Question for Instant Pot users

I bought one earlier this week, and have used it twice. My question is this: HOW can I cook something in it, and not have my whole house smell like what I cooked afterwards? :confused: The first time I used it, the beef stew smell wouldn’t go away, and I swear I can still detect a trace of it. I boiled eggs in it earlier this afternoon, and am afraid the same thing is going to happen with those.

I will add that in both cases, I vented it before opening the pot. Would that make the difference?

I have a regular stovetop pressure cooker, not an Instant Pot - venting the steam all at once it can be “aromatic”; letting it sit and cool down “naturally” would help, I think, IF the recipe allows for that option (with some foods, you want to release the pressure quickly to prevent overcooking - for example your beef stew might be OK if you just let it sit and cool down for a while, your eggs might not.)

An advantage of a traditional cooker is that rather than venting you also have the option to reduce pressure/temperature quickly by running cold water over it in the sink - obviously you can’t do that with an electric model.

I vented the beef stew because I was hungry. Guess I wasn’t as hungry as I thought. :smack: The egg smell seems to have dissipated.

The manual says you can speed the decompression by draping a wet cloth over the top of the lid. I just might try that tactic next time.