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You are here: Home » Food Preparation » 6 Lessons Learned From 2+ Years Of Pressure Cooking (KYF169)

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6 Lessons Learned From 2+ Years Of Pressure Cooking (KYF169)

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6 Lessons Learned From 2+ Years Of Pressure Cooking | I've been pressure cooking for more than 2 years. And guess what? Pressure cooking is easy... but not as easy as everyone says. Watch, listen, or read today's podcast because I'm sharing the things no one else tells you about pressure cooking. | KnowYourFoodPodcast.com/169

I've been pressure cooking for more than 2 years. And guess what?

Pressure cooking is easy… but not as easy as everyone says.

So in today's podcast (video and notes are below, too) I'm sharing the things no one else tells you about pressure cooking.

Well, except for me… and Vickilynn and Haniya, who are helping me teach our Pressure Cooking eCourse. 🙂

Be sure to add your lessons learned in the comments!

Won't play for you? Try here. Mobile or desktop users, you can hear my podcast with Stitcher, on-demand and on-the-go. (What's Stitcher?) You can also get it on iTunes or subscribe in the Podcasts app.

Video

I recorded this podcast live on Facebook Live last week, and here's the video from that! It's just like the audio file above, except you can see it, too. 🙂

Want to join the fun of the live recording? Follow me on Facebook or @TradCookSchool on Periscope. I hop on to record most Thursdays!

1. The Instant Pot makes pressure cooking soooooo much more doable.

I know this from experience. I first got a stove-top pressure cooker and I loved that. But it was pretty hands on. I had to be right there; and to be honest, it was a big of a drag. Because for something that was supposed to be so easy, I sure was having to monitor it a lot… (Not hard, just not that easy.)

Then I saw the Instant Pot and knew it was going to make pressure cooking so easy. It did not disappoint. I literally use it all the time. For eggs, reheating, whole chickens. Even if the dinner I’m cooking doesn’t involve the pressure cooker, I will still cook something in it while I can to free me up later. Example: last night we were barbecuing chicken. And potatoes were boiling on the camp stove. So I put a whole chicken in the Instant Pot and cooked that for today’s meals.

2. Use the saute function to pre-heat and save time!

You can pre-heat your cooker by putting in the liquid and putting on saute function while prepping your ingredients. Then it’s all hotter when you’re ready to pressurize. You can also pre-heat your ingredients or prepare them at room temperature. The less cold everything is when you start the pressure cooking cycle, the faster you’ll get pressurized. Sometimes, it can take up to 30 minutes to get pressurized!

3. Add more water if you lost too much during pre-heat.

Sometimes, you’re pre-heating the cooker with a bit of water and a lot of it evaporates by the time you’re ready to pressure cook. You MUST add more water or it won’t pressurize. (Pressure cooking is cooking with steam under pressure. In order to have steam, you must have water!)

This happened to me the other day. I lost liquid and then I added broccoli and it went through the cooking cycle but not under pressure. I couldn’t figure it out… tried to pressurize it 3 times until it finally dawned on me… not enough liquid!

4. Pressure cooking helps me beat the heat!

Our house gets hot in the summer and doesn’t ventilate. We do most of our cooking outside on the camp stove, or I take appliances outside and to use them. However, I am able to use the pressure cooker inside the house (even though sometimes I don’t) because it simply doesn’t output heat like the stove, oven, crockpot, or toaster oven. It’s amazing! When I need to release the steam, I can take it outside just for that (if I want).

5. You probably have most of what you need already.

Other than the Instant Pot itself, you probably have most of what you need already in your kitchen to make fun and interesting dishes! This doesn’t mean you might not make the occasional purchase, but you can do A LOT with what you have.

For instance, Pyrex glass storage bowls make great cooking containers. And a layer of parchment paper followed by aluminum foil makes a non-toxic cover. (We cover more accessories and necessities in the Pressure Cooking eCourse.)

6. Allow time for prep, pressurizing, de-pressurizing, and cooling down, too.

Even though the main premise of pressure cooking is that things cook faster, you still need to allow for prep, coming to pressure, de-pressurizing, and cooling down. So… it’s not a huge time saver but the results are worth it enough to do it. Especially the hands-free aspect of the Instant Pot. I still factor in the same amount of cooking time for dinner than I did before pressure cooking.

One of the biggies here is that the food is waaaayyyyy hotter when it’s done than with normal cooking. Therefore it’s really important to allow for 10 to 15 minutes so it can cool down enough for the family to actually enjoy eating it.

Links Mentioned

  • Instant Pot Pressure Cooker
  • 8 Reasons To Love Pressure Cooking
  • The Great Big Pressure Cooker Cookbook
  • Our Pressure Cooking eCourse

iTunes

I'm so grateful when you visit my show on iTunes and leave a rating and/or review! KnowYourFoodPodcast.com/iTunes This helps me make my podcast better and also helps others find it. Thank you! For past or current episodes, check out the Know Your Food with Wardee podcast archives.

Anything to Add?

I would love to hear from you! Do you have questions for me, or comments about anything shared in this episode?

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We only recommend products and services we wholeheartedly endorse. This post may contain special links through which we earn a small commission if you make a purchase (though your price is the same).

Posted in: "Know Your Food with Wardee" Podcast Food Preparation Kitchen Notes Kitchen Tips & Organization Pressure Cooking Tools & Equipment Videos

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About Wardee Harmon

Wardeh ('Wardee') lives in the Boise area of Idaho with her dear family. She's the author of The Complete Idiot's Guide to Fermenting Foods and other traditional cooking eBooks, and she teaches online classes in the fundamentals of traditional cooking, sourdough, cultured dairy, cheesemaking, fermentation, kids cooking, dehydrating, allergy-free cooking, cooking outside, pressure cooking, and more. Connect with Wardee and Traditional Cooking School friends on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube, and Twitter

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. AvatarMegan Stevens says

    July 9, 2016 at 5:25 am

    What an invaluable resource!!! Thank you for this! Sharing!

    Reply
    • AvatarWardee Harmon says

      July 9, 2016 at 6:17 am

      Thank you, Megan! 🙂

      Reply
  2. AvatarAlicia Walker says

    July 9, 2016 at 8:48 pm

    I love my Instantpot too! I also first used a stovetop PC that I loved but haven’t used since getting the IP – as it is much more convenient.

    Reply
  3. AvatarRebecca says

    January 3, 2018 at 9:45 pm

    I made Persian rice tonight and it stuck badly to the bottom of the pot. So rather than enjoying the crunchy bottom, I had to scrape it off. Any suggestions? Would putting a round of parchment paper on the bottom be an okay thing to do?

    Reply
    • AvatarDanielle says

      January 4, 2018 at 7:24 pm

      Hi Rebecca,

      I would try adding more water or decreasing the cooking time.

      ~Danielle, TCS Customer Success Team

      Reply
  4. AvatarCindi Andrews says

    January 25, 2018 at 11:22 pm

    I want to use my IP to seal the Beets I am pickeling…. I heard I could put the jars on the trivet add water to half way up the jars and process on Steam for 30 minutes
    Does that sound OK to you?
    Thanks Cindi

    Reply
    • Millie CopperMillie Copper says

      January 26, 2018 at 5:51 pm

      Hi Cindi,

      The Instant Pot FAQs on their website do indicate you can water bath can in the IP — we don’t have any experience with this to offer any advice.

      You can read more in their FAQs on https://instantpot.com/portfolio-item/foodfaqs/#toggle-id-15

      ~ Millie, TCS Customer Success Team

      Reply
  5. AvatarJoe in Missouri says

    September 6, 2018 at 10:43 am

    This curmudgeon was impressed! I never fail to fall for a time saving cooking tool.
    Thanks very much for your pointing out the existence of the InstantPot to someone that has 5 pressure cookers. 🙂

    I guess I will need to keep them, though as the “8 quart” InstantPot will not can 14 pints at a time… unfortunately.

    Reply
  6. AvatarTom says

    November 23, 2019 at 1:19 pm

    I want to cook a gallon can of green beans with red potatoes in my 8 qt I pot about how long and what pressure please

    Reply
    • AvatarPeggy says

      November 25, 2019 at 12:55 pm

      Hi, Tom,
      I would start at 5 minutes at high pressure and 25 minutes of natural pressure release with cubed potatoes. I would shorten the natural pressure release if you would like a firmer green bean.
      ~Peggy, TCS Customer Success Team

      Reply

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