Woman vs Chicken – a newbie tale

I have been pining for the Instant Pot for months and finally purchased one yesterday. After I got through the water test where I was convinced I would face certain death, I gawked at hundreds of recipes looking for something easy to start with. I chose to make a whole chicken. The recipe said to sauté both sides for about 4 minutes. Easy right? The first side was simple enough, however, when I tried to flip that bad boy over, there was little room in my 6 quart to maneuver it….and it was stuck to the pan. Imagine trying to grab an oiled down pig stuck deep in the mud. I finally grabbed it by both legs with my bare hands and hoisted that baby right out of there. It looked as though it had been in a cock fight….skin peeled off, broken leg, truly a sorry sight. I then sprinkled my spices on the bird while tossing down a few sips of red wine and uttering a bit of adult language. Now I wait…

And here it is. Not a pretty sight but full of flavor.  After getting plenty of feedback from the IP community, I don’t believe that I would attempt searing the chicken in the pan again.  Even though the pot was hot, it took me too much time to fight that bird out of the pot to flip it.  Next time I will brown it in the oven if needed. My additional observation was that the more wine I drank, the better I felt about my chicken.

*Disclaimer:  No live chicken was harmed during the cooking process, however, the finished product wasn’t so fortunate.