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I am having trouble using the Slow Cooker mode on the Instant Pot. I tried a recipe at low, and it was not even remotely cooked...am I doing something wrong?
I've been getting a lot of questions like this recently. And I don't have an answer.
In all my years of using the Instant Pot1, I can count on one hand the times I've used it as a slow cooker. And, well… those times weren't really slow cooking. I was reheating chili I pressure cooked the night before, for my annual chili potluck at work. Low heat is not enough - I need high heat to be ready by lunchtime. I start at "Slow Cook - High" for an hour or two, and then, once everything is bubbling, I turn the cooker down to "keep warm" until it is time to serve.
For all the things my Instant Pot can do - "It's a pressure cooker, slow cooker, yogurt maker, rice cooker…"2 I really only ask it to do two things. First and foremost, it is my pressure cooker. I use the "Manual" (now "Pressure Cook") mode. I also use "Sauté" mode to saute onions and/or brown meat before turning on pressure cook mode. (And, occasionally, to simmer food after it is pressure cooked.) That's it, I'm done. The Instant Pot is my favorite cooking tool because of how well it does those two functions. 9 modes? 11 modes? Doesn't matter to me, all I want are those two.3
One of the first comments on my Instant Pot FAQ asked about slow cooking mode. (Like I said, I never use it, so I had to look it up in the manual.) According to the Instant Pot manual, the Slow Cooker settings are:
- Normal mode: 90 to 96°C/194 to 205°F.
- More mode: 93 to 99°C/199 to 210°F.
- Less mode: 88 to 94°C/190 to 201°F.
That looked like like "Low" mode lines up with a Slow Cooker set to low, and "High" mode with a slow cooker set to high. But over the last few months, the volume of Instant Pot as a Slow Cooker questions has jumped. More and more, I'm asked: "I set my Instant Pot to Slow Cook - Low mode, came back ten hours later, and the results were not good. Am I doing something wrong?"
Turns out:
- Slow Cook - Normal means "Low" in a traditional slow cooker
- Slow Cook - More means "High" in a traditional slow cooker
- Slow Cook - Less means "Keep Warm" in a traditional slow cooker
I don't know how to answer, yet. I'm going to test out slow cooker mode on the Instant Pot, and I will follow up on this in the New Year, but testing is going to take a while. (Ten hour slow cooks aren't a quick answer.) But, before I start testing,
Updated: Also, the Instant Pot has some limitations as a slow cooker. For more details, see my Update on Instant Pot as a Slow Cooker post. Or the comments on this post, or the Update post.
I want to throw the question to my readers:
Questions about Instant Pot Slow Cooking:
- Are you using the Instant Pot as a slow cooker?
- Is it working?
- What settings do you use? (I saw a Reddit thread that said "Slow cook - medium on an IP is a slow cooker at low. Slow cook - high on the IP is a slow cooker at high. Slow cook - low is a "keep warm" mode. Does that work for you?)
Please answer in the comments below - what are your experiences? (Or, reply by email, on Twitter, or Facebook, or whatever social media platform you can find me on. Frankly, I'd prefer blog comments - I can barely keep up with Twitter as it is, and I've declared Facebook bankruptcy and only check it once in a blue moon.) Thanks!
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Nicole says
I tried the slow cook function on my IP today after reading all the comments. I decided on medium for 9 hours. Was cooking a stew. Potatoes were not even close to being soft. I left the vent open.
Finishing it now for 20 mins on meat/stew setting.
Brighid says
I tried the slow cook function for the first time. Two pound pork loin roast with lots of salsa and some balsamic vinegar in the pot for liquid. Used normal slow cook for 7 hours. When I opened it up the roast was just surface cooked and totally raw in the center. Didn't even look like it had been boiling. I used the IP lid set to vent. Ended up pressure cooking it to save it. This is definitely some flaw in the machine with all the negative response.
Lou says
I slow-cooked chilli on high for 4 hours but it was not cooked. I pressure-cooked it another 15 minutes and that worked. First time using the slow cooker feature. Very disappointed as I'll have to keep using my heavy, old crock pot when I need to slow cook. Thought the IP would do it all!
JO ANNE STODDART says
Hi
I am trying to use my Instant Pot as a slow cooker but can not figure out how to adjust the cooking temp to high. The user manual says to use "cooking program key" but there is no such button on my cooker. When I push slow cook enter the time I want it to cook (i.e. 8hours) wait 10 seconds for the peep and then I try pushing + button to go to More (not normal) and the time changes, not the temp.
What am I doing wrong?
Mike Vrobel says
Use the “Adjust” button
Lori says
Just failed my New Year's pork Roast in IP on slow cooker mode. After 6 hours on middle setting, meat and sauerkraut were barely warm. Had to pressure cook for 20 minutes to save dinner. What is wrong with slow cooker setting??? Has to be faulty.
Greg N. says
The instructions in the Instant Pot how-to manual say that you use the Venting setting when you use the IP as a slow cooker. Maybe that is part of the reason for the poor results that some people get. Should the steam stay in the IP even on slow cook? Other variables that get me lost are the pressure, temp., and time settings for a slow cook. So you can see, I'm looking for a push button cooking method. Crockpot seems to work best for slow cooking.
Anne says
I am both delighted to read all these comments, and know I'm not crazy, and very ticked off, too. I bought this as a combo, pot to replace both my pressure cooker (which never scared me) AND my slow cooker, which worked just fine. I have only tried one thing - a bottom chuck roast w/ onion gravy - and even after 6 hours it was inedible. Very disappointed.
Sue says
I read all these comments and more and decided to try a veggie soup taking all the advice into consideration. My soup is great! I cooked it 10 hours on Slow Cook and put the heat on "more". It's perfect. Oh, the vent was open. I did use lots of bone broth, more than the recipe called for. I'm not much for measuring.
Esther says
My IP isn't a slow cooker: it's a disaster! I've tried 3 times now, and My food isn't even warm!
K says
It could have cooked for half an hour to an hour longer. The chicken mostly shredded up but it would have been better with more time. I did end up adding a cup of boiling water to it about half an hour in. The chicken was a little dry but i get dry chicken cooking the same dish under pressure, not sure why. Overall it turned out pretty good. I think I might try it again on High to see how it turns out.
K says
I am cooking chicken for Hawaiian haystacks on the slow cook method today. There’s two cans of cream of chicken soup, 8oz cream cheese, chicken breast and italian seasoning in an 8qt IP. Put on normal for 6 hours with the original lid and valve open. We will see what happens with it! I may add some water to it.
Owlet says
Huh...well, just for science's sake, I'll add my experience here because it's slightly different, it seems, from most others. First, my IP (I think it's a 5-qt DUO?) has always worked great for pressure cooking (as long as I did everything right). Yesterday I tried a slow cook for the first time.
My usual slow cooking is the type without liquid added, especially when I know from experience that my ingredients will create a broth anyway (and these did). The recipe I used did not call for water, and I didn't add any. I used the IP lid BUT I had the valve on seal since I figured that I wanted less, not more, water to escape--now you all tell me it should be open. Yet, my pork roast (with carrots and parsnips thrown in) cooked through at the "normal" setting in 4 hours.
Results: the meat shredded beautifully but was a bit dry. Part of the reason is probably that it sat in the hot pot for an hour past the 4-hour cook time because we were just too busy to get to it yet? The other part is most likely because I slow cooked a cut of meat that isn't ideal for that process. But it was definitely done all the way through. If I were to do this recipe again, I might go with 3 or 3.5 hours for a 2-lb roast plus veg.
Chris says
I have played with this a bunch and I think the reality is the poster who said it must have the consistency of water is correct. And not just the consistency of water but......it needs to be water. The only time I have seen it hit the stated temps for low, med and high is when it was tested using water. The second I add anything that is not just water it is considerably lower even if it is a broth based soup. Not sure if it is the veggies resting on the bottom that throws it off but it is what it is and I just account for it by either cooking at a higher temp and/or longer. All the other functions, meat/stew, chili/beans, etc. work great so between all the different settings I am OK with it and overall the IP is my most used kitchen appliance. Well actually the convection microwave and omega juicer hold that honor as I use them every day.
Monique says
Used my IP yesterday with Slow Cook on Normal for 4 hours and vegetables were still raw and had used 2 cups of water. Very disappointed. Had to finish on Pressure Cooker for 1 more hour. Hope someone finds a solution.
Matt says
Echoing a lot of users comments here. I tried making a Thai chicken stew in my 8qt Instant Pot. It cooked for 8hrs on low and the vegetables were rock hard. I changed it to "soup" mode and let it cook for a couple more hours on high which did the trick, but the chicken ended up really tough and dry. I'm really bummed because I was hoping to get rid of our slow cooker to save some space, but I guess we'll have to keep it.
Sharon says
I have to agree. I got an 8qt Instant Pot for Christmas, the point was to get rid of my crock pot and pressure cooker. Loved the Pressure Cooker, but the Slow Cooker is worthless. I ended up Pressure Cooking a Pork Loin Roast instead of Slow Cooking it like I have for years. The instructions say to “Press this button”, “Cooking Program Key”. There isn’t a COOKING PROGRAM KEY”. Help.
Lee says
I tried my indtspot in slow cooker mode and it was a disaster. Not hot enough to cook anything. I followed the suggestion of not using the pressure lid. The pot does recognize when you place that lid on the pot even if you don’t lock it. I just used another pot lid I had that fits. The slow cooking mode sizzled the entire time and my meatloaf was finished in 4 hours set on “more”, the same as my traditional slow cooker crockpot when set on high. I did remove the pot lid after about 2 hours and tried the IP lid again but the sizzling immediately stopped and didn’t seem to kick back in. So if you want your IP to also be a slow cooker, it looks like you need to use a different lid than the IP lock lid
DB says
Thank you! Can't wait to try this!