Foods to avoid when using a multicooker

One of the most popular pieces of kitchenware in the past few years is the Instant Pot or multicooker. An electronically controlled combination pressure and slow cooker, these multicookers cut down on the time it takes to cook some foods and can handle a wide range of foods through the use of heat and steam.

While the Instant Pot provides flexibility, not every ingredient or dish will work with the multicooker. Here are a few foods you don’t want to cook in an Instant Pot, according to cnet.com:

• Crunchy, crispy food: Unless you’ve purchased a specialty model, your Instant Pot is not a pressure fryer and isn’t designed for the higher temperatures needed to heat cooking oil for something like crispy fried chicken.

• Dairy: Most dairy products such as cheese, milk and sour cream will curdle in an Instant Pot, no matter if you use the pressure cooking setting or the slow cooking setting.

• Pasta: While you technically can cook pasta in an Instant Pot, it may come out gummy or unevenly cooked.

• Cakes: The steaming will leave a cake moist, but you won’t get a crust on the cake or the chewy edges.

• Yellow and red len

tils: Brown and green lentils can hold up to pressure cooking, but the more delicate yellow and red versions turn to mush because they cook so quickly.

• Seafood: In general, seafood such as fish, oysters, shrimp, muscles and clams are just too delicate for pressure cooking and slow cooking modes.