Despite the American lifestyle getting faster and faster, the slow cooker remains a steady staple in American homes. The invention of the Instant Pot has proven to give the slow cooker a run for its money.
This machine is a 7 in 1 device that has both a slow cooker and a pressure cooker setting. It allows you to get slow cooker type meals in the fraction of the time with just a few tweaks.
Whether you have an Instant Pot or a standard pressure cooker, you can easily convert your recipes with these tips:
Pick the Right Recipes
Pressure cookers MUST have liquid in the recipe to achieve the correct pressure, on average, at least 1 cup.
Be careful with certain ingredients, a liquid such as milk or wine is not ideal for the pressure cooker. Milk will coagulate under high temperatures, and wine will become incredibly tart. It can be done, but requires some practice first, best to start with broth or water based recipes.
The best main ingredients are tough meats, grains, and legumes because they hold up to the high-temperature cooking methods well.
Seek Out Some Help
Find a similar recipe that is for a pressure cooker and use it as a reference for your conversion of liquid and time.
Don’t Overfill It
Your pressure cooker should never be more than 2/3 full; depending on the size of your pressure cooker, you may have to decrease ingredient amounts in the recipe.
Time It Right
Meat or poultry cut into bite-size pieces will cook faster than the same volume of whole pieces. In other words, 3 lbs of chicken breast will cook faster as 3 lbs bite-size pieces of chicken breast.
You may have to add your ingredients separately instead of all together like you would in a slow cooker. If you expect meat to cook slower than the vegetables, you may have to add the meat first, then the vegetables later.
To determine the cooking length of time, look at the recipe for how long it needs to cook on high. Turn the hours into minutes, then divide by 10.
Using a pressure cooker can save a ton of time and money. Give some of your favorite recipes a try!