I’ve not been backward in coming forward about my views on slow cookers. I had one made by a brand that sounds like Heville and I’ve had one from a brand that sounds like Hilips. Both lacked impact and efficacy, delivering sad looking flavourless food that I waited six hours for.
But then came InstantPot and I’m a convert.
The Instant Pot Rio has a sleek and modern design with its brushed stainless steel exterior is durable and easy to clean. The control panel is intuitive, featuring a large, bright LED display and clearly labeled buttons, The pot itself is made of high-quality, food-grade stainless steel, ensuring even heat distribution and is secured in place, so you can stir and not hold the internal pot. Human centered design at its finest.
So I decide to first off, saute. Making a slow cook beef stew, with some chunky gravy steak, requires a solid precook and unlike other brands the saute pan quickly became sizzling hot to brown the beef to a depth of colour usually only seen on the stove.
After searing the rest of the ingredients it was leap of faith time. Time to close lid. One of the standout features of the Rio is its ergonomic lid design with a large easy-grip lid. There’s a condensation run off, and the steam release is placed away from your hands – a just in case safety feature.
The Instant Pot Rio is a true multi-cooker, combining the functions of a pressure cooker, slow cooker, rice cooker, steamer, sauté pan, and yogurt maker into one appliance. This versatility is a game-changer for those who have limited kitchen space or would prefer to be more economical.
The Intant Pot Rio delivered, after a few short hours, tender beef, shiny broth and a flavour that indicates a long slow cook. Finally, this is what slow cookers are about. The learning curve of the slow cooker has been overcome, mostly because the Instant Pot Rio is remarkably user-friendly and straigtforward, especially, since the appliance does exactly what it promises.
The rice function achieves fluffy, independent grains of rice in record time with the equal part water to rice methods (typically used in rice cookers).
The pressure cooker was put through its paces with a chicken stock. The best thing about cooking stock in your pressure cooker is that all the liquid stays in the pot, so you end up with more liquid than usual – especially as its extracted from any bones.
The Instant Pot Rio is truly the whole package of pressure and slow cookers and lives up to its promise. The rest is up to you!
Instant Pot® Rio™ Multi-Cooker 5.7L | RRP $249.00 | Available at instantbrands.com.au, Amazon, Big W, Kitchen Warehouse, and Myer
