Life in the Lower Mainland (BC, Canada)

Previously we experimented with steaming rice in the InstantPot for just 1 minute and letting the residual heat and pressure cook the rice. It turns out, you can do the same with pasta! And then make it mac 'n cheese by adding cheese at the end. Put your pasta in a bowl with just enough water to cover the pasta. Add water to the InstantPot, then sit the bowl in this water bath. Use Steam setting for 1 minute. As soon as the float valve has popped up you can turn off the power. This of course indicates there is dangerously hot pressured steam in the InstantPot. You don't actually need to wait for the 1 minute Steam program to run. Wait 10 minutes then release the pressure. Or, just wait for the pressure to naturally release. If you didn't use an excessive amount of water, it's fine to leave it in the InstantPot for a long time because there won't be a lot of water left over to absorb and become soggy, and the steam in the InstantPot will ensure it doesn't dry ou...

Previously, we showed you how WRONG it is to make rice directly in the InstantPot . Further experimentation has show how WRONG it is to use the "Rice" setting on the InstantPot. The InstantPot "rice" setting basically sets it to start boiling the water at a low heat, then it counts down 12 minutes on the Rice setting, then shuts off. At that point you can use the switch for rapid pressure release to open the InstantPot safely sooner and get at the rice. But is there an easier way? Absolutely. And save electricity doing it too. Of course everyone knows you can pre-soak rice. That's certainly one way to speed things up but what you don't even have to do that. Prepare the raw rice and water in the InstantPot. Either directly or using our pot-in-a-pot method  for smaller portions of rice. Set the InstantPot to STEAM for 1 MINUTE. Yes, just one minute. We're actually not even going to wait for the countdown. The Keep Warm setting is not necessary. Your rice w...