Everything you NEED to know about the Crock-Pot versus the Instant Pot!
Watch us as we talk about the similarities and differences in these two appliances, how to do freezer cooking for both, and have your questions answered.
See the details in this direct comparison video!
Slow Cooker
Pros
(Brand example: Crock-Pot)
- Fewer Functions: This can be a pro for those who are overwhelmed by too many buttons and uses.
- Convenient: You can put your meal in and walk away until a later time in the day, usually hours later, and do other things.
- Easy: Slow cooker meals are usually easy to throw together for cooking that day or freezing, not labor-intensive.
- Time: They have helped us save time in the kitchen for YEARS!
Cons
- 1 Function: They only serve one function.
- No Cooking from Frozen: You can not safely cook frozen meals in the slow cooker, you must first properly defrost them.
- It takes a LONG time: You have to wait hours for your meal to be ready.
- Meat Texture: Meats can often turn mealy or dry.
Slow Cooker Meal Plans Slow Cooker Recipes
Pressure Cooker
Pros
(Brand example: Instant Pot)
- Lots of Functions: Rice cooker, saute’, slow cook*, yogurt maker, and pressure cooker.
- Convenient: You can put your meal in and walk away until a later time (minutes instead of hours) and do other things.
- Easy: Instant Pot meals are usually easy to throw together for cooking that day or freezing, not labor-intensive.
- Cook from Frozen: You can cook frozen meals in them without defrosting as it comes to pressure it defrosts the meal, using the liquid to cook the meal and the meal is above 140 degrees in less than 2 hours so you are safe to consume them.
- Tender Meat: Meats and meals are often more tender, not mealy or dry as they are being cooked with steam/pressure allowing them to retain moisture.
- FAST Cooking: Meals are ready in MINUTES! (Example: Whole FROZEN chicken from start to table in under 1 hour, even with pressure-time).
*The electronic pressure cookers such as Instant Pot can be a slow cooker too!
Cons
- Multiple Functions: There are a lot of buttons and functions and for those who like simple machines, this can be a steep learning curve. When taken step-by-step or function by function it is much easier.
- Old School Concept: Years ago our mothers and/or grandmothers likely owned a stovetop pressure canner or cooker that has given pressure cookers a bad rap. These devices are not your grandmother’s pressure canner and are much safer and easy to use than those.
- Coming to Pressure: The “coming to pressure” time can often take a while and set you back in getting your meal prepped quickly. It is a good rule of thumb to remember to account for this added time when cooking.
- The “Burn Notice”: Because of either your ingredients, not enough liquid, or a million other things, you may experience a burn notice where the Instant Pot overheats.
Instant Pot MEAL PLANS Instant Pot Recipes
How to Convert Slow Cooker Recipes into Instant Pot Recipes
Compare with similar Instant Pot recipes.
Check other recipes whether around the internet, in a cookbook, or on our site to look for a similar set of instructions. That will help you with all steps: prep, cooking, and pressure release.
Overall, reduce cooking time.
A good rule of thumb is about 8 hours on Low, 4 hours on High in a Slow Cooker = 25-30 minutes Manual/Pressure Cook in the Instant Pot.
Natural Release for even more “slow cook” time.
Naturally releasing the pressure will allow your original slow cooker recipe to sit and cook just a little longer, molding flavors and tenderizing meat. However, if you’re in a hurry, a quick-release will do just fine!
Determine whether you will cook from frozen or from thawed.
Remember, you cannot cook meals in a slow cooker from a frozen state as it sits in the “danger temperature zone” for too long. You can only cook meals from frozen with an Instant Pot or another programmable pressure cooker.
Resources from Video:
- Instant Pot Meal Plans
- Instant Pot Recipes
- Instant Pot Resources
- Instant Pot DUO60 7-in-1
- Set-n-Forget Slow Cooker
- Jokari Bag Holders
- Other Facebook Instant Pot Videos
Videos Related to Instant Pot:
- Unbox your Instant Pot
- Instant Pot Pot-in-Pot Method
- Whole30 and Weight Watchers Meal Planning with Instant Pot
- Instant Pot Freezer Cooking for 1 or 2 people
Featured Meal Plans:
- WINTER PALEO INSTANT POT MINI FREEZER MEAL PLAN VOL. 1 (WHOLE30 COMPLIANT)
- WINTER INSTANT POT DIET MINI FREEZER MEAL PLAN VOL. 1
- WINTER INSTANT POT REAL FOOD MINI FREEZER MEAL PLAN VOL. 1
- WINTER INSTANT POT GLUTEN FREE DAIRY FREE MINI FREEZER MEAL PLAN VOL. 1
- WINTER INSTANT POT VEGETARIAN MINI FREEZER MEAL PLAN VOL. 1
- WINTER INSTANT POT MINI FREEZER MEAL PLAN VOL. 1
More Instant Pot resources:
16 Comments
Join the discussionCan you use slow cooker liners is the Instant Pot?
Hi Norma — you actually shouldn’t use slow cooker liners in the Instant Pot. With Pressure Cooking, it gets really hot in there and it could ruin your Instant Pot bowl. Hope this helps!
I haven’t looked at the instant pot up close and in person. Is it big enough to do canning with quart jars? It has to replace what I use for canning because I don’t want more stuff. Thanks!
The USDA does not recommend using an electric pressure cooker for canning as it cycles, meaning the temperature will go up and down to keep the pressure constant. This may mean the temperature may drop below the recommended temp while canning and all bacteria may not be killed. Only stovetop pressure canners should be used.
That’s correct. Current electric pressure cooker models do not operate at high enough pressure for pressure canning. We’ve heard there is a new Instant Pot model coming out that does operate at a high enough pressure for canning, but I don’t believe it’s out yet.
How do you can in an instant pot? And what types of food would be safe to do this way!
You can find lots of canning recipes specifically for the Instant Pot online – that would probably be your best bet! A lot depends on the model that you have – to know what the PSI is – and use that as a guide on what would be safe.
Using a crockpot or other slow cooker one can add extras as things cook. One can’t do that with an instant pot. Also if doing a large corned beef, pot roast, turkey it has to be cut up to cook. How is this any saving and its presentation does not look wonderful?
Can you do a turkey in a slow cooker? I thought that was dangerous because the turkey would not get to a safe temperature fast enough. As for presentation, I have seen several ways to present a large roast, poultry or corned beef that involve them already sliced up and still look lovely. As a matter of fact, my MIL always pre-slices anything she brings to the table: ham, turkey or roast, and her presentation is always lovely.
Great tip on the presentation! A turkey can be done safely in the slow cooker, but it needs to be fresh or thawed (never frozen) and sized appropriately to cook through at a safe temperature.
This is biased. Look at the cons of the instant pot. There are only two mentioned, price is not mentioned, and each of the two are followed by an excuse. Seriously got paid to say that, didn’t you?
We have no sponsored or monetary relationship with the Instant Pot brand. We are simply partial to the Instant Pot as it is the one we have found to be most tried and true of the pressure cooking appliances we have tried. Even though we are partial to it we write all of our recipes and resources to be able to be prepared in any programmable pressure cooker, and we offer a wide variety of slow cooker recipes as well so that everyone can choose the cooking method that works best for them.
I have used a pressure cooker for over 20 years and got a Fagor electric pressure cooker a couple of years ago. I love my pressure cookers! I do not use a slow cooker for many reasons. I generally do not have a lot of time to prep a slow cooker dish in the morning for it to cook all day, but I generally have the time in the afternoon/evening to put something in the pressure cooker. Also, my husband is not comfortable with a slow cooker being left on and unattended for hours at a time. I know I was making some boiled peanuts and left them in the slow cooker for the entire day and night. When I cleaned it out, the glaze on the ceramic pot had crazed and spiderwebbed. I read that is common with the ceramic inner pots for a slow cooker and I had to throw it out. As for cost, pressure cookers have saved me far more money than slow cookers have and have more than paid for themselves! Finally, my family does not care for stews, souls and casseroles (and it kills me because I love them all), and most recipes in a slow cooker seem to be one of those. I can put wings, ribs, a roast or chicken, with skin on, in the PC and be done within an hour. If I want to crisp up skin or wear something, I can just set it in the over or a frying pan for a few minutes. I have done a whole chicken in the PC from start to finish in one hour and it was so juicy!
No, I do not get paid to praise Instant Pot because I do not even own one. Mine is a Fagor. The only one I would hesitate to recommend is the Power Pressure XL. I had one and returned it because of quality issues and felt if I was going to pay that much, I would buy a better brand, which was pretty much the same price. I get that slow cookers are cheaper than PCs, but if you won’t use it, it’s a waste of money.
Wow, great info! Thanks so much for sharing your experiences!
I think it’s also good to mention that an Instant Pot can be used as a slow cooker, and there is even a glass lid you can buy for it, to easily view/access your food as it cooks. The only con I see to using it this way is you don’t have the oblong shape, which could impact some recipes.
Definitely a great space saver to be able to use one device for both purposes.
Just wanted to point out that a pressure cooker is not a slow cooker, it just cooks slowly. Not all slow cooker recipes can be converted to an Instant Pot as I found out with a lentil recipe that never cooked after 6 hours in the IP. A Google search revealed that the slow cooker heats up to a higher heat (300F range) and the ceramic means that that heat is distributed throughout the insert. Not so in an Instant Pot where the heat comes solely from the bottom and the metal insert does not distribute heat evenly throughout the dish. So yes, the Instant Pot can do a lot and many slow cooker recipes convert well, but recipes relying on a certain heat temperature and heat distribution do not do well.