An ‘instant’ success

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This article was published 03/11/2018 (2917 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The cookbooks come on strong this time of year. Boldface names in the food world — Nigella, Ina, Ottolenghi, Redzepi, Solomonov and Teigen among them — will prompt legions to hit the checkout button. But the dozens of titles swamping food editors’ inboxes and the ones that may generate the biggest, longest-lasting buzz are all about a particular appliance: the programmable electric multicooker trademarked as Instant Pot and its growing ilk.

Politicians up for midterm elections only wish they could harness the passion inherent in Instant Pot communities online, where folks share the ins and outs of ownership. Although the countertop cookers have been around since late 2010, the Instant Pot company’s concerted marketing to influencers began to pay off by 2016, some analysts say. Amazon Prime Day spikes in sales for the past three years made publishers sit up and take notice. (Amazon founder Jeff Bezos owns the Washington Post.)

A multicooker can function in a variety of ways, such as steaming, boiling, sauteing, etc. But its ability to speed up preparation of long-simmered foods via push buttons has defanged pressure cooking for the masses. Early on, it seemed the clamouring public would not be satisfied with the gradual rollout of single-ingredient or cuisine-centric IP guides.

We want it all, and we want it now, which is why Instant Pot cookbooks have morphed so quickly from general recipe collections to niches so specific that the books’ subtitles can take longer to parse than it does to produce an Instant Pot of oats. The books are geared to cuisines, dietary regimens, budget, number of ingredients, mealtimes and even those cooks turned on by the promise of “ultimate” and “essential.”

“Instant” is somewhat misleading, however. Manali Singh, author of Vegetarian Indian Cooking With Your Instant Pot (YC Media, 2018), says that because of the brand name, “people often assume that everything will be cooked in seconds and minutes… It’s an appliance that does take time to come to pressure and then also takes time to release the pressure, so one has to keep that in mind.”

Those realities have not turned folks away. In short, this is no flash in the pan or bone-broth trend. “What’s surprising a few years out is that it’s really still gaining momentum,” says Jacqueline Musser, a senior editor at Adams Media. “People are revolutionized.” They are hungry for more multicooker cookbooks, she says, even with dozens already on the market. At the outset, at least, this is not intuitive cookery. An expert’s guiding hand is helpful.

The beloved Southern food writer Sheri Castle answered the call and cranked out Instantly Southern: 85 Southern Favorites for Your Pressure Cooker, Multicooker and Instant Pot (Clarkson Potter) in eight months. “The pots are useful for cooks with a well-appointed kitchen, but they are a godsend for those who might have a tiny kitchen — or no kitchen at all,” she says. “With access to a single electrical outlet, cooks can prepare complete meals for themselves and their families. I celebrate that.”

You might find that many of this year’s IP cookbooks are of similar, modest breadth, size and price point. To capitalize on the current rage, Musser says, publishers want to get their related books out sooner rather than later: “Eighty recipes is easier than 300 recipes.” And no matter how intently the titles drill down to a niche audience, newer Instant Pot models and more manufacturers will only feed the need for more multicooker cookbooks. Home canners, your day is coming soon.

You may also notice the imprimatur of “Authorized by Instant Pot” on some of those book covers. That typically means the company and publisher reached a deal, formal or otherwise, to cross-promote their products. To date, Instant Pot has endorsed 35 titles on its website.

Instant Pot has to “really like the authors,” says Morgan Hedden, an editor at Grand Central Life and Style who has shepherded through a keto diet Instant Pot book to be published in early January. It will be the publisher’s first IP title. “It’s new year, new you time,” she says.

Expect the wave to keep coming. We have counted at least 20 such books that published this fall alone. In the meantime, we asked some of this year’s IP cookbook authors to share just how instantly their books came together, what they learned in the process and how many of the appliances they own. Their edited answers follow:

Instantly Southern (Clarkson Potter)

Sheri Castle

Multicookers owned: Three (all six-quart).

Book turnaround time: Eight months.

Favourite thing to make: Braised meat, dried beans, whole grains (high pressure). Perfectly cooked fresh vegetables and dreamy eggs (low pressure).

Don’t make: Crisp foods and traditional baking. So for now, there will be no fried chicken or buttermilk biscuits.

The Essential Indian Instant Pot Cookbook (Ten Speed Press)

Archana Mundhe

Multicookers owned: Three — two six-quarts, one eight-quart.

Book turnaround time: 10 months.

Favourite thing to make: Curries or lentils can be cooked in the main pot, while rice can be cooked at the same time with the pot-in-pot technique.

Don’t make: Any dish that requires a dry and crisp texture.

The Instant Pot Bible (Little, Brown and Co.)

Bruce Weinstein and Mark Scarbrough

Multicookers owned: Nine — one three-quart, seven six-quarts, one eight-quart.

Book turnaround time: Six months.

Favourite thing to make: Spaghetti and meat sauce using raw pasta — in only six minutes.

Don’t make: Jams or sugar-syrupy recipes. Can you cook a prime rib in the Instant Pot? Yes. Should you? That’s another story.

Multicooker Perfection (America’s Test Kitchen)

Dan Zuccarello, executive food editor for books

Multicookers owned: 50-plus: six- and eight-quarts.

Book turnaround time: One year.

Favourite thing to make: Risotto in 30 minutes, with next to no effort.

Don’t make: Not all fish does well. And certain kinds of grains can foam up if you’re not careful.

Comfort in an Instant (Clarkson Potter)

Melissa Clark

Multicookers owned: Two — six-quart, eight-quart.

Book turnaround time: Six months.

Favourite thing to make: Beans. Lentil soup in 15 minutes. Chickpeas, starting from dried, are an after-work thing now.

Don’t make: A whole chicken, with skin — flabby, just no. But skinless parts are good.

The Essential Mexican Instant Pot Cookbook (Ten Speed Press)

Deborah Schneider

Multicookers owned: Two — both six-quart.

Book turnaround time: Four months.

Favourite thing to make: Shredded beef and chicken for enchiladas, and bean recipes.

Don’t make: Bone marrow.

Instantly French (St. Martin’s Griffin)

Ann Mah

Multicookers owned: One — a six-quart.

Book turnaround time: Six months.

Favourite thing to make: Chickpeas. They have a perfect velvety texture every time.

Don’t make: Ratatouille was a soggy mess.

The Ultimate Instant Pot Cookbook (Ten Speed Press)

Coco Morante

Multicookers owned: Three — three-quart, six-quart, eight-quart.

Book turnaround time: Within a year.

Favourite thing to make: Artichokes.

Don’t make: Anything you want to turn out crispy — at least, straight out of the pot.

— Washington Post