Instant Pot burn message what actually triggers it?

[Thomas Martinez]

Been seeing the BURN error come up in the cooker groups alot lately so figured I’d start a thread to discuss the issue and what peoples thoughts is on it. The typical resolution for the error is to press Cancel, vent the steam from the pot and then open the lid to assess what the issue is in the pot. Often there is food stuck to the bottom of the pot that you can remove or simply that water can be added and the cook deglaze the pot prior to continuing with the recipe.
Common causes of the error are food stuck to the bottom of the pot, using too much thick sauce (especially chili and tomato-based sauce), adding insufficient liquid to the pot to begin with, or the lid not properly seal onto the pot (often caused by a worn silicone ring).
Given the prevalence of tomato-based recipes in particular, tomato-based sauce is the #1 cause of this error.
What people’s thoughts on the issue?

 

[Exci]

layering is 90% of it. Tomato goes on top, NEVER stir it in before pressurizing. That one rule alone fixed every burn issue I had.

 

[Biblical Chicken]

The sensor is reading the temperature of the bottom plate of the pot, not burning anything. The sensor will register if the temperature of the plate goes above a certain threshold, that will register as the BURN error.

 

[Future Rabbit Orches]

wait does deglazing with wine work the same as water or does the alcohol in the wine mess with the pressure cooker in any way? I usually have an open bottle of wine in the cupboard.

 

[Bewilder]

mine will give you burn every single time you try to cook chili. Bought a slow cooker instead.

 

[The Grea]

people just dont read the manual lol

 

[Exci]

wait does deglazing with wine work the same as water or does the alcohol in the wine mess with the pressure cooker in any way? I usually have an open bottle of wine in the cupboard.

wine works just fine, the alcohol will cook off in the initial few minutes of cooking.

 

[Motionless Mantis]

For tomato heavy recipes, I sauté the aromatics, deglaze with broth first, then add the meat and beans to the pot. Afterwards I pour in the crushed tomatoes on top of the mixture in the pot without stirring. This works every single time.

 

[Future Rabbit Orches]

wine works just fine, the alcohol will cook off in the initial few minutes of cooking.

ok thanks. Follow up on the wine, does it matter whether its red or white for recipes like beef stew? If its beef do you use red wine? If its chicken or pork do you use white wine?

 

[Proud Peccary]

its definately the silicone ring 9 times out of 10 when the recipe isnt the issue. Mine eventually wore down after about a year of use and the burn errors started to occur on recipes that previously never gave me the BURN error. Replaced the silicone ring and error stopped right away. They are around $8 each so have one on hand just in case.

 

[Biblical Chicken]

ok thanks. Follow up on the wine, does it matter whether its red or white for recipes like beef stew? If its beef do you use red wine? If its chicken or pork do you use white wine?

You're not overthinking it, different wines are used in different recipes for flavor so red wine goes into beef recipes while white wine goes into chicken or pork recipes however the pressure cooker will accept either and not care what you use.

 

[Distinct Dugon]

sensor is fine on every model ive owned. User error. Period.

 

[Breakable Bison]

I've noticed the burn threshold for the Duo and the Ultra models is different. The Ultra is more forgiving.