# Instant Pot

24 Hacker News commenters recommended Instant Pot and 3 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 11 of 13 months. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** People recommend it for hands-off cooking of many dishes in large batches, with good energy efficiency and durability. Critics say it is slow to reach and release pressure.

## Why people recommend it

- Hands-off cooking, set and forget (4 comments): "stick them in an Instant Pot for an hour, and you can walk away while they cook" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48136832)) "The electric lets me set and forget and come back to a hot meal hours later." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49148497)) "it lets you set a temperature and hold it for hours" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47911466))
- Versatile for many dishes (4 comments): "you can make absolutely gigantic batches of curry in the instant pot for low effort" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48686591)) "I've really enjoyed using my newer instant pot as a sous vide lately" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46449818)) "Steal-cut oatmeal made in Insta Pot is the best thing in the world." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47203343))
- Energy efficient cooking (2 comments): "The instant pot is very energy efficient so you don't need a very big solar system depending on where you live." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49611988)) "The Instant Pot is power efficient and can cook a lot of food at once." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45787785))
- Durable and safe to use (2 comments): "believed in its safety strongly enough that I have continued to use it" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47094924)) "they made a good durable product" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49385722))

## Where to get it

- [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Instant+Pot+pressure+cooker&tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link)
- [Official site](https://instantpot.com/)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Instant Pot", https://hackerapproved.com/p/instant-pot/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).