Click Here To Go Back To The Basics Page
Dad's Best Instant Pot Tips and Tricks will make you wonder how you lived without them. Ok, maybe they aren't that great but they are helpful. Dad loves his Instant Pot. He uses it all the time to get delicious meals on the table quickly. Dad actually wishes he had 2. He is constantly making rice with his and wanting another to make the main dish in. It doesn't matter if you are new to the instant pot or a seasoned pro. Dad's 5 best tips and hacks that will get you way beyond the basic directions.
This Page Contains Affiliate Links. For more Information See My Disclosures here.
Tip #1: The Instant Pot Sealing Ring - One Ring to Rule Them All, Nope.
This is the best Instant Pot hack there is. Simply go out and buy 2 extra Sealing Rings. The sealing ring is the silicone ring that sits inside the lid. It keeps the unit sealed. Without this, it would never be able to pressurize and pressure cooking would not be possible.
The sealing ring needs to be flexible so it is made out of silicone. Unfortunately silicone absorbs smells. Therefore it will take on the smell of whatever you last cooked in the instant pot. The next time you cook that smell can affect the dish you are cooking. It it won't be a big deal if you cook chili one night and soup the next. The flavors in those dishes are strong enough to not be affected.
However, rice is really susceptible to this. Since rice is such a blank slate it will take on the smell and even flavor of the ring if it gets bad. Cleaning the rings with soapy water and then running them through the dishwasher helps, but it never really gets it 100%.
For this reason, Dad has one ring for rice. Red, R for Rice and R for Red is how he remembers it. One ring for desserts, blue. Lastly, he has one ring for savory dishes. He uses the clear one that came with the instant pot. This way your cheesecake, yes you can make cheesecake in them, doesn’t taste like beef stew.
Tip #2: Soak to Make Cleaning Up Rice Easier.
This is one of the tips from Dad's how to make white rice in the instant pot recipe. It is so good it made it to the top 5! You see, Dad uses his Instant Pot at least 4 times a week to make rice. It was the main reason Dad purchased his Instant Pot. Dad quickly found out that when you remove the rice right after cooking its much easier to clean.
The rice does not have time to dry onto the inner pot and become a stubborn mess. If you are not using the keep warm feature then take the rice out immediately. The longer the rice sits, the harder it will be to clean. If you do end up with hard stuck rice just, then use this hack and cleanup will be a breeze.
Simply take the inner pot out and put it in your sink. Then, add some warm water and let it soak for 30 minutes or so. No need to even add soap at this point. Once the 30 minutes is up give it a little scrape and pour away the water. The pot will be almost clean, just hit it with a brush or sponge and some soapy water and you are done!
Tip #3: Get Aggressive With Caked on Gunk.
If you cooked something that is really messy then use this hack. Just pour about 2-3 cups of in the instant pot and set it to sauté more. This is a version of Dad's How To Clean a Pan Dad Hack.
Make sure you add enough water to cover the section you are trying to clean. Then, boil that water for 10 minutes or so. As the water is boiling, scrape it with a metal spatula to loosen up all the gunk. Finally, let it boil for a few minutes more and all of the tough stuff will be dissolved. The inner pot will be much easier to clean now.
Tip #4: The Best Instant Pot Tool - A Silicone Pan Scraper.
Let's say you’ve soaked, boiled and scrapped but there is still some stuff left to clean. Do yourself a favor and get a cheap silicone pan scraper. This is not just one of the best Instant Pot tools you can have in your kitchen, but one of the best tools period.
With one of these pan scrapers you can quickly and safely scrape away any mess without scratching up your inner pot. Since the directions say not to use Brillo or steel wool on the inner pot, this is the way to go.
This combined with Tip 2 or 3 makes cleanup a breeze! Dad Gets His On Amazon
, and they only cost like $3 for two of them. They last a long time and are just so useful around the kitchen. Dad mainly cooks with stainless steel and cast iron, except for eggs, and he uses them to clean up all his pans.
Tip #5: Sauté, Sear or Broil Your Food After Pressure Cooking.
Follow Dad on this one. Unless you are doing a dish that the protein is swimming in the sauce like meatballs, creamy chicken or stews then save the searing for after cooking. Dad sees so many recipes for chicken thighs or pork chops where people sauté or brown the chicken in the Instant Pot before pressure cooking.
This is great for time savings and "one pot" convenience but this just does not work for Dad. The texture of food right out of the pressure cooker is like steamed food (well because it kind of is), soft and tender. Dad wants to have some crispy texture to his food, so it doesn’t seem like it was boiled.
Once great example of this is Dad's chicken adobo recipe, How to Cook Adobo – Instant Pot Chicken Adobo. Right out of the instant pot the dish could be eaten and be great. In fact, lots of people like it that way. But if you take that chicken out and fry it up in some oil you get this wonderfully crispy browned chicken that is ultra-tender thanks to the pressure cooking.
Which one looks better to you?
This goes for things like pork chops and other meats too. This way you get all the benefits of the fast cooking and tenderizing but still get that nice browned look and taste. The caveat to this tip is if you are doing a dish like a stew then brown your meat before so you can use the bits to help add flavor to your gravy.
Be Sure to Check Out My Other Instant Pot Content!
Those are my top 5 tips and hacks for the instant pot that go beyond the basic instant pot directions. Do you have any favorite tips or hacks, leave them in the comments. Please go and check out my other posts and videos on the instant pot like my basic breakdown of the instant pot, tips for cooking rice in the instant pot and my Filipino Chicken Adobo in the instant pot recipe and then go cook something!
