Get your pot shining and clean again in less than 10 minutes with no scrubbing. Best pressure cooker hack ever!
I’ve got a tip/hack today that is essential for every pressure cooker in the entire world. It’s so important, I decided to make an entire post out of it. IT’S THAT ESSENTIAL! Welcome to my course on How To Clean a Burnt Pressure Cooker Pot (AKA Instant Pot liner).
Oh the bane of my existence is this scorched, burnt, impossible to remove layer of brown cement from the bottom of this pot here. And that isn’t even the worst I’ve ever seen! I’ve done much, much, MUCH worse damage than this!
Every time I make Instant Pot Yogurt or Skyr I know that this will be the after math I deal with because truthfully I’m lazy/busy and don’t want to stir it while it’s coming up to temperature. But this can be a common occurrence if there’s not enough water in the pot for oatmeal, rice, pasta, or just about anything.
Before I learned this trick I tried soaking, scrubbing, soaking some more, dishwasher, Bar Keepers Friend (which works wonders on everything but this scorched mess, FYI!), but I always ended up basically scraping it off bit my bit with my finger nails. Gross, I know, but what else!
My sister Maegan is the one that taught me this trick of pressure cooking baking soda, dish soap, and water. When I first tried it, removed the lid, and saw a nasty brown layer floating in my pots soapy water, I literally squealed with disgusted delight and showed my whole family (who were equally disgusted because it really does look kinda gross, just warning ya).
In minutes it went from that burnt pot above to literally being able to wipe away any extra stuck on residue with a silicone spatula (or a paper towel even).
A quick rinse and a 5 second scrub later, your pot looks like this
Like it’s actually glowing with silver sun rays.
Now go burn something! Then you too can discover the utter joy of disgusting brown floaties in your pot! Good times are ahead ????
P.S. Don’t actually burn something on purpose cuz I don’t wanna be liable for that. I was just being my typical, dramatic, sarcastic self there okay? Okay! But if you happen to burn something, send me a before and after picture when you use this trick! It just never gets old!
Tools Used to Clean a Burnt Pressure Cooker (Instant Pot) Pot
Instant Pot or
Mrs. Meyers Lavender Dish Soap
Silicone Spatulas (my favorite ones!)
*This post contains affiliate links. Thank you!
PrintHow to Clean a Burnt Pressure Cooker Liner Pot
- Prep Time: 1 minute
- Cook Time: 3 minutes
- Total Time: 10 minutes
Ingredients
- 2 cups warm water
- 2 tablespoons baking soda
- 1 tablespoon liquid dish soap, (not the foam kind) I like Mrs Meyers Lavender Dish Soap
Instructions
- Add water, baking soda, and dish soap to the pressure cooker pot. Slosh the mixture around to combine the ingredients.
- Secure the lid and turn pressure release knob to a sealed position. Cook at high pressure for 3 minutes.
- When cooking time is complete, use a natural release.
- The charred residue will now be floating in the soapy liquid. Discard pots contents, give it a quick scrub with a brush if needed, and viola! Pot is like new!
Notes
- Bar Keepers Friend doesn’t lift up burnt residue, but it is amazing for removing other stains and making your pot look shiny and new.
Hello great tip on brown gunk cleaning from Hot pot. I spray mine with Pam before use also. Did you heat the pot? and how long did you soak it?
Thanks Deb Kaplan
Debra, pam is a great tip! I don’t soak it at all before I do this and I just pressure cooked it like I talk about in the post.
We did this with just soapy Water growing up, it wasn’t quite that effective though so I am absolutely gonna try with the baking soda!!! Thanks!
Lea, you’ve never wanted to burn something so badly, huh?! ????
This has been the BEST thing! It took me forever to clean my pot after doing yogurt. I have put off making it again until today. I used this post to clean the pot, and what a gamechanger! Bonus: made the camper smell pretty nice too! Thank you for this!!
When you say not the foam kind… does that mean not to use Palmolive or Dawn, etc.? What would happen if I did use these, because that’s the kind of dish soap at my house?
Tawna, I was referring to the ones that come in a can or a foaming container. Honestly it would probably work great, I’ve just never tried it. Let me know if you do!
I use a tablespoon or two of washing soda in hot water. Let sit for 30 minutes to an hour. Washes right off. Works on all burned on food, in all kind of pots, pans, roasters etc.
Elle, Awesome! Tell me what washing soda is!
I use it for laundry ,greasy dishes, burned on pots etc. As I understand it, it is similar chemically to baking soda (but def not edible) kind of baking soda on steriods.
http://armandhammerlaundry.ca/products/super-washing-soda-detergent-booster?gclid=Cj0KCQjwtZzWBRD2ARIsAIPenY2r505fsxFBhEpyCTsv6p5IvJ2-FbUPCfKdZgHUxrfjo7tMAO_eS3EaAm3rEALw_wcB
Elle, wow! I’m buying this now. Thank you!
This. Is. a. Gamechanger!! I have put off making yogurt again because the pot was such a chore to clean. Tried this tonight, and WOWZERS!! And, bonus…. made the camper smell a bit better! I will be sharing this post with all my friends!????????????????
Cheryl, It really is exciting, the magic of this trick ????. Thank you for sharing your discovery with others!
Well, this did NOT work for me 🙁 In fact, it made things worse! I had some burned pasta on my InstantPot, so I followed the instructions. However, instead of removing the gunk, it made soap/baking soda/water coming busting out of the vent, the burnt food did not come off at all, and it splattered food rements everywhere inside the pot. And it made a huge mess for me to clean up.
★
Kelsey, Oh my goodness, I’ve never had that happen. My only guess is that your soap was especially foamy? That’s not fun at all!