Just how smart are Smart-Pots?
My husband is an infomercial junkie. I have tried to tell him that if they have to resort to a 30 minute television to spot to market a product, it is probably junk but nonetheless, he for some reason watches them and then he of course wants to buy the product because he gets pretty easily convinced. When I was in sales at the old newspaper office, I used to say that I wished all my customers were as easy a sell as he. There have been a few times (a very few times) that turned out to be good thing.
One of those times was with the Power Pressure Cooker XL - Silver.
After watching the infomerical several times, hubby decided it was something I could use to make him some delicious meals. Ya think I was depriving him? Probably so. He didn't order from the company but from our standby of Amazon.
At any rate, the pot was delivered and it turned out to be a blessing. I loved that I could cook a complete meal in a hour or less. Pot roast and beef stew were a family favorite. Potato soup was also an easy and quick one. When I cooked pinto beans that were absolutely the best I have ever tasted, I was sold for sure.
We were having a special night at our church where I was bringing food for the event. I decided to feed the crew my hearty beef stew as it was a cold night. I used my power pressure cooker to cook up a huge bait of the good stuff. I took the stew to the church in my pot and one of our church members who is a true cook commented on the pot and how she liked it. A few days passed and my husband came to me with his credit card in hand and told me to order Ms. Judy one of those pots. I started looking at Amazon to place and order and reading reviews and decided to order her the Cuisinart 6-Quart Electric Pressure Cooker. It had better reviews than the highly televised XL model and seemed simpler to use. Judy was thrilled with her gift and I understand she has cooked up some pretty mean meals in it.
I continued to use mine several times per week and was thrilled with it. Then a terrible thing happened. I have a glass top stove that is in an island in my kitchen. I do not have a lot of cabinet space. I was using my glass stove as a counter and had my pressure cooker on it full of collard greens. I thought I would do some quick boxed mac and cheese for the little one and put some water on to boil and turned on the wrong burner! I burned the bottom out of my pressure cooker almost setting it on fire. No one was injured except my feelings. I knew better than to put anything on that glasstop like that and I had no one to blame but myself.
Anyway, I was without what had become my favorite kitchen appliance for a little bit. Then one day out of the blue, my mom gives me a gift. To my amazement it was Cuisinart 6-Quart Electric Pressure Cooker. What a blesing. Now I had the chance to actually compare the two smart pots. My vote is for the Cuisinart. It is so much simpler to use in my opinion. The XL goes by type of food such as a beans setting and a meat setting and you can adjust the time but figuring out which setting for things other than those listings was tricky.
I also love the cookbook that comes with the Cuisinart. The settings are simple. You can brown in it. You can use it as a slow cooker if you choose. Although, I much prefer to use the quicker pressure settings. We had a pretty big snow here recently and I made homemade chicken noodle soup in it that was a big hit. This has almost completely replaced my crock pot. I would say the smart pot is a pretty smart option and well worth the investment. I have not tried the canning option yet but I am sure I will this summer.
Amazon currently has the Cuisinart for a discounted price of $99.95 with free Prime Shipping. After using both it and the XL, I would recommend either but can say that the Cuisinart seems to be made better. The valve seems to seat better and I prefer the simpler settings and directions that come with the Cuisinart. I was totally new to pressure cooking. I found several videos online for the Power Pressure Cooker XL that was a great help with recipes.
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