4.5 stars! I’m an admitted small appliance fan and this has been a great addition. I love the Instant Pot brand and I use my 8 quart and 3 quart pressure cookers often. This has a finished cast iron so washing and care is far easier than a traditional cast iron piece. The pot and lid are heavy of course. It’s recommended to use the included silicone trivet underneath during cooking. They also include two silicone handle covers for moving the pot when warm/hot. They are not to be used during cooking. This is a Dutch oven as well as a slow cooker. It also has a warming capability. My best advice is to do your warranty right away, wash it up, bring your booklet over and start pressing buttons and turning the knob. Go through your booklet and learn how to turn sound on an off, change settings, have Celsius or Fahrenheit, etc. Then look at each function by pressing its button and seeing what temps are available or preset, what times are available, etc. Manual Mode 1 and 2 have more temp options than the others where the presets may not work for your recipe. While you may start a recipe by searing meat, you may need to switch to manual mode for other ingredients. The slow cook function has a preset of 203F which is a bit higher than low on a regular slow cooker (typically about 190F). Low is better in slow cooking in most instances anyway. So if you use that function, use the directions for low. However, you have the option to go to Manual Mode if you need something else and don’t have the time for low. I do wish the slow cook function included a temperature range between low and high like a regular slow cooker, rather than going to manual mode. Either way, the job gets done though, I guess. The sear/sauté function is awesome. Searing on cast iron takes things to another level. I’ve attached pictures of tenderloins I seared and then used the braise function after. They sat upon an onion-apple mixture. They looked and tasted fantastic. One picture is cloudy due to the steam clouding the lens of my phone. The flavour profile was just amazing and the meat was done perfectly. If you aren’t familiar with braising, research it. It’s a great method. My next braising adventure will include spare ribs. It does come with a recipe booklet for some things to try. I would recommend that before branching out. Dutch oven recipes out there are for camping, the stovetop, or a regular oven. Recipes will need to be adapted somewhat. While this pot can be used on a stovetop or in the oven, the base is there so that you don’t need to. However, if you proof bread in it, it will have to move it to the oven to bake. I have already made good use of this and I know I will be using it often, just like I use my IP pressure cookers. It is pricey, but a good Dutch oven is also very pricey. In this case, you get the Dutch oven AND a slow cooker. It’s a fantastic addition to my kitchen. NOTE: While this is stated to be dishwasher-safe, I prefer hand washing to preserve its life as much as possible. Part of that is that it’s pretty heavy for a dishwasher rack. I want to handle it and move it the least amount I can to avoid dropping it onto my toes or my floor. Maybe that’s more caution than some want, but I want to protect my investment and myself. I’m also careful in how I hand-wash it by resting it on the trivet by my sink as I wash it out. Then I rinse under the tap, set down on the trivet and dry immediately. For the lid, I hold the handle and wash in the sink, rinse, and dry immediately.
