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Congratulations on your new Instant Pot! I know you can’t wait to start using your newest kitchen gadget but before you do that here are a few things you should know before using Instant Pot. If you have been using a stovetop pressure cooker like Hawkins or Prestige than this article is a must-read. It will help you understand how an Instant Pot is different from a stovetop pressure cooker and will help make the switch easier. Here’s what you should know before using your Instant Pot so that you understand what is expected behavior and what’s not. Instant Pot uses less water than stovetop pressure cookersThere is very little evaporation that happens when you are using Instant Pot so do not add more water than the recipe calls for. Having said that, follow the liquid guidelines for Instant Pot – A 6-quart Instant Pot needs at least 1 cup of liquid, and an 8-quart needs about 1.5 cups. There is no vent or whistle that goes offDon’t expect the vent to go off like a traditional stovetop pressure cooker. There will be a soft hissing sound but nothing like the whistle from the stovetop pressure cooker. Steam will escape through the valveWhile there is no whistle going off, it is normal for some steam to escape around the valve during the pressure building phase. The steam handle/valve will be looseThe steam valve is designed so that it can be moved from sealing to venting and vice versa. That’s why it will be loose – nothing to worry about here. The display will show ‘On’ for a long timeThe Instant Pot’s display will show “On” while the cooker is coming to pressure. The amount of time that Instant Pot takes to build pressure depends on the amount of liquid in the inner pot and the food that is being cooked. In most cases, that will be 10-15 minutes but there are exceptions. For instance, Instant Pot may take over 30 minutes to come to pressure while cooking frozen food or when cooking with lots of liquid. Once it comes to pressure, the cooking cycle will begin, the floating valve will pop out and the display will show the countdown instead of “On”. Important: When looking at recipes from the internet or Instant Pot cookbooks, make sure to account for the pressure-building time since the recipes usually don’t. The display shows LO: followed by a number when it is in Keep Warm modeWhen your Instant Pot displays LO followed by a number, it means that the pressure cooker is in the ‘Keep Warm’ mode. The number followed by LO indicates how long it has been in that mode. LO:01 means that it has been in that mode for 1 minute. It is a nifty feature that allows you to keep your food warm for up to 10 hours. If your intention is to open the Instant Pot immediately after the pressure has naturally released, keeping it in the Warm mode will delay the process. Select Warm/ Cancel to turn off the Instant Pot. Tip – Press the Manual (or Pressure cook in newer models) button or any smart function button (beans, rice, etc) that you are using for cooking two times in a row and it will turn off the warm function. Do’s and Don’ts while using Instant Pot
Hope this helps! Do you have any words of wisdom to share with someone who just purchased the Instant Pot? Please share in the comments. Here are some Instant Pot articles that you might find helpful Maintaining and Troubleshooting Instant PotCookbooks and Accessories – Which ones to buy?
Need Recipes?Check out these 10 easy recipes to make in the Instant Pot that are perfect for beginners. Here are my top 5 recommendations. Looking for more? check out this list of 100+ Instant Pot Recipes. This post was first posted on Nov 25, 2017, and completely updated on Dec 5, 2019. |