Hey guys, welcome back to Tip Tuesday. I'm Kristen, sister number two from six sister stuff. And today we're talking about the Instant Pot and things you don't want to do when using one. Now I'm sure like many of you, you were so excited to get your Instant Pot and then you realized, oh, this is a little intimidating. I'll be honest, mindset in my box. For about three months before I dared to finally open it. So these tricks are for those who are kind of starting out who have never really used a Instant Pot and if you haven't get your Instant Pot at your box and I'm telling you, once you use it, it will change your life. Here are my 10 don'ts when using the Instant Pot. Number one, don't just jump in, turn it on and expect everything to work without reading the instructions. The instructions are the most important thing when using your Instant Pot. I know this sounds ridiculous, but there are so many who don't use it. So please, please use the instructions. Now in case you didn't know, the Instant Pot is not a slow cooker. You can't turn it on and expect it to pressurize and cook like a slow cooker can. You need at least a half a cup to a cup of water in the pressure cooker or it won't work. Now there is a little knob at the top of your pressure cooker which is for venting or sealing. So you have to make sure it's always on sealing or again your pressure cooker will not pressurize and it will not cook. Venting is for when it's all done cooking. It's called the quick release and you turn it to venting. But for now, when you want to pressurize, be sure it's on sealing. I've done this many times, stuck something in here and it didn't cook. I couldn't figure out why. Oh, because I'm venting, I'm not sealing. Do not stick your hand over the vent when you're doing, when a recipe calls for a quick release. If you do, you will burn your hand and yes, I did experience this. So I would suggest using hot pad or being very careful making sure your hand is not in the way when you are ready to vent. Do not overfill the Instant Pot because one, it takes forever to pressurize. Two, sometimes it doesn't even pressurize and three, sometimes it won't even close if you're overfilled. So your food doesn't cook as evenly, it could burn, it could not cook at all. Lots of reasons why you should not overfill it. And thankfully, they have a max line and I would suggest doing one line underneath the max line. Do not place the still bowl on the stovetop. Now I didn't do it myself thankfully, but I have seen pictures of other people who have put it on the stovetop and turned it on. This is not for the stovetop. It is only for the Instant Pot. So make sure it just stays there. As you open your instructions and read them like you're supposed to, right? Yeah. You will understand these words like quick release and venting. Be sure when you're making foamy food. So things that cause foam like rice, beans, any type of grain. When I do like a ton of potatoes, when you do really thick soup, anything that causes foamy when it pressurizes. If you do a quick release, even though some says do quick release, if you do a quick release, you will have soup or whatever foam that is coming from that will be all over your kitchen. So just be aware when it's a foamy recipe. Be sure you can do a quick release. I'll show you real quick. So you're on ceiling to do quick release. You can turn it quickly and quick release that way. Then you won't have explosions because no one wants explosions in their kitchen. I've done it multiple times. It's awful to clean up. This is kind of an obvious one, but I've done it before, so that's why it's on the list. You can plug this baby in. You can have it all set up, but if you do not set the timer, it is not going to pressurize and you're going to be ready for dinner in about a half an hour and realize you've forgotten to set the timer and your food is not cooked. So be sure to always set the timer on your Instant Pot. Most people when they get their Instant Pot and they get an awesome recipe, they're so excited because oh it only takes 20 minutes. Well just be sure to add an extra 10 to 20 minutes onto that final time because it really does take 10 to 20 minutes for it to pressurize. People get frustrated and are angry at the people who write the recipes. And so just be sure it is going to take an extra 10 to 20 minutes to pressurize. Now obviously there are a lot more tips and tricks that go along with the Instant Pot, but these are just the ones that I had experienced with that I thought would be helpful for new people who have an Instant Pot. Now I do have a suggestion. If you are brand new to the Instant Pot community, I highly suggest going to the Facebook group. It's called Instant Pot recipes. They literally have hundreds of recipes you can try that people actually have tried and taken pictures and share with you. It's a great group to be a part of. So if you're new to that go check out that Facebook group. Well I hope these Instant Pot don'ts can help you as you're making recipes for your family. Be sure to give us a big thumbs up or a comment if you like our Instant Pot post or if you want to see more Instant Pot recipes. And don't forget if you haven't done it, subscribe to our channel. All right guys, we'll see you later.