Instant Pot Natural Release vs Quick Release - easy instant pot dinners (2024)

FAQs

Instant Pot Natural Release vs Quick Release - easy instant pot dinners? ›

Natural Release: Natural Release is letting the pressure release naturally. Instead of manually releasing the pressure, you wait for the pressure to release from the pot on it's own. Quick Release: A quick release method is immediately letting the pressure out of the pot once the food is done cooking.

Natural release is more common, and doesn't require any action on your part — simply let the pressure release on its own. A quick release is used for quick-cooking foods and is done by opening the steam release valve. Use caution when using a quick release.

You can have a big cut of meat and let it rest under natural release for 10 minutes, then do a quick release and never notice a difference between the tenderness of the meat vs. having let the same cut go through a full natural release.

Just like you'd let meat rest after grilling it, a slow natural release is said to let the meat relax and be more tender. During a natural release, the cooking continues so you need to take that in to account when determining your cook time.

Best Cuts for Your Pressure Cooker/Instant Pot

You can cook any cut in a multi-cooker, but we recommend those from the chuck and round.

You just let the float valve go down on its own. This will happen when the Instant Pot's inner temperature goes down over time and that in turn, reduces the pressure inside. Do you turn Instant Pot off for natural release? You can press Cancel to turn the Instant Pot off, but it does not need to be off.

Estimating Natural Release Time

It's really just a matter of how much is in your Instant Pot and what it is. Less food and liquid=less time to depressurize. More food and liquid=more time to depressurize.

Natural release for at least 10 minutes.

Using natural release for rice yields fluffy results and less likelihood that the rice on the bottom of the pot will stick or burn.

Cooking any meat on high heat (or high pressure) for an extended period will both: denature more the proteins / collagen making the meat more tender; "squeeze" more water out of the meat, making it drier / chalkier in texture.

And the longer meat is cooked, the more liquid it loses and the tougher it becomes. Factors that also influence tenderness and juiciness are: The animal's age at slaughter, the amount of fat and collagen (connective tissue) contained in particular cuts, and, to a small degree, brining.

Does meat get softer the longer you cook it? ›

Your meat will be juicier and more tender

The longer cooking time and the low heat complement each other perfectly. As a result, even though the meat is cooked for far longer, it doesn't dry out because the temperature is low. As a result, this is the best way to retain all the natural juices of the meat.

If you have something like grits or a rice dish that could use some carry over cook time, allow it to naturally release for a few minutes — you'll see the valve drop slightly — and then use the quick release method to stop the cooking quickly as needed.

Baking soda (Sodium bicarbonate). If you find the meat has a spongy texture aside from being very tender, then very likely the restaurant put baking soda (Sodium bicarbonate) in the marinade. The sodium in baking soda chemically reacts with the meat and make the meat very tender and soft.

Cook It Slowly

This is certainly true when it comes to notoriously tough cuts of meat like beef brisket and pork shoulder. Cooking these cuts of meat slowly, either by braising, stewing or grill roasting, is the best way to get these tasty cuts of meat meltingly tender.

Simply wait for the float valve (aka pin) to drop (5-40 minutes) indicating the pressure has gone down and it's safe to remove the lid. In other words: Time counts down to 0 and Instant Pot beeps 10 times. Don't do anything, the Instant Pot will depressurize naturally by cooling the inner contents.

Is Quick Release Safe? Yes—if you take the right precautions. The steam that immediately releases from the Instant Pot will be extremely hot. The Instant Pot User Manual warns to not place your hand or lean your face over the cooker while it is releasing steam.

The moist heat they provide softens the connective tissue that binds the muscle fibers in the meat, helping it to fall apart more easily.

Depending on the food load, quick pressure release can take 2 or more minutes. Natural pressure release can take up to 20 minutes or more, depending on the type of food and/or the amount of liquid and food in the pot.