Instant Pot help, my first try was a fail.

[forktender]

I made up some carrots, potatoes, and celery in the I.P. everything I saw online said 10 minutes with a manual release. Wrong, they were way too mushy. How do I achieve an al dente texture using this I.P?
The canned Elk meat in a brown gravy over biscuits saved the meal.

 

[JLinza]

We have one, but my wife is the only one that uses it. I think it takes some time to get it right. She's followed some online recipes to a tee and they didn't turn out right either.
She found one that said to " just add spaghetti noodles and sauce"...
I asked if you cook the pasta first and she said no.... I laughed and said it sounds like witchcraft lol. Needless to say we ordered pizza that night.
Sorry I don't have better advice for ya.

 

[tallbm]

I made up some carrots, potatoes, and celery in the I.P. everything I saw online said 10 minutes with a manual release. Wrong, they were way too mushy. How do I achieve an al dente texture using this I.P?
The canned Elk meat in a brown gravy over biscuits saved the meal.

If it's not posted here then chances are the recipe cannot be trusted hahaha.

I don't have an answer for you other than plan to make some mashed potatoes.
Throw one in the instant pot for 3-4 min and see what becomes of it.
See if that does it for a potato. If so then you know the carrots and celery will be tender in less time.

When potato testing is all done, mash em up for mashed potatoes :D

It took me 3 attempts to figure out my black soybeans and it's the only case I know if where time just kept going up to get them tender. Those suckers are tough!

 

[Elf@shore]

I made up some carrots, potatoes, and celery in the I.P. everything I saw online said 10 minutes with a manual release. Wrong, they were way too mushy. How do I achieve an al dente texture using this I.P?
The canned Elk meat in a brown gravy over biscuits saved the

Hi!
IP give off a huge liquid cook!
That’s what they do!
I am sure you can reduce the time, but also
Effects the total cooking time of the entire meal?
Did you try the Rice Mode ?
Not sure what you expected from the cook?
It’s a very intense cook, so it going to be over saturated!

 

[forktender]

Hi!
IP give off a huge liquid cook!
That’s what they do!
I am sure you can reduce the time, but also
Effects the total cooking time of the entire meal?
Did you try the Rice Mode ?
Not sure what you expected from the cook?
It’s a very intense cook, so it going to be over saturated!

Well, I wasn't expecting baby food, I can tell you that much.

I'll have to mess around with it, probably gonna do a roast for shredded Italian beef sandwiches, and tacos with the leftovers, next. I just have to find some good rolls today.
Today, pickled up a batch of sweet peppers and onions, and bought the Provolone cheese.

 

[Steve H]

Did you use the trivet to keep them above the water? And use the steam mode?

 

[voyager 663rd]

2-4 min

NOW, after saying that I personally agree with AI this time.

When trying a NEW recipe, look for multiple recipes from different sources and compare/average them out if different.

My personal experience is: if you post a 1* review of a recipe, a lot of times the owner of that site will NOT approve your post.

They only leave the 4 & 5 * reviews to make themselves look good.

It's happened to me (bad review never gets published).

As I said, compare different recipes from diff sources and look for similarities.

 

[chopsaw]

carrots, potatoes, and celery in the I.P

These 3 things cook at different times .
I would start with the carrots ( and onions if you used them ) and saute in olive oil for a couple minutes .
Add the potatoes cut to a uniform size .
Add your liquid .
High pressure for 3 minutes , quick release .
Check for tenderness that YOU like .
Add celery .
Then ,
If the rest is where you want it , or close , bring it back to pressure to soften the celery .
When it hits pressure , cancel , wait a minute , then manual release .

If the carrots and potatoes need more time , back to pressure , and allow the time needed .
1 minute ,, 2 ? Then release .

You say fail , I see a win . Most people burn the meal because they don't have enough liquid .
I personally like that stuff cooked down .

First time I tried green beans , onions and potatoes , the recipe said " 11 minutes " . Nope .
Opened it up to a starchy mash .
So ,
I had a ham hock in the freezer . I added that and some chicken stock . High pressure for an hour , natural release . Added a 2 cans of white beans . Fantastic .

 

[forktender]

Did you use the trivet to keep them above the water? And use the steam mode?

No, I did not Steve, this was me completely winging it for the first time with stuff I had lying around, I will try that next instead of the 10 minute pressure mode. I browsed through a few recipes, basically for time. Before I started the machine, I told my wife that this was prob gonna end up in the compost bin, and it did. LOL!!!

Thanks for the tips, I really appreciate them.

 

[forktender]

These 3 things cook at different times .
I would start with the carrots ( and onions if you used them ) and saute in olive oil for a couple minutes .
Add the potatoes cut to a uniform size .
Add your liquid .
High pressure for 3 minutes , quick release .
Check for tenderness that YOU like .
Add celery .
Then ,
If the rest is where you want it , or close , bring it back to pressure to soften the celery .
When it hits pressure , cancel , wait a minute , then manual release .

If the carrots and potatoes need more time , back to pressure , and allow the time needed .
1 minute ,, 2 ? Then release .

You say fail , I see a win . Most people burn the meal because they don't have enough liquid .
I personally like that stuff cooked down .

First time I tried green beans , onions and potatoes , the recipe said " 11 minutes " . Nope .
Opened it up to a starchy mash .
So ,
I had a ham hock in the freezer . I added that and some chicken stock . High pressure for an hour , natural release . Added a 2 cans of white beans . Fantastic .

I wish I would've thought about saving it by turning it into soup, Since it was just a few veggies, and I was frustrated, it went straight into my compost pile. LOL!!!
I won't make that mistake again, as I hate wasting food.
Thanks a bunch, Rich.

 

[chef k-dude]

I dont understand why one would cook those three vegetables in a pressure cooker. By the time it heats up, and the cook time, you may have likely had them done in a pot on the stove. Celery cooks differently than potatoes and carrots.

When I make corned beef, potatoes and cabbage with onions, I cook the corned beef in the pressure cooker (A Zavor Lux, not everyone is team "Instapot"! ) and I cook the vegetables in a dutch oven with a steamer rack on the bottom.

 

[voyager 663rd]

Agree with Ken. Just because you CAN cook something in the IP doesn't mean you should.

I'm thinking mac and cheese as an example.

Also, meat is an excellent example in the use of the IP.
Veggies not so much.

Having said that, I used to do squash in my microwave. Several times in fact as it was never done the first time round.

Doing it in the IP?? Perfect first time. YMMV.

 

[shotsky]

I made up some carrots, potatoes, and celery in the I.P. everything I saw online said 10 minutes with a manual release. Wrong, they were way too mushy. How do I achieve an al dente texture using this I.P?
The canned Elk meat in a brown gravy over biscuits saved the meal.

Any recipe that says to cook vegetables 10 minutes is very suspect. I've been using an IP for many years, even before Instant Pot started making them. The best advice I can give you is to google 'instant pot rice' or whatever it is, and look at multiple recipes. There can be a wide variation, and I often simply discount many of them. For example, I cook almost all rice as 1 cup rice, 1 cup water, High pressure for 5, natural release for 5, then release. Most rice will be perfect. But Google will show you everything except that. When trying a new recipe, I opt for undercooking rather than overcooking. Stuffed bell peppers? 2 minutes max unless you want mushy peppers.

 

[fxsales1959]

I made up some carrots, potatoes, and celery in the I.P. everything I saw online said 10 minutes with a manual release. Wrong, they were way too mushy. How do I achieve an al dente texture using this I.P?
The canned Elk meat in a brown gravy over biscuits saved the meal.

we have two rules here. I cook with outside implements, Mama cooks with inside implements. I think we have one used a couple times. sorry I can't help.