Dos and Don’ts in Your Instant Pot
I really, really love my Instant Pot, and judging by the many blogs, recipes, and Facebook groups , so does the rest of the world. But, as with any advertised technique, the situation is spiraling out of control. And knowing when not to use an Instant Pot can be as valuable as knowing when you should use it.
The Instant Pot is essentially an affordable pressure cooker. I may have nearly failed thermodynamics, but even I know the higher the pressure, the shorter the cooking time. This makes it great for preparing fibrous vegetables, cuts of meat with lots of connective tissue , hearty grains, and dried beans.
There are, of course, exceptions – the Instant Pot makes great hard-boiled eggs and surprisingly good cheesecake – but there are also foods that just aren’t suitable for the ubiquitous multicooker. In fact, if you started with this, you might just hate your IP, which would be very bad.
Delicate vegetables
While Instant Pot will change your sweet potato game and bring you some good crafters , it doesn’t work for delicate greens. Basically, if a vegetable is good for blanching – imagine tender asparagus or bright green broccoli – there is no real reason to pull out the pressure cooker. I cooked broccoli in my Instant Pot exactly once and set the time to zero minutes. By the time IP started crushing, the broccoli was done and some of the chunks were overcooked by some people’s standards. Blanching or steaming on the stove is just as easy, and these two methods allow you to see vegetables as you cook them, which means you won’t end up with soft foods.
Fragile molluscs
Shrimp, mussels, and the like cook quickly and can become rubbery and unattractive if overused. While an Instant Pot would be a great option for a seafood broth , there’s no reason to put too much pressure on fresh clams. Since the Instant Pot is not really instantaneous – it takes a few minutes to actually start the pressure – it’s not always a time-saver. In fact, in the case of mussels, the plate is the faster way. I also get nervous if I can’t visually control my clams and remove them from the fire the moment they do this – a task that is completely impossible in Instant Pot.
Pancakes
There is a reason they are called “pancakes” and the reason is that they have to be cooked in a damn frying pan. Instant Pot – or iPancake – pancakes are sticky and dense, with a thick crispy crust. This is bad and I don’t like it.
Almost all baked goods
Instant Pot cheesecakes are a good thing; Because of the humid environment, the Instant Pot is a good way to make custard or pudding- like desserts . But IP is a terrible place to bake bread or any pie that you want a crumb of tenderness. The ovens in your kitchen are not wasted and can be used. You will never get a good crust in an airtight, humid environment, so just skip baking in an instant pot. (You can use it to test small loaves , though, but we here at Skillet weren’t satisfied with trying out large-scale IP protection.)
Anything you want to mess with
If you enjoy tasting food and tinkering with it as you cook, Instant Pot can make you feel sad. After you seal the thing, it will no longer be possible to open it for “inspection”. For the most part, this is fine, but if your seasonings aren’t quite right, you won’t get results. (You can add something at the end, but it’s not exactly the same, and you definitely can’t exclude the season.) The best way to combat this is to use proven recipes that you know you like, or just accept the learning curve and don’t experiment with expensive food.
Instant Pot is popular for a reason. Thanks to him, pressure cooking has become an attractive method of cooking, and it is valuable. But just because something makes great short ribs doesn’t mean it can be souffléed, and knowing the Instant Pot’s weaknesses will allow you to focus on its strengths, making it much more valuable in the kitchen.