Kaido
Elite Member & Kitchen Overlord
- Feb 14, 2004
- 49,999
- 6,304
- 136
Here's a rundown: (copy/paste)
The Instant Pot ("IP") is very intimidating, until you realize how easy it is. I have several friends who let them sit for months before using them. First, let's go over some basics:
- The Instant Pot uses liquid to pressurize (typically via a minimum of a cup of water, although not always, if your food is moist). By pressurizing, it raises the boiling point of water, which cooks food faster (without making it fall apart or get rubbery or weird). Imagine blowing up a balloon...similar idea. The locking lid keeps the pressure in so it doesn't blow up (plus it has other safety features to prevent it from blowing).
- Never ever ever put your Instant Pot on your stove. There are countless pictures of people's melted IP's. Just don't do it. Ever.
- ALWAYS keep your pot in your Instant Pot. The inner metal pot is removable. This is another common mistake people make...they'll take the pot out for cleaning & not put it back right away, then pour stuff directly into the pot & ruin their IP.
- There are 3 parts to the cooking cycle: preheat, cooking, cool-down. Preheating is just like your oven...it's where the IP gets hot & pressurizes (like blowing up a balloon). This can take up to 45 minutes if you have a full 6 quarts of liquid (like a soup), but is usually much faster (if there's less liquid & food inside). Cooking is however long you set the IP to cook for. Cool-down is where the pressure comes back down to room pressure so that you can open the lid.
- The cool-down (aka depressurization) is broken into two options: quick-release (QR) and natural-release (NR). Some recipes need a quick-release, where you turn the pressure valve on top & release the steam (it's noisy & scary the first time you do it, but you'll get used to it). Others need a natural release, which is where you let the pot naturally come down to room pressure over time (usually 10 or 20 minutes). For example, corn on the cob needs a quick release or else it will get all soggy. But jasmine rice needs a natural release to finish the cooking process.
- Most recipes just use Manual mode. The only other features I really use are Saute (for browning meat or caramelizing onions), Yogurt (for making yogurt), and Warm mode, for keeping food warm.
- The IP tends to kill flavor, so you can either over-season a recipe before you cook it, or add the seasonings after. Like, if you're doing pulled pork & you want it wet (sauced), cook the meat in water or broth, shred it, and then mix in the sauce - otherwise the sauce will lose a lot of flavor during the cooking process. Some recipes take this into account, like crack chicken.
- Adjusting recipes can be difficult because the Instant Pot is so precise, so keep them in mind when doubling or tripling or halving a recipe...recipes are designed for specifically quantities of food & specific cooking times. That's not a bad thing, but it's something to keep in mind if you need to cook for more people. Sometimes it works out perfectly, sometimes not, so you have to experiment & adjust as necessary.
- There is a max-fill line marked in the pot. Don't fill it up beyond that.
- I highly recommend buying the colored ring set. The seal on the lid (to keep the pressure in) is made from silicone & picks up smells. That means if you cook really potent stuff (say, Indian food), it will absorb the smell forever & ever, and then if you make something delicate (like yogurt), that smell will get infused into the food. I use the stock clear ring for most recipes, and then I bought the 2-pack colored ring set (red & blue), which I use for spicy stuff (the red ring) and desserts/yogurts (the blue ring).
- Disassembly: this helps you get familiar with your Instant Pot. First, learn how to put the lid on. This can be extremely frustrating until you get the knack for it. It's a twist & lock kind of deal. Second, disassemble the entire lid (see the manual). Basically: pull out the silicone ring, and put it back on, so you get a feel for that. Then pull apart the float valve assembly & put it back together. Then pull apart the steam-release valve (the wobbly knob on top, with the anti-block shield underneath). Now pull out the pot & put it back in. That's pretty much all there is to it!
- Water test & cleaning: (looks like you already did this per your reply post) This is where you pressure-cook some water to get a feel for the machine & also to make sure that everything is working properly. Just dump a few cups of water into the pot, lock the lid, turn the steam-release valve to the left (yes, it will be wobbly - it's supposed to be like that), and set it to Manual for 5 minutes. It will preheat, then do the cooking cycle for 5 minutes, and then you can do a QR (quick release), which will make the steam come out. The steam is hot, so don't put your hand on top of the valve (you can use a rag or potholder the first time if you're nervous). The float valve is the little metal pencil-thingy on the lid next to the knob...that pops up when the IP pressurizes, like the bottom of a balloon...it will drop when all of the pressure is released, and then you can twist off the lid. It will probably have some condensation on the lid, so twist off carefully, lean it to one side, and let it drip back into the pan. Note that the side handles let you "dock" the lid vertically for convenience (so you have a place to put the lid). Let it cool down, and then wash the pot & lid pieces with soap & water so that you are ready to use it.
- I usually tell people to cook jasmine rice the first time. It's easy, cheap, tasty, smells good, and is hard to screw up. Get one cup of jasmine rice and rinse it in a sieve with cold water, then add it to the pot. Add one cup of water to the pot & stir it together with the rice. Lock the lid and set to 3 minutes (the workflow is usually: press cancel, press Manual, hit the minus button to go down to 3 minutes, then it will auto-start after a short period of time). It will take 5 minutes or so to pressurize, then it will start the countdown for the actual cook time. Then let it do a NR (natural release) for 10 minutes - it will say L# (L & the number of minutes it's been sitting since it's been done cooking). When that hits 10, take off the lid, stir up the rice, and put it in a bowl (it gets VERY stick, so remove immediately!). Boom, awesome rice!
- Crack chicken is amazing & very easy. I use this recipe, although I recommend reducing the water to 1/2 a cup: https://www.adventuresofanurse.com/2016/10/04/instant-pot-crack-chicken/
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