If you have jumped on the instant pot bandwagon, you know all too well how helpful this appliance is. In fact, in today’s time instant pot is hailed as the Holy Grail of cooking and for all the right reasons. It is an electric pressure cooker that speeds up the cooking by 2-6 times and uses about 70% less energy. Moreover, it is a smart appliance that uses one touch controls and is capable of replacing multiple kitchen utensils owing to its versatility.
Since there is a variety of instant pot sizes and models, it’s important that you do a quick instant pot comparison to find out the right one for your needs. Also, there’s a learning curve and for some it gets hard to get started. In order to make your instant pot experience even more fruitful we have rounded up some very useful tips and tricks below.
Pressure time
Although instant pot greatly reduces the overall cooking time, it is still crucial to realize that it takes ten minutes for it to reach pressure in the beginning. It is only after it has built up the required pressure, that it will start cooking. So per say if you are making a dish that has a cooking time of 20 minutes, you will have to factor in the additional 10-minute pressure time. Hence, you will be able to prepare that dish in 30 minutes.
Foods that don’t need liquid
Like traditional pressure cookers, instant pot also requires water to cook any food. The steam from the liquid develops the pressure required for cooking. But what happens when you want to cook something that is free of any soupy contents? You can place your food inside a pan and place it on top of the trivet. This way your food does not get mixed with any liquid while being cooked to perfection inside the instant pot.
Get multiple sealing rings
While the instant pot beats all other traditional cookers, there is still one downside to it; the sealing rings tend to lock in odors. This can be a nuisance when you have to use the pot to cook all kinds of dishes. You definitely don’t want your fresh sweet pudding smelling like your last savory meal! So it is a good idea to fetch some extra sealing rings or even get color coded ones separate for sweet and savory dishes.
Vary temperature settings
The instant pot comes with different temperature adjustments for saute and slow cooker functions. This enables you to increase or decrease the temperature according to the dish you are making. This greatly eliminates the risk of overcooking or under cooking and once you get the hang of this technique, every meal you make will be cooked to perfection.
Do not over fill
Another crucial thing to keep in mind while using the instant pot is to never over fill it. Over filling results in badly turned out meals and it wrecks the entire experience completely. Some items such as rice and lentils expand when cooked so it is even more necessary to avoid overfilling in these cases.
Learn different button uses
While the instant pot is recognized as a great ‘one touch’ appliance, it is still of value to learn how and when to use all the different buttons that are present on it. This will maximize your experience with the instant pot and you will have quality turn outs each time. for example if you have caramelized some onions via the sauté button, you can move ahead and add pressure cooking ingredients while pressing the manual pressure cooking button. In addition to this, you do not have to worry about any nutrient loss that comes with constant re-warming of food. Just tap the ‘keep warm’ button until it is time to serve.
While everyone loves using their instant pot, these useful tips will surely help you get to the top of the game by allowing you to get the best out of your efficient cooking ally.
