It is easy to feel overwhelmed when first reading Instant Pot Recipes. Manual HP with a NPR? You’ll be an Instant Pot lingo PRO in no time!
Here is a list of all the crazy abbreviations and terms you’ll need to know so you can be a successful Instant Pot User!
IP– Instant Pot
HP– high pressure
LP– low pressure
NPR– natural pressure release; aka letting the pot release it’s pressure by itself. You do NOTHING to make this happen. Once the timer goes off, it will automatically start releasing the pressure. Recipes will specify if you should NPR for a certain time or if you should even do it at all.
QR– quick release; aka turning the knob on top of the IP so you are manually releasing the pressure. (Warning- HOT steam will come shooting out, so make sure your hand isn’t in the way!)
Trivet– The metal steaming rack your IP came with.
Sealing Ring– the silicone ring that is inside of the lid. This is what seals the IP allowing it to come to pressure
Pin– the small round indicator on the top of the IP. It will pop up once the pot has reached pressure.
Sealing Valve– This is the knob on top of the IP. It is important to make sure it is moved over to the ‘sealing’ position while pressure cooking.
Inner Pot or Liner– referring to the stainless steel pot that the food goes in
PIP– pot in pot; This is when a pot is placed inside of the inner pot to cook the food.
Deglaze– This means using a liquid on the saute setting to get all of the stuck bits of food off of the bottom of the liner. If you ever brown meat before pressure cooking, you will have to deglaze the liner. If the liner isn’t deglazed you will end up with the burn notice.
Confused with all the different buttons? I explain each of them here!
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Cheryl Bowles says
I cant figure out how to set the timer on my instant pot, can you help me?
karlibitner says
Yes! What type of Instant Pot do you have?
William says
Like your site and will try some of your recipes. But, what’s your definition of “Total Time”? Doesn’t seem to include warm up, partial or complete NPR, additional broiling, etc. Asking based on just having reviewed your recipe for ribs which shows total time as 28 minutes???
karlibitner says
Hi again! I’ll have to look into that recipe card, sometimes the times I input get switched around without my knowledge. I try to double check them, it sounds like this recipe has been a victim of that! The ribs start to finish take about 45 minutes. I try to write in the prep time, the real cooking time and then adjust the total time to include all time from start to finish. Hope this helps!
Jean says
Hi again. I guess I should have read your “Lingo for Newbies”. Found NPR, which is what I thought it was. Thanks for the wonderful looking recipes. I am going to try some.
karlibitner says
Hope you love the recipes!!
KAREN M POORE says
Do I set the timer for warm up time plus HP time?
Karli Bitner says
Nope! You’ll just set the pot for the desired cook time and then let the pot do the rest! It will take 10-15 minutes to start counting down, but you don’t need to do anything to make that happen.