Comments on: Why Pushing Down the Instant Pot Lid is Not a Good Idea

By: Beth

Beth — Sat, 24 Jun 2023 13:51:58 +0000

The science is the science but the experience counts. Often my Instant Pot won’t seal/come to pressure without a quick push on the lid. It’s not ideal but I’ve used it for years and all food comes out perfectly. Maybe that’s because the IP “wants” to seal at that point. It’s only pushed down when I can tell it’s ready to seal. So I give it a bit of help. If I don’t do that, eventually it will keep shooting out steam, not seal, and there’d be no more liquid.

By: Marilyn Boling

Marilyn Boling — Sun, 04 Apr 2021 20:46:35 +0000

Excellent information! You two help us cook better. Thank you!

By: Tim C.

Tim C. — Thu, 23 Apr 2020 15:08:58 +0000

Great info here–I’ve never seen this addressed anywhere else on the web. I’ve never consciously pushed down on the Instant Pot lid when sealing, but I always made sure the venting knob was in the “sealing” position before placing the lid on the unit, so now I know that it’s possible I was trapping some air in the unit prior to cooking. Thanks!

By: Amy + Jacky

Amy + Jacky — Thu, 23 Apr 2020 01:02:16 +0000

In reply to Don.

Hi Don,

Thank you so much for your kind comment 🙂

Please take care and stay safe
Jacky

By: Don

Don — Sun, 19 Apr 2020 01:33:10 +0000

Thanks for the explanation article!
Sometimes my oatmeal or rice dishes would stick to the bottom as the pot heated. The pot would sense this and start the timer counting down before the pot pressurized – to keep the food on the bottom from burning I later learned.
So I would open the pot and scrape the bottom with a wooden spatula as it got close to full temperature to make sure it didn’t stick. Often it would then pressurize as soon as I closed the lid, just from me compressing down on the lid as the liquid had come to a boil.
Well, I thought I had found a short-cut that could speed-up pressurizing the pot as it got close to boiling. And I started opening and closing the lid as it got up to temperature to speed-up the final bit of pressurization. But sometimes potatoes, for example, didn’t cook fully through in the normal amount of time. Now I know why.
I will still scrape the bottom when necessary, but will let it pressurize normally.

Cheers

8 litre duo & 6 litre ultra

By: Paula

Paula — Thu, 24 Oct 2019 18:47:10 +0000

In reply to Amy + Jacky. The lid may be fine, but the silicone ring may need to be replaced. They do stretch and eventually fail with use.

By: Amy + Jacky

Amy + Jacky — Mon, 21 Oct 2019 05:52:46 +0000

In reply to Laura.

Hi Laura,

It sounds like your lid is faulty. I recommend contacting the Instant Pot support.

Please take care
Jacky

By: Laura

Laura — Fri, 11 Oct 2019 21:40:52 +0000

I am having trouble finding out what’s wrong with my duo. I have used it for a year or so, not too often and I could cook well. Recently the steam escapes from the floating valve or from the side of the lid like a few days ago and I can’t understand what’s wrong. The sealing ring is fine, not damaged or cut, placed well in crease and the floating valve is clean and well positioned, with rubber cap like usual. Today I tried a recipe from the book instant pot fast and easy (ground beef shawarma rice) and most of the steam escaped from the floating valve before popping (it took longer unexpectedly) leaving me with a Burn sign. Apparently there was some rice stuck at bottom of the pot but got cleaned right away with a spoon. I even added more broth than called for (2 cups instead of one and 1/2) so I don’t know what to do.

By: Amy + Jacky

Amy + Jacky — Sun, 14 Jul 2019 00:00:09 +0000

In reply to Clumpy.

Thank you Clumpy 🙂

If the floating valve will not come up, you can poke at it with a fork or chopstick.

Please take care
Jacky

By: Clumpy

Clumpy — Sun, 07 Jul 2019 19:50:44 +0000

I don’t believe my lid is defective but occasionally (with lower-volume cooking, generally) I’ll have an issue where there’s a lot of steam noise and the entire cooking cycle completes without sealing. Very rare, but when it happens it’s frustrating and I have to guess how long to continue to cook the food for and whether to add more liquid.

Previously I would just push the lid down right away, but after reading this article I might suggest that anybody having this problem wait until the actual cooking countdown starts to push down on the sides and seal the pot. By that point the instant pot clearly “thinks” it’s ready to start cooking and the lid should have sealed by that point anyway.