First, Happy Belated Thanksgiving. I was going to tell you all that I took the week off from PTF but I did find a little idle time so I decided to jot down a few thoughts. I will return to the mushrooming commentary next week.
As some of you may have read, Judy has a little incident with her Instant Pot this week. She got distracted, failed to insert the inner pot and poured rice and then water into the Instant Pot. All of a sudden there was water everywhere. She cleaned it up and didn’t say anything to me at first. Then, a day or so a later, for whatever reason, she decided to spill the beans or should I say – the rice.
Judy: Vince, will you please take a look at my Instant Pot?
Me: What’s wrong with it?
Judy then began to tell me what happened. I thought, that can’t be. Why would a company sell something that has the potential to put electricity in contact with water? But sure enough, on closer examination, if the inner pot is not inserted, the intended contents go right through what appears to be a closed bottom, into the electronics and out the bottom of the pot. I can’t believe this.
Being safety minded, I sent an email to Instant Pot customer service describing what happened and asking about the safety controls that prevent potential harm to a customer. First, I am assigned a case number. Then I get a second email asking me for more details on the model of the pot. Finally, I get an email which restates the safety features stated on the company website, but it never directly addressed the concern I raised. I responded, asking that my concern be addressed without the cookbook response.
Rice in the Instant Pot
If you have an Instant Pot, take a look inside with the inner pot removed and the pot unplugged. If you have a raised metal part in the bottom of the pot, see if you can push down in it? If you can, the gap that opens up is where materials can flow directly to the electronics without the inner pot installed. When using this kind of appliance, I would recommend that you find a way to remind yourself to always have the inner pot installed before adding contents. I read online where someone always put a large spoon in her pot, when the inner liner was removed for cleaning, as a reminder to re-insert the inner pot before use.
If I get any other advice from the Instant Pot company, I will pass it on. I am particularly interested in hearing what they suggest a customer do if they experience the same situation described here. Will the advice be: do you not use the pot again and discard it or just let it dry out and then use or take it to an authorized dealer for repair or send it back to the company or what??????
Until next week, Vince
teresamnj says
Yikes! Thanks for the heads up, and I hope you get a better response.
Cheri Kruse says
I would also like to hear their response. I have almost made the same mistake Judy did.
Rhonda L Russell says
I own two different brands of pressure cookers, an Oster and a Power Pressure Cooker, and both have the same design. It makes me wonder if this is a necessary feature. Although, it would be nice if the electronics were enclosed so as to avoid coming into contact with water. Thanks for the information.
Dottie says
Looking forward to hearing what customer service has to say, besides a “canned” response. Seems like the canned response is more typical these days for all customer service questions.
Judy Laquidara says
I think that’s all we’re going to get out of them.
archer1955 says
OMG! How does that thing cook food without cooking the electronics too – even without the spilled water and rice? P.S. – I prefer my Calrod element stove and my vintage Mirro Pressure Cooker.
Judy Laquidara says
I felt like you do until I used the Instant Pot the first time. I haven’t touched my stovetop models since. In fact, I have several Instant Pots and one Cuisinart electric pressure cooker and it’s not unusual to have two or more of them going.
Rhonda L Russell says
Me too! I keep my stove top pressure cookers as backup but I love the fact that I can program the electric ones and walk away. When it’s done, it stops cooking. Frees my mind up to sew while its cooking.
Wendy Buchanan says
My brother in law did this to my instant pot when we were on holiday ( they were granny sitting for us ). He researched what to do, waited two days for it to dry out ( but he didn’t have rice flow through) and used it again before we came home and it works great! Very thankful!
Judy Laquidara says
Ours looked like it was going to work but all the lights went off not long after we plugged it in and it will not come back on.
Susan says
Maybe it’s a good thing it won’t come back on! I’ll be interested in what they said, and thanks for the tip about putting the spoon in when the liner is out. My son has a small one, and I’m going to tell him about this potential danger and have him check the pot.
Dar in MO says
Judy, glad you were not hurt in the testing of this new IP technique. 🙂 In all seriousness, glad nothing caught on fire or worse. I will be interested in hearing what the say too. Thank Vince for taking the initiative to contact them and follow through on their response.
Pat from SC says
Go Tigers! Randy’69 and Pat ‘76
Thanks for the info on insta pot.