Do you need to find a way to rid of that awful Instant Pow Odor? You have a very effective ingredient on hand in your pantry. Coffee!
This post shows you how to get rid of the sour smells of meals past in just a few minutes. Not only does it take only a few short minutes, but it also costs you only a few pennies.
What causes Instant Pot odor?
If you use your Instant Pot (or other electric pressure cookers) often, you probably experienced this scenario.
You take your cooker out of storage, remove the lid to load it up with goodies, and–whoa! The smell of the last thing you cooked knocks you backward.
You feel confident you cleaned the liner and unit carefully before storing it. So what happened?
In fact, you did nothing wrong.
The culprit responsible for retaining that funky fragrance is the seal that’s just inside the lid.
The manufacturers call this piece the sealing gasket. Fabricated from silicone, it has a rubber texture. The “sticky” nature of the material means that it retains odors, even though you cleaned your pot well.
Although you might remove it and clean it diligently after each use, the smells linger. It’s a buildup of cooking odors and even unhealthy bacteria that accumulates underneath the seal.
You don’t need to replace it until it no longer seals firmly. Instead, deodorize and freshen your Instant Pot and get rid of that foul odor. When you finish, your entire house will smell great, too!
What happens if you ignore the bad smell?
You might be tempted to ignore the odor, toss your food into the pot, and make that next meal.
While that might be okay sometimes–say when it smells like chili and you cook something with similar spices the next time–that plan can backfire on you.
Here’s why.
The University of Connecticut explained findings that the sense of taste does not exist in a vacuum.
Our ability to taste flavors stems from a combination of factors, as follows:
- Smell
- Food temperature
- Texture
- “Heat” in terms of spiciness
Disrupting those influencers can impart a different taste. So, if you have aromas lingering from a prior meal, they can negatively impact your cooking outcome.
In particular, you will compromise the finished product if you switch from making hearty, spicy meals to using your Instant Pot to cook delicate flavors like fish, for baking, or to make jams or jellies.
“Much of the flavor of food comes from smell.” UCONN Health
So the necessity to clean your Instant Pot of odor becomes obvious.
Let’s move on and look at the five easy steps to make this happen.
How to use coffee to remove Instant Pot odor
Here are five quick and easy steps to use coffee to deodorize your electric pressure cooker.
1 – Remove the gasket and wash it
Start by removing the gasket from inside the lid. Give it a good washing with hot water and a mild dish liquid. Rinse it well.
Use a lint-free towel to dry the gasket and re-seat it inside the lid.
2 – Grab a scoop of coffee
Grab a generous scoop of coffee (about a half-cup) and put it into the inner-pot of your cooker.
Add three cups of water.
Close the lid, set the cycle to vegetables (or another short cycle), and press start.
3 – Release the steam
When the timer signals, carefully release the steam from the cooker. Take off the lid. Remove the gasket one more time.
4 – Clean everything again
Pour the liquid out. This smells like coffee, but it’s bitter; it is not drinkable. If you like to recycle, pour it into your garden to nourish your plants.
Use a mild dish liquid and warm water to wash out your inner liner and gasket. Dry everything with a clean towel.
5 – Prepare for storage
Before you re-lid your electric pressure cooker, add a generous scoop of coffee into the liner. Leave it there while in storage.
When you need to use your cooker the next time, tip out the coffee grounds. You will have a fresh-smelling Instant Pot ready to use.
The Takeaway: You can remove Instant Pot odors with coffee
Your Instant Pot is a valuable kitchen tool–when you don’t have a bad odor to deal with. So use it often, and enjoy it. Now that you know how easy it is, you can use coffee to freshen up your electric pressure cooker whenever it needs it.
She has a B.S.Ed. in Secondary Education/English and a Spanish Minor. In addition, she holds a Certificate in Natural Health from a fully-accredited program and is a Certified Herbologist. She pursued these natural wellness certifications due to her love for herb gardening.
Despite freelancing to make a living, her love is "all things home."
Deborah grew up in a family that grew a large vegetable garden and a fruit orchard, helping her parents pull weeds and can home-grown foods as part of her childhood. In fact, she had no idea that she could purchase veggies and fruits in pre-packed steel cans until she went to college and made a food run.
Today, she lives in Bertie County, North Carolina, an agricultural rural area with more chickens than people. She lives with her husband and two rescue pets a sweet toy fox terrier and a cat who showed up one day and moved into the house. Together, they enjoy DIY projects, furniture refinishing, gardening, and canning.
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