Cooking instructor offers the 411 on using the trendy Instant Pot

Cooking instructor Pamela Salzman loves using an Instant Pot, but says there are a few key rules to making your meal successful, like reading the manual first.

"And and that's the problem, because people don't want to read the manual, but the manual will tell you everything you actually need to know and give you all of the basics. Because some of it is not intuitive," said Salzman.

Both a slow cooker and a pressure cooker, it's the pressurized cooking that's given this pot its popularity, but here is what most don't understand:

"I like to go on manual, and we are on high-pressure, and for this amount of chicken we can do this in about 10 minutes," Salzman said. "You have to wait for the machine to build pressure and then it will convert back to 10 minutes. It will start cooking down from 10 minutes."

She also advises you check the position of the vent. It should be on seal, not vent, for the pressure to build.

Bone broth that takes 24 to 48 hours can be done in two. There is a rice and grains function along with other common foods.

"Any kind of stock is great. Tough cuts of meat chicken for the week. A lot of people also like doing a big batches of hard boiled eggs. They just like magically slip off after you pressure cook them," Salzman said.

And once your food beeps, indicating it's done, there is one more step before you left that lid.

"There we go and you're going to go over to your vent and you're now going to vent it and this is what is called a quick release. Just be careful because there's a lot of steam.," Salzman cautioned.

Salzman made chicken tacos in 10 minutes, after the pressure built. It was as easy as adding a handful of ingredients.

"Take the chicken thighs and put them into the vessel here. I'm going to add in some salsa or you can do pico de gallo then some garlic and seasoning. Some garlic, some chipotle powder and cumin and chili powder, salt and pepper," said Salzman.

What isn't good for pressure cooking? Pasta and any foods that are quick to make or you want the ability to taste along the cooking process.
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