I recently bought the Instant Pot because a friend of mine cooked frozen chicken in 30 minutes. You read it right: frozen chicken in 30 minutes. Sign. Me. Up. Where do I get this magical machine to make all my last-minute meals? I immediately searched on Amazon to find out how much it cost and whether Prime could deliver it the next day.
Once my Instant Pot arrived, I quickly ripped off the packaging and threw it on the counter where my slow cooker used to sit. I glanced at the instruction manual only to familiarize myself with the buttons on the front, pulled out some frozen turkey meat to cook the next day and went to bed. Boom. I was on my way to being a super mom overnight.
The next day I decided to use an Instant Pot recipe from the included cookbook and learned that this wasn’t going to be as easy as I thought. It wasn’t like my slow cooker, where I could pour all my ingredients in and let it sit for four hours. I hit a couple of bumps in the road to making my meal but it is definitely a lifesaver! It reduces cook time by almost half, if not more. I cooked a 3-lb. pork shoulder in less than two hours! And yes, the meat was tender and shredded easily.
There are likely a lot of other moms who recently bought an Instant Pot and need some help using it. Thus, I decided to write some pointers on it, because the manual doesn’t tell you everything. Hopefully this minimizes the learning curve because this machine can be a game changer for weeknight meals!
1. This is NOT a glorified slow cooker. It’s actually a pressure cooker. I bought the DUO so it can be used as a slow cooker, if desired. Pressure cooking has different time requirements (usually much shorter than a slow cooker) but also requires the right amount of liquid in the pot to prevent burning or sticking. You also cannot see inside the Instant Pot. You have to lock the lid and there isn’t a window for peeking in to see how your food is cooking. If you want to open the lid, you have to stop the pressure cooking and let it vent completely, which can take up to five minutes.
Tip: Use recipes specifically for Instant Pot so you know exact times for pressure cooking various foods.
2. It’s a 7-in-1 Multi-Use cooker. In addition to pressure cooking and being a slow cooker, this machine allows you to sauté ingredients before cooking them. This is nice because you can keep sautéed food in the pot for pressure cooking without using a separate pan beforehand. The Instant Pot is also a rice cooker, steamer, warmer, and yogurt maker!
Tip: Make sure you have plenty of oil in the pot when sautéing, because food can easily stick to the bottom afterward, and can cause the “burn” alert to display. Fortunately, the pot will automatically stop pressure cooking when it detects possible sticking to prevent burning.
3. Account for warm up and cool down time. Although cook time is significantly reduced (quinoa takes only one minute!), it can take five to seven minutes for the Instant Pot to warm up before pressure cooking. Once the pressure cooking is done (based on your timer), you have two options for cool down. You can do a quick release where you immediately vent all the steam, which can take approximately five minutes. The other option is a slow release where the pot goes to a warm setting and the pressure is released naturally, which can take 10 minutes or more.
Tip: Add about 20 minutes to your overall “cook” time. If your soup takes 10 minutes of pressure cooking, then it will be 30 minutes (10 minutes before and 10 minutes after pressure cooking) before it’s actually ready to serve. This still reduces cook time, but it’s good to keep in mind when planning your day.
4. Yes, you can cook frozen foods in record time! It’s true, you can cook that frozen chicken in 30 minutes (10 minutes of pressure cooking). There can be a lot of experimentation that goes into cooking frozen foods based on both the type of food and amount cooked.
Tip: Purchase a cookbook or check out blog posts with Instant Pot recipes so you can learn times for cooking based on the amount of meat. Once you feel comfortable, you can start creating your own recipes.
There are a lot of blogs and websites that have other tips. I’ve read several times that creamy dishes can clog the seals and valves, so it’s best to add them at the beginning or end. I recommend reading as much as possible. What will you cook tonight?
