Instant Pot For Beginners

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A Quick Recap Of Key Cooking Stages

5 Must Know Instant Pot Tips For Beginners

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 .
  • Instant Pot Pro Crisp + Air Fryer

    The 8-quart Instant Pot Pro Crisp + Air Fryer is the Duo Crisp turned up to 11. This pro model has all the same functionality of the Duo Crisp, plus an upgraded lid with advanced heat protection, auto-sealing, and gentle pressure release. The sturdier stainless-steel inner pot is made to handle anything its stovetop friendly and oven safe up to 450ºF.

    Year released: 2020Built-in smart programs: 11Cooking functions: Pressure-cooking, slow-cooking, steaming, sautéing, food-warming, sous videcooking, air-frying, roasting, baking, broiling, and dehydratingSizes available: 8-quart Instant Pot

    Best Features Of The Instant Pot

    While the Instant Pot is a wonderful invention, I wouldnt get rid of all my other appliances just yet or cook everything in the Instant Pot from now on. I still love using my stove and oven just as much as before. Some Instant Pot enthusiasts are so excited they are ready to only cook in this magical pot and use it for ALL cooking.

    Just like most other tools, the Instant Pot will excel in the tasks that it was created to do.

    I can use my hair straightener as an iron to get rid of a wrinkles in my clothes and it will work, somewhat, but will it do a great job? No. It may work in a pinch if you have a small wrinkle, but it wont do the best job. The same goes for an Instant Pot. Here are some of its best features where it really shines.

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    Is The Instant Pot Safe To Use

    According to the Instant Pot company, most pressure cooker disasters in the past could be attributed to user error. Instant Pot pressure multicookers are carefully designed to eliminate and avoid most of these potential problems.

    There are lots of safety features that help reduce common errors. Safety features include pressure sensor technology, lid close detection, lid lock technology, overheat protection, and automatic temperature and pressure controls.

    Bottom line: the Instant Pot is very safe to use!

    How To Use An Instant Pot Video

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    When learning how to use an Instant Pot I would stick with these 3 buttons ..I use them 90% of the time.

    This is my Instant Pot. I bought the 6 qt. version because I figured it was plenty big for the 5 of us and I was right, if you have an 8 qt. these instructions remain the same.

    Saute is great if you want to precook something like the ground beef in my spaghetti recipe above, and manual pressure buttons allow you to adjust from low to high pressure yourself and adjust the time you need.

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    How To Quick Release Instant Pot

    This method will let out the steam in one go and depressurize the pot immediately. This will prevent any continued cooking and is useful if youre in a rush. Simply press the quick release button on top of the lid . The steam will rise through the top steam valve and a loud venting or hissing sound will occur.

    Yes that steam is hot and so take care. Be quick to remove your hand once youve pressed the button and step away from the cooker. In some cases, you can hover a towel over the steam jet absorbing some of the moisture and reducing the amount of output youre exposed to.

    Done cooking? Open the lid and stir the contents if needed. Once the pot is empty, remove the inner pot and add some water to soak before cleaning by hand or in a dishwasher. Unplug or switch off the main power to turn the Instant Pot completely off.

    Cooking Time Vs Total Time

    New users usually get confused between the cooking time and the total time it takes to cook in your Instant Pot. When recipes quote time as cooking time they usually mean only the time it will take for something to cook in the Pot after it has pressurized.

    The Instant Pot takes from a couple minutes up to 20 minutes to develop the pressure needed to cook something. During this period the display would show either on or the time youve set. Only once its completely pressurized will the float valve rise and the timer start counting down.

    When the timer has run for the set time, the display will show L 00:00 and will start counting upwards. This is when the steam will being to released naturally. Usually, recipes do not account for the time it takes to build up pressure and release it. So youll need to include that extra time when determining the actually total amount of time it will take.

    PRO TIP: To reduce the total time, you can help your Pot by adding warm ingredients, especially liquids. If that is not an option you can always preheat your Pot. Turn the sauté mode on for a couple of minutes while you are fetching the ingredients. This will reduce the time it takes to build pressure.

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    What Does Quick Release Mean

    • Quick release means to move the steam valve to the side or flick it open quickly
    • If you want a slow release move the steam valve just slightly so the steam comes out slowly
    • Natural release means to not touch that valve at all and the steam will eventually leave
    • Unlock by twisting the lid, and carefully open it away from you
    • When the lid is lifted off of the pot pull it up and turn it away from your body.
    • as if you had a shield in your hand

    Heres how to clean your Instant Pot which will be helpful if you use it daily like I do.

    Using these basic Instant Pot cooking times for meat and Instant Pot cooking times for beans you can see how long it will take for the major item in your dish and go from there.

    This is what I used to make the most amazing no soak Instant Pot baked beans!

    The basic timing for a purely pasta dish in my opinion is manual, pressure, high for 3 minutes like you do in my Instant Pot macaroni and cheese. It makes it not too al dente and not mushy either.

    Those three basic cooking time schedules are really all you need to try any type of dish you want.

    Want to see a few of my favorite things that I am totally obsessed with?? Take a peek and see how many you might already havetwinsies!

    What Is An Instant Pot And How Does It Work

    7 BASIC Instant Pot Recipes – Perfect for Beginners!

    An Instant Pot is an electric pressure cooker that also has other features. It can steam, slow cook, braise, saute, make yogurt, ricotta cheese and so much more.

    Even though its not Instant, like the name suggests, it DOES speed up the cooking process for many things. Youll especially notice it for things like braising tough cuts of meat or cooking steel cut oats.

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    Pressure Cooking Requires Liquid

    Before we continue, we must mention the most important aspect of pressure cooking. It requires liquid. This is because the pressure is built by the steam accumulating inside the pot, which is produced from the liquid.

    Whether youre cooking rice, chicken breasts, pot roast, carrots, stew or cheesecake, you will need at least a cup of liquid for the Instant Pot to do its job.

    This is a total amount of liquid and can be in the form of water, stock, tomato sauce, juice, wine and liquids released from the food while cooking , or a combination of those. The amount of liquid required varies depending on the recipe and amount of food but as a rule of thumb, 1 cup is always a good starting point. Also, the food doesnt need to be completely covered or submerged in liquid to cook.

    What To Use The Trivet For

    The trivet comes with the Instant Pot. This is a simple insert that allows you to get some space between the bottom of the pot and whatever food youre cooking. Generally speaking, any food that you might want to cook without having it come into direct contact with liquid can be made more easily with the trivet. You can place the food directly on top of the trivet or add it to around heat-proof casserole dish or cake pan and place that on top of the trivet.

    Think of things like chicken breasts, lasagna, breads, meatloaf, and other things that wouldnt taste great if they were super soggy. Its also commonly used for eggs, veggies, potatoes, or pot-in-pot cooking. Using the trivet can prevent burning or overcooking and also ensure even cooking.

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    Instant Pot Air Fryer Chicken Wings Frozen

    Like I said above, if yours are frozen you would only be able to add seasonings halfway thru once they are partially thawed in the basket. You can also follow our directions on how to thaw chicken in the microwave first, and then proceed with steps below.

    • The toppings will coat about 1 pound of chicken wings, thawed
    • Salt and pepper if youd like

    Toss with buffalo sauce at the end if you want them spicy for game day or drizzle some on right out of the air fryer basket if you like. There are tons of sauces you can choose from really. Smothered or served on the side of your air fryer hot wings, this part is half the fun so dont skimp on the spicy wing sauce!!

    Seriously once you try these youll never go back to the pressure cooker you once used and then had to turn on the oven after that. The texture is out of this world, like deep fried but without all that added fat and calories.

    Instant Pot Resources For Newbies

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    Also, grab the printable resources mentioned in the Instant Pot Basics from my free Resource Nook.

    Now, there are several accessories you can add to your Instant Pot. I recommend these three resources when youre getting started:

    Ceramic Non-Stick Liner Are the liners hard to clean? Nope, not really. But this liner makes sticky foods, like rice, slide right out. An extra liner also helps if youre making multiple dishes for a meal.

    Silicone Bands -If you plan to make a variety of foods, invest the ten bucks to get different silicone bands for your Instant Pot. You can use red ring for sweet food and blue ring for savory food, white is in common use, Using different bands will keep your cheesecake from smelling, or even worse tasting, like chili.

    Egg Bite Molds Im going to be honest, Im pretty sure these started out as molds for freezing baby food. Yes, you heard right. But then Starbucks launched their Sous Vide Egg Bites and changed this into a multipurpose gadget. Egg bites are easy to make breakfasts all week long AND youll save the five bucks from Starbucks. #WINNING!

    You can check out the entire list below!

    My Favorite Instant Pot Recipes are all here! I still have some to add to the list, like my taco soup, and my Starbucks egg bites. If you are on my email list, youll be the first to know when those are up!

    Also, be sure to check out my method for cooking frozen ground beef in your Instant Pot.

    Have any questions? Let me know!

    Sharing is caring!

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    Is Your Instant Pot Still Sat In The Box

    If this is YOU dont worry it is a lot more common than you think. Because electric pressure cooking can be so different to what you are used to it can feel very daunting and it might be sat in the box for months.

    Im a member of an Instant Pot for beginners FB group and it amazes me how many times I see posts, where they have returned the Instant Pot as they are frightened it will go wrong, or one meal they did turned out badly.

    Or from my point of view I always remember the mushy peas on the ceiling whenever I went around to my Grandmas for dinner.

    But those were the old-style manual pressure cookers that sat on the stove and things have improved a lot since the 1980s.

    With the Instant Pot recipes below, I have covered all the instant pot beginner basics to get you started in the kitchen and build up your confidence with your Instant Pot.

    Do things step by step with something different every day or so and you will soon be a pro and wonder why you didnt get an Instant Pot Pressure Cooker years ago. I know I regret waiting until 2016 to get mine!

    How To Set Up An Instant Pot

    Rinse the stainless steel pot and lid with soap and water before using it for the first time.

    Place the stainless steel pot inside your Instant Pot.

    Check to see that the anti-block shield is present and secure.

    The anti-block shield is a very important safety feature. This metal shield prevents any food or particles from clogging the steam release valve. Make sure this is always in place and free of food before using so there is not an unsafe amount of pressure created within the pot

    Line the inside of the lid with the silicone sealing ring. This normally comes already assembled.

    Put the condensation collector on the backside of the Instant Pot until it snaps into place.

    Plug in the power cord towards the back and bottom.

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    Other Important Instant Pot Tips

    • your Instant Pot lid can hook into the rectangular holes in the rim, holding it upright
    • you need at least 1 cup of liquid for a 6 quart Instant Pot to come to pressure and 1 ½ cups for an 8 quart Instant Pot to come to pressure
    • a good general rule is not to fill your Instant Pot more than â full
    • HOWEVER when cooking expanding foods like rice or beans, do not fill your Instant Pot more than ½ full
    • use your Instant Pot in an open space as there can be a lot of steam when you release the pressure
    • remember that the Instant Pot will take between 5-25 minutes to come to pressure . So it doesn’t really cook ‘instantly’, but remember that it is freeing up your hands so you can do other things.

    Use At Least One Cup Of Liquid At All Times

    26 INSTANT POT TIPS Instant Pot 101 for BEGINNERS!

    The simplest way to describe pressure cooker function is this: Liquid heats up and turns to steam as the steam builds inside the pot, pressure increases and food cooks. If you dont have enough liquid in the pot, youll likely end up with undercooked food since steam is the driver of the cooking mechanism. If your main liquid is thicker, such as tomato sauce, add an extra half-cup of water on top of the main liquid to ensure you get enough steam and pressure.

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    Instant Pot : A Guide For Beginners

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    This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.

    How to use an Instant Pot- a step by step guide that will walk you through everything you need to know about using your new Instant Pot!

    The Instant Pot has become completely indispensable in my cooking routine. I have been known to use mine up to three times in a day both for meal prep, and to cook individual ingredients. If you have a brand new Instant Pot or are wondering if you should buy one, this post will walk you through everything you need to know.

    This post covers a lot! Click to go directly to the sections below:

    Dont Fear The Manual Button

    Instant Pot is known for its insanely convenient one-touch, preset cook settings. While those settings are super helpful, dont be afraid to use the manual button. The preset functions dont know how much food youre placing in your Instant Pot, so the manual mode allows you to cook with more precision and accuracy. For example, the poultry setting doesnt know if you are cooking a whole chicken or two pounds of sliced chicken breast. With the manual button, you can set the correct time and pressure for perfectly cooked chicken, no matter what form its in.

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