Gift Guide: The Pressure's On

The test cooks at Gourmet swore by pressure cookers.  They did their best to convince me they're every cook's most useful tool.

But the truth is that those things have always terrified me.  Just looking at one makes me tremble, convinced it's nothing but a bomb waiting  to explode.

Then the Instant Pot entered my life.  It's said to be foolproof, and somehow I believe that.  It's also said to be 7 pots in one: rice cooker, slow cooker, steamer, yogurt-maker, along with performing several other nifty tricks.

But frankly, it's the pressure function that interests me most.  It cooks beans in a trice. It's perfect for chicken stock: since the liquid never boils the broth comes out crystal clear.  And yes - the Instant Pot does very well by rice and stews.

This would make an extremely thoughtful gift for a new cook, a time-pressed pro - or anyone with a minimal kitchen.  The pot plugs into any outlet, making it not just an instant pot, but almost an instant kitchen. (It also comes with a rather mad cookbook offering unusual recipes for dishes like Chinese turnip cakes and white-cooked chicken.)

The list price is about $150, but if you look around you can easily find it discounted to to about half that.