Instant Pot Burn Notice

So you got the dreaded Instant Pot Burn Notice when you were making an Instant Pot recipe and are wondering what to do.

I went to the source Instant Pot themselves and here is what they told me.

Instant Pot Burn Notice

Let me start by saying that I have been using the Instant Pot pressure cooker for over a year now and I have never gotten the dreaded Instant Pot Burn Notice on any of the Instant Pot Recipes I have shared here on the blog.

One, in particular, I have made at least six times in the past year and never had a problem.

I have had a few comments from readers who have made a couple of my Instant Pot recipes and have gotten the burn notice.

I was shocked really because the Instant Pot Burn Notice issue has never come up for me.

So I would ask those readers a few questions as I tried to figure out why they might be getting the Instant Pot Burn Notice with one of my Instant Pot recipes even though I have not.

Which Brand of Instant Pot?

I would ask them which brand of Instant Pot were they using and what size is the Instant Pot?

Since I use the Instant Pot brand of electric pressure cooker I wanted to find out if maybe people who are getting the burn notice were using another brand of electric pressure cooker.

As you all probably know there can be differences between manufacturers. One brand may heat higher on a similar setting. The majority of people who answered were using the Instant Pot brand.

My next question was what size Instant Pot were they using? In the beginning, I was using the 6-quart Duo Instant Pot.

Now I have an 8-quart Lux model. I use both sizes and choose the size Instant Pot based on the recipe I am making.

I was curious to find out if the size could be making a difference. Most were using the 6-quart or 8-quart. So when I called the Instant Pot customer service I asked if the size of the Instant Pot could make a difference.

And the answer was no. The size of the pressure cooker would not make a difference.

Did you follow the directions exactly as written in the recipe?

I was trying to figure out if the size of the Instant Pot might have something to do with these random Instant Pot Burn Notices.

Here is what Instant Pot customer service told me when I called.

Why you may be triggering the Instant Pot Burn Notice

• Food that is stuck on the Instant Pot metal inner pot can trigger the Instant Pot Burn Notice even if the food hasn't burned on the bottom of the pot.
• When you are cooking in any of the Instant Pot Lux models on the manual setting the Instant Pot will always cook on high pressure. (Try cooking on one of the other settings)
• If you do not have enough thin liquid in the Instant Pot a recipe with thick liquids can trigger the Instant Pot Burn Notice even if the food is not burning.

How to avoid the Instant Pot Burn Notice

• Spray the bottom of the inner pot with a cooking spray before beginning the recipe.
• Make sure the recipe has enough liquid.

What do I do if I get burn messages on my instant pot?

• Add more water. Try adding ½ cup more of liquid. Using a broth instead of water will add flavor instead of watering down the recipe.
• Open the Instant Pot and use a plastic or wooden spoon to scrape and loosen the food on the bottom of the inner pot.
• After trying the above replace the lid, set the valve to sealing and press the cancel button to reset the Instant Pot.
• Press the button to set the pressure cooking time again and allow the Instant Pot to pressure cook the recipe. Hopefully, the above steps took care of the problem

Follow the Instant Pot recipe as written

• Follow the steps exactly as written for my Instant Pot recipes or any other insta pot recipe you may be trying. When you skip a step or add the ingredients in the wrong order or not stirring the ingredients to combine them when directed is just setting your recipe up for failure.

For example, in my Instant Pot Cinnamon apple recipe, you will notice that in step five I direct you to "stir to combine well."

Stirring the thick brown sugar into the apple slices breaks the brown sugar up and helps it start to thin from the water and the moisture that the sliced apples will begin to release.

I only used ⅓ cup of water in this recipe. Since the newer Instant Pots seem to be more sensitive I have edited the instructions to include increasing the amount of water to 1 cup when using an Instant Pot Lux or newer model.

The glaze will be a little thinner but the Cinamon Apples will still taste amazing.

If you make sure you have enough "thin liquid" in the pot you can avoid the Burn Notice all together.

If you are using one of the newer models of the Instant Pot keep that in mind when you find a new Instant Pot recipe you want to try.

You may need to adjust the amount of liquid.

Some recipes might not taste as good if you add too much water.

In that case, you could try using the pot in a pot method. With the pot in pot cooking method, the food cooks in a separate pot and the water will go into the bottom of the instant pot inner pot below the food.

I have not tried this myself except in the case of making an Instant Pot Eggnog Cheese Cake.

You can buy (affiliate link)  Instant Pot Stackable Steamer Insert Pans that make it extremely easy to cook in the pot in pot Instant Pot method.

Enjoy your Instant Pot and if you ever have any questions please send an email to flouronmyface@gmail.com