5 Things You Didn’t Know About The Instant Pot

An electric multicooker like the Instant Pot comes with a lot of amazing features. Even more, such an appliance can replace several others in a regular kitchen, and completely transforms cooking into an easy-going and fun activity.

However, the multitude of pre-set programs and controls can be a bit confusing which means that many users don’t use these pots to their full potential. Even more, some users don’t fully understand how these appliances work, which can lead to misuse.

So, if you’re curious to learn what cool things your Instant Pot can do, have a look at the features we mentioned below!

#1: Liquid is a Must

If you’ve never owned an Instant Pot before, it’s easy to ignore the fact that liquid is a must for everything you do with the lid on. The reason behind this is that the pot uses this liquid to build steam and bring the pot to the ideal settings for pressure or slow cooking.

On the other hand, if you’re only using it in saute or yogurt mode, the liquid is not mandatory.  But, in this case, you would miss out on a ton of cool features and reduce a complex multicooker to just a few functions.

Furthermore, some foods don’t require more than one cup of liquid, which can be broth or anything else in liquid form (not just plain water). However, you must make sure to not pour too much liquid in the pot (go over the max level marked in the inner pot), since this can also affect the cooking process.

Quick note: if you notice your pressure cooker takes forever to reach the right temperature for cooking, check if it has enough liquid to build steam. Some pots stay stuck if they don’t have the necessary amount of liquid for steam, which can lead people to believe they are defective.

#2: It Can Cook Frozen Foods

Maybe you have an unexpected guest for dinner and you didn’t defrost enough stake or maybe you just forgot to get the chicken out of the freezer. If you have an Instant Pot nearby, there’s no reason to panic!

While a regular slow cooker may take forever to cook frozen meats, IP products handle this challenge with grace. It’s enough to increase the regular cooking time by fifty percent and it will cook even frozen chicken to perfection!

Still, you should make sure to add the meat at the bottom and the past or veggies closer to the top. Also, don’t use thick cuts or large pieces of frozen meat as it may not deliver the perfect results.

#3: You Can Disable Some Settings

One of the reasons the Instant Pot series is so popular is the multitude of features it promotes. However, some are set to kick in automatically (like the Keep Warm setting) which can be a bit of a nuisance.

The good news is that some of these settings can be disabled using a few tricks. So, if you don’t want the pot to go in Keep Warm mode when the cooking cycle is complete, all you have to do is press the cooking program twice. For instance, if you cook in Manual mode, if you press the button for it a second time it will set te Keep Warm function to off.

Another setting that can be disabled is sound. If you’ve ever used an Instant Pot multicooker, you know it makes beeping sounds to confirm a command or showcase the current cooking state. But if you don’t want that, all you need to do is press & hold the “–” button for 3 seconds (you should see an ‘S OFF’ message on the display). To turn the sound back on, repeat the steps with the “+” button.

#4: The Yogurt Setting is Perfect for Proofing Bread

Who doesn’t like the smell of freshly baked bread? Not to mention that the home-cooked bread is healthier and tastier than the one from the supermarket!

Sadly, the perfect bread can be quite time-consuming to make, especially if you don’t have the ideal settings for proofing it. Bread dough is very sensitive to temperature variations and the yeast doesn’t activate if it’s too cold or if it senses a draft.

Luckily, an Instant Pot set on Yogurt will keep your dough safe and happy for as long as you want. True, it may take up to three or four hours to proof your dough, but the result is going to be amazing! Even more, you don’t have to worry, since the dough is well-protected by the pot – you can even leave and do some shopping while the dough is in the pot.

#5: Pressure Cooking Can Be Time-Consuming

Even though multicookers are built to deliver fast cooking and amazing taste, the pressure cooking program takes longer than some users expect. For instance, if you want to pressure cook something for ten minutes, you need to wait for the pressure to build, which can take up to 30 minutes or more.

Also, once the cooking is complete, you need to wait for the pressure to be released, which can take another 30 minutes (or more). Of course, you can always use the Quick Release option, but this is not always the best option.

This is only true for pressure cooking since the pot takes time to build up the right pressure settings.

Wrap Up

The things we mentioned in this article are not the only “hidden secrets” of IP multicookers but if you want to discover more, you’ll have to experiment with various foods and recipes. So, don’t be afraid to go out of the box and try new things (as long as you don’t break the security recommendations from the producer)!