Skip The Slow Cooker, Make Pot Roast Faster With This Appliance

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While a great slow cooker pot roast recipe is an incredible asset, sometimes you don't have the time to devote hours on end to dinner. Low and slow might seem like an unavoidable evil when it comes to a great pot roast, but this is not true. An instant pot, the multifaceted tool that can cook foods in a variety of ways, provides an easy alternative if you want to make pot roast faster than a crock pot will allow.

When it comes to Instant Pot versus crock pot, the first matter to consider is the differences between these two gadgets. A slow cooker (or crock pot) is exactly what it sounds like: A large vessel that's designed to cook very slowly, often over the course of multiple hours. With a slow cooker, you can often dump your ingredients into the pot in the morning and come home to a cooked meal at night. An Instant Pot is more versatile. It's capable of slow cooking, but can also be used for steaming, searing, pressure cooking, and more, depending on your model.

Pressure cooking is what makes an Instant Pot ideal for a quick, easy pot roast. This method involves a sealed pot that allows steam to build up, cooking food significantly faster than other techniques. With a slow cooker, cooking a pot roast to tender perfection can take up to nine hours. On the other hand, with an Instant Pot, you can easily finish a pot roast in just 90 minutes.

Okay, so an Instant Pot can make pot roast fast, but is it any good? Yes! Even longtime fans of slow cookers agree that an Instant Pot can get the job done right. A Reddit post on r/InstantPot debated the merits of slow cookers versus Instant Pots, and commenters were quick to sing the latter's praises. Even u/dm5859, who admitted to being a slow cooker fan for over 20 years, pointed out that, "Cooking with pressure more than halves the cooking time with the same results." Another now-deleted user chimed in to say, "Flavor and tenderness are easier to achieve in the Instant Pot."

All in all, an Instant Pot provides a fast, easy alternative to making an excellent pot roast. Simply follow your go-to recipe and use the Instant Pot's pressure cooking settings to finish it off. For fresh meat, you only need to cook your roast for 60 to 80 minutes. For frozen meat, tack on an extra 20 to 30 minutes, and you should get the same result. Be sure to use a good cut of meat, too. The best types of meat for pot roast include chuck roast, brisket, bottom round, or top round.