You Should Rethink Cooking Steak In Your Instant Pot. Here's Why
Of all the appliances that have come along to take up precious kitchen counter space over the past few years, few could argue against the importance of the Instant Pot — the set-it-and-forget-it combination slow cooker, pressure cooker, rice maker, and steamer that comes in one compact machine (via Kitchn). Since it debuted on the U.S. market back in 2010, the appliance has become ubiquitous in home kitchens, with an estimated 21% of American adults owning an Instant Pot as of 2019, according to an Instapot Life survey.
Obviously, a huge part of the Instant Pot's wide appeal is its versatility. You can cook just about anything in it, from chicken and rice to potato soup and Indian butter chicken (via Delish). But as versatile as the appliance is, it can't do everything. Wondering what the seemingly invincible Instant Pot can't cook? Steak. Read on to discover why you should think twice before trying to cook a steak in your Instant Pot.
You can't get a good crust in an Instant Pot
Ah, steak — we love you for your robust beefy flavor, your tender, medium-rare interior, and, if all goes well during the cooking process — for your well-browned, almost crispy crust, which contrasts with the buttery inside of the meat.
An essential part of good steak cookery is understanding how to achieve the outer crust. According to Epicurious, a tried-and-true method is to pat the steak dry, apply a generous coating of coarse salt, and then sear the steak in fat in a screaming-hot cast iron pan. Want to know a surefire way to keep your steak from getting a good sear? Cook it in an Instant Pot.
According to EatingWell, the Instant Pot — which is great for so many things — is not a desirable appliance for cooking steak. "When you're cooking steak, the goal is to make the outside crispy with the inside tender," Jodi Greebel, a New York-based dietician, told the outlet. "An Instant Pot isn't good for this method of cooking and will instead leave your steak mushy." So the next time you're craving beef and feel like using your Instant Pot, grab a tough, long-cooking cut that will benefit from pressure or slow-cooking. Think pot roast or brisket — anything but steak.