[Alfisti]

I use lodge or Cuisinart, both are damn near indestructible and a third the price of Le Cruset. I use cast iron a lot, I have 3 pots and 4 pans, it is my primary cooking surface, I aint cooking on plastic, teflon is banned in my house.

[BMWbiker]

Originally Posted by Alfisti

They love em here but I am yet to have it explained to me why i'd use one instead of a cast iron dutch oven. Ya gotta braise meat before slow cooking and the big arse cast iron pot does a great job of it.

Originally Posted by Alfisti

They love em here but I am yet to have it explained to me why i'd use one instead of a cast iron dutch oven. Ya gotta braise meat before slow cooking and the big arse cast iron pot does a great job of it.

The Instant Pot is a pressure cooker as well as a slow cooker. It also can be a rice cooker, yogurt maker, etc.

Here are two examples of how to use it, that can be more effective than a Dutch oven.

A/ Let's say you want to make soup using beans or peas: white beans, lentils, split peas, etc. You can cook them on the stove, or you can pressure cook them using the Instant Pot. To be honest, you probably won't save much elapsed time with the Instant Pot, once you factor in the time needed for it to come up to pressure then to depressurize naturally (by cooling off, rather than opening the pressure valve). However, with the Instant Pot, it's set-and-forget: no stirring, no topping off with water, no burnt soup on the bottom of the pan.

B/ Let's say you want to cook some meat: pork or lamb shank, short ribs, etc. You can cook it for hours and hours in the Dutch oven. Or, you can cook it in one hour in the Instant Pot.

The Instant Pot is okay but not great at searing meat. I do sear meat in mine. However, if you really want to sear it on high heat, you can do so in a frying pan, then transfer it to the Instant Pot.

I've also cooked rice in mine—it's almost as good as a rice cooker. And lots of other stuff: yogurt, hard boiled eggs, etc.

[Alfisti]

OK the pressure cooker adds an element for sure.