steaming with an Instant Pot Ninja Foodi or Similar

aidanki

In the market for a multicooker, its primary job will be cooking potatoes. As it has a timer I can set it and fresh potatoes will be cooked when I arrive home rather than 30-40min wait.

I would like to use the steam function for cooking potatoes. Is the high pressure vent closed when in steam mode and the unit self contained or Does it puff steam around the kitchen

no more problems with potatoes breaking if steam rather than boil

squonk

Speaking as an instant pot user there will be no steam around the kitchen. Just a small bit prior to the pot coming to pressure and sealing. You can let the pot come back to normal pressure on its own so there won’t be much steam there. If you do a quick release and let the valve open so the pressure drops quickly you do get some steam but your kitchen doesn’t turn into a steam room.

Steaming potatoes takes about 8-10 minutes. Probably 15-20 minutes in total depending on heat up time. You could kick it off after you got home and spuds would be ready by the time you’d changed and got yourself sorted after the day.

aidanki

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121319352#Comment_121319352

your the first person i have come across that uses the instapot for potatoes, thanks for the feedback.

you use the steamer basket obviously, how does it perform if the potato breaks apart during cooking, when boiling it turns into a soggy mess

Will 8-10mins do a potatoe which is apple sized ?

squonk

I would look up some cooking times. It’s been a while since I steamed spuds but if they are overdone they can leave a load of starchy gunk in the main pot I f the over steam. I’d say do a few runs for trial and error to get a handle in it. I’d make sure all the spuds weee cut to the same size if possible.

aidanki

How small do they need to be cut

squonk

Maybe 2-3 inches. really it doesn’t matter so much as to the size, it’s just to get them all consistent so you don’t have side cooked add zone still waiting to fully cook. If you’re using baby purists you’d be grand but Ray you’ll bed a bit of trial and error to find what works. Also other models of instant pot or ninja may perform differently

Muahahaha

I steam potatoes & veg like carrots and green beans in the Instant Pot. I just use baby potatoes and cut them in half and then steam everything for 10 minutes, works perfectly. If you are steaming large potatoes without chopping them up first it might take longer, Id google for timings.

The steam function is an added bonus to everything else the Instant Pot does. I no longer boil veg or potatoes and use that instead. They taste more flavourful after steaming whereas boiling seems to knock flavour out of them. The slight downside though is the trivet and steaming basket only have enough room to steam veg and potatoes for 2 people, anymore than that and youd need a dedicated steamer. The trivet is pretty high so maybe if you found a lower one you could fit in two steaming baskets stacked on top of each other that would cook 4 portions.