THE UPS AND DOWNS OF THE INSTANT POT I

Is the latest edition of the Instant Pot — one of the biggest sellers of the 2017 holiday season — the apex of user-friendly food technology?

recently introduced an Instant Pot, the famed all-in-one cooker, to my kitchen. Heard of it? In the ever-pervasive genre of electric pressure cookers, it became a household name during the 2017 holiday shopping season, when it topped Amazon’s list of best-selling kitchen appliances. Instant Pot also boasts a Facebook community of 1.2 million members. It’s stainless steel and comes in several models and sizes, including the one I have — the 3-quart Pot Duo Mini, ideal for couples or small families — and starts at around $75.

So, what took me so long? I was reluctant to buy yet another kitchen appliance with grandiose claims. But this is the Canadian company’s third edition of its programmable multi-cooker — pres-

sure cooker, yogurt maker, slow cooker, rice maker, saute pan and warming pot all in one — since it first debuted the Instant Pot in 2010. So I pushed aside childhood memories of pulverized pressure-cooked vegetables, armed myself with a few new cookbooks written for multi-cookers and took the plunge.

And you know what? I’m still figuring it out. Some weeknights, when my goal is to get something flavorful and nutritious on the table using the high-pressure function, I love my Instant Pot so much I could snuggle it. Unplugged, of course. With the steam valve sealed.

I’ve made sensational restaurant-worthy grains, including a quick and creamy mushroom risotto from Wicked Noodle blogger Kristy Bernardo’s new cookbook, “Weeknight Cooking with your Instant Pot” (Page Street, $20). Quick is right. Cook time under pressure was only 6 minutes, and when you add the times it takes for the mushrooms’ liquid to release and evaporate (7 minutes), saute the onions and garlic (5 minutes) and toast the rice (3 minutes), it still seems far easier than standing above a steaming pot of arborio rice, stirring and reducing broth.

Other experiences have been less nirvana-like. I utterly failed at making plain yogurt, wasting two quarts of organic milk despite following the directions in the Instant Pot manual for boiling, cooling and adding starter culture. Another night, I had to turn to my trusty heavy skillet to efficiently brown drumsticks for a Ligurian chicken dish. The Instant Pot is fine for sauteing onions or garlic, but it doesn’t give me the true brown sear I want on meat and poultry.

For me, part of the issue is having a well-written recipe that fills in a lot of the Instant Pot’s blanks, especially when it comes to the waiting game. Depending on the dish, it takes 10 to 40 minutes for the pressure cooker to release naturally. Not knowing where your dish falls on that spectrum can be frustrating. As a newbie, I’m still trying to get over the hissing of quick pressure release, and the fear of getting burned.

But New York Times food writer Melissa Clark has a new cookbook that I found immensely helpful. “Dinner in an Instant” (Clarkson Potter, $22) is filled with modern, flavorful recipes that are worthy of company. Some include instructions for making the same dish on both the pressure and slow-cooker settings, including sweetand-sour glazed sticky tamarind baby back ribs that turned out so well, we made them twice. Clark has a unique recipe for fresh coconut yogurt using the meat of young coconuts. Yes, it’s on my list to try.

Here’s what I love about the Instant Pot, regardless of what’s cooking: Compared to my cast-iron pan and other everyday appliances, it is undeniably lightweight and easy to clean and handle (though, again, I have the Duo Mini model, which only holds a dainty three quarts). It also seems to be bringing my family together in a new nightly ritual of experimental wonder: What shall we make tonight — and how will it turn out?