Deep clean Instant Pot after flooding it - brittag/maintenance GitHub Wiki

Aspect	Info
Context	Residence
Date started	2022-09
Date finished	2022-09
Status	Complete
Summary of outcome	Success

Background

Instant Pot Duo Nova 6-quart, purchased in 2020. I use it once a week to cook a pound of beans or lentils.

Problem

Once I forgot to put the silicone ring into the lid before cooking beans. After a few minutes, hot bean water flooded up around the lid and into the depths of the machine. I turned it off, cleaned what I could, and let it dry out, but I needed to deal with the residue inside before I could use it again.

Approach

This YouTube video shows how to take apart your Instant Pot so that you can clean all the inner surfaces, then put it back together. You need a tiny screwdriver (precision screwdriver) and a normal-size one.

Outcome

This worked!

A year later I accidentally dumped wet lentils into the machine without the inner cooking pot in place. After letting it dry, I was able to shake out some of the lentils, but others were stuck in there. I was able to disassemble it, get the rest of the lentils out, and reassemble it.

Next steps

None. Hopefully I don't do this again.