How To Use Slow Cooker Option On Instant Pot

There Are 2 Things To Know About Using Your Instant Pot As A Slow Cooker

First, the Instant Pot only heats from the bottom surface, whereas typical slow cookers heat from the bottom and all of the sides.

Second, setting the Instant Pot slow cook function isn’t the most intuitive.

If you select slow cook function, set your time, and walk away, you may have accidentally set your Instant Pot to “keep warm”.

Unfortunately the terms used on the Instant Pot face plate for slow cooker temperature settings are not awesome.

With a regular slow cooker you are used to “Keep Warm”, “Low”, and “High”.

But, on your Instant Pot, those settings are called “Less”, “Normal”, and “More”

If you simply press slow cooker, set the time, and walk away, you may have your pot set to “Less” – which is essentially a keep warm function.

So, here is the run down of how to set your Instant Pot for slow cooking:

As for the lid. You can use the regular instant pot lid, and set it to vent. Or, you can get a clear instant pot lid, OR you can use a lid form your pots and pans set that fits!

How Exactly To Use Your Pressure Cooker As A Slow Cooker

yes…but#1 Use the Right Lid#2 A Slow Cooker and Instant Pot Heat Up Differently#3 Cooking Times Are a Little DifferentOn your Instant Pot, those settings are called Less, Normal, and More

Should I Get A Pressure Cooker A Slow Cooker Or A Rice Cooker

• We have a new favorite stovetop pressure cooker, the 8.5-quart Fissler Vitaquick.

Weve spent more than 200 hours researching and testing these cookersgoing through hundreds of pounds of rice, beans, meat, and stockas well as testing them over the long term in our own homes. This guide will help you figure out which type of cooker is best for your needs, whether thats cooking fast or slow, braising hearty pot roasts and stews, or making rice and steamed veggies.

If you have a little more time to cook, you might also consider a Dutch oven or a sous vide cooker. But those tools arent quite as helpful for times when youre out of the house or you need to get food on the table fast.

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How To Convert A Slow Cooker Recipe To An Instant Pot Recipe

Since the Instant Pot exploded onto the home cooking scene a few years ago, many people have chosen to get rid of their slow cooker in favor of the multi-functional appliance. You can cook your favorite recipes no matter which setting you’re using, but you’ll need to adjust the cook time.

• To convert a slow cooker recipe for the Instant Pot: Multiply the High setting cook time by 60, then divide by 10.
• To convert an Instant Pot recipe for the slow cooker: Multiply the Instant Pot cook time by 10, then divide by 60.

Instant Pot Slow Cook Setting

The Slow Cook is a non-pressure cooking setting that is compatible for use with any common slow cooker/Crockpot recipe. The pot is heated but is not pressurized and the Less, Normal and More modes correspond to Low, Medium and High slow cooker settings but you will need to adjust the time manually.

You might want to use this setting for making dishes ahead of time while youre away from home or overnight. There are times when slow-cooking might work better for certain recipes than quicker pressure cooking. Below are the steps for how to use the Slow Cook setting on Instant Pot.

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Meat Poultry And Stews

Generally, if your slow cooker meat, soup, or stew recipe calls for 8 hours on the low setting or about 4 hours on the high setting, it should be fully cooked in about 25 to 30 minutes in the Instant Pot. For chicken or turkey, use the 15-minute poultry button.

While volume doesn’t matter, density does. Roasts and large, thick pieces of meat will take longer, and a baking dish filled to a 3-inch depth will take longer to cook than a baking dish filled to a 2-inch depth. Cut large roasts into smaller pieces for faster cooking.

Frozen meat can be cooked in the pressure cooker as well, but you will need to add about 10 minutes to the total cooking time. If the meat doesn’t look done after the pressure is released, put the lid back on and cook it at high pressure for another 5 to 10 minutes.

How To Convert Slow Cooker Recipes To Instant Pot

If youre on social media, you know that the Instant Potor any variation of electric pressure cookeris super hot right now. You may have even gotten yourself a shiny new Instant Pot for Christmas. But you might also be a bit intimidated to dive in. And, if you’ve been a long-time fan of slow cooking, youre probably wondering if you can use your favorite slow cooker recipes in your Instant Pot.

What do you know? We have tips on how to convert your slow cooker recipes to Instant Pot recipes! By converting your recipes, you can keep making your familys faves even when you dont have time for the slow cooker.

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How To Use An Instant Pot

People love their Instant Pot pressure cookers, but learning how to use them can feel a bit overwhelming.

Since its not quite like tossing food in the oven unlike say, an airfryer there is a barrier to entry for some folks. But do not fret. Its actually quite simple once you get the hang of it.

We have 6 essential tips laid out in the order youll need them for using your Instant Pot thatll make your cooking life easier. There are plenty of different models of the Instant Pot, so find one that works best for you.

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Which Instant Pot Buttons To Use

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SO MANY BUTTONS! How to use Instant Pot is a top Google search. If you own an Instant Pot electric pressure cooker and want to know what each button does and when to use it, my complete guide will tell you everything you need to know about using the Instant Pot buttons for every model and version!

If youre just getting started with your Instant Pot, your first question might be How do I know which Instant Pot buttons to use? Heres a detailed explanation that will help.

The most important thing to know is the buttons are just preset, suggested cook times for specific items. If you use the Poultry button, your Instant Pot will not know how much meat is in the pot or whether its frozen or fresh. Your Instant Pot CANNOT sense what you are actuallycooking and CANNOT tell you when the food in your pot is cooked through.

So when youre cooking chicken soup, you can use the Soup button, the Poultry button, the Meat button, or the Manual button It really doesnt matter which button you use, just choose the button with the closest cook time to the time in the recipe youre using .

How To Make Instant Pot Pulled Pork

• Cube the pork into 3-4 inch chunks. This allows your pork to become SUPER tender and shred easily after pressure cooking.
• Mix together the spices in a small bowl and then and liberally rub them over the pork, coating each piece in the spice rub.

• Add the pork to the instant pot, along with the apple juice and liquid smoke.
• Set high pressure on your Instant Pot by hitting the manual button or pressure cook button on your pressure cooker until high pressure lights up. To adjust the time use the + and – buttons. Read more about this on Instant Pot Functions.
• Cook on High Pressure for 40 minutes for a pork shoulder or pork butt or on High Pressure for 30 minutes for a pork loin roast.
• Once cook time has elapsed, it is very important to allow the pressure to release naturally for at least 15 minutes when cooking large cuts of meat in your instant pot. If you do a quick release or pressure, your pork can become tough, making it difficult to shred.

• Place your pork loin into a large bowl and use 2 forks or a hand-held kitchen mixer to shred meat.

• Mix with your favorite BBQ sauce, if desired. This meat is super flavorful without the need for added BBQ sauce.

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Adjusting A Recipe For The Pressure Cooker

Pressed for time or just don’t like to wait? A pressure cooker could be just for you! A whole range of slow cooked stews, curries, bakes and braises can be cooked in a fraction of the time in a pressure cooker. As these handy devices use built up steam or pressure to cook the food, they require a little more caution than their slow cooking counterparts. The good news is that new models are very safe, and stories of exploding pressure cookers are now largely a thing of the past. To successfully convert a recipe for the pressure cooker, here are a few helpful steps.

How To Use An Instant Pot As A Slow Cooker

An instant pot performs a variety of functions in your kitchen. With technology bringing about the invention of WiFi and Bluetooth enabled instant pots, cooking is now easy. Homeowners have resulted buying this multitasking appliance to ease their kitchen struggles.

The pot functions as a sauté pan, food warmer, and pressure cooker for different foods. The pot is also used for cooking rice, steaming food, and making yogurt.

For this article, we will focus on your instant pot as a slow cooker.

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Genuine Instant Pot Tempered Glass Lid

This glass lid is great for containing splatters and keeping an eye on your meal when youre using non-pressurized settings like Sauté and Slow Cook. Just set the glass lid right on top of the inner pot to keep your kitchen counters clean and prevent your food from drying out while it cooks. This could be my #1 favorite Instant Pot accessory of all!

Add At Least 1 Cup Of Liquid:

In a slow cooker, the process takes long enough that in many cases, meat can release its natural juices, and thats enough to keep it from drying out. Not so with the Instant Pot! If your slow cooker recipe doesn’t have at least 1 cup of liquid, make sure to add some. Usually, broth is a good solution for that, but water can work, too. Or if your recipe already has liquid in it, like the can of chicken broth in our Slow Cooker Moroccan Chicken Stew recipe, then youre good to go.

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How To Crisp Up The Pork

To add a more authentic texture to the Instant Pot Carnitas, take a few minutes to crisp up the meat once it has been shredded.

• Turn your broiler on your oven to high.
• Spread the shredded pork loin on a large rimmed baking sheet, along with ½ cup of the cooking juices.
• Place the baking sheet under the broiler for 3-5 minutes or until the juice has begun to evaporate and the meat begins to brown.
• At this point, you can flip the meat, add an additional ½ cup cooking liquid, and repeat the process on the remaining side, or you can serve as is.

A Quick Note On Pressure Cooker Type

Over on the Cooking Issues blog, Dave Arnold has noted that results can vary greatly depending on the type of pressure cooker you use. See, older models of pressure cookers have what’s called a “jiggler”: a weight that sits on top of a steam vent. As pressure in the pot builds up, that steam pushes up on the weight harder and harder, until it finally lifts it just enough to vent a bit of steam out, releasing pressure and allowing the jiggler to settle back down. This happens at quite a rapid rate, leading to the weight “jiggling” up and down . What this means is that in an old-school pressure cooker equipped with a jiggler, the liquid inside actually simmers slowly as pressure builds and is released. This leads to cloudier broths and stocks, and soups and stews with ingredients that tend to fall apart a little more.

The results are pretty drastically different. See the batches of chicken stock here:

Here’s what’s in each cup:

• A) Stock cooked in a spring-valve stovetop pressure cooker
• B) Stock cooked in an electric pressure cooker
• C) Stock cooked in an older stovetop pressure cooker with a jiggler
• D) Stock cooked on the stovetop in a Dutch oven
• E) Stock cooked in a slow cooker

You can see an obvious difference in the color of these stocks. What you can’t see is the flavor, which, to a large degree, correlated with color. Batches A and B were by far the most flavorful, with the best body. Batches C and D were next , trailed by batch E, at a distant fifth.

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Instant Pot Steam Setting

The Steam setting on the Instant Pot is perfect for cooking vegetables, fish and seafood, tofu and any other food that is suitable to steaming. This function uses Low pressure, which helps to avoid overcooking the food and means that the Instant Pot will come to pressure quicker. You need to use the trivet/steam rack provided to elevate food from cooking liquid. Always use QR to prevent food from overcooking. Below is how to use the Steam setting on Instant Pot.

• Turn the Instant Pot on, it will say OFF to indicate the Stand-By mode. Add a cup of water to the inner pot and place the trivet on top. You can place the vegetables or a piece of fish or thinly sliced chicken on top of the trivet OR you can use an additional steam basket or a round pan with holes that fits inside the pot. A steamer basket might be useful for smaller-sized vegetables or cut-up vegetables to prevent them from falling into the water.
• Secure and lock the lid. Press the Steam button. The default setting is pre-programmed to set the pot to cook at Low pressure for 10 minutes. If you press the Steam button again, you can adjust the mode from Normal to Less or More.

Carnitas The Easy Way

According to Wikipedia, Carnitas are made by braising or simmering pork in oil or preferably lard until tender.

You guys, I have been doing this carnitas thing all wrong! I do NOT simmer my pork roast in lard or oil!

But guess what? My recipe for Instant Pot Mexican Pork still tastes a LOT like traditional carnitas–tender, juicy, and full of flavor. Just minus the lard and the HOURS of work!

So while this recipe may not be traditional, it is easy and delicious–and everyone loves these Instant Pot Carnitas!

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Instant Pot Poultry Setting

The poultry Instant Pot setting is best for cookingyou guessed itchicken! The mode you choose depends on the size of the chicken pieces and the cut as chicken breast needs less cooking time and is easily overcooked compared to chicken thighs. You can use this setting to cook chicken meat or a dish that contains poultry in it such as chicken and potatoes or chicken and rice . Poultry setting is only available on 6-quart and 8-quart models, not on the mini! Below is how to use the Poultry setting on Instant Pot.

• Turn the Instant Pot on, it will say OFF to indicate the Stand-By mode. Add chicken, seasoning and liquids to the pot. Secure and lock the lid. Press the Poultry button. The default setting is pre-programmed to set the pot to cook at HIGH pressure for 15 minutes, which is suitable for larger pieces of chicken. If you press the Poultry button again, you can adjust the mode from Normal to Less or More .

If desired, use the / + buttons to further customize the time. The cooking time may be adjusted at any time during pressure cooking.

COOKING TIPS

Allow poultry to rest for 5-10 minutes, depending on size. It will reabsorb cooking juices for tender, succulent meat. Essentially, what this means is that you should allow the Instant Pot to release pressure naturally when possible.