# Instant pot cooking **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** food-cooking\ **Created:** [November 11, 2020, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/instant-pot-cooking/925258 "2020-11-11T00:34:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Paintcharge](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/paintcharge/32/7946_2.png) [@Paintcharge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paintcharge)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2020, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/instant-pot-cooking/925258/1 "2020-11-11T00:34:44Z")
Years ago, when I was an unseasoned (heh) cook, I used a wok that wasn’t seasoned properly. Resulting in some fried rice that had a distinctively nasty metallic taste. Now I’ve got an instant pot, and everything has that same metallic smell. Is this just what the IP smells like? ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2020, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/instant-pot-cooking/925258/2 "2020-11-11T00:42:45Z")
I’ve only experienced this with canned pasta like chef Boyardee. Perhaps you just have a sensitivity to it. ---
**Author:** ![Paintcharge](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/paintcharge/32/7946_2.png) [@Paintcharge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paintcharge)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2020, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/instant-pot-cooking/925258/3 "2020-11-11T02:43:36Z")
Perhaps so, here it is 2 hours later and I can almost feel/smell metal in the back of my nose. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2020, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/instant-pot-cooking/925258/4 "2020-11-11T02:52:48Z")
I’ve used my IP plenty for the last few years. I’ve never noticed a metallic taste from the Pot itself, but the silicone gasket definitely absorbs and hangs on to tastes/smells. To the point where you need two different ones for savory dishes and sweet/neutral ones. And count on replacing them from time to time. There’s a lot on the internet about how to remove the smell-- I’ve never been able to. Sorry, that’s all I got. ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2020, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/instant-pot-cooking/925258/5 "2020-11-11T03:05:45Z")
> [@Paintcharge](#): > > Now I’ve got an instant pot, and everything has that same metallic smell. Are you pressure cooking fried rice? ---
**Author:** ![Kron](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kron/32/12444_2.png) [@Kron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kron)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2020, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/instant-pot-cooking/925258/6 "2020-11-11T04:23:16Z")
I love my IP and have not ever gotten a metallic taste in any of the million different things I’ve made in it, and I make rice-based meals in it often. ---
**Author:** ![dummygladhands71](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c0e974/32.png) [@dummygladhands71](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dummygladhands71)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2020, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/instant-pot-cooking/925258/7 "2020-11-11T04:57:10Z")
Not noticing anything like what you describe with mine. What make/model do you have? ---
**Author:** ![Paintcharge](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/paintcharge/32/7946_2.png) [@Paintcharge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paintcharge)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2020, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/instant-pot-cooking/925258/8 "2020-11-11T12:59:53Z")
There’s not a metallic taste, more of a smell. Not making rice, when I wrote the OP, I had just finished cooking some pork in a tomato-based sauce. It’s the IPDuo 6 qt. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2020, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/instant-pot-cooking/925258/9 "2020-11-11T13:06:51Z")
> [@Paintcharge](#): > > There’s not a metallic taste, more of a smell. Not making rice, when I wrote the OP, I had just finished cooking some pork in a tomato-based sauce. It’s the gasket. Seriously. It absorbs smells like crazy. You need a new gasket that you keep just for neutral foods like rice. I made fabulous carne guisada in my IP-- lots of green bell peppers. Then I made yogurt, using the same gasket, 'cause in the beginning I only had the one it came with. Green-pepper-flavored yogurt was the result. 🤢 Gitchyseff some of these and don’t interchange uses: [https://smile.amazon.com/Silicone-Sealing-Instant-Accessories-Transparent/dp/B06XVYMFLV/ref=sr\_1\_16?dchild=1&keywords=instant+pot+gaskets+6+qt&qid=1605099932&sr=8-16](https://smile.amazon.com/Silicone-Sealing-Instant-Accessories-Transparent/dp/B06XVYMFLV/ref=sr_1_16?dchild=1&keywords=instant+pot+gaskets+6+qt&qid=1605099932&sr=8-16) ---
**Author:** ![Paintcharge](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/paintcharge/32/7946_2.png) [@Paintcharge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paintcharge)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2020, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/instant-pot-cooking/925258/10 "2020-11-11T13:22:24Z")
Cool. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![TRC4941](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trc4941/32/6792_2.png) [@TRC4941](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TRC4941)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2020, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/instant-pot-cooking/925258/11 "2020-11-11T15:13:12Z")
Those gaskets are awful! I store my IP on a shelf in the basement. Every time I went down to do laundry, I could smell cooked onions in just one small area. I searched high and low for about a week, trying to figure out where the smell was coming from. Then it dawned on me - it was the IP gasket. When I put the IP away after the last time I used it, I didn’t put the lid on all the way - STINKY! I haven’t ever cooked anything other than savory meals in my IP for that very reason. I’m buying me some of those gaskets, ThelmaLou! ---
**Author:** ![Turble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Turble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turble)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2020, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/instant-pot-cooking/925258/12 "2020-11-12T15:25:03Z")
Are you removing the gasket from the lid and washing it after use? Don’t know where I learned this but it has become my habit to store the lid upside-down on the pot, not in the sealing position, so it can air out. That said, yeah, the gaskets absorb odors and need to occasionally be replaced … talking months, though, not just a few uses. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2020, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/instant-pot-cooking/925258/13 "2020-11-12T23:19:51Z")
I have two gaskets, one for yogurt, and one for more highly flavored savory dishes (mostly chicken broth.) Yes, the gasket sure does pick up odors. I’ve never noticed a metallic taste, though. I, too, store the lid upside down on the pot. And the gaskets live in a drawer. ---
**Author:** ![TRC4941](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trc4941/32/6792_2.png) [@TRC4941](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TRC4941)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2020, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/instant-pot-cooking/925258/14 "2020-11-13T14:48:33Z")
I always wash the gasket after the IP is used. But it has never made a difference. I tried soaking it in vinegar and I’ve tried baking soda too. Mine was stinky after only a few uses. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2020, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/instant-pot-cooking/925258/15 "2020-11-13T17:27:15Z")
Oh yeah, I probably spend more time washing the gasket than the whole rest of the pot. The stainless steel pot is very easy to clean, and I mostly just rinse the inside of the lid with wash soapy water, and then with clear water. Whereas I scrub the gasket with soapy fingers. Based on comments I read on-line, I just accepted that it was going to pick up odors, and haven’t tried vinegar and stuff.