In the end, and in the face of an irresistable Costco offer, I jumped in. I felt really sheepish when I brought the box in from the car.
Luckily, Ivan was and is a success. I sold my stovetop pressure cooker, which partially funded the purchase
Not only is he a fab pressure cooker, but he is also a good slow cooker. I had no previous experience of slow cookers, so I can't say he is better than any other slow cooker. Except that I can brown stuff in Ivan, which I don't think you can do in most slow cookers.
I also use him to make yoghurt, at least once a week. I used to use a saucepan and a flask. Ivan is a bit more convenient, and I don't tend to forget about a batch of yoghurt when he's sitting on my worktop with "Yogt" on his display. Not that I've ever left a flask of yoghurt in the airing cupboard (cough, cough).
I don't use all his functions: I don't use his rice cooker functionality - I have no problems cooking rice, and a saucepan is just as easy. I don't tend to use him as a non-pressure steamer, as I find a saucepan and steamer just as easy and no more/less washing up.
I've tried lots of recipes that I probably wouldn't have tried in my stovetop. That's because I keep getting recipes in my news feeds. Lots of delicious asian recipes with pork; pressure cooker cheesecakes; lots of slow cooker recipes for stews (where I previously would have used long slow cooking in the oven).
I've also used him to make hard boiled eggs (or firmish boiled eggs for scotch eggs) and, genuinely, they are easier to peel when done that way. I wouldn't use him to pressure cook boiled eggs for instant consumption - it seems a lot quicker (and less washing up) to just use a saucecepan.
He's in use many times a week, and he's actually overtaken Thermy as my most-used item. I had to get a spare bowl for him, as I often use him for multiple things in a day.
I bought an Ivan for my mum. When I was a child, my mum was an early adopter of pressure cooking. She had one of those tall Prestige pressure cookers. She physically wouldn't be able to use a stovetop pressure cooker now, but I thought she might find an Ivan helpful. To my surprise, she loves him and seems to use him a lot!
I see they've now bought out a bigger version. I won't be upgrading, the current size is fine for the two of us. It'd be fine for four of us really.
I see also that they've rought out a SousVide option for him. We already have a similar device, from something DH backed on Kickstarter a few years ago, so I can't see us switching.
