How To Slow Cook In The Instant Pot

Whats The Difference Between Instant Pot And Crock

How to Use Instant Pot as SLOW COOKER

Shape: Instant Pot has a circular steel pot, whereas Crock-Pot has an oval-shaped ceramic one.

Cooking method: The Instant Pot uses high pressure steam in a sealed container; the Crock-Pot is a lidded dish surrounded by a metal container that gently heats the bottom and sides of the dish.

Features: Both have settings and accessories to expand your cooking options, but the Instant Pot definitely has more. Hard-boiled eggs? Theres a silicone tray for that. Sautéing? Press that button. The Crock-Pot is simpler and more straightforward, with its timer and three settings: high, low, and keep warm.

Scale Back Your Recipes

If you wanted to, you could fill a slow cooker to the brim with ingredients. Not so much with the Instant Pot, which wont pressurize if its too full. If it doesnt pressurize, the food wont cook properly, so make sure youre scaling back your recipes. In general, youll need to keep the ingredients level below the 2/3 full MAX FILL line. If youre cooking ingredients that expand , only fill the Instant Pot to the halfway mark. The best instant pot recipes ensure that you follow this step.

How To Use Your Instant Pot To Slow Cook

Instant Pots slow cook function works differently than a stand-alone slow cooker. Here I will explain how to use your Instant Pot as a slow cooker.

PIN FOR LATER

Ill keep it real with you. I came to the conclusion that while the Instant Pot is great at cooking things fast, if I want to cook low & slow Ill use an actual slow cooker. But I also happen to have 6 slow cookers so I dont need to use my Instant Pot to slow cook. I understand thats not the case for everyone . Have you ever tried to slow cook a beef roast in your Instant Pot only for the roast to be undercooked & the potatoes and vegetables hard? Youre not alone. Its happened to me too. Trust me, when used properly, you can successfully use your Instant Pot to slow cook.

What Kind Of Recipes Should You Not Cook On The Slow Cooker Setting

DO NOT use slow cooker baking recipes when you Slow Cook in Your Instant Pot. They will fail.

A 6-quart slow cooker that I recommend has a large bottom baking area that none of the Instant Pots have. At this writing IP does have a Ninja slow cooker competitor and it is a slow cooker first and can be baked in, but it does not have a pressure cooker setting.

DO NOT use dried beans when you Slow Cook in Your Instant Pot. The timings are too off.

The other issue Ive run across is the timing of cooking dried beans. On normal, it can even take unsoaked black-eyed peas over 8 hours to cook. But on high you can cook unsoaked pinto beans in the 4 hours youd expect.

Of course, beans are a variable in themselves since many beans will be a little old when you buy them in the store. The older the beans the longer it needs to cook.

To avoid this timing issue I recommend that you dont cook the recipes that use dried beans or substitute cooked beans and reduce the water amount in those recipes.

Getting Dinner On The Table

Both the slow cooker and instant pot have helped me get dinner on the table because it makes it much more convenient.; Especially because I am feeding three teenage boys!

A big thanks to 5 Dinners 1 Hour for the Slow Cooker to Instant Pot Cheat Sheet!; We have been partnered with them for a series of videos on our FB page, Quirky Momma.

If you havent seen how 5 Dinners 1 Hour helps busy moms get dinner on the table, you have to experience it!;<amazing.

Recommended Reading: Can The Instant Pot Go On The Stove

Easy Instant Pot Pot Roast

This is the best way to get a tender, melt in your mouth pot roast in a fraction of the time. Instant Pot Pot Roast is super easy and reliable. The ultimate comfort food this pot roast is loaded with flavor, and yields a delicious seasoned gravy to drizzle over the meat and vegetables.Or you can pair this up with myInstant Pot Mashed Potatoes!

Instant Pot Pot Roast

The One Thing To Do Before Slow Cooking In An Instant Pot

Chances are high that you bought an Instant Pot because it did more than just pressure cook. You may have even told yourself that youd get rid of one of your slow cookers if you really loved the Instant Pot after trying it out for a bit but then basically forgot that this multi-cooker did anything other than pressure cooking.

Recently I used my Instant Pot as a slow cooker to see if I could indeed replace my smaller four-quart slow cooker with it. A couple of near-fails later, this is the most important thing I learned.

Don’t Miss: How To Cook Chicken Breast In Instant Pot

Do You Seal The Instant Pot When Slow Cooking

No. There is no need to seal the Instant Pot completely when you use your Instant Pot slow cooker function.

When slow cooking in the Instant Pot, you can cover the pot using;a tempered glass lid or the regular Instant Pot lid.

If you are using the Instant Pot lid, you need to move the;steam release valve to the venting position.

Sear The Pot Roast And Vegetables

How to Use the Instant Pot as a Slow Cooker | Instant Pot 101 For Beginners

Preheat the Instant Pot on saute mode, and then add some olive oil to the pan. Add the chuck roast to the pan, and sear on all sides. Some people may view searing as an additional step they would like to skip, but this is definitely worth doing. I do not recommend skipping the sear.

Be sure you sear all sides of the meat, not just the top or bottom. Use a fork or prop on the sides of the pot to help get this done.

This will give the Instant Pot Pot Roast a nice crust, and will result in greater depth of flavor. After searing the pot roast remove to a plate, and set aside.

Add the prepped vegetables to the fry pan with some salt and pepper to taste. Saute until the onions are soft and translucent then add the garlic for about thirty seconds or until fragrant. This will also give more flavor to your broth, just like when you seared the meat.

Read Also: How Do I Use An Instant Pot

How Long Do You Cook A Roast In The Pressure Cooker

The big question!

The short answer? About 1 hour.

The long answer:

How long a roast will need to be pressure cooked depends mostly on how large the roast or the pieces are that you cut it into.

I prefer to cut my roasts into chunks that are approximately 1 lb in size . However, the cook time also depends on the thickness of the pieces, so there has to be some wiggle room.

To be on the safe side, you can always allow for a little extra time pressure cooking the meat I opt for about 1 hour pressure cooking on high for smaller pieces. If your roast is frozen, or it is in one large piece, you will want to add a significant amount of time to ensure that your meat is fall apart tender.

How To Make Slow Cooker Bbq Country Style Ribs

Pat the ribs dry with paper towels and if large, cut them into serving size pieces . Combine the ingredients for the Smoky Pork Spice Rub and sprinkle it over the ribs, coating all sides. Add BBQ sauce, soy sauce, water, and liquid smoke to a small bowl and stir to combine. Set aside.

Place onion chunks on the bottom of a 6-quart slow cooker and place the seasoned ribs on top.

Pour the sauce over the top, coating the tops of the ribs. Cook on low for 6 to 8 hours or on high for 3 to 4 hours, until very tender but not falling apart.

Preheat your oven to broil. Use tongs to transfer the cooked ribs to a foil-lined baking sheet.

Brush them generously with additional BBQ sauce dont hold back! Give them a nice coating.

Broil the ribs to brown and caramelize the sauce and they are ready to serve.

Don’t Miss: How Long To Steam Broccoli In Instant Pot

Tips For Using Your Instant Pot As A Slow Cooker

Always be sure that there is at least 1 cup of liquid in the recipe.
Hit your Slow Cooker Function on your Instant Pot and then hit the adjust button to change the setting to “normal” or “high.”
If you want to cook a recipe like you would on low in a slow cooker, adjust your slow cooker to “normal” on the slow cooker function and cook for as the recipe calls to cook on low.

If you want to cook a recipe like you would on high in a slow cooker, adjust your slow cooker to “high” on the slow cooker function and cook for as long as the recipe states PLUS an additional 15 minutes for every hour.

The Ultimate Guide For Making Any Crockpot Recipe In An Instant Pot

Did you know you can convert slow cooker meals to Instant Pot or pressure cooker?

Save time and have dinner perfectly cooked every time!;Here is the ultimate guide for making any Crockpot recipe in an Instant Pot.

With so many family favorite meals already perfected in the slow cooker, we wanted to figure out the best ways translate them for pressure cooking. Weve found that most recipes translate just as well if not better! No need to totally re-invent your recipe collection when you can follow these guidelines to convert.

Recommended Reading: Can You Cook Bacon In An Instant Pot

Faq For Slow Cooking In The Instant Pot

Below are a few tips and tricks that will help you get the ideal result when using your Instant Pot as a slow cooker:

Do you still need to add 1 cup of liquid? No. Youre not using the pressurizer function. If the recipe already has liquid in it, add it. Otherwise there is no need to add an extra cup of liquid to the recipe.

Do you use the regular Instant Pot lid? Yes.; You dont have to use the heavy lid but you can. Again, the pot is not being pressurized so you can use any lid that fits. Personally I use my Instant Pot tempered glass lid when I slow cook in my Instant Pot.;
Can you use slow cooker liners? Yes. If youre using the slow cook function in the Instant Pot you can use slow cooker liners. If you are using your Instant Pot for any other function you can not use slow cooker liners.

A Quick Recap Of Key Cooking Stages

As we discussed in this post, there are three key phases to cooking in the Instant Pot. Once you add all ingredients and liquids, secure and lock the lid and choose your setting and time, the following things happen:

Preheating & pressurizing stage the pot heats up creating steam and pressure inside. This takes 5-20 minutes depending on how much food and liquid you add. Note: food starts to cook during this stage, kind of like when you boil potatoes on the stove they start to cook even before the pot comes to a boil, although most of the cooking happens once the water is super hot.

Cooking stage the built-up pressure pushes all the heat and steam inside the pot into the food, cooking it rather quickly. This is when the time youve selected for cooking under pressure starts counting down.

Depressurizing stage once cooking under pressure is done , the pot stops heating allowing the steam and pressure inside to escape through the release pipe. If you leave the pot alone, the pressure will release naturally but this can take 10-20 minutes depending on the volume of food inside. During this time, the food continues to cook at a slower rate. If you want to stop the food from cooking right away or you want to eat asap, you can release the pressure manually, which is known as the quick release .

Also Check: How To Cook Brown Rice In Instant Pot

Here Are Our Tips Conversions And Cautions For Making Any Crockpot Recipe Instant Pot Friendly

Basics for converting a crockpot recipe into instant pot

Here are some basic rules to help you know what should be changed for your recipe to work as a pressure cooker recipe. Plus some tips to help you make the most of your Instant Pot!

One-cup liquid rule

Take advantage of the saute function

Use the bowl-in-bowl method:;

How long to;pressure cook a slow cooker recipe

For many recipes, you actually do not need to change anything but figure out pressure cook time! This is the case for many soups, meat-only recipes such as roasts or chicken. In the beginning it takes some experimenting and practice because no two meals are exactly alike. Here are some basic guidelines that will get you going in the right direction!

If a Crockpot recipe calls for 8 hours on low , it will probably be done perfectly in about 25 minutes in the Instant Pot. If it isnt done, just cook it for another 5 minutes on manual . And dont worry, the Instant Pot will come up to pressure much faster the second time because everything inside is still so hot.

The thicker the piece of meat, the longer it will need. Volume does not matter, but density does. So if you have a large, thick piece of meat it will need more time than the same amount of meat cut into smaller portions.

If you throw your meat in frozen, just add 5-10 minutes to the total pressure cooker time. If its a really huge block of lots of ground meat or something, maybe 10.

Liquid conversions for cooking beans and grains

Double Check The Doneness Of Your Favorite Recipes

Slow Cook in the Instant Pot

Its always a good idea to check the inner temperature of a slow-cooked meal to ensure the ingredients are heated throughout, and this step is especially important when youre slow-cooking in an Instant Pot.

You see, there are a few key differences between an Instant Pot and a traditional slow cooker. For one, a traditional slow cooker pot is typically made of thick ceramic, so the sides of the bowl heat up, cooking your food from all sides. With an Instant Pot, the thin metal pot doesnt get nearly as warm, so your food is only being cooked from the bottom.

Additionally, the temperature settings on an Instant Pot arent exactly the same as on a slow cooker. The brand lists the following temperature ranges for each setting:

Less: 180-190°F
Normal: 190-200°F
More: 200-210°F

On a standard slow cooker, the low setting is generally around 190°F and the high setting is around 300°F. As you can see, the settings between the two appliances dont match up precisely, so it may take some trial and error to recreate your favorite recipes.

For these reasons, slow cooker recipes often take a bit longer to make in an Instant Pot, and youll want to check the inner temperature of your meal to confirm its reached a safe temperature before you dig in.

Don’t Miss: How Long To Cook Oxtail In Instant Pot

The Quantity Of Liquid

We all know that IP needs some type of liquid to get to pressure. This is how it works and there is no way around this. The liquid is used to power up the pot and delivers amazingly with regular and steamed recipes.;

However, when you want something with a thick texture cooked slowly you need a traditional slow cooker. With a Crock Pot, even if the dish starts with more liquid, it will evaporate during cooking.

With an;electric pressure cooker like the Instant Pot , this isnt possible because the lid is tightly sealed. Sure, the steam release valve is open, so some steam is released, but the result just isnt the same.

I made a few recipes using the slow cooker function in my Instant Pot. Some were great and some were tasty but a little watery.

Your first try

If you are cooking a recipe for the first time, use the same amount of water \ liquid as in the original slow cooker recipe. It may work and it would be tasty anyway.

Your second try

If the final dish on the first try was;too watery,;you have 2 options:

1. Use less liquid than in the original recipe.2. Use another lid that isnt as tight.

Tips On How To Make Slow Cooker Recipes In An Instant Pot

Tip #1: Adjust the Liquid Level

Every Instant Pot recipe must start with at least 1 cup of liquid. The liquid is required to prevent burn and to help the Instant Pot build pressure correctly.

Because the heating is so gradual in a slow cooker, the odds of something burning are slim BECAUSE enough juices from the food has been released by the time the slow cooker has reached its highest heating temperature.

Tip #2: The Instant Pot is designed to get really hot, really fast.

This means you have to START with liquid, otherwise your food will burn before its had a chance to release any juices.

With that said, anytime you make a slow cooker recipe in an Instant Pot, you need to adjust the recipe so that youre starting with at least 1 cup of liquid. This might mean adding additional liquid in order to reach the minimum needed.
This additional liquid can be water, stock or the same liquid that the slow cooker recipe calls for its your call. But make sure theres 1 cup of liquid at the bottom of your Instant Pot before you start cooking.

Tip #3: Natural Pressure Release vs. Quick Pressure Release

Anytime you make a recipe, the Instant Pot must build pressure, then cook your food, and then release the pressure. The pressure is typically released one of three ways:

The type of pressure release you choose for your slow cooker turned Instant Pot recipe matters, because anytime there is pressure inside the Instant Pot, your food is cooking.

Other Ingredients to beware of:

Don’t Miss: How Long To Cook Potatoes In Instant Pot