OP, I think that it depends on what and how your wife likes to cook, as well as how many people she (or you) are feeding.

I live alone and cook vegetarian and so far, I don't think the IP is for me. I have a rice cooker and a slow cooker, and I'm comfortable that both do well everything I need to do. I find the beans I cook from dried (mostly lentils and split peas) are done quickly enough on the stove. I use canned beans for longer cooking beans, so that isn't an issue. I can't see getting one for hard-boiled eggs.

If I made meat dishes or more stews, I might want one. That said, I keep my eyes on IP recipe sites because I might change my mind. I do like the idea of making my own yogurt and overnight oatmeal, but not enough to get one yet.

It's really not a lot of money for an appliance/gadget/whatever you want to call it and I think if your wife wants one, and may want to replace her other appliances because it makes her cooking life easier, what's the big deal?

I vote you get her one.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's the Christmas season y'all. The name calling can wait until the new year.

Seriously. I think it’s the same lady that keeps calling everyone dummy and idiot. It’s foul and makes me sad to think she probably calls her kids names too.

Then report them. Jeff 100% does remove asshole, non helpful posts from threads. There are some bitter people on DCUM.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Last week I made chicken fajitas in 6 minutes.

This kind of overselling is what causes people to get frustrated with it.

I’m an Instant Pot fan and I agree.

I just made more to have for lunches this week. It took 9 minutes to come to pressure, then 6 minutes to cook, and 2-3 minutes for the manual release. So, 17-18 minutes. While that was cooking, I portioned out rice, cooked the vegetables, added those to containers, and loaded the dishwasher. Then I just added the chicken. Being able to make and package several days of lunches in 30 minutes is absolutely worth the Instant Pot.

I'm vegetarian and Indian and make food in the instantpot 3-4 times a week. There are very few dishes that I'd say actually taste noticeably better on the stove.

That said, I used the regular (stovetop) pressure cooker before my IP nearly as often, and my results are much the same. The main advantages are that (1) you can walk away from your kitchen (because it's on an electric timer), (2) you can time it on "delay" so that a meal is waiting for you when you walk in through the door, and (3) the inner pot is much easier to clean that the old-time pressure cookers. Those factors alone made it a good purchase for me.

Of course things taste better if they are sinners on the stove or oven. That’s all the crunchy not really burned but caramelized sugars in foods. But I don’t have time to simmer a stew for ever and lentils for a weekday meal and don’t want to cook all day Sunday. So for a number of recipes i use the instapot and it comes out almost as good and very fast. Made stew right after work the other day and it was ready for dinner. Ditto lentils etc. For Hannukah Dinner today I’m making brisket the old fashioned oven for 6 hrs way.

I use mine a few times a week. One of the main uses is cooking dried beans from scratch, no soaking, in 1 hour (cooking time). I throw in dried beans, an onion, a few cloves of garlic, and we have delicious beans (salt once done cooking).

Never thought I'd say it, but I also use it to make hard boiled eggs. So easy to peel.

I'm vegetarian but have cooked meat for others in it, and get rave reviews. It's supposed to be amazing for meat, so tender.

Anonymous wrote:I've been kind of tempted to get one if it can replace the other gadgets I use -

crock pot
rice cooker
pressure cooker

Can I get an intstapot and then get rid of the rest?

Yes. Although, I'd try it to see if you like it first. For example I prefer rice from IP but it tastes different from my rice cooker so others might disagree. And to OP, no one needs any of these. However, some of us really like the IP and find it useful.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Last week I made chicken fajitas in 6 minutes.

This kind of overselling is what causes people to get frustrated with it.

I’m an Instant Pot fan and I agree.

If you can comfortably afford it then get the IP for your wife. It can always be returned if it doesn't live up to expectations.

What cooking tools and gadgets do you use to cook dinner, OP?

Anonymous wrote:It's the Christmas season y'all. The name calling can wait until the new year.

Seriously. I think it’s the same lady that keeps calling everyone dummy and idiot. It’s foul and makes me sad to think she probably calls her kids names too.

I bought one last year and returned it after not using it once. Before I bought it, all I saw on reviews was how great it was, time-saver, etc. After I bought it, everyone I know that has one said it actually saves no time as you have to gradually let the pressure out and that takes about 30 minutes, on top of the time to prepare the food, get to pressure, and then cook. The people I know that have it, do not love them.

Anonymous wrote:Last week I made chicken fajitas in 6 minutes.

This kind of overselling is what causes people to get frustrated with it.

I barely use my crockpot anymore now that I have an Instant Pot! It can cook meat pretty quickly from frozen. There are some really delicious recipes out there that are absolutely not bland.

If she does most of the cooking, and if you can afford it, why are you hesitant to buy it for her if it’s on her wish list??
Is jewelry a more practical gift? Come on, just buy the pot

I made pulled pork using country style ribs in 45 min last night. That used to be a 6-7 hour process in the crockpot. Last week I made chicken fajitas in 6 minutes.

I think the thing most people miss with pressure cooking is that you have to “over” season - double what you think is right. Otherwise you get no flavor.