Instant Pot water test: how does it work?

Perform water test before first use

Before we start using our new Instant Pot for all kinds of dishes, it is advisable to first do a so-called water test. This will rule out anything wrong with your Instant Pot multicooker before continuing.

The whole test will take about 20 minutes and is very simple, it mainly serves to test whether the appliance is properly pressurized, and to familiarize yourself with how high pressure cooking works.

1. Remove the inner pan from the appliance.
2. Fill the pan with 3 cups (750ml) of water.
3. Put the pan back in the appliance.
4. Now put the plug in the socket, OFF appears on the display.
5. Close the lid by connecting the arrow on the lid to the icon on the device and turning it clockwise, you will hear a jingle when closing. If your model has a quick release switch, it will automatically be in the Seal position when you close the lid.
6. Press Pressure Cook to select the high pressure cooking program
7. With the Instant Pot Duo Evo Plus, turn the knob to choose Custom from the presets and press the knob to select it.
8. Press the + and - buttons to set the time to 00:05 for a 5 minute program. With the Instant Pot Duo Evo Plus, once the cooking time starts flashing, turn the knob counterclockwise to select 00:05.
9. Press Start to start the program. With the Instant Pot Duo you set the time and it starts automatically after a few seconds. The display will now show ON to indicate that preheating has started. With the Instant Pot Duo Evo Plus you will see on the progress meter that it is on Pre-heating. The Instant Pot Duo Evo Plus automatically saves cooking time adjustments for next use once the cooking time starts.
10. As soon as the appliance comes up to pressure, the cooking starts. The display will jump from ON to the remaining cooking time, it will count down.
11. When the Smart program is completed, the appliance automatically switches to Keep Warm, the keep warm mode.
12. Press Cancel to end Keep warm and return the unit to standby mode.
13. Set the Quick Release switch to Vent, the steam release button will now release a constant stream of steam. This one is hot! With the Instant Pot Duo, you turn the steam discharge knob itself to the Vent position, taking care not to put your hand above the valve.
14. The float that goes up as soon as there is pressure on the pan will go down as soon as the pressure is gone.
15. The lid can now be opened by turning it counterclockwise.
16. Discard the water and dry the inner pot. You are now ready to cook!