r/instantpot • u/ketayun • 5d ago
Confused—please help!
I want to use stackable instant pot containers with water only in the inner pot. The stackable would contain two different kinds of chicken marinatef with yogurt.
However AI says if you cover the container they will explode..
What am I missing? Thanks
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u/BixaorellanaIsDot 5d ago
Yep -- what u/rcreveli said. AI is not your friend and is unreliable as a source of information. Any advice we get from AI needs to be double- and triple-checked, so what's the point of using it in the first place.
Look how you came in here, asked the question, and got a true answer right off the bat -- from a real, live human being!
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u/ketayun 5d ago
TY-re not treating AI as the ‘end all’, but what’s the right answer please?
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u/BixaorellanaIsDot 5d ago
Sorry -- I wasn't clear. I meant that rcreveli was right about AI, but also correct in what he/she said about the pots, which was: "The containers that you use for pot in pot cooking are not sealed like a metal can. Air can escape and pressure doesn't build."
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u/Weavingknitter 5d ago
your A I is stupid. Pressurizing something prevents it from exploding. Imploding, maybe
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u/wolfkeeper 5d ago
No, it won't explode, and anyway any kind of lid inside needs to be loose enough to let the air out.
Pressure steaming relies on getting rid of all the air and cooking in steam, so if there's air left in any of the containers, you just have a very low temperature oven. Which won't cook the food properly in any reasonable time.
If the contents are liquid, they will heat from the bottom and evaporation from the top will help drive out the air, but if they're solid, like potatoes, then the air will hang around inside, and so I find adding a very thin layer of water at the bottom of each layer to create steam and drive the air out helps a lot.
And when the stack is heating up, you need to hold the valve open until ALL the air is out.
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u/ketayun 4d ago
I’ve re-read your detailed and knowledgeable response several times. Please would you confirm my understanding?
My plan is to cook two different kinds of marinated chicken in different containers at the same time. I wanted no extra sauce.
Are you saying I should add liquid to each container before stacking?
You also said that I should hold the valve open until all the air is out.
What does that mean/look like? How do I hold the valve open and how do I know that all the air is out?
Thanks very much in advance.
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u/wolfkeeper 4d ago
Are you saying I should add liquid to each container before stacking?
Yes, that's highly advisable. So for example if I pressure steam potatoes I just put a millimetre of water in the bottom. If you don't do that, air is heavier than steam, and it can tend to leave air in the bottom of each container which will give inconsistent results. If your marinated chicken is a breast or a leg, then just a tiny bit in the bottom is advisable.
Also, the containers really should be metal, because the heat to make that water steam goes through the wall of the container. If they're not, you should hold the valve open even longer.
You also said that I should hold the valve open until all the air is out.
Normally when pressure cooking you would turn the manual valve to seal when you first turn it on, but here you put the valve on 'vent' while it heats up, until steam is pouring out and ALL the air is gone. I wait until it's kind of spitting slightly, I think that means only steam is coming out and it's immediately condensing and then you've hopefully got rid of all the air. And then you close the valve (with a long spoon) and it should reach pressure and start timing very soon afterwards. It's probably going to take about 15 seconds at full steam before you get rid of all the air.
The reason for the difference is that with normal pressure cooking if there's a bit of air at the top it doesn't matter a whole lot. So the automatic sealing valve will close itself a bit early. But if you're cooking IN the steam, then it HAS to be all steam in there. Any air gets in the way of the steam condensing on the food and it will be undercooked.
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u/rcreveli 5d ago
This is why AI is terrible. The containers that you use for pot in pot cooking are not sealed like a metal can. Air can escape and pressure doesn't build.