Digital pressure cookers beat kludgy slow cookers by a country mile. Mine has 12 functions, including a 24-hour slow cooker and pre-set if I want to use them.

I have both the Instant Pot and a slow cooker, and honestly, I love both. I use them both all the time, but now we are in the middle of selling our house, and most of my kitchen things are in storage, including my slow cooker. I have the one that comes with three different sized crocks and I love it. Fortunately, the IP has a slow cooker function, and I use that every day. For the most part, I use mine as a slow cooker. Things cook equally well in either settting, although we prefer chicken in the slow cooker. To me it is more tender that way, and so is ham. My oldest son got me the slow cooker for Christmas one year, and two years later, he got me the IP for my birthday. Best gifts ever!

I TOTALLY LOVE LOVE LOVE LUUURRRVE my Instant Pot. I've had it for almost a year. I see your points completely, and they are good points! To be honest I use my slow cooker function the MOST on this one. But the stainless steel inner part that easily removes and EASILY fits in my dishwasher without taking up HALF OF THE BOTTOM rack is AMAZING. it doesn't stain and it gets CLEAN easily. Even when things are super stuck on from sauteeing - which is rare, but I have effed it up before and really got things stuck on it. I like to make bone broth low and slow for a long time and I do not like smelling it for hours and hours and days and days. So I like the sealing. I like that I can saute in the instant pot. Some slow cookers will do that, none of mine ever have done it well. This one ROCKS at it. I like that I have the choice to pressure cook but I'll be honest I only do veggies that way and the rice cooks FAST in it. So i like the option but I don't use it much because meat comes out tasting bad to me pressure cooked. My family doesn't like it. Maybe I just don't know what I'm doing but there it is anyway. I donated 2 of my slow cookers because this one does it all and I no longer need them. That became apparent within one week and I've never regretted ditching them. For my dollars, this was totally worth it. It's not for everyone and one is wise to consider all the factors before jumping in because it is an investment and it could be you already have everything you need right now!

Ok, I plead your #1.

Add Cannelloni (dried beans) to the "do not use in a Crockpot": high toxicity. Peoole will become very ill using these in a crockpot, high or low setting.

Since when is it a bonus to *not* smell a delicious dinner cooking in your house? One of my favorite things about crockpots is that I can stagger home exhausted and catch a whiff of the dinner I had forgotten about, as soon as I hit the front step.

I love my Crock Pot (real one) and I love my Instant Pot - I use them for different things - my husband is a mature med student and lives away from home five days a week and I cook his food ahead. I love that I can cook beans fast but I don't have to; I like the IP for yogurt or meat I need to saute first (and want to keep all the juices) but the Crock Pot does better for things that really need slow cooking (like some bean dishes, chicken stew etc) but I now make yogurt in the IP once a week; beans about 50/50 depending on time. Now if a family has only a very tiny space I'd vote for the IP because it has an old fashioned steamer function too; as well as the saute and pressure cooker settings. But for most people if you cook a lot, I'd say it is not either or but both - at least have a small slow cooker to go with the IP as they don't cook the same and you'll be glad you have choices.

I have loved my Ninja since you first talked about it a few years back and use your recipes all the time. However, it always made me felt uneasy about the non stick coating. I went back and forth. Even went thru a few ceramic inserts that cracked. I've switched over to instant pot purely because of the stainless steel insert. I have yet to try its slow cooking function and I will soon. But I miss my slow cooker for sure.

hiya steph! nope, don't have one. like you, i am lazy ~ just wanna plug 'er in and forget about it til dinner, and i love the aroma of dinner wafting through the house, so does everyone else. hope you're well my friend. xo

I am a slow cooker girl, through and through. I'm sort of old-fashioned and I'm not quick to jump on trends without good reason. I have one of the 'travel' cookers(it doesn't travel much) ;-) but one really neat thing about the travel cooker is that it has clamps on the sides to keep things from sloshing around when traveling. Although not intended for this use, I clamp mine down when I want it to cook really hot because I believe it helps to create more of a seal.

But alas, I will probably also end up buying an Instant Pot. I've wanted one for a few years, and just put it off because I don't want to part with the $80. :-) While I am LAZY like you and therefore love my slow cooker, I'm also a BAD PLANNER sometimes in that something can't be happily cooking away in the slow cooker all day if you don't actually get it in there before leaving for work. I think I would benefit from a last minute option for my sometimes-harried mental state...one of my friends had me in awe last year when she told me she cooked an entire roast in 45 minutes.

I agree with Lynn. I love the smell of food cooking in my home. Judy

Hi! Hi!
Two happiest days of me life, when bought Instant Pot & when gave away as used gift after 2 NOT so fabulous Spinach & Feta stuffed Pork Roasts were made.
In me 24 year old Crock Pot, they ALWAYS came out PERFECT! I MEAN Mother In Law LOVED ME, PERFECT !! Father In Law wanted to marry me PERFECT (I think he was KIDDING!)
In Instant Pot, Roast OVERCOOKED ( Trying 2 different methods) one time BEFORE I got to mix in the Sour & Heavy cream mixture (I add the last 20 minutes of cooking, in slow cooker) COULDN'T do in Instant Pot, never knew when would be DONE. Do everything same as done last 25 years. Same weight roast, I cut me own, always w/.1 to .2 oz. 1st time in Instant Pot, DONE in approx 45 mins, poured in cream mixture, CURDLED INSTANLY. HOW to get rid of CURDLED CREAM w/o washing away TASTE? Found out, you REALLY can't. And sauce for the rice? Open a can of Cream of Celery.
2nd time, at 40 mins, bled out steam, poured Cream Mixture in, put lid back on, gave another 10 mins, check it. Pork not close to done, CREAM CURDLED by NOW
Me li'l sis wanted get a 6qt Instant Pot. I told her now that I by meself, I'd be HONORED if she'd LET me give her me 10qt one, only used twice. All directions & package materials, PLUS cleaner NOW than when I got.
Kill two birds w/one stone. I has more space w/o that POS On me counter. And she LOVES the LG size PRESSURE COOKER. OK, 3 birds, she saw how much I paid for it (ACCIDENTALLY left receipt in box, ALSO) sis wouldn't let me spend a dime on her for Christmas. Woo Hooo!
Win! Win! Win!
When it's me turn to leave, I HOPE someone will has a SLOW COOKER big 'nuf for ME. Maybhaps, makes me a Happy Camper! AND FEED a Small Army. Lol Heh... Heh... Just Kidding. A LG ARMY

No one has brought up the fact that the crock pot doen not need a non stick coating (usually teflon). I have yet to find an Instant Pot that does not have a non stick coating.
As for me I am not in favor of high temperature cooking with non stick linings. I will stick with my many crock pots!!!

Hi Steph. I don't own an IP. I am, like you, lazy. Or very busy. Usually both. I love my slow cooker and I use it at least twice a week now that I've gotten in the groove of better meal planning. As a bonus, I work from home so I get to SMELL that awesome dinner while the slow cooker is working it's low-slow magic. What's not to love? Except how hard it is to LEAVE IT ALONE while it's cooking....

I bought one although I have a crock pot that I use often. I can't really get the thing to cook meats to our liking. They all come out with an odd soft texture even if I brown it. It's a big old thing to keep around as a rice cooker if that is all I use it for. Considering dumping it.

I love my Instant Pot. Sometimes I just don't want to start cooking at 5am so I can have roast at 5pm; yes, I know you can prep the night before (it takes 90 minutes cook time for pork roast in the Instant Pot). My chili that takes 4 hours on high in the slow cooker takes 20 minutes cook time in the Instant Pot (both with the meat still frozen). If I don't have the ingredients I need for a recipe, I can pop out to the store, come back, and have dinner ready in about an hour with the pressure cooker.

I have a hand mixer and a stand mixer, I have an Instant Pot and a slow cooker. There's no problem with having two items perform similar functions; I mean I'm not going to do without a food processor and just learn how to chop faster and smaller with a knife!

Also for those with the meat texture problem, you must use natural release or wait at least 10 minutes before doing a quick release for most meats/meat-based dishes. If you forget, you can bring it up to pressure again (0 minutes will work) and then do a natural release.

The primary thing that has kept me from buying an Instant Pot is that I don't think I need one. I have two slow cookers and a stove top pressure cooker. I use the slow cookers frequently, but haven't used the pressure cooker in years. It's not because of any problem with it, just a change in lifestyle and cooking habits.

The second reason I haven't purchased one are the 1 star reviews at Amazon. Often 1 star reviews are due to a product (or book) not being what the reviewer expected or shipping problems. These were all about product failure and poor customer service from the manufacturer. Some didn't work from the start, some worked well for a short period of time, then just stopped working. Although the 1 star reviews are only 4% of the total number of reviews, that was enough for me.

Someone mentions that Instant Pots have non-stick Teflon coatings, which I think is... not correct? At least mine is just plain stainless steel.

We're at mega-ultra-space premium here, the tiniest urban kitchen, almost no counter space. We had both an IP and a crockpot for a few months, and I let the crockpot go after I dropped the lid and it shattered (it had a good 15-year run though, it got a Viking funeral). My reasons:

*I'm not always organized enough in the morning rush to get beans in the crockpot or a stew, etc.
*I sometimes try to do freezer cooking and I have found it somewhat life changing that I don't have to defrost the night before (if I were that organized, I would do it! But I'm not.)
*I find chicken cooked in the IP much less dry than chicken cooked all day in the crockpot - obviously I could mitigate this by starting the chicken in the afternoon, but again, the organization eludes me.
*I love that I can saute right in the IP.
*I love beans and it's so great for me that you can do it in the same evening you want to eat them. My new obsession is Kenji Lopez-Alt's Pressure Cooker Black Beans (tweaked to my preferences): Saute a chopped onion in a couple tablespoons of olive oil, add a couple of minced garlic cloves, a teaspoon of chili powder and a teaspoon of chipotle powder (this makes it fairly spicy, even a bit would give it a tasty smokiness though), 6 cups of chicken broth (water works if veg/vegan) and an orange, scrubbed and halved. Set to high pressure on manual for 45 minutes (this is long but I like the beans REALLY soft so it's pretty soupy). The first day, I serve this over rice, with assorted raw veggie toppings (I like a sort of slaw of shredded red cabbage and cilantro, tossed with lime juice and salt), shredded cheese, maybe sour cream, and an extra protein if desired - some sliced chicken, or some chorizo, whatever your tastes run to. Then I put the leftovers in mason jars, later in the week I serve it as black bean soup, thinning it out with some additional broth, serving it with tortilla chips.

The only thing I don't like as much about the IP as compared to the crockpot is that with the crockpot, you get a slow evaporation that can concentrate flavors and up the creamy factor with things like beans, it's much more like stovetop cooking, it's more intuitive. With the IP, whatever liquid goes in is the same amount that you're going to have at the end. You do have to read some recipes when you start using it and get the general gist of timing, it isn't the same kind of "Eh, there's a wide spread of timing that would be fine here".

I think both items have their uses! If space weren't so tight here, I'd have gotten another crockpot just to have around for when the mood strikes.

I love BOTH! I don't have an IP but do have an electric pressure cooker. My favorite thing about it is that I can come home from work and spontaneously decide to make soup or stew and *bam!* it's done. I don't always take the time or plan ahead or have time in the morning rush for the crockpot. But on the weekends, the crockpot is my jam!! :)

I have 3 crock pots, and I just bought a Instant Pot. I miss the old crock pots. The newer ones now cook at a higher temperature, due to the companies being forced to up the temps for food safety concerns, and I hate that when I have the crock pot on low, and even warm, the liquid boils. It shouldn't boil on a low setting. I'm tired of the food safety cops.
I've only had my Instant Pot a few weeks. So far love it. The stainless steel cooking insert is super easy to clean. First thing I made was ribs. To get ribs tender in the oven I cooked mine 3 hours. When I did them in the instant pop it was something like 45 minutes. Fall off the bone tender. Yes, I did have to put them on a sheet pan to spread bbq sauce on them and broil a bit after taking them out of the Instant Pot, but I would have had to do that anyway.
Also made Zuppa Tuscana soup copy cat recipe, and my husband said it tasted just like Olive Gardens. I made spaghetti and meatballs, you throw everything in it at the start, sauce, water, raw meatballs (or can do frozen), and the raw spaghetti noodles. Only one dirty pot to clean.
Two things that amazed me was making hard cooked eggs in it. The peels come off so much more easily when cooked in the Instant Pot. And everyone loved the chocolate peanut butter cup cheesecake I made in the Instant Pot for the Superbowl. This is a dangerous thing. I could possibly be making a lot of cheesecakes now.
Things on my list to try next in the Instant Pot are: macaroni and cheese, roast, baked potatoes, mashed potatoes, corned beef and cabbage, pork chops, spaghetti squash and corn on the cob come summer time. There's a lot of recipes online and you tube videos out there to help. I would never use a stove top pressure cooker....too scary from the horror stories I heard when I was young, but the electric pressure cooker has a lot of safety features. It's easy to use and I just love mine so far...if for nothing else the hard cooked eggs and the cheesecakes. I might try making yogurt in it one day soon as well. Personally if I could only have one, it would be the Instant Pot over my crock pots.

I bought an Instant Pot because my crock pot occasionally turns itself off, and in looking for a new one, I wanted one I could saute in first that didn't have a non-stick coating. The IP has a stainless steel insert, and I love being able to saute my onions and brown meat in it before making a meal. Still getting the hang of the pressure cooker part, but it's nice to be able to make beans and a whole chicken to shred quickly. Also will echo what a commenter above says - this one does not lose any liquid, even if you use the glass lid instead of the sealing lid. My husband likes it so his stomach doesn't growl all day while things are cooking (he works from home), but for things that aren't supposed to be soupy, you need to remember to reduce your liquid up front. Def a little more of a learning curve for the pressure cooking versus the slow cooker.

I have slow cookers and I have an insta-pot. I like certain recipes in one or another. For instance, beef with broccoli in the IP is amazing. Quick and easy and very flavorful. The bolognese sauce in the IP has a depth of flavor that I don't get in the slow cooker and i don't feel like standing over the stove for hours. Cheesecake. Do you know how long it takes to make a cheesecake in the oven with a water bath? No thanks. a Cheesecake in the IP takes 25 minutes once you've made your batter and it comes up to pressure. And it's my husbands fav dessert. So I like using both depending on what I'm cooking.

I love both my slow cooker and my IP for different reasons. What really sold me on the IP though, was the corned beef I made. I used to make corned beef brisket in the slow cooker, and would usually lose quite a bit of mass to shrinkage. There was absolutely no loss in the IP. I've since discovered this with other cuts like a 7-bone roast.

I used to have a pressure cooker many years ago, but I've been using slow cookers now for about 30 years and I much prefer the slow cooker over a pressure cooker because of the set-and-forget convenience.

The one obvious thing for me is the time issue. I commute an hour each way to work so I am gone from the house for a minimum of ten hours. Very few of the crock pot recipes I have tried taste good after ten hours of cooking, even on low. I have an electric pressure cooker that I use to make venison stew in less than an hour when I get home - I prep all of the veggies in the morning before I leave for work. So the characterization that this type of cooker is good only for those who cook on the fly and aren't organized enough to plan meals is not true. And venison tastes much better when cooked in the electric pressure cooker than in the crock pot, where it tends to dry out and get stringy.

I work outside the home and sometimes leave at 5:45 am and don't get home until 7:30. My InstaPot has a delay feature, so I can delay, cook and then hold (I know the CP cooks and holds-but mine doesn't delay). I also bought my InstaPot because it irritates me to have to sear something and then put it in the crockpot (dirtying 2 pans). I imagine it doesn't make that much difference, but I always felt deficient when I didn't sear. BUT I have come to love making rice in it and also making steel cut oatmeal in it and boiling EGGS!!! The shells almost drop off the eggs. I can't wait to try it with a dozen freshly laid eggs. Your mileage may vary.

Thanks for your take on things Stephanie! I have both a crock pot and an Instant pot. For me they both have different uses. For my schedule now, I find the IP to be better since I'm gone from the house about 12hrs a day. Being gone that long doesn't really allow for using the crock pot all the time. I do love to use it on the weekends when I know I'll be around.

I have both and use both. some of that depends on what I am cooking and what day of the week it is. I am gone about 11 hours a day so if I don't have someone to start that crockpot later, I tend to use the instant pot. I find less tender cuts such as some roasts and shredded chicken is much better from the crock pot. I love doing beans, rice and soups in my instant pot. I also don't think it has to be all one or the other. I am a gadget geek so I like to buy and learn to use new appliances. I will never give up my slow cooker though.

Does anyone have any websites/blogs to recommend for instant pot/electric pressure cooker recipes? I've been looking for something that would approach how great Steph's blog is for the slow cooker, but I haven't been able to find anything that seems as good. (Maybe Steph set the bar too high!...)

HI Anon,

you are wonderful. ;-) My friend Kalyn of Kalyn's Kitchen is who I would recommend.

good luck!!

There are also FB groups for instant pot users. There are some for omnis and some for vegetarians. I use my instant pot for both slow cooking and for fast cooking things like dried beans. Can't beat under an hour start to finish for a busy family of 6! We are going to travel cross country in 2018 and I plan to bring the Pot because I can saute in it as well as all the other functions and it will be an efficient, space saving kitchen utensil.

Thanks, Steph! I will check Kalyn's info out - really appreciate it. Love your blog (and your books! I have two!).

I just got an IP for my birthday last week, and so far I like it, but I don't think it's really going to replace my Ninja. I am NOT a meal planner, and the end of the day is rough around here, so for me it's easiest to throw a bunch of stuff in the crock pot mid-morning and then walk away. I had been hoping that the IP would be great for those days when I forget (or am not able) to start something early. So far it hasn't really worked out...I'm still getting used to the timing. The recipes say that it takes xx time to cook, but I keep forgetting to include the time to come up to pressure (10 min or more, depending on how full the pot is), and then another 10 or so to naturally release the pressure (depending on the recipe). So dinner has been late a few times already. Plus the late afternoon/early evening is still not a great time for me to cook, even if I can cook faster.

I think I'll get better at it as I use it more, and I'll still get some use out of it, especially for things like hard boiled eggs and artichokes, and I'm looking forward to trying steel cut oatmeal (though I usually do that in my rice cooker). But I think my Ninja is still going to be my go-to appliance.

I have both. I will NEVER stop using your recipe for yogurt in my crockpot (and referring other people to it), but I like the texture of meat in my instant pot better. And now to add to the confusion, my son gave me an Air Fryer for Christmas and BOTH my pressure cooker and my crockpot have taken a backseat. (Actually, I have all 3 plus my new countertop ice cream maker lined up on my counter...) There IS room enough for all!

Friend of mines' say you can't beat a Wolfgang Puck pressure oven. I can't wait for him to tire of it. Then it be mines' and I'll find out for sure.
For now tho, I'll stick w/me slow cookers. Even me 29 yr old one that only reach a temp of 185°. Bought an immersion circulater to put in it, use to Sous Vide. After all these years, still WORKIN', just NOT in the same way

Those of you who have problems in a pressure cooker with liquids not reducing: do it afterward! Once you release the pressure (or allow it to release naturally), open the lid and then switch the PC to Sauté or Brown or whatever your device calls that setting. Allow as much liquid to boil off as you wish, then turn it off. (Ditto for stovetop pressure cookers: take the lid off, and then put it back on the burner to reduce.)
Since we got our Instant Pot, we barely use our slow cooker at all. Kenji Lopez-Alt details many of the reasons in his Serious Eats post entitled "Why Anything Slow Cookers Can Do, Others Can Do Better". After melting the cord of one slow cooker, I'll never leave one turned on and unattended again.

I'm not Instant Pot crazy, but I do like it. I just wanted to debunk another claim--the one about scent-free cooking. When the pot comes to pressure, the smell is being vented out, and if you do a quick depressurization, the smell shoots out a few feet into the air. Plus, many a Facebook post has been dedicated to the odors retained in the silicone sealing ring, seeking advice on how to get them out (many conclude you can't).

I thought it would be so great to brown my roast and then slow cook it. I set the timer for 6 hours, set the slow cooker option to high and used a regular lid all as the instructions indicated. Luckily I was home to check after 3 hours and even though there was condensation on the lid, the whole pot was barely warm even though the timer indicated it was still going. Had to dump the whole thing into my trusty crock pot and the roast was saved. I do like my IP but not for slow cooking.

Side comment... I had to laugh when you stated slow cookers were oval in shape deliberately. I may have one of the original Crock Pots. It is deep and round. It also has a thermostat probe heating element, so I can set temperatures anywhere from 200-400 degrees. I think it must be at least 30 years old at this point and is still going strong (and it had outlasted three other oval shaped slow cookers!)

I am probably strange. I have a couple slow cookers (including the original), a rice cooker, AND an IP. I have been known to use them all at the same time, along with the regular stove/oven,microwave, the counter-top oven, the grill and a couple butane burners next to the grill when holiday/company cooking gets serious. They all have their strengths and weaknesses, but once we hit summer here in Florida, I choose not to sweat to death in the kitchen.

Unless the laws of physics have changed water must be 212 deg. F to boil. Having said that, I agree with almost everything you said. Besides, I love the smell of food cooking, low and slow, all day!! I learned to cook on everything from an open campfire to wood stove to induction ranges. I’ll jerp my slow cooker!! Keep the faith, baby!!

I have and use both. Honestly if you have enough space in the kitchen having both is great as they have their own separate uses. So yeah if you have the space just get both :)

I have both but use my IP way more. I love that I can cook a frozen chicken breast in 15 minutes. It's just so quick and easy. I make delicious soups in 30 minutes and cuts of meat in 45. In the crockpot, I often found that meat got stringy. IP forever!