how do you like the egg?
Cooking eggs in the Instant Pot®, like rice, is an individual matter. A casual search on the Internet reveals countless tips, instructions, and exhortations on how to cook eggs. Again, most of them are wrong. This is an area that you, as the user of this unique device, will have to explore for yourself.
The most popular technique seems to be the “5-5-5” method. Namely: “Place 6 eggs in a steamer basket or on the trivet,” Pressure cook “for 5 minutes, then wait 5 minutes and then cool for 5 minutes in an ice water bath.”
However, I find that “8-8-8” works best for me. I start with the eggs straight out of the refrigerator and then proceed to cook them, “8 minutes in ‘Pressure Cook’, 8 minutes of waiting, 8 minutes in an ice bath.”
What I haven’t had much luck with is the “steam” approach to hard boiled eggs. In this method, the “Steam” function is used instead of the “Pressure cook” method. Even on a 12 minute “steam” setting, 12 minute wait, and 12 minutes in an ice water bath, you don’t get what I would call a uniformly cooked yellow yolk egg that peels off easily.
But that’s just my preference. Plan to spend at least one box of eggs, finding out what your preference is and how your new appliance works.
How much can I cook at a time?
In general, you should not fill the Instant Pot® above the embossed “MAX” line on the liner. However, except for this restriction, there is no hard and fast rule about how much you can cook at one time.
There is a technique that allows you to layer delicious layers like pork ribs, chicken pieces, corn on the cob, and the like.
To add a layer, be sure to place a square of aluminum foil between the layers. This prevents the foods in the layers from sticking together or creating “fun” looking cooking patterns.
My pot, an IP-DUO60v3, can only handle three large ears of corn in a single layer on the trivet. Similarly, I can only have four chicken thighs in one layer. Mouse over, I have cooked 9 ears of corn all at once using a foil separator between layers and rotating the ears of corn between layers.
Similarly, I have cooked 12 drumsticks at a time by making three layers, each separated by a square of aluminum foil.
The surprising thing is that it is not necessary to add more water than 1 cup: the cooking is done with steam and pressure, not with liquid volume.
In these two examples, all the ears of corn were cooked as if they had been cooked individually, and the stacks of chicken thighs were tender and falling off the bone!
Besides, I ended up with the drumsticks by browning them on my patio gas grill and basting them with BBQ sauce while they cooked. The inside was juicy and the outside, conveniently “grilled”.
Timer or no timer?
As you become more familiar with your Instant Pot® and the recipes that use this wonderful appliance, you will notice that a surprising number of recipes contain a set of required steps almost in stock. An example of this, taken from one of the most used recipes, reads, in part:
“Close and latch the lid. Set the vent to” sealed. “
Select “Pressure cook”, High pressure, 20 minutes, “Heat” off.
When the display shows “Off”, perform the NPR method and wait 10 minutes.
Follow the QR method to release residual pressure and vapor.
Wait until the pressure gauge pin goes down.
Open and remove the lid carefully. “
The natural pressure release method, abbreviated to “NPR,” asks you to wait 10 minutes before continuing.
Now you have a choice.
How to know when 10 minutes have passed?
The obvious answer is: “You put a timer into action and let it go. When the time expires, your timeout is complete.”
However, there is a subtle change you can make to the instruction set and let the Instant Pot® tell you when that time has elapsed.
Consider the following set of instructions:
“Close and latch the lid. Set the vent to” sealed. “
Select “Pressure Cook”, High Pressure, 20 minutes, “Hot” on.
Wait until the display shows “L0010”.
Then perform the QR method to release the residual pressure and steam.
Wait until the pressure gauge pin goes down.
Open and remove the lid carefully. “
A subtle difference. But one in which the “Hot” function serves as a timer.
“But,” you ask, “Doesn’t that mean that during the waiting time, the content is still heating up?”
Yes and no. While it is true that the pressure cooker is technically “on”, the temperature the controller is trying to maintain is only 145 ° F ~ 172 ° F. That is probably well below what the ingredients were cooked and, consequently, any further cooking at that low temperature will be practically nil.
The only downside, compared to an external countdown timer, is that you will have to look at the screen during the waiting period.
