Why Your Instant Pot Is Getting The Burn Error And How To Fix It Easily
Networking with other people, both on- and offline, has given me the answers to a bunch of different questions regarding these machines. Down below I have gathered the things that may cause your Instant Pot to display the burn error code and how to solve them.
#1 Not Enough Liquid
Instant Pots and Pressure Cookers both work by building up steam pressure. When the liquid inside the sealed cooker starts boiling, steam is produced. The cooker doesnt provide an escape route for the steam which causes the pressure inside the cooker to increase. This cannot be done without liquid.
Without liquid, the food at the bottom of the Instant Pot will scorch and stick to the inner pot.
SOLUTION: If this happens to be the reason why youre getting the burn message, well, then youre just two cups of water away from solving it.
The easiest way to solve this issue is to make sure to add at least the minimum amount of water required every single time which is 1 cup in the case of the Instant Pot, according to the companies Facebook Page. Of course, the amount of water required depends on what youre cooking some foods absorb more water than others and, therefore, they require more liquid.
Wine, broth, beer and other liquids of the same viscosity counts toward the liquid limit. Sauces or liquids that are thicker than the options above are too dense and dont count towards the minimum amount of liquid. Foods such as vegetables release liquids when cooked, this liquid also counts.
Restart Pressure Cooking Process
Place ingredients back into the cleaned & dried inner pot. Dilute the cooking liquid until consistency is thin. Resume the pressure cooking & adjust the pressure cooking time accordingly.
*Pro Tip: For reference add 1 2 cups of thin cooking liquid please adjust this amount accordingly to the type of food youre cooking & the burnt situation.
Burn Notice: How To Avoid It And What To Do When You Get It
One of the hardest recipes that I have converted to the Instant Pot has to be my familys Arroz con Pollo. Not because its complicated or has extravagant ingredients, but because it was the frist time I ever came upon the dreaded and infamous BURNnotice.
When it first happened to me, I remember getting so scared that I had just ruined dinner and all that work and money I put into ingredients was now trashed. I wish I could say that was the last time it happened, but the truth is my Arroz con Pollo recipe took 7 tries and 6 struggles with the BURN notice, to finally get it right.
However, all the frustration and redos was 100% worth it because it made me an expert when it comes to the BURN message. Every time I had to try again, I learned a new lesson and I decided to write a post to share them with you.
In this tutorial you will learn
- 5 main reasons why youll get the BURN message.
- Tips to keep you from getting the BURN notice.
- What to do if you get the BURN notice and how to fix it.
The following is a video tutorial taking you step by step through everything I will go through in this post.
link for video if it does not show below Youtube Video on Burn Notice
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Avoid The Burn Message
There are things you can do to avoid the burn message.;
- If you use the saute function, scrape food at the bottom before moving to the next step.;
- Always check to see if there are food bits at the bottom this is a major issue for causing the burn message.;
- When making recipes with thick sauce, add them after food is cooked using the saute function.;;
- If you want to make something that contains tomatoes, dont add them until the end and put them in the middle of the pot.;;
What Accessories Do I Need To Use The Pot
You can use anything oven-safe. Many people use 7 cake pans*, Corningware, stainless steel pans*, etc. And did you know that the 3 quart Instant Pot liner fits inside the 6 and 8 quart Instant Pots? And there is a ceramic non-stick version for about $15*. It is fantastic for pot-in-pot cooking!
I love using the OXO sling/trivet* to lower my pans into the pot and easily retrieve them. This is probably my favorite Instant Pot accessory!
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How To Clean The Burnt Inner Pot On Your Instant Pot
If you do get the Instant Pot burn error message, chances are that there is burning on the bottom of your inner pot. Now, you can wash and clean this using water but there is another method you can use. This will get it clean easily and quickly.
This method actually utilizes the remains of the inner pot. The first thing we will do is to press the Saute button on the front panel. This will start to heat up the base of the Instant Pot.
We will then add some hot water to the inner pot. Using a silicone or wooden spoonideally one with a flat bottom, we will scrape the bottom of the pan.
The heat from the bottom as well as the hot water should make removing the residue at the bottom very easy.
Essentially, this process is called deglazing and is something that is referred to a lot on Instant Pot cooking. Under normal circumstances, you would use the deglazing process to add to the flavor of the dish. In this case, the food is burnt so we need to remove it out of the inner pot.
How To Avoid A Burn Message Tips And Tricks To Avoid A Burn Message
- Add enough liquid pressure cookers work by creating steam inside the pot. If there is not sufficient water , the steam wont build and the food will stick to the bottom and dry up.
- Vent positions if the recipe calls for the vent to be in sealed position and you accidentally left it on venting, this will cause all the water to escape out again leave the food dry which will stick to the bottom of the pan.
- Sealing ring if the sealing ring is not properly installed, this will cause the steam to escape out again causing the food to stick to the bottom of the pot.
- Deglaze pot before pressure cooking some recipes call for a quick sauté before pressure cooking. It’s important to scrape off the bottom of the pot gently to remove any food particles stuck to the bottom.;
- Layering ingredients Adding liquids to the inner pot first is always a good ideas. Then add the other ingredients and do not stir or mix, this keeps things from sticking to the bottom of the pot.
- Pot in Pot if you are making sauces etc, using an oven safe container and place it on a steam rack to make your food.
- Grease the bottom of inner pot Spraying oil or butter may help prevent the food from sticking.
Burnt Vermicelli Noodles in Instant Pot
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How To Fix Food Burn Message Without Removing The Food
Depending on what you are cooking, you might not have to go through the hassle of removing food, cleaning the pot and restarting the cooking cycle. This is not official solution but I found it works for me like a charm, so I am sharing it with you.
Usually Burn shows up when Instant Pot is almost or at pressure. Means the pressure pin is up. Great! Logically, if it is not a 45 minute pork carnitas of frozen chicken recipe , there is enough pressure built up to finish cooking your meal because it already started cooking while Instant Pot was coming to pressure.
Here is what to do:
This trick will work with many quick cooking recipes, roughly with under 15 minutes cook time like pasta, eggs, chicken pieces, veggies and canned beans. Examples are Instant Pot white chicken chili, Instant Pot potato salad, Instant Pot goulash, Instant Pot turkey chili and Instant Pot butter chicken.
Choose An Elevated Metal Plate
Are you using the accessories that came with your pressure cooker? You may notice that there was an elevated metal plate included. If not, this is something that you want to purchase. It could be the answer to all of your problems.
What this plate does is that it fits at the bottom of the pressure cooker. It allows your food to sit above the liquid so that it can cook evenly. In the process, it prevents the food from sticking to the bottom of the pressure cooker.
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How To Avoid Burn Messages:
There are a few ways you can avoid the Instant Pot burn issue.
- Pot in Pot cooking with the Instant Pot is just putting another container inside the pressure cooker to contain your food. As long as there is enough water in the pot, you cant get a burn notice with pot in pot cooking because theres no food touching the inner pot or the heating element underneath.
- You wont get a burn warning when using pot in pot cooking methods. Recipes like my lasagna, breakfast casserole, hard boiled eggs for egg salad, and even Starbucks egg bites are all examples of pot in pot cooking.
- Another way you can avoid the burn Instant Pot warning is by adding extra liquid. If your recipe consistently gives you a burn warning, you should adjust it to include more thin cooking liquid.
- Low pressure cooking is another way to keep the Instant Pot from saying burn. You can use low pressure cooking for just about anything, its just a matter of adjusting the time to compensate. The Pressure Level button on your Instant Pot will let you select your desired pressure level.
- The heating temperature is also reduced when you cook on low pressure on an Instant Pot so make sure you double check the internal temperature of your food when adjusting the pressure settings.
Why Does A Pressure Cooker Burn On The Bottom
Have you noticed that your pressure cooker is burning at the bottom? This can happen for a variety of reasons. But one of the main culprits for this is because you cannot stir your food to stop it from sticking to the bottom and burning.
While pressure cookers that have been released in recent years are designed to spread out the heat evenly, burning can still occur because you cannot stir during the cooking time.
In most cases, your food will be burning at the bottom of the pressure cooker because of an error you have made. This means that once you have worked out what you are doing wrong, you can correct it. It does not mean that there is necessarily something wrong with your pressure cooker.
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How Does Overheat Protection Work
The thermal sensors in the Instant Pot automatically monitor and adjust the pressure cookers temperature inside, earning the Instant Pot its popular set it and forget it reputation. It also allows the appliance to recognise when anything is about to burn and turn off the heat before it does.
The inner pot can reach temperatures much beyond the boiling point of water when under pressure, so its critical that things dont become too hot. The goal of the Overheat Protection feature is to protect both your supper and the cooker itself. When the temperature sensor senses too hot temperature, it shuts down and Burn message appears. Once things cool down enough , the heating element will turn back on and try to complete the cooking cycle. If things get too hot again, Instant Pot will try 5 more times before shutting off for good.
How To Stop A Pressure Cooker From Burning On The Bottom
A pressure cooker is a great way of creating delicious meals in a short space of time along with no fuss or mess.
To stop a pressure cooker from burning on the bottom you can add more liquid, a base plate to rest the meat on or to cook on a lower heat.
In this article I will go through the different reasons why your pressure cooker is burning on the bottom along with how to prevent it.
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The Lid Wont Come Off
First, make sure enough steam has been released after pressure cooking. Whether you choose a natural pressure release or quick release, give the Pot time to get rid of the steam and cool down. Remember, Instant Pots are designed to be extra-safe, so the pot wont let you open the lid with too much pressure still inside the pot. A little bit of patience can often fix this issue.
Otherwise, the lid probably wont come off because the steam release button is stuck. If youre sure all of the pressure has been released from the pot, use a spoon handle and tap the button beside the release valve.
You Overfill The Instant Pot
If you add to much liquid, you may get the burn message.
If you add too much food, you may get the burn message.
I really like the Jasmine rice recipe, since its easy and works every time. But after a while I wanted to diversify, so I added bell pepper. And it was great!
So next time I added bell pepper and broccoli. AndI got the burn message. It turned out it was too much for the Instant Pot to handle this amount of food at once.
Make sure you dont overfill the pressure cooker and that the liquid and the ingredients do not;exceed the;MAX PC 2/3;line on the Pot.;
Make sure you add more water if you are adding more food.
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How To Save A Dish That Gets A Burn Message
Once the overheat protection setting is triggered, the machine will shut off, cool itself down and start up again. The good news is no matter what youre making, you can fix it. Your best bet is to cancel the program, quickly release the steam, then remove the inner pot. Take a look at your food and remove anything that looks scorched or burnt. Check to make sure there isnt anything on the heating element and that the machine is working properly, then add some extra liquid and get cooking again. Here are other Instant Pot mistakes you can avoid, too.
What Is The Instant Pot Burn Message
If you have encountered the Burn message on the display screen, it certainly doesnt mean that your food is burnt or ruined or you need to make something else now.
It simply means that the Instant Pot has detected that a very high temperate at the bottom of the pot and thus the burn warning.
The Instant Pot comes with a lot of safety mechanisms. The burn warning is one of them. The Instant Pots thermal sensors are automatically monitored and controlled. Thus when the inner pot reaches temperatures that are very high, the sensors sense the high temperature and shut off the heat displaying a burn message.
Once things cool down, the heating element turns back on and tries to complete the cooking program however, this burn warning is displayed 5 mines max before the cooker shuts down and returns to standby.
Burnt Rice in Instant Pot
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Mistake: You’re Using Too Much Liquid
While not using enough liquid is a major don’t since it can cause your food to burn, adding too much liquid is also a problem. When it’s too watery, you probably won’t get an error messagebut your meal is bound to turn out totally flavorless, something worse than eating burnt food. Just play Goldilocks and get the amount just right.
Whatever you do, keep your Instant Pot far, far away from any other hot surface or it’ll be ruined before you know it. “You can’t put your Instant Pot near a heat source or on the stove, as the bottom of the pot will melt,” explains Di Meglio. “It’s for countertop use only, but sometimes people forget or they’ll put it on the stove and someone who doesn’t know turns it on.” Unfortunately, this mishap is probably going to cost you an entirely new appliance.
Your Steam Valve Isnt Sealed
A pressure cooker cant pressure cook without steam. And while there are plenty of recipes that require the valve set at vent, your pressure cooking process is at risk if there isnt enough, well, pressure. Additionally, the steam valve can help prevent the liquid inside from evaporating and drying whatever youre cooking out. Always be sure to adjust the pressure valve to the appropriate setting before you start cooking.
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