7 things I learned while cooking with the Instant Pot pressure cooker

Simon Balissat

30/10/2023

Translation: Eva Francis

Pressure cookers have an aura of danger about them. When I was at school, our home economics teacher used to warn us – handle the pressure cooker wrong and it’ll explode like a bomb. Over 25 years later, I’m cooking with pressure again. This time with the Instant Pot.

The bulky thing’s been sitting on my kitchen floor for almost a year. Why’s that? Well, I just don’t have enough storage space for this 11-in-1 appliance. That’s why I’m reminded of the pressure cooker every week when I vacuum the floor. Over the last year, I didn’t only gain experience vacuuming around the Instant Pot, but also cooking with it. Here’s what I learned.

1. You won’t need all functions

Pressure cooking, slow cooking, sous vide, air frying – the Instant Pot even prepares yogurt. However, I used it mainly as a pressure cooker, slow cooker or air fryer. A couple of times, I cooked spaghetti in it, too. But more on that later. The eleven functions are marketing blah-blah. In reality, you’ll only use a few of them.

2. The Instant Pot is particularly great for stews and broths

Stews take forever – and require quite some planning. With the Instant Pot, however, I can decide I fancy pulled pork for dinner on my way home from work at 5 p.m., buy a pork shoulder there and then and bite into a juicy pulled pork sandwich by 7 p.m. I also use the Instant Pot to make ramen broth, as boiling bones in it is much quicker and the quality is just as good.

3. The Instant Pot cooks rice, but isn’t a rice cooker

Xiaomi’s induction rice cooker is my most used kitchen appliance. The Instant Pot doesn’t change that, even though it cooks rice in a fraction of the time it takes with my Xiaomi appliance – ten minutes instead of an hour. However, the pressure-cooked rice isn’t as fluffy and has less bite. The same applies to pulses, which quickly turn to mush in the Instant Pot.

4. The pot can be used on an induction cooker

I only discovered quite late that the actual pot within the Instant Pot works on my induction cooker. So, without further ado, I boiled spaghetti and cooked Ragu Bolognese in it. Thanks to Kuhn Rikon, there’s a lid to go with the pot.

5. The air fryer’s okay, but nothing more

In addition to the lid for pressure cooking, there’s also an air fryer lid. The air-frying function allows me to fry oven fries or chicken thighs in a basket. I don’t think much of air fryers (they’re simply small air circulation ovens and have nothing to do with frying), so this function doesn’t matter to me.

6. The Instant Pot can be programmed

7. Don’t forget the time for heating up and cooling down

I hope these tips take away your fear of the Instant Pot. Had other experience? Let me know in the comments.

Simon Balissat

Teamleader Editorial

Simon.Balissat@digitecgalaxus.ch

When I flew the family nest over 15 years ago, I suddenly had to cook for myself. But it wasn’t long until this necessity became a virtue. Today, rattling those pots and pans is a fundamental part of my life. I’m a true foodie and devour everything from junk food to star-awarded cuisine. Literally. I eat way too fast. more

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