9 Frequent Complaints To Know Before Buying An Instant Pot

The Instant Pot came onto the market in 2010, and since then, it's taken household kitchens by storm. Home cooks love the fact that it can cook many types of food quite efficiently and serves several functions at once, negating the need for some other types of specialty appliances. It's particularly great for cooking beans and meats that can otherwise require a ton of time on the stove. Plus, you don't have to babysit the pot while your food cooks — just set it and forget it, and dinner will be ready before you know it.

Just because Instant Pots are popular, though, doesn't mean that they don't have any issues. In fact, many Instant Pot owners have posted online about their biggest complaints about the appliance, citing issues such as stinky silicone rings and longer-than-expected cook times. (After all, putting "instant" in the name of a product is likely to inspire some unrealistic expectations.) We're taking a look at some of the most common complaints about the Instant Pot we've seen, particularly from Reddit, to help you get a better sense of what to expect when you use this appliance. Knowing what others don't like about the machine might just give you a better idea of whether you want to get one for yourself. And if you do decide to snag one for yourself, check out some of our favorite Instant Pot recipes.

One of the complaints we came across most is the fact that Instant Pots can produce a lot of steam — like, way too much steam. One Redditor who commented about it said that it was a minor problem, but then followed that up by saying it makes their kitchen smell and creates a lot of moisture in the room. That doesn't sound like a minor issue to us! That poster isn't the only one who's had problems with the amount of steam their Instant Pot produces. Another Reddit poster said that the appliance produces a wild amount of moisture. "It ends up covering everything in my kitchen and living room which is right in front of the kitchen with water vapor," they said.

A different poster saw so much steam coming out of their Instant Pot that they questioned if something was going wrong. "Surely it's not supposed to be *that* much steam..." they wrote. And yet another poster complained about how much steam came out of the Instant Pot while they released the lid after cooking soup. They wrote that the amount of steam that puffed out of the appliance actually scared them. Hopefully, you've got a lot of ventilation in your kitchen if you use one of these appliances regularly.

There are some home cooks out there who are attracted to the idea of using an Instant Pot because it can replace other appliances in the kitchen. Ostensibly, this would free up more space, which is especially helpful for small-footprint kitchens. But while an Instant Pot technically can replace other appliances, that doesn't mean it should. In some cases, it may not perform as well as the original. It seems like that's true when it comes to slow cooking — which, according to some users, it doesn't do well. 

In a Reddit thread where the original poster asked what people didn't like about their Instant Pots, one commenter replied that the appliance doesn't slow cook well. Someone replied to that comment, saying that they'd tried to use their Instant Pot for a slow cooker recipe. Apparently, it hadn't turned out well. There's another Reddit post dedicated to the idea that Instant Pots don't work well as replacements for slow cookers. The poster instructs readers to simply use a real slow cooker instead. And yet another Reddit user queried whether others had had problems when trying to use their machines this way. If you're thinking about getting an Instant Pot in the hopes that you can get rid of your trusty slow cooker, it sounds like you might want to think again. Luckily, there are plenty of great budget slow cookers worth buying. 

Instant Pots cook using pressure, so creating a seal is important to ensure that the steam is released at the proper time. Therefore, it can be a big issue when the seal doesn't work like it should. Unfortunately, this seems like an all-too-common problem with this appliance, according to the people of Reddit. A new Instant Pot user said that the first three times they'd tried to use the machine, it wouldn't seal properly. Eventually, they managed to get a tight seal on it after giving it a little shake. But shouldn't it be easier to get an appliance like this to seal? Commenters on the post said they'd encountered similar problems.

Another Redditor complained that their two Instant Pots never seal, even after troubleshooting in several different ways. A different poster said it wasn't until they'd had their Instant Pot for several years that they started having problems with the seal. And on yet another thread, a home cook said that their Instant Pot only sealed about half of the time they used it. Considering that this is such an essential function of the appliance, you'd think it would be more reliable, but apparently, it's just not.

The name "Instant Pot" really makes it sound like this appliance cooks food, well, instantly. But of course, that's not really the case. It can definitely cut down the cook time on some types of dishes — Instant Pot beans, for example, come together quite quickly, even if you don't soak them beforehand — but many others will still take a relatively long time. The use of the term "instant" has caused more than a few complaints, though, with users claiming that the appliance really isn't that instant after all.

One Redditor specifically said that the machine took a long time to start cooking. "It took almost 20 minutes to do a 10 minute high pressure cook. Am I doing something wrong?" they asked. Someone else had a similar complaint, saying that a 10-minute cook time took 25 minutes just to come up to pressure. On several other threads,, Reddit users complained that their stovetop pressure cookers are more efficient than their Instant Pots.

Dried beans are arguably one of the most beloved ingredients to cook in an Instant Pot, since they take so long to cook on the stove. Unfortunately, though, it doesn't seem like it's always easy to get perfectly cooked beans in an Instant Pot. One Redditor said that, for a while, they always had problems when trying to cook beans in their Instant Pot. They said that they all either came out undercooked or too mushy. However, they'd eventually worked out a process that resulted in well-cooked beans, although it's not one that's necessarily intuitive if you're using an Instant Pot for the first time.

Another poster wrote that when they tried to use the slow cooker function, their beans wouldn't cook fully. Even after cooking on high for a few hours, the Redditor found that they were still too firm to eat. Yet another Reddit user complained that no matter what type of beans they used, they always come out undercooked. Then, even if you do manage to figure out how to cook your beans using an Instant Pot, they may not come out tasting like you want them to. An Instant Pot user on Reddit implied that stovetop beans tasted better than those made in an Instant Pot, asking, "Where is the creaminess?"

When you're planning a recipe, you generally want to know how long it's going to take so you can plan the rest of your day. So, when a dish goes way over the expected cook time, it can be a pretty frustrating experience, especially when you're busy and trying to feed multiple people in the household with different schedules. This is another arena where the Instant Pot falls flat. Some have taken to Reddit to complain about how Instant Pot cook times can be quite unpredictable.

For example, in a Reddit thread about what people find inadequate about the appliance, a commenter said the thing they hated most about it was that it made it difficult for them to plan dinner. This is because you often have to wait for the machine to come up to pressure — and that timeframe can vary — so it's not always obvious when your food will be ready. In another thread, a commenter said that there's a lot of "leeway with cooking times," which isn't always ideal for those who like to plan ahead. We found yet another Reddit post in which a user thought they'd finished a recipe only to discover that it wasn't actually cooked through. If you're looking for an appliance that can get dinner on the table in a set, specific number of minutes, the Instant Pot may not be for you.

If you have a small kitchen, you know the struggle of trying to find space for all of your stuff. And when you have a bunch of appliances cluttering the countertop, it can actually be difficult to find enough space in your kitchen to work. Some people may buy an Instant Pot thinking that, because it might be able to replace other appliances, it can actually save them space. But there are more than a few people who have taken to the internet to complain about how much space their Instant Pot takes up in their own kitchens.

One Redditor, in fact, said that their biggest complaint about the machine is how much space it took up on their counter. Another agreed, saying that they had to store theirs in the garage and only take it to the kitchen when they were actively using it. On another thread, a Reddit user who was pressed for space questioned whether they should keep their Instant Pot or get rid of it. One of the cons they mentioned? Some have had to come up with creative storage solutions, while others are lucky enough to have enough pantry space to store the machine so it's not taking up too much room on the counter.

Something you should know about the Instant Pot is that it might not be the most intuitive appliance to operate. With a slow cooker, you can pretty much just turn it on and let it do its thing. However, an Instant Pot can be more finicky, requiring you to troubleshoot when certain problems arise. One of those problems that seems more common than not is a warning that reads "food burn." Many people are unsure of why this pops up and how to fix it. 

One Redditor wrote that they usually just use their Instant Pot to cook rice, but when they try to make Hainanese chicken, they somehow always get a "food burn" warning, and they couldn't figure out what they were doing wrong. Another said that their least favorite thing about the machine was how often they'd get that same warning, and noted that they limited what kind of recipes they make in their Instant Pot because of it. Yet another commenter reported trying several different solutions to try to get their Instant Pot to stop reading "food burn," but none of them worked.

When you're working with any kind of kitchen appliance, you want it to be clean. After all, it's what you're putting your food in. But some Instant Pot users have discovered that over time, the silicone rings that seal the pot start to smell quite unpleasant. Even after washing those rings normally, many people still notice an unpleasant odor. One Instant Pot user took to Reddit to ask how, exactly, to get the smell off of their Instant Pot's silicone ring. Even after going through the dishwasher, the aroma was still there. They wondered whether there was even a way to clean it or if they just had to replace the ring. Another poster asked a similar question, wondering about the best way to clean them to ensure that they would no longer stink.

It's not until one Redditor soaked their rings in a denture cleaning solution that they finally got the stench of onions off of them. Another poster said that one of the worst things about the Instant Pot is the fact that those rings tend to smell after a few uses. "I know the tricks to deodorize the seal ring, but who wants to do that every 1 to 5 meals?" they asked. Luckily, we have a guide to help you clean those rings properly.