Multicooker provides magic to create savory meals fast

The hardest ingredient to find for any weeknight recipe is time. Tuesdays after work just don’t have a lot of it, and it’s not as if you can order more time online.

A slow cooker can help by doing the cooking while you’re at the office. Load it up in the morning and come home after work to a fragrant, hearty meal.

The big thing missing here is spontaneity. If you’re not the kind of cook who can commit to and then start prepping your dinner before you’re fully caffeinated — or if you just can’t get yourself organized to start cooking in advance at all — a slow cooker won’t do you much good.

But a multicooker like the Instant Pot just might.

A multicooker is dinnertime convenience in stainless steel form, an appliance that combines an electric pressure cooker with a slow cooker, electric steamer and rice cooker. Several manufacturers make multicookers, including Breville and Fagor, but Instant Pot has become the best known in the United States. (Note that while most multicookers include a pressure-cooking function, some models only slow cook, so check before you buy.)

There’s no other single gadget that can make weeknight cooking easier. It can cook food either quickly or slowly, and it does both consistently, evenly and automatically. Get one, and you can get rid of your slow cooker.

I bought a multicooker almost a year ago to report on for The New York Times. I figured that afterward I’d stick the machine in the basement with all the other once-in-a-while appliances (like that electric deep fryer). Then I’d dig it out for braising the occasional large hunk of meat to tender perfection, which, as I immediately discovered, it does better than any other piece of equipment — Dutch ovens and slow cookers included.

Over time, though, the multicooker became so embedded in the rhythm of my everyday cooking that I never unplugged it. I ended up writing a cookbook for it, “Dinner in an Instant” (Clarkson Potter), as well as an in-depth guide at nytcooking.com. It was the slow cooker that went into storage.

What I especially love about the multi­cooker is its inherent flexibility, pleasing cooks of all temperaments.

If you’re an organized, plan-ahead type of person, you can use your multicooker exactly like a slow cooker. Just use the slow-cook setting with any of your old favorite slow-cooker recipes without even having to adjust them.

Culinary procrastinators, on the other hand, can take full advantage of the pressure setting, which cooks food in minutes instead of hours.

I’m in the latter camp, and so this is my routine: On the way home from work, I stop at the store for some beans or grains or a package of chicken thighs. I throw them into the pot with a mix of interesting seasonings. Then I make a salad while the pot does its thing.

That’s it. A satisfying dish that would normally take an hour or more is on the table in 20 to 30 minutes.

Now earthy soups, supple stews and luscious braises are within reach on weeknights.

In the summer I can quickly cook beans and grains for salads without heating up the kitchen, or steam artichokes without having to stare at a pot on the stove. I don’t even have to be home.

After using the machine consistently for nearly a year, I can say that if you stick to what it does best — stewing, braising, simmering, steaming — you’ll be amply rewarded. Just don’t attempt to cook anything crunchy or golden, because it probably won’t end well. No matter how many multicooker roast chicken recipes you may stumble across on the internet, don’t believe them. The skin ends up soft and flabby instead of crisp and salty, and the meat turns stringy.

If you play to the multicooker’s many strengths and remain aware of its weaknesses, you won’t be disappointed. You’ll also eat better — even at the last minute.

PRESSURE COOKER STICKY TAMARIND BABY BACK RIBS

• 4 to 5 pounds baby back ribs
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
• 1 star anise pod
• 2 tablespoons neutral oil, such as safflower or canola
• 4 small shallots, diced
• 1-1/2 teaspoons grated ginger
• 2 garlic cloves, grated or minced
• >> Sauce
• 1/4 cup tamarind paste or powdered soup concentrate
• 1/4 cup fresh orange juice (from about 1/2 orange)
• 1/4 cup honey, plus more as needed
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1/4 teaspoon grated lime zest
• 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

Cut ribs into chunks of 2 or 3 ribs, depending on size, and place in large bowl. Toss with 1 teaspoon salt, and set aside.

In a small bowl, combine sauce ingredients. Set aside.

Using saute function, heat oil in pressure cooker. Stir in shallots and cook until they start to brown, about 5 minutes. Stir in ginger and garlic; cook until fragrant, another minute, then stir in sauce. Bring to simmer, and then scrape sauce into large bowl of ribs. Toss gently.

Arrange ribs standing along edge of pressure cooker, making a ring with meat side of ribs facing out, arranging them to make concentric circles. Pour any remaining sauce over ribs, cover and cook on high pressure 32 minutes. Let pressure release naturally.

Heat broiler. Transfer ribs, meat-side down, to a rimmed baking sheet.

Turn pressure cooker to saute function and cook to reduce liquid in pot until thick, about 15 minutes; spoon fat off the top. Taste and adjust the seasonings or add more honey if necessary; then brush ribs with the sauce.

Broil ribs until charred in spots, 1 to 3 minutes. Flip them over, brush with more sauce, and broil on that side until charred. Serve immediately, with more sauce on side. Serves 4.

Slow-cooker directions: Add 3/4 cup water to the machine when adding sauce. Cook on high 4 to 5 hours or on low 6 to 8 hours. Remove ribs, reduce the sauce and broil as described above.

Nutritional information unavailable.