and do the test run and of course, the water burned .lol or at least according to the pot. So to run a test run. You put 3 cups of water in the pot and pressure cook it. Well, it wasn't long it started flashing the word "burn". Being the nice Mom I am, I hated to take it back. So I waited another week before I tried actually cooking something in it. My idea was to cook something simple. Potatoes. I wanted to make some mashed potatoes. Simple enough, right? Not in Teresa's world. I got the water in the pot with potatoes. And set it all the setting so it would cook. It was not long that steam started to come out all around the lid. Now if you know anything about pressure cooking. It is literally scary. So I wondered if I should approach the pot at all. After several pondering thoughts and what I call "squirrel moments" (Getting distracted), I went to the pot. I was still steaming all around the lid. I looked up online. This meant the lid was not sealed. I figure I would just unplug and wait and then take the lid off. Which I did without any flying potatoes or burns. The potatoes where done. I took the potatoes and went ahead and made the mashed potatoes. It never pressurized at all. So from this, I learned you do not have to use it for pressure cooking at all. 

After this attempted. I was wondering if I should go back to my crockpot. I waited another week and I then had a wonderful idea. Let my daughter cook for me. So she set up and cooked a roast and then mashed potatoes. First thing she did was forget to close the release switch. Steam was coming out and going hard. It would not build pressure again. lol, Of course, she closed it and it started to cook. It went well from there. 

Now I wonder if I want to attempt again. I have heard so much about ribs and how tender they are. The fun at my house never stops. Let's just hope we do not blow the top off the house. lol I am learning as I go.