{"id":31547,"date":"2018-07-29T06:00:16","date_gmt":"2018-07-29T12:00:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pressurecookingtoday.com\/?p=31547"},"modified":"2022-04-19T12:34:49","modified_gmt":"2022-04-19T18:34:49","slug":"instant-pot-max-pressure-cooker-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pressurecookingtoday.com\/instant-pot-max-pressure-cooker-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Instant Pot Max Pressure Cooker Review"},"content":{"rendered":"
Have you heard about the soon to be released Instant Pot Max? The Instant Pot Company continues to innovate and improve electric pressure cookers. Their newest model, the Instant Pot Max has lots of great new, innovative features. Here’s my Instant Pot Max Pressure Cooker Review.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Instant Pot Company sent me the new 6 quart Instant Pot Max<\/a> to take out for a test drive. I’ve had it for about three weeks now and it’s been so fun learning all about the new features.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n I read the safeguard section completely and appreciated that the Instant Pot Max manual<\/a> answers some of the most commonly asked questions. Here’s the safeguards that jumped out at me.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I tested the Instant Pot Max and the Instant Pot Duo Plus side by side with just 2 cups of water in the pots. The float valve rose and the timer started about 1 minute faster on the Duo Plus than on the Max – using high pressure on the Duo Plus and on the Max. The quick release time was exactly the same on both, 3 minutes.<\/p>\n Next I tested the pulse release. Using the pulse release on the Max it took 16 minutes to release the pressure using just 2 cups of water.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n One of my favorite things to pressure cook is hard boiled eggs<\/a>. So the first thing I cooked in the Max after doing the water test, was hard boiled eggs.<\/p>\n The cooking chart recommend a 4 minute cook time at Max pressure 15 psi. So I decided to do a side by side test with the Instant Pot Duo Plus<\/a>. I set a cook time on the Max of 4 minutes with a quick release. The Duo Plus I set a cook time of 6 minutes, used a 6 minutes natural release and 6 minutes in an ice water bath – my go to time for hard boiled eggs.<\/p>\n My Max cooked hard boiled eggs were perfect with a 4 minute cook time and quick release.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Next I decided to cook\u00a0Pressure Cooker Chicken Bacon Penne Pasta<\/a>\u00a0in the Max. I set the Max to quick release. I went to my office to work for a few minutes, thinking I would go back to the kitchen before the pressure cooking time had ended.\u00a0 Unfortunately, I didn’t go back to the kitchen in time and my husband was frantically calling me because foam was spewing everywhere and he didn’t know how to close the steam release valve on the Max yet.<\/p>\n I pressed the venting button and it switched to natural release and it closed the steam release valve, but I’ll be careful not to select the quick release on the Max again with things like pasta that can foam.<\/p>\n I often use what I call an intermittent release for things like pasta that can foam.\u00a0You move the steam release valve from venting to sealing. By releasing the pressure slowly in bursts, you avoid overcooking the pasta and avoid having foam \/ liquid coming out of the valve. The pulse release on the Max is similar but is slower, so if you want to use the pulse release for pasta, you’ll\u00a0 need to reduce your cook time.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Finally I did a side by side test of the NutriBoost feature making\u00a0a batch of Creamy Lemon Parmesan Risotto<\/a> in both pots. I cooked both on high pressure for 5 minutes and used a quick pressure release.<\/p>\n I have to admit I didn’t expect to see a noticeable difference in the two risottos. However, the risotto made in the Max using the\u00a0NutriBoost was significantly more creamy than the risotto made in the Duo Plus. The risotto made in the Max absorbed more liquid than than the risotto made in the Duo Plus and scorched on the bottom just a little bit.<\/p>\n The Instant Pot rep said no change in liquid is required when using the NutriBoost feature, but I would use more liquid when making risotto again. I’m looking forward to making rice pudding<\/a> using the\u00a0NutriBoost feature.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n There are so many reasons to love the Max, but the biggest reason is the automatic pressure release. I put corn on the cob<\/a> in the inner pot, set the cook time and quick release, and went outside to grill some steaks. I didn’t have to worry about coming back inside to release the pressure on the corn to avoid overcooking it. The Max took care of it all on its own.<\/p>\n I’m going to use the automatic pulse release for releasing pressure when cooking meats. It’s slow and gradual enough that it will give meats that little bit of rest time that they need while speeding up the process of releasing the pressure.<\/p>\n I think everyone is going to love the additional information the LCD screen gives them, and the pressure indicator light that lets you know easily when the pressure has been released.<\/p>\nGreat New Features – Things You’ll Love About the Instant Pot Max<\/h2>\n
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\n– Natural Release \u2013 NR<\/strong> \u2013 allows the pressure to release naturally on its own.
\n– Pulse Release \u2013 PR<\/strong> \u2013 programmed intermittent bursts of steam.
\n– Quick Release \u2013 QR<\/strong> \u2013 a quick pressure release with a continuous stream of steam coming out of the steam release valve.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n
\n– You can see the temperature inside the pot. <\/strong>There is a thermal sensor in the lid that gives you information about what’s going on inside the pot.
\n– You can see what stage in the pressure cooking cycle you\u2019re in. There are bars that advance during\u00a0Pre-Heat, Cook, and Keep Warm.\u00a0<\/strong>
\n– You can see what type of venting<\/strong> you\u2019ve selected and you can change the type of venting any time<\/strong> during the Pre-Heat and Cooking stages of the pressure cooking cycle without canceling the cycle<\/strong>.
\n– You can adjust the pressure cooking level<\/strong> during the cycle as well. So if you meant to cook on high pressure, but forgot to change it when you were setting the cook time, you can change it during the Pre-Heat and Cooking stages.<\/li>\n
\nThere\u2019s also push buttons for canning, slow cook, yogurt, sous vide and saut\u00e9. I\u2019m not sure why they positioned the buttons where they did? It would have made more sense to me to put the pressure cooking buttons on one side and the non-pressure cooking functions on the other side. But that’s a minor criticism.<\/li>\n
\n– There\u2019s a quick start guide with lots of images to help explain the steps even if you\u2019re new to pressure cooking.
\n– There\u2019s a chart in the Quick Start Guide explaining the \u201cSmart Programs\u201d \u2013 their settings, their temperature range, pressure levels, time range and the default time. It also lists the pressure\/temperature options, type of venting settings available, and whether or not you can use the delay start with that setting. Auto venting is only available on the pressure cook and canning settings.<\/strong><\/li>\n
\nInstant Pot added this feature so that when you’re making soups it helps to break down food adding nutrition and flavor.\u00a0 When using it with the Rice button, you’ll get added flavors and creaminess for something like risotto. I need to test it to see if it would be helpful when cooking pasta as well?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\nInstant Pot Max Features That May Take Some Getting Use To<\/h2>\n
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Using the Instant Pot Max<\/h2>\n
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\n– low \u2013 6.5 psi \u2013 for cooking tender things like vegetables
\n– high \u2013 12.3 psi \u2013 the highest psi on other Instant Pots
\n– Max – 15 psi \u2013 new on the Max – the psi you can achieve with a stovetop pressure cooker.<\/li>\n
\nA warning is given in the manual that you cannot pressure can above 4800 feet, since I live at 5000 feet above sea level, I will not be able to can in the Max even when it is approved by the USDA.<\/li>\nUpdated Safeguards Section<\/h2>\n
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Putting the Max to the Test<\/h2>\n
Instant Pot Max Pressure Cooker Review Conclusion<\/h2>\n