5 Ways to Use Your Instant Pot for More Than Just a Quick Recipe
5 Ways to Use Your Instant Pot for More Than Just a Quick Recipe
Just because you got it from the cookware section doesn't mean it's only for food.
The abilities of the Instant Pot (and other multicookers) seem virtually endless, but they don't stop at recipe ideas. When we first started utilizing our Instant Pots, we loved making quick and delicious meals, yogurt, and even cheesecake! When we heard there's so much more these electric pressure cookers can do besides make food, we had to learn more. Here are a few Instant Pot hacks we found using popular electric pressure cookers that aren't intended for eating—at least not by humans.
Lotion Bars
Dry winter air is harsh on the skin. Using cute little molds (in the shape of owls here), Your Beauty Blog's Cari made a batch of homemade lotion bars in an Instant Pot. So instead of toting around a tube of lotion, you just have to rub a lotion bar to get your hands feeling silky smooth. The recipe utilizes natural ingredients like coconut oil—its high heat tolerance helps keep the lotion solid—avocado oil, and chamomile tea. It also includes beeswax, which pulls moisture from the air to keep your skin soft.
Cough Syrup
The writers at Traditional Cooking School concocted a remedy using the Instant Pot that can work wonders for those nagging coughs. Fresh herbs like thyme and sage work as anti-inflammatory ingredients while lemon and ginger help give your immune system a boost. If treating cold symptoms naturally without the use of artificial dyes interests you, try making an Instant Pot cough syrup at home.
Related: 11 Instant Pot Accessories for Easier Cooking
Crayons
Have a bunch of broken crayons lying around? Repurpose them into new art tools with the help of your Instant Pot. Laura of Awe Filled Homemaker placed crayons pieces (including the paper!) inside plastic cups before putting them in the base of her pot with the steam setting. You could use any silicone molds you have on hand, but this crafter had a brilliant idea to use lip balm containers for easy on-the-go drawing supplies to keep kids (and adults) entertained.
Buy It: Instant Pot DUO60 6-qt. 7-in-1 Multi-Use Programmable Pressure Cooker, $79, Walmart
Bone Broth for Dogs
Our furry friends deserve the best, so we're excited to be able to cook up nutritious and tasty food for them with the help of our multicooker. The folks at Rover have a few recipes for making solid dog food, but we love the idea of giving them some hearty bone broth to slurp. Ingesting bone broth is great for humans, so it's not surprising the ingredients would be beneficial for dog, too. The collagen, gelatin, hyaluronic acid, and amino acids created by the bones are great for the joints, easing arthritis, and helping upset digestive tracts.
Dying Easter Eggs
One of the easiest ways to cook eggs is in your pressure cooker. Easter is right around the corner, so use this smart hack to create colorful eggs in only six minutes. We've tried this one out ourselves so you can follow our step-by-step process to dye the eggs with ease. For these, you'll want to use traditional food coloring (rather than natural food coloring or natural Easter egg dyes) for strong color in a small amount of time.
Making lotion bars or crayons in the same pot you cook your dinner even after you've cleaned it well isn't a great idea. Make sure you give your inner pot a good soak in warm, soapy water and remove stains or discoloration with some vinegar. We recommend purchasing your own extra inner pot and sealing rings to use for all your "non-food" Instant Pot adventures to avoid cross-contamination.
