How To Adjust The Pressure On Instant Pot?

How to adjust the pressure on instant pot?

In this brief guide, we are going to answer the question “How to adjust the pressure on instant pot?”. We will also discuss answers to other related questions like When to use high or low pressure on the instant pot and when to use natural and quick-release when cooking with your instant pot.

How to adjust the pressure on instant pot?

The adjustment of the pressure on the instant pot is done by the pressure button. The pressure cook button is labeled as “manual” or “pressure cook”, depending on the type of instant pot you have. First of all, you have to press this button to start a pressure cooking cycle. Then you have to look for the pressure button. This button is generally labeled as “pressure level”, and it toggles between high and low-pressure settings to help you switch pressure between less, normal, and more.

5 easy steps to adjust the pressure on instant pot

First of all, turn your instant pot ON by plugging in and wait for the LED screen of the instant pot to display OFF, which means that the instant pot is ON but it is not cooking anything.
Next, check that the condensation cup is in place and that the steam valve is set to sealing instead of venting.
Now, prepare for the cooking process by placing all necessary ingredients into the inner steel cooking pot. Before adding the ingredients to the inner pot, make sure that it is cleaned.
Select the manual button on older models to cook at high pressure or choose the pressure cook button on newer instant pot models. Toggle it around any side depending on the temperature that you want to adjust for cooking.

Keep in mind that the older instant pots don’t have a low-pressure key.

If you need to stop any function, press the cancel button anytime. The cancel button will help you to adjust the cooking settings as well as the cooking times.

When to use high or low pressure on instant pot?

The adjustment of pressure on the instant pot while cooking food is as much as important as the temperature adjustment. Most of the recipes call for high-pressure settings while there are a few recipes that call for low-pressure settings. The recipes that call for low-pressure settings can be prepared by applying high-pressure, but the time to cook the recipe is reduced. Therefore, a high-pressure setting is the only option for pressure settings on the instant pot.

The high-pressure setting on the instant pot reaches a maximum of 12-12.5 psi (pounds per square inch). This is a lower psi than stovetop pressure cookers, which reach about 15psi. At 12 psi, the fibers in vegetables and meat break down quickly, allowing foods to be cooked in a short amount of time. Meat, beans, and certain vegetables are cooked at high pressure in quite less time. So, high pressure serves you with a quick-cooking of your meal.

The low-pressure setting on the instant pot cooks at between 4psi to 7psi. On a low-pressure setting, eggs (hard, medium, soft-cooked eggs) come out perfectly when cooked. You can also try the occasional recipe for vegetables and fish at low pressure.

Other FAQs about Instant Pots which you may be interested in.

How long does it take an instant pot to preheat?

When to use natural and quick release when cooking with your instant pot?

While cooking food in the instant pot, you need to release the pressure inside the instant pot before you take your meal out, or even open the pot. This can be done by either releasing the pressure immediately by switching the release valve from “sealing” to “venting”, or you can let the instant pot release its pressure by itself. If the instant pot is de-pressurizing by itself, it can take about 5-25 minutes. During this time, the instant pot will switch over to its “keep warm” setting which may continue to cook food while de-pressurizing.

Natural release

The natural release is efficient in making sure that your kitchen counters will remain cleaner while dealing with the instant pot. But if you can wait for 25 minutes for the pressure to be released from the instant pot, you can let it release its pressure naturally for 10 minutes and then you can quickly release the remaining pressure.

Quick-release

Quick-release is used to take out the food (seafood or delicate vegetables) from the instant pot as fast as possible. But in such a case, the pressure inside the instant pot can cause foods with a lot of liquid to foam, and that foam can shoot out most alarmingly.

Conclusion:

In this brief guide, we answered the question “How to adjust the pressure on instant pot?”. We also discussed answers to other related questions like when to use high or low pressure on the instant pot and when to use natural and quick-release when cooking with your instant pot.