We make grains with bowl-in-pot method, where one adds liquid and grains to a bowl, and that bowl goes on a trivet or in a steaming insert in the pressure cooker. One cup water still goes into the pressure-cooker pot. The water in the big pot creates the steam that heats up the water and grain in the inner bowl, and provides moisture that limits evaporation of the liquid from the inner bowl.
Cleanup is much easier with the bowl-in-pot method. The food is already in a serving bowl, and is also already in a container that can go in the fridge. We mostly use glass food-storage bowls, and occasionally we use a stainless steel-bowl. This way one can also cook a small amount of food - there is no need for a full cup of liquid in the inner bowl as the water in the pressure cooker pot is used to generate steam., An added benefit is that the food never burns, and that the keep-hot functionality does not dry the food out. Bowl-in-pot cooking time is about 2 minutes more than when one cooks food directly in the pressure-cooker pot.
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| Buckwheat steamed with bowl-in-pot method |
Vegetables - steam
- Beets: 12 minutes, quick release, chunk them up into 1-inch-sized pieces
- Broccoli: 0-1 mins on low pressure, quick release
- Large floretes: 1 min on low pressure, quick release
- Butternut squash small cubes: 3 min, quick release
- Butternut squash large pieces: 8 min, quick release
- Delicata squash halves: 8 min, quick release
- Cauliflower: 1 min, low pressure, quick release
- Celeriac cubes: 3-4 min, quick release
- Savoy cabbage: add a pinch of salt, 1-2 mins, quick release
- Corn on the cob: 4 mins, quick release
- Brussels sprouts: 3-4 mins, quick release
- Cabbage, sliced: 2 mins, quick release (add to sauteed onion, garlic, and chili flakes)
- Green beans: 3 minutes, quick release
- Fresh green peas, 1 minute, low pressure, quick release
Starch - steam
- Potatoes: 2cm - 3/4 inch pieces, peeled, slightly salted: 4 mins, quick release
- Whole mid-sized russet potatoes: 10 mins, natural erlease.
- Sweet potato, whole: poke holes, steam small potatoes for 10 minutes, large for 18 mins, release steam after about 10 minutes
Pasta
- Use 1 cup water for 4 oz pasta. You can double the amount of water if you like your pasta very cooked - some would say overcooked.
- Cooking time is (time on the packet) divided by 2. If you like more al-dente pasta, subtract additional 2 minutes.
- Important: Let the pressure fall naturally for 5 minutes and then release the steam manually. If you let the pasta sit in the liquid for longer, it will be overcooked - which some people like.
- Cook pasta in plain water and salt or miso, or cook it in tomato sauce, or any other sauce that contains enough water. If using sauce, use a little more sauce than just plain water to offset the dry ingredients in the sauce.
Beans, soaked for 24-48 hours
We get beans at Rancho Gordo. We always soak the beans in the fridge for at least 24h, some benefit from even longer soaking. We like our beans well cooked, creamy, and find published cooking times by Rancho Gordo too short.
Most thin-skinned well-soaked beans cook nicely in 11-12 minutes under high pressure with natural release. We experimented with low pressure as well, and we like the results better - the gentler cooking leaves the beans shape more intact and it results in a creamier texture. Surprisingly, 35 minutes of cooking time seems to work great for any soaked bean, the results have been consistently great. This is our default approach now.
We get beans at Rancho Gordo. We always soak the beans in the fridge for at least 24h, some benefit from even longer soaking. We like our beans well cooked, creamy, and find published cooking times by Rancho Gordo too short.
Most thin-skinned well-soaked beans cook nicely in 11-12 minutes under high pressure with natural release. We experimented with low pressure as well, and we like the results better - the gentler cooking leaves the beans shape more intact and it results in a creamier texture. Surprisingly, 35 minutes of cooking time seems to work great for any soaked bean, the results have been consistently great. This is our default approach now.
If you did not cook the beans for long enough there is no worry. Make sure there is enough liquid in the pot, seal it back, and cook for another few minutes under pressure, until the beans are cooked to your taste.
- Alubia Blanca: 9 mins, natural release
- Ayocote negro: 23 mins, natural release, or 35 minutes, low pressure, natural release
- Black eye pea: 11 mins, natural release
- Borlotto di Veneto: 11 mins, natural release
- Cranberry: 8 minutes, natural release
- Christmas lima: 16 mins, natural release
- Domingo Rojo: 22 minutes, natural release
- Frijol Negro Santanero from Oaxaca, 36 mins, natural release (after soaking!)
- Garbanzo: 8 mins, natural release
- Marcella: 11 minutes, natural release
- Mayocoba: 11 minutes, natural release
- Midnight black: 23 mins, natural release, or 35 mins, low pressure, natural release
- Moro: 15 minutes, natural release
- Pinto: 10 mins, natural release
- Royal corona: soak for 2 days, 25 mins, natural release, or 35 mins at low pressure, natural release
- San Franciscano: 13 minutes, natural release
- Santa Maria Pinquito: 22 minutes, natural release
- Scarlet Runner: 22 minutes, natural release
- Vaquero: 11 minutes, natural release
- Yellow eye: 10 minutes, natural release
- Yellow Indian Woman: 12 mins, natural release
Lentils
We mostly get lentils from Rancho Gordo, along with the beans. Just like the Rancho Gordo beans are consistently of a superior quality, we find the same for their lentils.
The general pattern for cooking lentils is 1 part lentil to 1 3/4 parts of liquid, cooked for 6-12 minutes with natural release, with the exception of red lentils that can take as little as 3 minutes to cook. Seasoning just with salt is enough, adding some fried onions and garlic, and other spices adds to the flavor. I prefer to fry the onions on the stove and then transfer them to Instant Pot. While this defeats the purpose of a universal cooking apparatus, I feel I have a better temperature control when saute-ing on a stove, so I don't mind cleaning an extra pan for superior results.
- Beluga lentils: 1 cup lentils + 1 3/4 cup water + spices, 10 minutes (6-12), natural release
- Green lentils: 1 cup lentils + 1 3/4 cup water + spices, 8 minutes (6-10), natural release
- French green lentils: 1 cup lentils + 1 3/4 cup water + spices, 10 minutes (6-12), natural release
- Red lentils: 1 cup lentils + 1 3/4 cup water + spices, 3-10 minutes, natural release (10 mins for complete mush, which is what one sometimes wants with red lentils)
- Split pea soup: use at least 4:1 water to lentils. 10 mins after sautéing vegetables. Natural release.
Grains - bowl-in-pot
- Amarath: 2-2.5X liquid, 6-8 mins + natural release
- Buckwheat: 2X liquid, 3 mins + natural release
- In a bowl on a trivet, 2 parts liquid to 1 part buckwheat, 4 to 5 mins + natural release
- Millet: 2.5X liquid, 9 mins + natural release
- 2X liquid if you like millet a bit more dry
- Miso and coconut oil add amazing flavor
- Quinoa: rice program, 2X liquid, or 1 min + natural release
- In a bowl on a trivet: 2X liquid, 4-6 mins + natural release.
- Teff: Rice program, 3.5-4X liquid, or 1 min + natural release
- Wild rice: 2.5X liquid, 35 mins + natural release
- White sticky / glutinous rice: In a bowl on a trivet, 1 cup rice + 3/4 cups liquid, 10 mins + natural release
- Brown sticky / glutinous rice: In a bowl on a trivet, 1 cup rice + 3/4 cups liquid, 20 mins + natural release
- Black rice: In a bowl on a trivet, 1 cup rice + 1 cups liquid, 20 mins + natural release
- Oats, rolled: 3 parts of liquid to 1-2 parts of oats, 3-4 mins + natural release
- Steel cut oats, regular: In a bowl on a trivet, 3 parts liquid to 1 part oats, 18 mins + natural release
- Sorghum: In a bowl on a trivet, 2 parts liquid to 1 part sorghum, 25 mins + natural release
Tofu and meat:
- Tofu sticks: season slightly, steam for 5 mins, quick release
- Chicken: 25 mins, natural release
- Lamb shanks: 35 mins, natural release
- Short ribs: 48 mins, natural release
- Pork belly: 45 mins, natural release
- Stewing beef: 25 mins, natural release
- 3 hours: water + soup bones + salt
- remove soup bones
- 45 mins: bone broth, beef shank, carrot, onion, celery, shiitake stems
- Cool over night in a fridge, remove the hardened fat before consuming or freezing
Mushroom broth:
- 2 hours at high pressure: water or vegetarian dashi, and a few handfuls of dry mushrooms
- salt to taste
References:
- Rancho Gordo table with cooking times for Instant Pot- we typically find those to be too short.
- Cooking vegetables in Instant Pot.
- Cooking grains in Instant Pot
- Cooking rice in Instant Pot.
- Cooking lentils in Instant Pot.
