I managed to mess-up a simple Instant Pot recipe. What am I doing wrong?

The friendliest place on the web for anyone that enjoys cooking.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.

Cyath

Assistant Cook
Joined
Oct 11, 2022
Messages
1
Location
America
I'm not a newbie cook, been doing it for 20+ years. However, I am new to Instantpot, and this sub helped me with the pancake recipe that didn't turn out well.

I thought I would try again today with this. https://thesaltymarshmallow.com/instant-pot-spaghetti/ Unlike the pancake recipe it seemed simple and has a lot of good reviews below.

The only modifications I made were that I didn't brown the meat, I added it in directly.

I thought I was fire and forget, so I did just that until it started giving me an overheat warning. I added more water (I didn't add the correct amount earlier) Did it again. Added more water. Again. (added the right amount this time)

I then decided to just junk it, transferred the contents to a pot and cooked it over a stove. The meat was cooked through and so was the pasta, so I don't think I will get a stomachache (too late because I was hungry and ate it all) I saved some of the pasta, which I think is still edible.

I had to stop cooking because the constant beeping of the overheat wakes up my roommate, who is closer to the stove. I don't want to be an asshole. It was disappointing as I had to junk the rest of the...soup is what it became.

So using my brain and what I know of Instantpot, I think these are the possible problems :

  1. I put the pasta directly on the bottom. Some of it was burnt when I looked inside.
  2. I needed to add more water initially.
  3. I should have browned the meat? (Doesn't seem like it)
I would really like to fully utilize my Instantpot, as I'm a busy student and I got it to save on time and money. But if it's not working properly, is it my fault? (I got it at a Salvation Army, it makes rice perfectly)

Thanks all for reading!
 
Welcome to the forum!

I use my IP all the time, and have used it a few times for pasta dishes, similar to the one you posted, where spaghetti was broken in half, and added with more water, where it worked well. However, I never had an "overheat" warning on mine - yours is probably much newer! lol What that is, though I'm just guessing because you said it was burned on the bottom, is the dish was too "thick", and not circulating as it heated up to get to pressure. I had this happen with a couple of rice recipes, so after this, I avoided that type of recipe, and added cooked rice to the dishes! But the pasta worked well, with around 4-5 c liquid added, pasta placed on top, but under water, but most didn't cook anywhere near 8 min - more like 3-4, then it is simmered briefly, to finish. But I can't say anything about the rest of the recipe. But I would suggest following a new recipe to the letter (other than something like salt, or pepper, that you might like different), and if it doesn't work, it's probably the recipe, and there are a lot of bad ones online these days!

Good luck with your future cooking!
 
Any particular reason why you didn't follow the recipe. Not browning the meat and not adding all the water called for?
 
Not browning meat will have an effect on the taste, but shouldn't have much of another effect.
The amount of water is crucial though!
Without it, not enough pressure can built up and/or you can burn your food.
While writing this, maybe your warning was caused by some burning food at the bottom of the pot?
 
That is a terrible recipe to start with…. There are hundreds of thousands of IP recipes on the internet, mostly posted by people who have no idea what they are doing. In your case, at least the person admitted that she had just gotten hers…. Only rely on tested recipes from reliable sources.

In your case the problem was mostly by putting the spaghetti on the bottom of the pot. The recipe says not to do that for a reason. And the reason is the liquid has to be at the bottom of the pot and you need to use exactly what is specified.

Browning meat is what gives it flavor. Always do it. But in your recipe the author doesn’t tell you to deglaze the pot. You always need to do that or the recipe will fail.

Only use tried and true IP recipes. Look at This Old Gal and Pressure Luck’s websites to start with.
 
That is a terrible recipe to start with…. There are hundreds of thousands of IP recipes on the internet, mostly posted by people who have no idea what they are doing. In your case, at least the person admitted that she had just gotten hers…. Only rely on tested recipes from reliable sources.

In your case the problem was mostly by putting the spaghetti on the bottom of the pot. The recipe says not to do that for a reason. And the reason is the liquid has to be at the bottom of the pot and you need to use exactly what is specified.

Browning meat is what gives it flavor. Always do it. But in your recipe the author doesn’t tell you to deglaze the pot. You always need to do that or the recipe will fail.

Only use tried and true IP recipes. Look at This Old Gal and Pressure Luck’s websites to start with.
This this this ?
 
Back
Top Bottom