Can I use Foil Instead Of Trivet in Instant Pot? the Best Alternative

You love cooking and enjoy the best outcome from your Instant Pot! Oh, yes, with a Trivet to, have your food not be soggy and steaming vegetables. Now, worry comes in when you do not have the Trivet in your kitchen; you either misplaced it or got the Instant Pot without one. Never mind, Foil is the best alternative.

Foil, as well as the Trivet, does magic in your kitchen. Using the Foil in Instant Pot instead of Trivet works wonderfully well. The Foil has many more advantages than you can imagine.

It is very safe to use, retains heat when you use it to cover food, and protects food from the Pot while cooking. There are different kinds of Foil that you can use depending on your preference: aluminum foil, tin, and silver.

Steps Of Using Foil Instead Of Trivet:

Are you wondering how to make a foil and use it as a Trivet in your Instant Pot? This guide will explain the steps as shown below:

Step One

Ensure you have enough Foil that is of good quality. When the Foil is significant, it will enable you to make it heavy, comprehensive, and long, thus making your work easier.

Step Two

Fold your Foil severally to ensure you have as many layers as possible. Confirm that it is firm enough. The Foil will be heavy to act as a Trivet.

Step Three

Fold the Foil again to make another one the same as in step two. These two similar foils will enable you to place them inside the instant Pot at right angles.

Step Four

Since they are long enough, leave some of them to hang outside the Instant Pot. These will serve as handles when taking food out of the Pot quickly.

Can You Cook Meat In Instant Pot Without Trivet?

It is possible to cook meat in an Instant pot without a Trivet. When cooking, an Instant Pot requires about 2 cups of water for any food. Many a time, you may want to have soup and even stew. You can only achieve this by not using a Trivet. Below is the procedure for cooking meat in Instant Pot without a Trivet:

1. Add about 2-3 cups of water to your Instant Pot. Water is essential because, without water, meat cannot boil; instead, it will burn and get stuck at the bottom of your Instant Pot.

2. Put the meat you want to cook with the water you have already poured into the Instant Pot. Add salt.

3. Cover your Instant Pot or place back the lid and ensure that the sealing of the valve is ok. Then set the cooking time, like 25-30 minutes, to allow your meat to boil.

4. Confirm if your meat has cooked and soft enough as you want. Please switch off the power, remove your meat from the Pot, and place it in the bowl.

5. Next is to brown your meat to have a crusty texture, color, and flavor.

Follow the steps below to avoid sticking in the absence of a Trivet:

  • Ensure that the pan’s surface is clean to avoid creating more surfaces apart from the actual or regular pan.
  • Get oil whose smoking point is high to prevent the sour taste of food. Low smoke point changes the flavor, thus affecting the meat.
  • Ensure that there is enough amount of oil to cover the pan’s surface.
  • Do not add oil to a pan that is not fully hot. Hot will help the oil to heat up immediately and make it easy to release water and steam when added to the meat.
  • Ensure that the meat you add to hot oil is at room temperature to avoid sticking to the pan’s surface.
  • Always add the meat that is enough to the pan. Do not overload the pan because too much will reduce the temperatures, and the outcome will be embarrassing.

Does The Instant Pot Come With A Trivet?

Are you wondering and not sure, does Instant Pot come with a Trivet simply because you do not know what it looks like? Recent Instant Pots have Trivets, also known as steam racks. They are of two types; Trivet with handles and without handles.

A Trivet is an essential accessory for your Instant Pot because its uses are as follows:

  1. Raise food and prevent it from touching the bottom of the Instant Pot.
  2. Help to cook various foods at once as they provide more layers to place food.
  3. They are the best for steaming and thus help preserve nutrients, especially for vegetables.
  4. They also help maintain food flavors like meat because they do not mix with water to be soggy.
  5. Very efficient for methods of cooking like pot-in-pot cooking.

Do I Have To Use The Trivet In Instant Pot?

There are foods you will want to cook in your Instant Pot and cannot do without a Trivet. For example, roasting meat or chicken, vegetable steaming, baking cakes, bread, and cheese. Using a Trivet in Instant Pot comes along with several benefits.

Feel free to have a look!

  • Flexible and Convenient: A trivet allows one to cook various meals without any limitations, i.e., roasting of chicken/meat, boiling eggs, baking varieties of pastries, steaming of vegetables, and many more that you would wish to cook.
  • Simultaneous Cooking: Tall trivets allow one to cook different food concurrently without any problem. It is possible by placing them on top of the other in layers.
  • Cooling Rack: Trivets can also serve as racks for cooling when they are not used in instant Pots. Once you get food from the pots to dishes, Trivets can hold them for cooling.
  • Enhances Healthy Cooking: Steaming vegetables is healthier than boiling because there is a retaining of a high percentage of nutrients.
  • Easy to Lift Food: Trivets, especially the ones with handles, make it very easy to get food out of the pots by holding and lifting without any struggle.
  • Safe: Heat-resistant materials for Trivets make them safer to handle without harm. They also prevent surfaces like tables and counters from scratches and direct heat.

What Can I Use Instead Of Trivet In Instant Pot?

In scenarios where you have a Trivet or cannot find it, it is not a big deal to worry or stress you. There are many alternatives to sort you. Let us describe them:

  1. Basket for steaming: Steamer basket can help much in place of a Trivet. It is heat resistant and safe because of its handles made of silicone. Since it is made of stainless steel, it is also safe for health. Once it fits your Instant Pot, you are good to go.
  2. Bowl: The Steel bowl can serve as a Trivet. Please put it in the Instant Pot and let it face down. It will raise the food and prevent it from touching the bottom of the Instant Pot.
  3. Foil: Make balls of either aluminum, a piece of tin foil, or silver Foil and place them in the Pot after adding water. Then on top of the foil ball, place a plate where you will put your food recipes to cook.
  4. Heat Resistant Metal: Any metal lid that can resist heat can significantly help. Get one that can fit your Pot and place it in the bottom of the Instant Pot to serve as a Trivet.
  5. Sling: The design, shape, and material of the sling make it suitable and convenient to use as a Trivet, especially for the pot-in-pot method.

Final Thought

So far, so good; with this guide, you know how crucial Trivets are in instant Pots and what they can do.

The instant pot trivet substitute we have highlighted among many can be of help when you do not have one in your kitchen. Choose one that fits your purpose when in need.

Read more:

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