Table of Contents
Instant Pots can make quite a useful kitchen appliance in that they can perform several other functions. Whether it be a yogurt maker, food warmer, rice cooker, steamer, or a pressure cooker, an Instant Pot is capable enough to replace all of them. This is why these multi-tasking appliances have been increasingly becoming a part of every household kitchen.
As we just mentioned, there is much more to an Instant Pot than just pressure cooking. In fact, it is also possible to turn it into a Slow Cooker. Now, we know that Slow Cookers are a bit different in that they are used for cooking casseroles, stews, and soups. Not only that but using a Slow Cooker can also make the cooked food taste even better.
Most of you would know that an Instant Pot and Slow Cooker are two different appliances. However, the former can do slow cooking so well that it’ll make you wonder why you bought a Slow Cooker in the first place. With that being said, turning an Instant Pot into a Slow Cooker is not as easy as it sounds. As a matter of fact, this process can be a tad difficult for most Instant Pot users out there.
Luckily, you’ve stumbled across the right article. Today, we’re going to be teaching you all about how to turn your Instant Pot into a Slow Cooker. Before we begin, we recommend reading our instructions carefully and keeping all the precautions in mind. If you do so, there is a good chance you won’t encounter any trouble during this entire procedure.
Instant Pot to a Slow Cooker—Real Quick!
Although this process shouldn’t take that much time, there’s much more to it than just pressing the Slow Cooker button on your Instant Pot. The reason is that this function does not give the same temperature as you would get from a Slow Cooker. Except for this part, you won’t be facing that many other complications.
Let’s begin!
The first step to this procedure would be of filling the inner pot with all your ingredients. Once you’re done with that, you can then fix it back into the Instant Pot body.
Afterward, you should try putting the steam release handle into the venting mode once you’ve closed the lid. One thing we’d like to mention here is that it is also beneficial to use a tempered glass lid instead. However, we’ll be discussing it later on in this article.
Now, you’d have to turn on your Instant Pot and opt for its “Slow Cook” option. When everything is all ready, the desired cooking time will have to be set. With the buttons on your Instant Pot, you will easily be able to adjust the cooking time, which can range from 30mins to 20hours.
After this step, users would have to select the appropriate cooking mode. Here, you will be provided with three options: Low, Medium, and High. With that being said, as we mentioned earlier, the temperatures differ for both an Instant Pot and a Slow Cooker. Considering this, you should either opt for the Medium or High mode, since Low wouldn’t do the trick here.
The final step would be to press the ‘Start’ button. With this, the Instant Pot will commence, but the catch is that it won’t stop even when the timer runs out. The reason for this is that just a Slow Cooker, the Instant Pot will keep cooking the food for many hours. Accordingly, you can do whatever you want to throughout the course of your day meanwhile the food gets cooked. And, when you’re done, you can open your Instant Pot (or may I say your new Slow Cooker) to find your food all ready.
Always good to double-check
There’s no doubt that an Instant Pot can work as a Slow Cooker most of the time. With that being said, there can be a few instances where things can go wrong. Since the Instant Pot isn’t exactly made up of thick ceramic, it might take a little longer to cook the food well.
An Instant Pot mainly cooks food from the bottom. Considering this, it’s a good idea to make sure whether all sides of your dish are cooked. Apart from that, another reason why your food didn’t cook so well could be your choice of the cooking mode. The ‘Low’ mode gives temperature between 180-190°F, which ‘Medium’ produces 190-200°F. So, your best bet is to always go for the ‘High’ mode if you don’t want any part of your dish uncooked.
As a matter of fact, the ‘Medium’ mode might also do the trick if the food you’re cooking doesn’t require that much heat. However, we wouldn’t really recommend going for the ‘Low’ mode since that can be a bit of a stretch. So, you’re better off sticking with the ‘High’ and ‘Medium’ if you don’t want to take the risk of serving uncooked food.
Remember that ‘tempered glass lid’ we spoke of?
When turning an Instant Pot into a Slow Cooker, many people debate on the topic of their lids. However, this argument does make sense since Slow Cookers usually accompany a glass lid while Instant Pots don’t.
Although the Instant Pot lid does have its benefits, it is not optimal when slow cooking with the appliance. With this lid, the pot is tightly sealed and preserves moisture. Now, such a lid would do wonders if you’re pressure cooking. But, in case of slow cooking? Not so much.
Considering this, if you want to go for slow cooking, then you’d need a tempered glass lid. With the help of such a lid, your pot will be able to empty all its moisture and steam. This would contribute to a much better slow cooking experience that would resemble that of a Slow Cooker.
However, before you order yourself a tempered glass lid, there is one thing you should do. If you happen to be an owner of many kitchen appliances, chances are that you’d have a number of glass lids all across your kitchen. So, you can try fitting those lids one by one on your Instant Pot. If the lid fits, use it. This way, you wouldn’t have to spend more money on getting another lid for your pot.
There’s no doubt your Instant Pot can work as a Slow Cooker even with its own lid. With that being said, we highly recommend using a tempered glass lid with it. By doing so, you will get a much better slow cooking experience and your food will be cooked to perfection. Other than that, this will also keep your Instant Pot protected so that it lasts even longer.
Conclusion
If your kitchen doesn’t have an Instant Pot, you’re probably missing out on a number of kitchen appliances. This appliance can not only be used for pressure cooking but so much more. In this article, we have learned how that is possible. With our guidelines, we are sure that you will be able to successfully use your Instant Pot for any sort of slow cooking.
With that being said, as you will be slow cooking with your Instant Pot, the key things to remember would be to use a tempered glass lid and making sure that the food is fully cooked at the end of the process. If you keep these things in mind, there’s no stopping you from using the slow cooking feature of your Instant Pot. In fact, such a pot can do so well in the slow cooking department that you might reconsider buying a Slow Cooker in the first place.
