Back to Burgers?

I told you I would share with you some of the things I have cooked using my instant pot, and that's what I am going to do here today!  I spoke last time about being tired of hamburger patties every day.....and I was.  I do, however, still like them on occasion.  Remember how I talked about hating the clean-up from cooking them?  I mean, what do you do with all that grease??   I want to share with you how to cook them in "the pot" with very little clean-up to do.  What about all that grease?  Yep, you don't even have to worry about that!!

The first thing you need to do is get some hamburger.....well duh!!!  I usually get the already made patties.  I buy the 100% Angus package at Walmart.  They are kind of expensive, but they are usually lower in fat, and taste better to me.  They come 12 to a package, so that makes for a lot of meals!  I don't cook them all at one time.  I freeze some of them. I'll talk about that at the end.

Once you have your hamburger, you need squares of aluminum foil that are big enough to wrap around each burger.  They need to be about this size or maybe a just little smaller:

Now, put your hamburger in the middle of the foil.  You can add anything on top of it that you want.  You can add mushrooms, green peppers, real onions, cheese, or anything else you might like on a burger. I used Italian seasoning on some once, and they were pretty good.  I usually put minced onions, garlic salt, and pepper on mine. Here's what mine look like:

Once you have added all your ingredients to the top of the burger, wrap it up like this:

After you have put the trivet in the bottom of the pot and added 1 and 1/2 C of water, put the burger packets in your Instant Pot.  You will need to place them in the pot in kind of a scattered stacking pattern.  You don't want them all stacked up on top of each other all the way.  I am using a 3 qt. pot, so I can only do 4 at a time.  I really don't want to cook more than that at one time, because I don't like how they taste after about 3 days or so.  I have an 8 quart pot as well, but use the 3 quart for the burgers since I don't want to do more than 4 at a time.   This is how I have to stack them:

Notice there are 2 on bottom, but they are not stacked completely on top of each other. The steam and pressure can get between them and cook them more evenly......at least I think so anyway!  HA!

You are now ready to cook the burgers.  Put the lid on, and make sure the air escape valve is set to sealed.  Using the Pressure Cook setting, set the time to 12 minutes and hit start. When the 12 minutes are done, let the air release naturally.  Mine takes about 8 minutes to release on its own.  Once the button has dropped back down all the way, remove the lid.  I always turn the release valve to open just to make sure there is no pressure left in the pot before removing the lid.  I'm chicken careful that way! 😅

Use a pot holder to remove the packets of burgers, because they can still be hot.  Place them on a plate to cool, or eat them up right then!  I don't unwrap all the burgers when they are done.  I put the wrapped ones in the fridge and unwrap them when I am ready to eat them.  It keeps the grease with them, and makes them not as "dry" when microwaving them to eat.  I wipe the excess grease off after heating them. They will be the MOST juicy burger that you have ever eaten.....even heated up in the microwave!  And the best part???  Just wad up the foil with the grease in it, and toss it into the trash!  Easiest. clean-up. ever!!!  Add a salad or whatever sides you want, and enjoy the best burger you have ever had!

You will need to empty the water from the steel pot insert once it cools.  Wash the steel insert pot with warm soapy water, dry it, and put it back into the pot ready to use next time!  You also want to leave the lid off the pot to let it dry.  I turn mine upside down on top of the pot to let it air dry.

Remember that I said I buy a package of 12 patties and that I don't like to cook more than 4 at a time?  Well, I prepare all of my patties on the same day.  I cook 4 of them, and freeze the rest of them.  I add all my ingredients to the top of the burger just as if I am cooking them at that time. I wrap them up in the foil packet, and stick them in my freezer.  The best part??  I can simply take 4 of the frozen burgers out, place them in the Instant Pot, and cook them just like they are fresh!  It does not take any more time to cook them from frozen as it does from fresh!  As the pressure is building in the pot, it is defrosting them!  The cooking time is EXACTLY the same, and the taste is EXACTLY the same!

This is one of the ways that I use "The Pot."  Next time, I will share with you how I cooked asparagus and pork chops!

I hope this helps some of you who are struggling to eat right with your diabetes.  I truly do understand!  I have been there, and I still struggle at times.  Finding out how easy the Instant Pot is to use and how fast it cooks has helped me tremendously!  That was one of the biggest struggles for me was when the hunger would come on so quickly that I would get sick to my stomach if I did not eat soon.  It made it so easy just to grab something to keep the nausea away!  This has helped me so much with that sudden hunger!

I would love for some of you to comment to let me know if any of this is helpful to you or not.  Also, please feel free to ask any questions!  If I have absolutely no idea of the answer, we will find it together!