Harcourt - Instant Pot Miracle: From Gourmet to Everyday, 175 Must-Have Recipes

INSTANT POT and the Instant Pot logo are registered trademarks of Double Insight Inc. Used under license.

Copyright 2017 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

All rights reserved

For information about permission to reproduce selections from this book, write to or to Permissions, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, 3 Park Avenue, 19th Floor, New York, New York 10016.

www.hmhco.com

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available.

ISBN 978-1-328-85105-5 (pbk)

ISBN 978-1-328-85106-2 (ebk)

Book design by Waterbury Publications, Inc.

Pumpkin-Spice Steel-Cut Oats, Chickpea Broccoli Salad, Maple & Vinegar-Braised Parsnips, and Spicy Brown Rice and Bean Soup from VEGAN UNDER PRESSURE: Perfect Vegan Meals Made Quick and Easy in Your Pressure Cooker by Jill Nussinow, MS, RDN. Copyright 2016 by Jill Nussinow, MS, RDN. Used by permission of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. All rights reserved.

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The idea for the Instant Pota multipurpose cooker that relies on the latest technologiesstarted with a simple, basic, and universal desire.

In 2008, Robert Wang and two colleagues (who along with Wang would eventually be founders of the company that produces the Instant Pot) began brainstorming ideas for kitchen appliances that could address the very personal concerns they had about being able to fix quick, healthy, delicious meals after long days at work. All three had worked in the Canadian high-tech industry. Wangs wife worked in the high-tech field as welland the couple had two young children. There was another motivating factor: Wang and his colleagues observed changes in the lifestyles of North Americans. Although people were busier than ever and had less time to cook, they wanted to eat more healthfully.

The trio settled on rebooting the pressure cookertraditionally a stovetop pot with a locked-on lid fitted with a rubber or plastic gasket and heated up until enough pressure built up in the pot to cook foods far more quickly than regular braising and steaming methods. Although once popular, pressure cooking had fallen out of favor because of tales told of exploding pots that catapulted hot beef stew or cooked beans all over the kitchen. Safety was their first hurdle. They decided to make it their top priority followed by innovation. Their appliance would not just be a pressure cooker but also a slow cooker, rice cooker, steamer, saut pan, and yogurt makerall in one.

They partnered with three other investors and set up a business called Double Insight in Ottawa to manufacture their brainchild. The first Instant Pot came on the market in 2010. The rest, as they say, is history.

Word spreadprimarily through social mediaabout the convenience the pot provides to the home cook and the creativity it allows for meal making even on the busiest days. Nearly everyone who acquires an Instant Pot becomes an instant fanand they enthusiastically spread the word to friends, family members, and coworkers. Words used to describe the Instant Pot veer toward the passionate. Love! and life-changing are two of the most common praises.

And then of course there are the results: Butter-knife-tender roasts in minutes, creamy risottos with no stirring, hearty bean soups and chili with no overnight soaking and a fraction of the traditional cooking timeand the creamiest, fluffiest cheesecake you will ever taste.

The creators of the Instant Pot do not rest on their laurels and the tremendous success of their invention. They are constantly seeking to improve it based on feedback from their customers. Each iteration released to the marketevery 12 to 18 monthshas enhancements to make using it easier and more satisfying.

It may sound too good to be true, but its not. With a little bit of prep work and the push of a button, you can get wonderful, healthful meals on the table with speed and ease and (we dare say) have a lot of fun doing it!

Happy cooking!

The User Manual that came with your Instant Pot has detailed information on how to use the appliance. Read through it and refer to it as often as necessary. Here are the basics, plus some points that should be highlighted.

The Basics

When you plug in your Instant Pot, the display will read off. After you have selected the cooking function and adjusted the time, if necessary, the pot will automatically go on and start cooking 10 seconds after you push the last button.

Press cancel if you need to start over.

Press cancel when you are switching functions in the middle of a recipefor instance, from saut to manual or from slow cook to saut to reduce a sauce.

For both the saut and slow cook functions, there are three temperature settings: less, normal, and more.

Note: If you have an Ultra 10-in-1 Multi-Use Programmable Pressure Cooker, Low/Medium/High correspond to Less/Normal/More on the Duo 7-in-1 Multi-Use Programmable Pressure Cooker.

For all cooking functions except slow cook, yogurt, and saut (when you dont use the lid), the pressure-release valve should be in the closed or sealed position.

Pressure Cooking in the Instant Pot

Pressure cooking can be done in one of two ways:

The selection of manual (choosing high or low pressure) and the setting of the cook time using the + and - buttons is one way. The other is through the use of the pre-set buttons. Each of the pre-set buttons defaults to high pressure, with the exception of rice, which defaults to low pressure. Each pre-set button also has a default (normal) cook time, but can be adjusted to less or more. Each pre-set can also be customized to any time you like using the + and - buttons. To see the normal, less, and more cook times for each pre-set function, press the adjust button to toggle among them. (Note that these times only refer to the cook timenot the Closed Pot Time; see .) To clear the machine from a previously customized cook time, press the adjust button for 3 seconds, until you hear a beep.

Slow Cooking in the Instant Pot

The slow cook function on the Instant Pot defaults to a 4-hour cook time. Use the + or - buttons to set the time and the adjust button to toggle among the three temperature settingsnormal,less, and more. In this book, slow cook is most often used on more. This temperature level is the equivalent of medium-high if there was such a setting on a stand-alone slow cooker, so the timings are somewhere between what would be low and high on a regular slow cooker.

Sauting in the Instant Pot

The saut function on the Instant Pot has three temperature settingsnormal,less, and more. Although you dont need to set a cook time for the