Instant Pot Fish Stew (Stovetop and Slow Cooker Optional) (2024)

FAQs

Is stew better in the slow cooker or Instant Pot? ›

Taste: For overall taste, the pressure cooker was the hands-down winner. Beef, carrots, and potatoes all retained their rich flavors. After 8 hours in the slow cooker, they emerged bland and seemed to need salt.

Turn the valve to “seal” and set the pressure cooker to cook on “stew” setting for 40 minutes. (If you don't have a “stew” setting, set it to pressure cook on high pressure for 40 minutes. Consult your pressure cooker manual for exact proper operations.)

Touted as the do-it-all appliance for good reason, an Instant Pot is a multi-function pressure cooker that easily doubles as a slow cooker. The difference between pressure cooking and slow cooking is substantial, so we love that one appliance can do both, along with a slew of other cooking methods.

Add meat, seasonings and liquids to the pot. Secure and lock the lid. Select the Meat/Stew button. The default Instant Pot meat setting is pre-programmed to set the pot to cook at High pressure for 35 minutes, which is suitable for most dishes like beef stew or pulled pork.

Slow Cooker vs.

While high heat may cook the potatoes and meat quickly, only low, slow cooking can create the tender morsels of meat and flavorful broth that we seek. The stove (hob) will create a thicker broth/gravy for the stew because more liquid will escape during cooking in the form of steam.

A slow cooker should be your go-to if you make a lot of soups or stews and want your meats fall-off-the-bone tender. Because they can be easily transported, they're also excellent to bring to potlucks. Sous vide slow cookers and roaster ovens also fall under the slow cooker label, but function slightly differently.

While many slow cooker recipes can be made on high for 3-4 hours, I highly recommend cooking this beef stew on low for the full 7-8 hours. This will ensure that the beef gets nice and tender. Thicken your stew properly.

It's because you haven't let the collagen break down. Extend the cook time, make sure there's enough liquid and keep an eye on the dish.

Can I Water Bath Can Stew? No. Water bath canning simply does not get the food hot enough, long enough to safely cook the meat for storage. Because meat is a low acid food, it needs the high heat and pressure of a pressure cooker.

In general, the liquid in the original slow cooker recipe should be reduced to 1 to 2 cups when converting to an electric pressure cooker. Exceptions to this would be: Grains and Beans– Use the exact amount needed to fluff up, with a small amount more for the other ingredients in the recipe.

What temperature is low on a slow cooker? ›

What temperature is 'Low' on a slow cooker? Most slow cookers have two slow cooker temperature settings. The 'Low' cook setting reaches temperatures between 164-182°F (reaching a peak of around 205°F after 4 hours).

Even though both can produce similar results, there is a main difference between a slow cooker and a pressure cooker. A slow cooker will cook food longer at a lower temperature, whereas a pressure cooker uses hot steam to cook food much quicker.

Contrary to what some of the other replies say, meat/stew is not a slow cook setting or anything like that, it's actually just a pressure cooking setting, but it sets the initial settings to about what you need for meat/stew, it sets the time to 35 minutes, high pressure.

When and how to use a natural release. Because there is so much pressure built up inside the pot, releasing it gradually is gentler than a quick release, but it also adds time. This makes it ideal for foods with longer cook times, like braises, stews, and broths.

Go for the chuck

The most common beef used for stew is chuck steak, also known as gravy beef or braising steak. Beef chuck comes from the forequarter of the animal consisting of parts of the neck, shoulder blade and upper arm. It is easy to find and it's affordable, making it a great choice for your stew.

Benefits of a pressure cooker. Pressure cooking reduces the cooking time for most foods. This shorter cooking time can result in fewer nutrients being leeched out of food during the cooking process. Put another way, your food keeps more of the nutrients inside.

If you enjoy prepping your meal in the morning and letting it cook all day so that it's ready by dinner time, go with a slow cooker. Conversely, a pressure cooker might be the better option if you want an easy way to make healthy meals without much planning.

“Beef may be tough in the slow cooker if you haven't added enough liquid, or haven't cooked it for long enough,” Kristen Carli, M.S., R.D., owner of Camelback Nutrition & Wellness, tells SELF. “For cuts of meat, the fattier cuts are often the ones that get juicy and tender.

Slow cookers can be useful for cooking stews, but generally the combination of low heat and a tightly fitting lid will mean that the auce doesn't get a chace to thicken (by reduction) and consequently the sauce can be a little thin.