The best and most complete button guide to Instant Pot Duo Version 2.
When you first open your Instant Pot you may be overwhelmed by all the buttons and settings. Fear not! Pressure Cooker Passion has a put together a complete Instant Pot button guide for the best selling Instant Pot Duo Version 2.
Instant Pot Button Guide (307 downloads)
1. Manual / Pressure Cook Buttons*
- Most Used Button
- Pressure Cook and manually select time
- Default Temperature is “High Pressure”, change temperature with the pressure button
- Change time with “+/-“ buttons
- Recipes with this button usually call for ½ Cup to 1 Cup of liquid
* The new models of the Instant Pot have the “Pressure Cook” button and old models use the “Manual” Button
2. Sauté Button
- Acts as a skillet, pan or pot
- Add cooking oil or fat and use as you would on a stove top
- Used when recipe calls for browning meat, cooking down vegetables such as onions, garlic or peppers, or reducing the amount of liquid
- Sauté temperature can be adjusted with the “Adjust” button
- Normal mode: 320 to 349°F
- More mode: 347 to 410°F
- Less mode: 275 to 302°F
3. Slow Cook Button
- Allows your Instant Pot to function like a slow cooker
- Defaults to a 4 hour cook time, but you can use “+/-“ buttons to change the cook times
- You can make all your favorite slow cooker recipes with this button.
4. Bean / Chili
- Preset button for Beans / Chili
- Defaults to a 30-minute cook time at High Pressure
- You can change the default setting to “More”, High Pressure 40 Minutes or “Less” High Pressure 25 Minutes.
- The Instant Pot Manual will have the recommended cook times for beans and legumes
5. Meat / Stew
- Preset button for Meat / Stew
- Default to a High Pressure for 35 minutes.
- You can adjust for “More” to High Pressure for 45 minutes or “Less” for High Pressure for 20 minutes.
- Use “More” or “Less” based on your desired texture, i.e. “More” will be for fall-off-the-bone meat.
6. Multigrain
- Preset for Multigrains, such as wild rice, brown rice, mung beans, or hard grains like buckwheat, flax, millet.
- Consult Instant Pot manual for recommended cook times and multigrain to water ratio.
- Defaults to “Normal” setting for 40 minutes cook time, “Less” setting is 20 minutes, or “More” at 45 minutes of warm water soaking and 60 minutes
7. Porridge
- Preset for “Porridge” such as rice porridge (congee) or oatmeal
- Default to a High Pressure for 20 minutes (rice porridge (congee)) “More” to High Pressure for 30 minutes or “Less” for High Pressure for 15 minutes (Oatmeal)
- Do not use Quick Release!!! High starch content creates a thick liquid that will spatter out and block steam release valve
8. Poultry
- Preset for Poultry i.e. chicken, duck, turkey
- Default to a High Pressure for 15 minutes, “Less” for High Pressure for 5 minutes, and “More” High Pressure for 30 minutes (fall off the bone)
9. Rice
- Default for Rice, such as white rice, short grain rice, Jasmine and Basmati rice
- Defaults to cooking on low pressure for normal texture rice, “Less” has a shorter cook time for al dente rice and “More” has a longer cook time for softer texture
- Cook time is between 4-8 minutes depending on how much rice is being made
- Use a 1:1 rice to water ratio
- Pressurizing can take 10-12 minutes
10. Soup
- Default for “Soup” button to make broth, stock or soup.
- Instant Pot will control the pressure and temperature so that the liquid doesn’t heavily boil.
- You can adjust the cooking time as needed, typically between 20-40 minutes, and the pressure to either “Low” (No Meat), “Normal” (With Meat) or “High” (Bone Broth).
11. Steam
- Default button for “Steam” function can be used to steam fresh or frozen food such as vegetables, seafood, or meat.
- Utilize 1-2 cups of water to the inner pot, place the steam rack inside the inner pot and with a stainless steel steam basket on top.
- Adjust the time using the “+” or “-“ button, refer to the Instant Pot Manual for cooking times for various foods.
- Use the steam rack to keep food elevated and a quick release will help food from overcooking.
12. Keep Warm
- Once the Instant Pot is done cooking, it automatically enters “Keep Warm” mode. It will display an “L” in front of a number to indicate how long it’s been warm – e.g. “L0:30” for 30 minutes. It’s a great feature to keep food warm (145 to 172°F) for up to 99 hours, 50 minutes.
- Use the Keep Warm Button to turn the Auto Keep Warm function ON and OFF
13. Cancel Button
- The Cancel key ends a cooking program at any time, or resets the cooker to factory default settings by pressing and holding this key until the cooker beeps
- Helpful if you need to change pressure settings, time or modes.
14. Timer / Delay Start Button*
- Use the Timer or Delay Start button to delay the cooking start time for the Instant Pot. This works for both pressure cooking and slow cook options.
- To activate the delayed start feature, just press the Timer button with 10 seconds of pressing either the Pressure / Manual button or Slow Cook button. Then Use “+/-“ buttons to adjust the delayed hours, then wait a second and press Timer again to set delayed minutes.
- You can cancel the Timer anytime by pressing the Keep Warm / Cancel button.
*New models of the Instant Pot have the “Delay Start” button and old models use the “Timer” Button
15. Yogurt
- Adjust to More for boiling the milk, use Normal for incubating the yogurt.
- Refer to a good yogurt recipe as making yogurt can be fairly technical.
16. Adjust
- On older Instant Pot versions, use this button to toggle from the Less | Normal | More settings. Press the feature you wish to use, then press Adjust until the light under Less | Normal | More is adjusted to the desired setting.
- Refer to the manual for a better understanding of how to use these settings with the preset buttons.
17. Pressure
- Switch between High and Low Pressure settings for pressure cooking programs. Works with all buttons that cook at High or Low Pressure.
18. “+” & “-” Buttons
- Increase or decrease the cooking time or timer with these 2 buttons
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11 Best Selling Pressure Cooker Cookbooks
We have put together a list of the 11 Best Selling Pressure Cooker Cookbooks based on Amazon. Using the Amazon Best Seller List is a great way to compile a list that only features pressure cooking or electric pressure cooking cook books, versus the New York Times which uses a much broader “Cookbooks” category. Amazon also covers all forms of books like paperback, hardcover and digital downloads for kindle.
The challenge with Amazon is the list is updated hourly and is weighted more heavily towards recent sales, yet historical sales still hold considerable weight (UNDERSTANDING THE AMAZON BEST SELLERS RANK (BSR) – THE DEFINITIVE GUIDE). This means new books can show up in the top sellers section today but fall off the list quickly if they do not sustain their sales. That being said this list provides a good snap shot of new and past best sellers as of September 1, 2018.
One last note the book summaries have been created using the original descriptions found on Amazon at the time this was published.
1. The Instant Pot Electric Pressure Cooker Cookbook: Easy Recipes for Fast & Healthy Meals
Author: Laurel Randolph
Perfect for beginners or long-time enthusiasts, this Instant Pot cookbook is your A-Z guide for all things Instant Pot. In the pages of this bestselling Instant Pot cookbook you’ll find:
- 100+ no-fuss meals with options for vegetarian, gluten-free, and Paleo-friendly diets
- Low-maintenance recipe guidelines including pressure levels and cooking times
- Handy prep-time labels that specify meals that cook in 20 minutes or longer (45+ minutes), as well as kid-friendly dishes
2. Martha Stewart’s Pressure Cooker: 100+ Fabulous New Recipes for the Pressure Cooker, Multicooker, and Instant Pot
Author: Editors of Martha Stewart Living
From the expert kitchens of Martha Stewart, an essential guide for your beloved, time-saving pressure cooker. Every recipe is rigorously tested, beautifully photographed, and will work for any type of pressure cooker. If you’re new to pressure cooking, this book makes the experience foolproof and fearless.
- 100 Fast, flavorful recipes that will transform weeknight dinners
- Recipes for stove top and electric pressure cookers, including the Instant Pot
- Transforms long labor intensive recipes into weeknight meals that are ready in a flash
- Whole chapter dedicated to desert, such as cakes, puddings and more
3. The Keto Instant Pot Cookbook: Ketogenic Diet Pressure Cooker Recipes Made Easy and Fast
Author: Urvashi Pitre
Home cooked meals that help you keep up with the ketogenic diet don’t have to be challenging or time consuming. The Keto Instant Pot® Cookbook is the only authorized ketogenic diet Instant Pot cookbook for tried-and-true recipes that are ridiculously easy and fast to whip up.
The ultimate Instant Pot cookbook for keto-friendly recipes, The Keto Instant Pot Cookbook includes:
- An Intro to Keto that explains the basic guidelines of the diet, and teaches you how to set the right macros to meet your weight loss goals
- Instant Pot Cookbook 101 with step-by-step instructions and useful tips for using this Instant Pot® cookbook and others!
- Over 65 Satisfyingly Simple Instant Pot® Cookbook Recipes that require only 45 minutes to make from start to finish for most recipes
- Nutritional Information for Every Recipe with no recipe exceeding 12g net carbs per serving, and the vast majority of recipes containing less than 10g net carbs per serving
4. Instant Pot Cookbook: 1000 Day Instant Pot Recipes Plan
Author: Katie Banks
Would you enjoy cooking delicious recipes, and doing this for 1000 Days in a Row? Then this is your book! So many recipes to cook and such a wide variety of dishes, tastes, smells, cuisines to enjoy. This book can make your life easier and to give you plenty of ideas and recipes to choose from and enjoy.
- 1,ooo recipes or 3 years worth of meals in a single book
- These recipes are suitable to all audiences, form the beginner to the experienced cook.
- Covers a wide variety of cuisine and ingredients
5. Skinnytaste One and Done
Author: Gina Homolka & Heather K. Jones
Skinnytaste One and Done is the perfect resource for busy home cooks looking for easy, good-for-you dinnertime solutions. #1 New York Times bestselling author Gina Homolka incorporates her healthy, flavor-forward recipes with everyone’s favorite way to cook–in one vessel, whether a sheet pan or multi-cooker, and everything in-between. No matter if you’d like to lose weight or just eat a little healthier, this book will make your weeknight dinner routine even simpler with satisfying, all-in-one recipes. Cooking in a single vessel means streamlined dinners with minimal fuss and cleanup–a huge plus after a long day.
- The recipes are big on flavor and light on calories, weight watchers friendly and now more convenient than ever.
- 140 healthy, family-friendly recipes, 120 full-color photos, nutritional information for every recipe
- Organized by vessels that include everyday cooking equipment such as an Instant Pot®, a sheet pan, a Dutch oven, a skillet, a slow cooker, and an air fryer
6. The Essential Instant Pot Cookbook
Author: Coco Morante
The best-selling Instant Pot has been a runaway hit, with an almost cultlike following and users who swear by it. But finding delicious, well-tested, weekday-friendly recipes that are both inspiring and trustworthy has proven difficult, until now. Whether you’re looking to expand your pressure cooker recipe repertoire or seeking the ultimate gift for the Instant Pot aficionado, this is the book to have.
- Authorized by Instant Pot and filled with beautiful photographs and more than 75 simple, well-tested comfort food recipes
- The ultimate collection of delicious weekday meals, covers each meal of the day
- Recipes for tried-and-true classics, alongside a hearty array of contemporary meals
7. Instant Pot Obsession: The Ultimate Electric Pressure Cooker Cookbook for Cooking Everything Fast
Author: Janet A. Zimmerman
Over 100,000 copies in print― an Instant Pot Cookbook for making ANYTHING. In the pages of Instant Pot Obsession―the most complete Instant Pot cookbook yet―simplicity goes one step further to create more meals, and save even more time, than ever before.
- More than 120 creative recipes like French toast cups, baked potato soup, and orange chicken
- Variations on selected recipes to make your favorite go-to’s new again that you won’t find in any other Instant Pot® cookbook
- Tasty options for breakfasts, lunches, snacks, and desserts―many of which take 30 minutes or less
- Expert Instant Pot® guidance from Janet Zimmerman, author of the popular Healthy Pressure Cooker Cookbook
8. Instant Loss Cookbook: Cook Your Way to a Healthy Weight with 125 Recipes for Your Instant Pot, Pressure Cooker, and More
Author: Brittany Williams
Brittany Williams had struggled with her weight all her life. So on January 1, 2017, she vowed to make every meal for a year from scratch, aided by her Instant Pot. She discovered that the versatility, speed, and ease of the electric pressure cooker made creating wholesome, tasty, family-satisfying meals a breeze, usually taking under 30 minutes. Not only did the family thrive over the course of the year, Brittany lost an astonishing 125 pounds.
- Shares 125 recipes and the meal plan that Brittany used for her own weight loss, 75% of which are recipes for the Instant Pot
- Recipes are whole food-based with a spotlight on veggies, and mostly dairy and grain-free
- Ingredient lists are refreshingly approachable, and her recipes are the clearest guides to navigating your Instant Pot® or other multicooker
9. Easy Instant Pot Cookbook 2018: Quick, Simple and Delicious 5-Ingredient or Less Instant Pot Pressure Cooker Recipes for Your Family Everyday Cooking
Author: Janet Gilmore
If you are a busy person who wants to enjoy some authentic home cooked meals, but feel the hesitation to get into the complex process of cooking, then the instant pot is the most suitable appliance for you. Instant pot provides you with a very effective and fast way of cooking a meal that required less time, efforts, and fuel. It is a unique hand free cooking experience. This book is your most valuable Instant Pot guide
- 100 mouth-watering easy-to-prepare 5-ingredient or less Instant Pot recipes
- For those who are not experienced this has everything you need to know about instant pot as a beginner
- Healthy and fast home cooked meals for those who are short on time
10. Indian Instant Pot Cookbook
Author: Urvashi Pitre
It’s tempting to dine out when you think about the intricacies involved in making traditional dals and curries. But Indian Instant Pot Cookbook combines the technique of pressure-cooking with classic Indian foods to give families an easier (and healthier) way of preparing authentic Indian meals. Join Urvashi Pitre, who is best known as the “Butter Chicken Lady,” as she shares the how-to’s of creating delicious Indian dishes of all types in Indian Instant Pot Cookbook.
- 50 Easy, Authentic Recipes that are ready in 60 min or less and require minimal ingredients
- Tried and Tested Guidance from Indian cuisine experts and Instant Pot pros alike
- Useful Tips for substituting ingredients and stocking your kitchen with the right tools and spices
- The only authorized Instant Pot cookbook for Indian cooking at home
11. Eat at Home Tonight: 101 Simple Busy-Family Recipes for Your Slow Cooker, Sheet Pan, Instant Pot, and More
Author: Tiffany King
A popular food blogger with 8.5 million page views, Tiffany King’s debut cookbook is crafted for those nights “when life happens.” This is the cookbook to turn to when all hope of a homemade, wholesome dinner seems lost: when the fridge is empty, when it’s already 8pm, when one kid has soccer practice and the other dance, when there’s no time for cleanup because homework has to get done. Just like her blog, King’s book is tirelessly encouraging and realistic.
- Recipes feature bright vegetables and affordable pantry ingredients
- The book, uniquely arranged by “excuses,” includes sidebars with mealtime conversation starters and helpful cooking hints
- Prepare healthy and tasty meals in as little as 15 minutes
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How Does A Pressure Cooker Work? And Everything Else You Wanted to Know About Pressure Cooking
When you are lying in bed at night are you asking yourself the important questions about life like, “who invented pressure cooking?” or “how does a pressure cooker work?”, “why can it cook food so quickly?” and obviously the most important question of all, “is this a magical device straight from Harry Potter’s wizarding world?” These are all great questions and today the Pressure Cooker Passion Team is going to try our best to answer them.
Who invented pressure cooking?
According to the good people at the Pressure Cooking Wikipedia Page, pressure cooking was invented in 1679 by French physicist Denis Papin, better known for his studies on steam. Denis like many people today was looking to reduce the cook time of food and invented the “steam digester”, which is considered to be the first pressure cooker.
How does pressure cooking work?
Science and cooking are tied together in every way and physics is the real muscle behind pressure cooking. Trapping steam in a pressure cooker allows the water temperature to reach 120˚ Celsius. Trapping the steam causes the molecules move faster and faster, resulting in the temperature of the water climbing higher than what is normally possible (The Succulent Science of Pressure Cooking). This is 20˚ Celsius hotter than an “unpressurized cooking” environment, AKA the temperature of boiling water 100˚ C. Unfortunately, we cannot afford to hire a physicist at the Pressure Cooking Passion offices, but here is a video, How to Pressure-Cook With Steam – and Good-Old Science from Wired that can better explain how it works.
Why can it cook food so quickly?
Now we know that with a pressure cooker we are cooking at a much higher temperature than we ever could with a stove or pots and pans, how does that translate to cooking time? This high temperature cooker allows food to cook 16x faster than normal! Looks like old Denis Papin was on to something with the Steam Digester, it did in fact reduce the cook time of food. If you did not pay attention in math and are thinking, “What’s the big deal about cooking 16x faster?” Here are a few examples to help drive this home:
Short Ribs – Time Saved: 2 hours and 40 minutes
- Oven Roasted at 350˚F – Cook Time 3 Hours
- Pressure Cooker – 20 Minutes
Whole Chicken 3lbs – Time Saved: Over 1 hour
- Oven Roasted at 350˚F – Cook Time 1:15 – 1:25
- Pressure Cooker – Cook Time 12 – 18 Minutes
Garbanzo Beans – Time Saved: 1 hour and 55 minutes to over 9 hours!
- Stove Top Plus Soak – Long Soak (8:00) OR Short Soak (1:00)+ Cook Time 1:30 – 2:00 = Total Time 2:30 – 10:00
- Pressure Cooker – Cook Time 35 – 40 Minutes
Is this a magical device straight from the wizarding world of Harry Potter?
This was our final and arguably most fun question. After carefully reading all of the books (which took much longer than making and eating multiple pressure cooker meals!) we can definitively say that owning a pressure cooker is as close to having your very own House Elf as muggles can get. While Pressure Cookers may seem like magic, they are simply devices for those looking to cook like a wizard at super charged temperatures and speeds.
We hope this has answered all of those pesky questions keeping you awake at night. If not feel free to send us any questions (serious, fun or ridiculous) about pressure cooking and we will do our best to answer them.
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