Cooking for two 3qt instant pot recipes?
 

Normally, DH who is retired and 19 - 20 years older ( depending on the time of the year lol) does all the cooking during the week when I work. Lucky me- Except for the past month. Weather has been hot 90-100’s . I don’t feel much like cooking after 10 -12 hour work days so we have gone out to restaurants almost every night. Uggg I am now tired of restaurants and reservations but do want good food as I am not a fast food eater. So yesterday, I purchase a 3 quart Instant Pot. I have never used a pressure cooker- heard too many horror stories as a kid about them “blowing up”. DH says food is better in one and that the new ones have better safety features. OK I will take the plunge.
as I unboxed the monster, I found the instructions and read them as if I was prepping for a final exam. Reviewed You Tube videos on starting up. Took all precautions for safety plus wearing my safety goggles. I was about to venture in a pressure zone. I performed the water steam pressure test. Lol Yeah, I passed that exam and did not blow up the house.
Not wanting to ruin a good piece of steak, I brought home some cubed steak. DH looked at it and asked, “ Oh is that for the puppy?” “No”, I replied “ that’s for us in my new cooking device.” “I won’t like it.” He says bluntly.
Made my first meal- cubed steak with French onion soup, a packet of Au jus Garvey, and A1 sauce. Pressure cooked it for 20 min let the pressure released naturally for 8 min then a quick release. OMG should have let it do its natural release longer as I had quite a mess with the gravy spurting out the release valve- walls, cabinets, and counter top. After this little volcano eruption, I served the dish with home made garlic mashed potatoes. I must say it was delicious- you could cut the meat with a fork it was that tender. And to top it off, he loved it as he had a second helping. At the end of the meal he says with a grin “ that meal is a keeper”. Can you make beef stew?” Lol
so now I am searching for recipes that can be cooked in this 3qt instant pot. Most of the recipes I see are for a 6qt size. For those on QB who have this device, do you halve the 6qt recipes or do you need specific recipes for the smaller version?
thanks!,

If I were you, I would just do a Google search for 3 quart recipes. There is so much information out there now on Instant Pots, should find plenty. Probably also info on converting the size of the recipes. I have the 6 qt. although just two of us eating usually. We don't mind leftovers. Sorry to hear about your "volcano", have not experienced that either with instantpot or when I used a stove top pressure cooker. Also, info on converting between crockpots and instantpots.

Welcome to the Instant Pot life! I bought the 6 qt one for DH and me as we are retired and like suern3, love left overs.
I don't know about the recipes for the 3 qt but you will find lots of knowledge online about what's what.
Their is a Jackie and Amy that post regularly on line and they have some delicious looking recipes. They are now working for IP or with IP.
You will love the hard boiled/steamed eggs.

I have three instant pots one of them the mini. Just don't fill it more than half full. And yes, google for recipes. When I don't know which recipe to use and I have a taste for something, such as stew, or pork chops, I put "instant pot recipe stew" into google and get a lot to choose from and then go from there. You could add mini to that.

Next time when you release, just do it a bit at a time. I'm wondering if the mini has the ingredients closer to the lid. I've not had a situation like yours in the 6 quarts. I use the mini for rice and yogurt. And for hard boiled eggs.

I have two going tonight. Corn on the cob in one and 5 minute shrimp scampi paella in the other. I find that regular ears of corn don't fit that great in the mini. We are just two people but I started with the 6 quart.

Check out https://thisoldgal.com/ She has lots and lots of recipes for pressure cookers (the Instant Pot specially). Every recipe I have fixed has been really good. She also has a Facebook page. I have a 6 quart and an 8 quart. I use the 8 quart mostly--I even use her recipe for Banana Nut Bread and cook it in my Instant Pot

Maria Wojcik Emmerich has a book out for Instant Pot with Keto recipes.

I have a 6qt and an 8qt, and dh just mentioned buying a 3qt for our trailer.
I would think you could half any of the 6qt recipes, just make certain you have enough liquid to pressurize so contents don't stick to the bottom and burn.
Facebook has a lot of Instant Pot groups. :)

Janelle

My favorite thing to make is hard boiled eggs. I use the steam setting and cook for 14 minutes on a rack with 1 cup of water in the bottom; then natural pressure release, followed by 7 minute soak in ice water. Perfect and peel easily every time. :) I also make all kinds of stews and lots of Indian dishes too. I like using the spice packets at the grocery store like "Street Kitchen". I think pretty much any crockpot recipe can be converted over.

Janelle

There is also a FB group for just the mini instant pot.

We have a 6-qt. Insta Pot but I wish it was smaller for just the two of us. I was never afraid of my pressure cooker which was a wedding gift 49 years ago. I found it great especially for smaller pot roasts and it’s the only way I cook beef stew. Just used my regular stew recipe and modified the cooking time according to the pressure cooker instructions.

I’ve had 2 stove top pressure cookers through the years and loved them. Keep the seal in good shape (replace if needed) and always be sure the vent pipe is not obstructed by holding the lid to a light and looking through the opening. I’ve never had a fear of them.
Theres just the 2 of us now and I like the 6 qt electric pressure cooker because I like to cook enough for 2-3 days. It gives me a few days off if I have leftovers in the refrigerator.

I would suggest cutting a recipe ingredients that is written for the 6 qt. or larger pot in half. I have purchased several cookbooks for this pressure cooker but the most informative and my favorite is "Instant Pot Miracle" (authorized by Instant Pot).

BTW, when I release the valve, I use tongs to open the valve and cover the valve with paper towel to avoid the splash - I learned the hard way too!

I did my research on the electric pressure cookers and purchased the 6-quart Instant Pot. The steam test was conducted yesterday afternoon. ;-) Did I say that I am happy to the moon and back with this appliance design??!!!!!

Cut the amount of the recipe for the 6-quart in half and follow the guidelines on the cooking pot container. You should be fine. Having grown up using the stove top pressure cookers from Presto and Mirro, this gal is relieved to be able to use the advances in appliance design: delayed start, timers, LED displays, and warm feature. I've done my share of meal preps and home canning, including teaching how to use the stove top cookers. Thanks for your postings, Quilting Board members.

I also have an instant pot and find these sites very helpful. They will help you to learn just about anything you need to know. I use a lot of their recipes and have helped me to learn how to convert my own recipes to use for the instant pot. Give them a try, I'm sure you will find them helpful.
https://instantpot3.blogspot.com/
www.Pressureluckcooking.com

Sorry, meant to also tell you that on www.pressureluckcooking.com site check out the part where he has all the info for how to use the pot, its also very helpful

Nancy, where did you find the recipe for the cube steak? It seems like something my DH would like.

DD and I made whole turkey breasts in the 6 qt. The turkey comes out very moist and juicy. (Can't remember how long it took, but I do remember that it was way less time than doing it in the oven). Drawback: the skin doesn't brown. I don't eat the skin anyway, so that is no big deal to me.

DD has also done corned beef in the 6 qt. Delicious!

Google for recipes.

I found it on Pinterest . It was excellent, PM me if you can’t find it

the very first thing I cooked in my Instant Pot was cube steak. I put the steaks in, added onion, sliced bell peppers, can of diced tomatoes with the juice, a couple tablespoons of tomato paste, a couple cloves garlic. Don't remember how long I cooked it, but called it Swiss Steak and it was very good. After cooking, thickened it a bit with a slurry of cornstarch and water, served over rice.
Just another idea of how to cook cube steak. Now, I would probably brown the steaks before adding other ingredients. As I said, my very first use of the Instant Pot.

Nancy, I think I found it. This recipe uses a packet of onion soup mix but the rest of the recipe is the same. Thanks for the info. It's from sidetrackedsara site