Cooking Time

Cooking Time

As with conventional cooking, cooking with Instant Pot is full of personal choices, creativity, a lot of science and experimentation. No two individuals have exactly the same tastes, preferences of tenderness and texture of food. The ‘Cooking Time Tables’ are for your reference only.   We encourage you to experiment to find the settings for the best results for your own preferences.

There are other factors that may affect the cooking time. Different cuts of meat and different types of rice, for example, may require different cooking time to yield the same tenderness or texture.

The following pressure ‘Cooking Time Tables’ provides a general guideline on the length of pressure-cooking time for various food.

• Dry Beans, Legume and Lentils
• Meat (Poultry, Beef, Pork and Lamb)
• Seafood and Fish
• Rice and Grains
• Fresh or Frozen Vegetable
• Fruits

When cooking frozen food, there is no need to defrost the food in the microwave prior to preparing.  However, frozen food will prolong the pre-heating time and cooking time depending on the amount of food.  To ensure to have your meal ready on time it is important to plan accordingly.

The times indicated within the ‘Cooking Time Tables’ are based on the cooking pressure within the range of 10.15 – 11.6 psi.

The Tables are meant to be used as guidelines.

Seafood & Fish

The cooking time for seafood is typically short.  The best result is achieved with the original juice being retained in the food.  Steaming is the ideal cooking method; however stewing the food will also produce great results.

When steaming seafood, you will need at least 1 cup (250 mL) of water, and an ovenproof or steel bowl on a steam rack.  When seafood or fish is over-cooked, the texture becomes tough, to avoid this, you should control the cooking time.  Normally, you’ll need to use the steam release handle to release the pressure and stop cooking as soon as the programmed cooking period is over.  An alternative is to take the natural cooking time (7-10 minutes) into consideration.

Rice & Grains

If you would like to cook some specialty rice or grains, please use the following grain: water ratio.

The Rice Measuring Cup (180 mL) provided with your Instant Pot can be used to measure the required grain to water ratios.  One cup of grain yields approximately one adult serving.

Dried Beans, Legumes & Lentils

There are a few things to be aware of when cooking dried beans and legumes:

• Dried beans double in volume and weight after soaking or cooking. To avoid overflow, please do not fill the inner pot more than to the ½ mark to allow for expansion.
• When cooking dried beans use sufficient liquid to cover the beans.
• Although not necessary, soaking the dried beans can speed up cooking significantly. Immerse the beans in 4 times their volume of water for 4-6 hours.

Beans and legumes are less likely to be over-cooked, but if they are undercooked the texture is unpleasant.  Please consider the cooking time as a minimal time.

Meat (Beef, Pork, Poultry, Lamb)

There are a few things to be aware of when cooking meat:

• Raw meat is perishable and should not be left at room temperature for more than 2 hours (or 1 hour if room temperature is above 32°C / 90°F). When using the [Delay Start] program, do not set time for more than 1-2 hours.  We recommend to pre-cook meat and select [Keep Warm] or [Warm] program to maintain the food at the correct serving temperature.
• Do not try to thicken the sauce before cooking. Corn starch, flour or arrow-root may deposit on the bottom of the inner pot and block heat dissipation.  As a result, the pressure cooker may overheat.

You may want to brown/sear the meat by selecting the [Sauté] program to seal the juices before pressure-cooking.

Vegetables

When steaming vegetables, you will require 1 cup (250 mL) of water and an ovenproof or steel bowl on a steam rack.

Cooking vegetables, fresh or frozen, we recommend using the [Steam] to preserve vitamins and minerals to the maximum.  Steaming also retains the natural look of the vegetables.

Fruits

When steaming fruit, you will need 1 cup (250 mL) of water and an ovenproof or steel bowl on a steam rack.

Fresh or dried fruits are best steamed to preserve the texture and taste as well as the vitamins and minerals.  Steaming also retains the natural look of the fruit.  Cook fruit f equal size and ripeness together.