Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Food, Cooking, and Game Preparation Help! Instapot/pressure cooker overcooks

For more info:

Yes, it is programmable, with ten preset programs, and an option to adjust the preset pressure cook time down to one minute. One minute is too long and overcooks carrots and potatoes cut into inch cubes. All the google I've found indicates many people have trouble with these cookers overcooking.

I started by following the at-pressure cook time in the manual that came with the cooker. Overcooked by a lot. Then started reducing cook time. It takes about 25-30 minutes from a cold start to heat up enough to pop up the pressure indicator. If I shut it off the instant it achieves pressure and let it cool/depressurize naturally, it takes another half hour or more for the pressure to drop and allow the lid to open. All that time the ingredients are cooking, during the pressure rise and the cooling.

Prep & cook details: I brown meat either in the cooker on brown setting, or in a skillet. Barely browned exterior. I slightly caramelize some of the chopped onions and carrots quickly in the cooker on the brown setting, then dump in the rest and set on the shortest preset. IME carrots take the longest to cook, potatoes second and meat cooks quickly. They all get done overnight in a slow cooker without over cooking.

There is no way I will take the time to cook one item at a time. Having to watch the cooker in order to shut it off as soon as the pressure indicator pops up and then relieve the pressure to reduce cooking time is already adding more hover and hassle than I want. I just won't use the thing if it requires that every time. Next I will try shutting it off the moment it achieves pressure, and then depressurize totally and open the lid within five minutes. Sure wish I could set a program and forget it till it is done. So far it is a time saving device that takes more time.