{"id":31976,"date":"2019-01-12T23:20:35","date_gmt":"2019-01-13T06:20:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pressurecookingtoday.com\/?p=31976"},"modified":"2021-10-09T08:57:31","modified_gmt":"2021-10-09T14:57:31","slug":"instant-pot-pressure-cooking-tricks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pressurecookingtoday.com\/instant-pot-pressure-cooking-tricks\/","title":{"rendered":"34 Pressure Cooking Tricks that Will Change the Way You Cook"},"content":{"rendered":"

Chances are, one of the things you love most about your Instant Pot or electric pressure cooker is all the time it saves you in the kitchen. But are you getting everything you could out of it? Try some of these\u00a0Instant Pot hacks\/pressure cooking tricks to help save even more time!<\/em><\/p>\n

\"collage<\/p>\n

Jenn here again. Growing up, cooking was a chore that I avoided as often as possible. (Sorry, Mom!) But now that I’m cooking dinners for my own family, sharing a kitchen with Mom is a revelation!<\/p>\n

I’m lucky enough to live close enough to Barbara that we have a standing lunch date every week. Quite often, she’ll pull out the pressure cooker and we’ll cook in the kitchen together.\u00a0As she runs through the recipe, I’ll stop her and ask her to explain the different things she does and her reasoning behind them. She does these things without thinking, but I almost always go home having learned something new.<\/p>\n

So this week, I thought I’d share some of the tricks I’ve learned from Barbara with all of you! And I’d love to hear from you\u2014what things do\u00a0you\u00a0<\/em>do to make life easier in the kitchen?<\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n

Pressure Cooking Tricks:\u00a0Plan Ahead<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Barbara’s #1 tip is to read the entire recipe before you start cooking.<\/strong> Growing up, we heard this a million times! But as an adult I realize it’s SUCH good advice. It only takes a minute or two, but it makes a huge difference in your stress level in cooking. You better understand the recipe timing and can make sure you have ingredients on hand. (It’s so frustrating when you have to pause in the middle of cooking because you’re out of essential ingredients.) It also lets you know what ingredients you need to have prepared and measured in advance.<\/p>\n

Plan your meals each week so that you double up on common items.<\/strong> For example, make a double batch of white rice to eat with Pressure Cooker Beef and Broccoli<\/a> and then save half of the cooked rice to make Ham Fried Rice (page 256 in the Electric Pressure Cooker Cookbook<\/em>)<\/a> later in the week.<\/p>\n

Prep your ingredients the night before.<\/strong> For example, with\u00a0Pumpkin Steel Cut Oats<\/a>, the night before I’ll measure out all the dry ingredients and liquid ingredients in two separate containers and store in the fridge. I’ll get my pressure cooker out and ready to go with my breakfast ring on the night before. In the morning, I’ll saute the oats, dump in the pre-measured ingredients, and then go get ready for the day. By the time I’m done, breakfast is hot and ready and wonderful. (You can do this on a meal-by-meal basis or you can use dried fruits to prepare several batches at a time like Marci does with her ready-mix steel cut oats<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

Plan multiple meals that use the same vegetables and then chop all the vegetables you’ll need for the next few days.<\/strong>\u00a0Store the different amounts of vegetables in separate containers. For example, Pressure Cooker Chicken Noodle Soup<\/a> and Pressure Cooker Rice Pilaf<\/a>\u00a0both use carrots, celery, and onions that are diced to the same size. So when I’m dicing the veggies for one meal, I’ll prep enough to make both meals and then store in the fridge until needed.\u00a0(If you’re using chopped onion, I’ve found that glass containers with tight-fitting lids work best at keeping the onion smell from taking over the fridge.<\/p>\n

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Pressure Cooking Tricks:\u00a0While Cooking<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Meats<\/strong><\/h3>\n

If you’re in a hurry, brown only one side of your meat.<\/strong> The meat will still have an appetizing color and the sauce will still get the great browning flavor, but you’ll be out of the kitchen in half the time.<\/p>\n

If you bought meat in bulk to freeze for later, cut the meat into bite-size pieces and freeze them flat.<\/strong> Bite-size pieces of meat thaw quickly and you can use them frozen, without changing the recipe timing. I really love doing this with chicken meals that I make all the time, including\u00a0Pressure Cooker Orange Chicken<\/a>, Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Soup<\/a>, and Creamy Chicken Pesto Pasta (page 163)<\/a>, and Chicken Tetrazzini (page 164)<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Dice<\/p>\n

I love using boneless, skinless chicken thighs when pressure cooking.<\/strong> Not only are they less expensive than breasts, they pack more chicken flavor and cook up great in the pressure cooker. When using chicken thighs, don’t worry about trimming all the fat\u2014just what you can cut away quickly. During pressure cooking, the rest of the fat will melt away from the chicken, leaving tender, juicy meat. (Try chicken thighs in\u00a0Pressure Cooker Thai Chicken Thighs<\/a>, Indian Butter Chicken (Tikka Masala)<\/a>, or Chicken Bacon Penne Pasta<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

Use an\u00a0instant-read thermometer<\/a>\u00a0to verify each chicken breast is at least 165\u00b0F in the thickest part of the breast after cooking.<\/p>\n

In a pinch, you can use shredded rotisserie chicken in recipes that call for cooked diced chicken<\/strong> like Quick White Chicken Chili<\/a>\u00a0or Butternut Squash Soup with Chicken and Orzo<\/a>. Bonus: Save the bones to make an easy chicken stock.<\/p>\n

Forgot to thaw that package of frozen ground beef or ground chicken before cooking?<\/strong> It’s actually really easy to cook from frozen in your Instant Pot or other electric pressure cooker!<\/p>\n