Last Updated on August 29, 2021
Instant Pot is a multi-functional electric pressure cooker. It is designed for easy cooking of various kinds of food such as soups, stews, sauces, vegetables, meats, fish, poultry, eggs, desserts, and even bread. It is a great tool for busy families who don’t have time to spend hours preparing meals.
It is a very versatile appliance that can be used for cooking, reheating, slowly useful appliance for people who love to eat healthy and nutritious food. The Instant Pot is quickly becoming a must-have kitchen appliance. It is both adaptable and effective. It has succeeded in replacing a number of cooking tools and combining them into a single, extremely useful gadget.
Can you make it in an Instant Pot because of how adaptable it is? To put it another way, you can eat in an instant. However, the sorts of canning you may perform are limited. In the remainder of this post, I’ll dive a bit deeper into this and discover exactly what is and isn’t feasible in an Instant Pot when it comes to preserving food.
What is Canning?
The term "canning" refers to any process where foods are preserved by sealing or packing them with some sort of material. This could include using glass jars, plastic containers, aluminum cans, etc. There’s also freezing which is done through subzero temperatures.
In addition, there are two types of canning: water bath and pressure canning. Water bath canning involves submerging your canned goods in boiling water while steam canning uses high heat to seal the contents inside. Both methods work well but they’re not always ideal depending on the type of food being processed. For instance, if you want to preserve meat then you should use steam canning since it will keep the meat safe from bacteria growth. If you’d like to preserve fruits and veggies though, then water bath canning would be better suited.
Things to remember while water bath canning.
- High-acid foods should be consumed. This has already been said, but it is the first guideline of safe Instant Pot canning. Most fruits, jams, fruit butter, jellies, marmalade, pickles, and tomatoes fall under this category. Broth, chilli, chicken, stew, stock, and vegetables are all low-acid meals.
- Make sure to use a canning recipe. Make jams, lemon curd, apple butter, and other preserves instead of preserving fruit in its natural condition.
- Make use of just pure steam. Depending on your height, water boils at various temperatures. When water reaches boiling point, steam is created, and the temperature of the steam is same to that of the boiling water.
- Next, use warm jars and ensure that the food in the jars is also hot. This is the greatest approach to avoid your jars cracking and ensure that your processing timings are not messed up.
- Make adjustments to the recipe based on your elevation. If you’re at a higher altitude, you’ll need to increase the processing time, but if you’re at or near sea level, you won’t need to adjust anything.
- Most canning should take 45 minutes or less to complete. The maximum length of time you’ll need to can food is 45 minutes.
- Finally, chill the jars on a cooling rack. To speed up the procedure, don’t put it in the fridge or anyplace cold. Allow time for cooling to occur at room temperature. This ensures that the jars are properly sealed.
Let’s take a brief look at how we can use an Instant Pot to do both water bath and pressure canning.
How to Can in an Instant Pot?
The first step is to double-check that the jars you’ll be using for canning don’t have any cracks. After that, you may use the Instant Pot to sterilise your jars.
Fill your jars halfway with water and vinegar, then place them on the trivet. Set the vent to shut and close the Instant Pot. Start the steam cycle and leave it running for one minute.
Pour your water and a splash of vinegar into the Instant Pot to start the steaming process. Fill the heated jar halfway with your meal, allowing a 14-inch headspace.
The jar’s rim should be clean. This provides a tight seal each and every time. Put the lid on and tighten it with your fingertip. This implies that you should stop as soon as you sense any resistance.
Rep with the remaining jars, then place them in the Instant Pot. Set the lid to venting rather than sealing after putting it on.
This is crucial to keep in mind. Set the temperature to steam and wait for the float valve to rise. You may now begin timing your processes after the float valve has popped up.
Switch the Instant Pot off and let the pressure come down once you’ve reached the appropriate processing time for that food type.
It takes around 2 minutes to do this task. When the float valve returns to its original position, carefully open the Instant Pot and remove the jars, placing them on a cooling rack to cool for around 12 hours.
When removing the jars from the Instant Pot, be cautious not to burn yourself. In an Instant Pot, this is how you steam or water bath can. Following that, I’ll show you how to pressure can in an Instant Pot Max.
What is Pressure Canning?
Pressure canning is used when there isn’t enough heat available to kill bacteria during the cooking stage. It requires special equipment and knowledge. Pressure canning is the process of preserving food by heating it to a temperature of 240 to 250 degrees Fahrenheit to kill the bacterium Clostridium botulinum, often known as botulism.
It can be destroyed at 212 degrees Fahrenheit, but its spores can live and proliferate, therefore they need to be killed at temperatures between 240 and 250 degrees Fahrenheit. The Instant Pot Max claims to be able to sustain a constant pressure of 15 PSI while maintaining a temperature of 240°F or higher.
You must follow specific guidelines to make sure that all foods are safe to eat. There are two types of pressure canning: low-temperature and high-pressure.
Low-Temperature Pressure Canning
In low-temperature pressure canning, you cook food under pressure for 10 minutes before releasing the pressure. Low-temperature pressure canners typically cost less than $100. They’re also easy to find online.
High-Pressure Pressure Canning
High-pressure pressure canning uses higher temperatures to ensure safety. Foods cooked in these machines require more expensive equipment and expertise.
They’re also known as "hot pack" canning because they involve heating the contents of the container prior to applying pressure. High-pressure pressure canners usually run between $200-$300.
Conclusion
The Instant Pot Max is one of the most popular electric multi-cookers out there today. With so many features packed into such a small device, it’s no wonder why people love using their instant pots. However, if you want to know whether or not you can use your Instant Pot to pressure can, read our article below!
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