UPDATE: We’ve tested this with gluten-free flour, and with a very small change to the recipe, it works! Scroll down to see the new info and photos.
You can make bread in the pressure cooker with our new technique! It takes minutes not hours of energy to cook.
This recipe was especially designed for cooks with limited energy and space to dedicate to cooking like boaters, RVers and those who camp! This bread won’t replace common bread for the home cook but it’s a fun alternative to blasting the oven in the summer heat.
To figure out how to get decent bread out of the pressure cooker, we had to go back to the basics. The pressure cooker is a lean, mean, steaming machine so the focus went immediately to steamed breads. But first, what container to use?
Suitable Containers for Pressure Cooking Bread
All steamed bread recipes call for a 1 pound coffee can. Few of us ever actually buy coffee this way or have access to these cans. So it was time to come up with another solution.
As with all pressure cooker accessories, first shop in your own kitchen. Look for something heat-proof, food safe, tall, narrow and that doesn’t reduce near the top.
Possibilities include – small cookie tins, stainless steel storage canisters (remove attached lids), ceramic cooking utensil holder, cylindrical heat-proof measuring cups and even wide-mouth canning jars where the opening is as wide as the body. Make sure that the opening does not taper – you want to be able to get the bread out, right?!?
Don’t overlook square or rectangular containers in your kitchen (or galley). The possibilities are endless. Even if your container comes with a heat-safe lid always cover it with foil, instead.
Never pressure cook an air-tight container, as the contents could remain under pressure even after the pressure from the cooker is released , there is no safe way to release this pressure other than waiting for the container and its contents to cool completely overnight.
Here are the “found” containers from our kitchen that we used in this recipe and experiments.
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| Containers for pressure cooking bread: Decorative ceramic “can”, stainless steel tea canister, 400g aluminum powdered milk can (inner-lip removed with can opener), heat-proof glass measuring cup (only fits 1/2 the recipe). |
Using a casserole or pudding mold will not achieve the same results because the container will need to be partially submerged during pressure cooking.
From Sweet to Savory
A steamed bread is generally a sweet mixture between cake and bread. Think: Corn Bread, Zucchini Bread, and Boston Brown Bread. They are sweet and not savory breads.
Savory pressure cooker bread recipes previously published online use a yeast bread dough with very unsatisfactory results (compared to oven-baked bread).
To distance ourselves from sweet cake-like breads (made with baking powder and eggs) and not prolong the disappointment of predecessors (leavened with yeast), we gave quick-breads (leavened with baking soda) a shot. In fact, the dough in this post closely follows the ingredient ratios for a White Irish Soda Bread.
Where’s the crunch?!?
Steamed breads are not crunchy – though the edges do brown a bit while pressure cooking. The texture of the resulting bread is similar to a grocery-store loaf for sandwiches. We recommend quickly sauteing a few slices in a frying pan or scorching them on a grill, as we did with this recipe, for a satisfying crunch.
Gluten-free it!
Per a reader request, we tested this recipe with an all-purpose gluten-free flour mix. We followed the recipe exactly as written with the addition of more baking soda (3/4 teaspoon instead of 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda). We let Gluten Free Girl’s experience guide us on that bit – understanding that perhaps gluten free flours may need more lift. The consistency, cooking time and everything else was exactly the same. Scroll to after the recipe to see photos of the gluten-free version made in an electric pressure cooker
| Pressure Cooker | Accessories | Pr. Cook Time | Pr. Level | Open |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 L or larger | steamer basket, see article | 15-20 min. | High(2) | Natural |
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 2 cups (250g) all purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon bicarbonate baking soda (not baking powder)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1¼ cup (270g)whole milk plain yogurt (or sour milk, or milk with 1¼ tablespoons of vinegar)
- water to cover
- Prepare the pressure cooker with rack, or steamer basket. Then, oil a long, tall and skinny heat-proof 4 cup capacity container with a teaspoon of olive oil.
- In a medium mixing bowl add flour, baking soda, and salt. Stir everything together with a fork and then add the yogurt. Stir lightly to incorporate, then lightly knead. The mixture should be a bit chunky and flaky - break up the biggest flakes and incorporate back into the mixture for about a minute.
- Gather the dough together and see if it will hold together into a ball - it will be a little bit sticky. If it won't stay into a ball, sprinkle a little water. Knead lightly for about a minute to amalgamate everything.
- Elongate the mixture and lower it in the oiled container, adding a little splash of oil to the top to keep it from sticking to the foil.
- If using a coffee can do not use the plastic lid during cooking. If using an air-tight stainless steel canister do not use the lid from the canister (see note, above).
- Cover with foil and , to ensure room for expansion, make a little pleat in the middle of the foil.Tie a string around the edge to keep the container tightly closed.
- Lower the container into the pressure cooker on the rack and fill the cooker with hot water from the tap to half the height of the container.
- Close and lock the lid of the pressure cooker.
- For electric pressure cookers: Cook for 20-25 minutes at high pressure.
For stove top pressure cookers: Turn the heat up to high and when the cooker indicates it has reached high pressure, lower to the heat to maintain it and begin counting 15-20 minutes pressure cooking time. NOTE: Cooking times may vary depending on the width and materials of the container used (glass and ceramic will take longer than stainless steel or aluminum). - When time is up, open the pressure cooker with the Natural release method - move the cooker off the burner and wait for the pressure to come down on its own (about 10 minutes). For electric pressure cookers, disengage the “keep warm” mode or unplug the cooker and open when the pressure indicator has gone down (20 to 30 minutes).
- Carefully remove the container, remove the foil and test the bread by inserting a toothpick. If it comes out clean, un-mould the loaf and put on a cooling rack (or cool burner) to rest for 10 minutes before slicing.
- Slice and serve warm with fresh butter, lightly fry in a saute pan with your favorite infused oil or scorch on the grill before serving.
Yields 1 small loaf that can be sliced into 8 slices or more.
Stovetop step-by-step:
Electric pressure cooker step-by-step (using all-purpose gluten free flour):
Have you tried this? Post your favorite variation, in the Comments, below!
Thanks for this! I really want to try it but the only vessel I think I may have is a 3.5qt mixing bowl (http://amzn.to/1RTqj6o) – do you think that would work for this? It barely fits inside the Instant Pot and maybe leaves about half an inch of space around between the mixing bowl edges and the sides of the SS inner pot. I’m assuming I would still put it on top of the steaming rack too.
Otherwise, could Corningware work? I don’t think I have a ramakin that’s deep enough though, like ones used for deeper souffles. I’ll have to dig around a bit more in the kitchen just to see but I think that’s all I’ve got.
The bowl should be fine – just don’t make twice the bread dough to fill it. The amount will have both cooking and growing consequences.
If your corningware is oven safe, then yes. You can use it in the pressure cooker.
Ciao,
L
One more question – with the Instant Pots, don’t you pretty much set the pressure to “high” and set the time and forget (as in “set and forget”) when using manual (which I’m assuming would be the way to do it per the recipe/instructions)? I don’t think there’s a way to lower the temperature once the high pressure setting is locked in, is there?
Some of the older recipes have primarily stovetop instructions – and those are directions for stovetop pressure cookers. You can just ignore that part and punch-in the cooking time in manual mode -your electric will automatically turn the heat up and down as needed during the pressure-building process.
I have updated the recipe instructions to the new format that separates instructions between electric and stovetop pressure cookers.
Ciao,
L
I would love to know if you can use parchment paper, tented, secured with butchers twine with wide mouth mason jars instead of aluminum foil.
The only mason jars that fit in my Instant Pot are the two cup ones….although four will fit on top of the rack. The bread will be about the size of a small english muffin, which is fine for me. I don’t do large sandwiches. I have posted a picture of the four mason jars in my Instant pot (empty) so you can let me know if I can use four at a time. (I did not empty the jars for the picture) Would rather make bread once a week rather than twice a week.
I would make two batches and put 1/2 in each batch of the four mason jars. Two regular and two with seeds for contrast in finished bread. With four mason jars on the rack, would the timing be different? Possibly a little less as the diameter of the mason jars is smaller than a coffee can.
I thank you in advance for your comments on the viability of the above modifications. Anne
Did you try this idea of cooking the bread in mason jars? I like the idea and having bread the size of english muffins would be just fine.
Greetings!
I have recently purchased a Fagor multi-pot and would love to try this recipe. I would like to know if you or anyone else has made this with almond flour. My diet is grain free and I would love to know if anyone has had success with a flour other than a grain! Anxiously awaiting any comments or suggestions!
Cheryl
Cheryl, I have not use almond flour. However any quick-bread recipe that works in the oven can work with this method. I would try halving this recipe (looks substantial with the use of eggs) but leaving the baking soda the same:
https://elanaspantry.com/irish-soda-bread/
Have fun!
Ciao,
L
I made a comment below, I have made this several times with wheat flours, I tried rice flour for a friend who is gluten-free. It tasted good but was very dry. If I do rice flour again I’ll probably add more yogurt or something else to add some moisture to it.
You can buy multi-purpose gluten free flour mixes at most grocery stores where I live (Los Angeles area) as well as on Walmart.com and Thrive.com as well as probably many, many other websites. Those mixes are much better than they used to be, and for most purposes, such as making gravy or pancakes, I can’t tell the difference. In the past, and probably still now to some extent, using different mixes of ingredients can be more effective for different uses, like pancakes versus noodles. Right now, I have three different brands I use interchangeably but at some point will probably get the single ingredients to use for different purposes. The small storage space I have kind of supports a commercial gluten-free flour mix, though.
Buckwheat flour is a seed, mixed with rice flour and you have a heavier dough but I find using potato flour lightens things up. Try a third of each as a starting point ,perhaps.
You didn’t say what to do if the bread isn’t quite done. How much longer would you cook it?
I have to eat gluten-free and have a mix for pumpkin bread on hand, slightly over one pound by weight dry in the box. Can I use this in a Corningware oven safe dish in the Instapot? I’m not super particular about results as I rarely get bread and don’t have an oven. Just want to do something easy and approximating normal pumpkin bread. Of course, I can do a half recipe and add baking soda if needed. It asks for water, oil, and eggs.
Andrea, your mix may already have baking powder in it – baking soda wouldn’t work here because there are no acidic ingredients (i.e. yogurt or sour milk). It’s worth a shot to try a half recipe to see how it goes. My daughter is in the midst of a 30-day gluten free diet and the bread mixes I’ve gotten have been a disaster even in the OVEN! So I encourage you to experiment but be flexible about what the outcome might be.
I would halve the recipe, add an extra teaspoon of baking powder and hope for the best. Come back to let us know if it worked. ; )
Ciao,
L
Just a note about including yogurt. I make fresh yogurt with my Instapot. Have made it manually, with a yogurt maker, and with the Instapot. Instapot is easiest by far and takes almost no actual work time, though you of course let it sit for hours. Don’t need to really leave it even plugged in unless your house is cold. So, keep it going so you never have to buy yogurt again. If you don’t have an Instapot, you can make it the old fashioned way. But, seriously, if you’re going to make this regularly or just eat a lot of yogurt, buy milk on sale and let the yogurt culture longer than the instructions say so it gets nice and thick and it’s almost like Greek yogurt at 1/10 the cost. I now buy organic milk only because I never have to buy yogurt and it’s still much cheaper than the storebought regular yogurt, and better too.
I had a thought about electric pressure cookers with rice settings and this bread.
Since you can make such a large variety of foods in a simple rice cooker, could you NOT seal an electric pressure cooker with a rice setting, and make those same foods in a pressure cooker that has the rice setting?
If you could do that, would you be able to just put your prepared ingredients directly into the pressure cooker with no other container or extra water and bake it?
I often use my rice cookers almost like an oven, when it is hot. I make things like brownies, cornbread, banana nut bread, cakes, coffee cake, etc. I also use it for things like one pot meals lincluding pasta, Mac and cheese, soups and stews, meats and steamed veggies. I have used it for biscuits and yeast breads also.
It does not cook rapidly like a PC and if you are using a simple cook/warm type rice cooker, instead of a fuzzy logic type, it requires you to wait on the warm cycle a bit, then press to cook again, cycling the temperature much like an oven does, only you are manually cycleling it.
If you could use an electric PC with a rice cooker setting, without sealing it, to bake directly in the PC pan without extra water, that would truly give you the perfect one pot cooker.
Even if you did not use a rice cooker setting, do you think there is a work around setting you could use for baking without water or pressure involved?
I cannot comment about other pressure cookers with a “rice” setting but my Breville Pro cooks rice under pressure so I don’t think it will work with that model.
I have tried various things to make it steam without pressure and still use the timer. It can be done but a PITA. Cannot think how you can make it act like a conventional rice cooker.
I used to live a lot in hotel rooms when working pout of town and rice cookers can cook almost anything although I never tried bread.
Many people, including me, have made cake, cornbread, banana bread in an electric PC under pressure though.
Worked very well for me. It has a biscuit flavor with a heavy moist texture. Lovely.
Used Instant Pot DUO 60. Bread flour, milk with ‘mothers’ vinegar stainless steel small canister. 20 minutes under high pressure, shut off PC then let release naturally (about 45 minutes) Perfect.
Thank you
W;hat button do I push for the PowerPressure cooker XL?
As with any Electric PC, set it to cook Manual (possibly “Custom”) at High pressure for 25 minutes. Check your instruction book for details on how to do this if you are not sure.
The only program on your power pressure cooker XL that reaches high pressure is the canning program – it’s ok to use this setting for cooking. Choose the canning mode and adjust the cooking time to 25 minutes. However, you should not use your Power Pressure Cooker XL for doing any actual pressure canning – here are the details on that…
http://www.hippressurecooking.com/tristar-power-pressure-cooker-xl-manual-with-canning-instructions/
Ciao,
L
This was Awesome Laura! The only bread recipe that I’ve seen successfully work in an Instant Pot!
I’m excited to try this but I have the power pressure do, and the steam rack fits in only at the upper third of the cooking pot. Can I just put the can on the bottom if the cannier and fill water as recipe? Or is it important to have it sitting on something?
Usa a shallower “can” – the problem with having it sitting directly in water is that the bread on the bottom of the can touching the pressure cooker base and under water will cook faster than the bread in the rest of the can.
Ciao,
L
Thanks for that feedback Laura! Just so I’m clear tho- do you mean put another pan on the bottom of the pc and then put the cooking tin into that so it has no direct heat? And with regards to the water around it, that can roll over into the actual pc pot, right? Many thx!
Chris, take some aluminum foil and make a ball or two to keep can off floor of pressure cooker. This should work for you.
Hi Laura,
this recipe looks fantastic. I really want to try it in my Instant Pot 6 in 1. I have a few questions:
– Would using a small loaf tin work?
-Can i use parchment paper to cover it held with a rubber band?
Thanks
Rob
Yes, and yes. Go!
Ciao,
L : )
Dear I tried your recipe ,on gas stove cooker filled d base with sand nd placed the tin .but the bread didn’t rise properly.can u let me know where I went wrong?
Nilima,
The instructions say to fill the cooker with water, not sand. The bread is “steamed” and not “baked” in the pressure cooker.
Ciao,
L
Laura, that looks like a classic bit of auto-incorrect. Nilima probably wrote something quite different.
Nikita, this is a “soda” bread. The raising agent is the bicarbonate of soda. Is it possible you used baking powder instead? Or it may have been old. Or poor quality. It wouldn’t be the first time.
Hey is it ok if I don’t cover the tin with foil? Am outta foil and I really want to try this today :p Thank you
You really want to limit the humidity that goes into the can – I recommend oven paper.
Ciao,
L
Laura, What is “oven paper”? I’ve been searching Google and each hit is talking about the difference between parchment & waxed paper. Can you enlighten me? Thanks!
Kitchens are notorious for local variants on the names of things.
It is called, depending where you are from: oven paper, parchment or baking paper. There are probably other names I am unaware of. Basically you are looking for the product your local store sells to line baking trays.
I use Corningware dishes with glass lids, and if I have one that doesn’t have a lid that fits, I just put a larger lid on top of it. Haven’t had a problem as the lids are pretty heavy and stay on. I would think you could even use a heavy pan lid that allowed steam to easily go around it, but I don’t know.
Hi do we have to put cooker whistle? Or without that. Please explain
Yes. The bread steams while the cooker is pressure cooking, put the weight/whistle on and don’t forget to add water!
Ciao,
L
I made this yesterday and it was great! My family devoured it this morning toasted with butter and jam. Very much the consistency of an English muffin. I would prefer a little sweeter bread, so I’m making more this morning and put in a tsp of sugar. So nice not to heat up the oven during the summer.
This looks fun to try. I’m at high altitude (one mile). How would I adjust? I usually multiply the cooking time by 1.2 and everything I make comes out pretty perfect.
I have tried this with several substitutions for part of the yogurt – zucchini, pumpkin, cheese. And sub sprouted grains for part of the flour. These all turned out well! A friend who’s gluten-free asked if I could try it with rice flour and I made a rice flour herb bread, it had a good taste but was pretty dry. I never make bread because i’ts too much trouble but this is SOO EASY and fun!
I really want to try this and have a DUO60 V2 instant pot. Can I use a round ceramic oven-safe bowl to make half the recipe at a time, creating somewhat of an “artisan loaf”? I’m fairly new to the IP but really want bread without heating up my oven – and of course saving time! Would I still put a tent of foil over top and pour enough water to come up the container half-way? Thank you in advance for your help. I love your ideas!
What Vicki said. Also, I would add just enough water to just-cover the base of the container.: )
Ciao,
L
You still need to cover it or it will be soggy from the steam. Other than that, seems like it would work fine!
Thank you both for your help!
I don’t own an Instapot yet but will probably buy one. Just wondering whether there is any setting that you could use to proof dough? I’m not familiar enough with the controls to know if it’s always under pressure, if you can just use the Warm setting, if some other low-temp setting like “Yogurt” would work.
Anyway, I’ll probably buy the pot even if this isn’t possible.
TY.
Tova, none of the models have a “proof” setting or a setting at the right temperatures for poofing BUT the Instant Pot SMART can be set at any temperature, including the one for bread to rise. You can read about it here – I call it the million-in-one cooker because you can set it to cook at ANY temperature for ANY amount of time using the app:
http://www.hippressurecooking.com/pressure-cooker-review-instant-pot-smart/
Ciao,
L
Laura,
The IP DUO-60 Yogurt Program set on Low proofs bread perfectly. Cheers!
Hi. I believe I did everything exactly in the steps, but mine turned out very heavy and solid. Like a blob of clay. It was still edible, but I would never say this is bread.
You have to play with the ingredients some to get it right. This is soda bread so it’s heavier and denser like any soda bread. And, if your container isn’t airtight the bread will be soggy from the steam. Keep trying and try a different flour, more soda or yogurt, different container etc.
The container SHOULD NOT be airtight – the foil is there to keep the water from splashing into the container. You should never pressure cook airtight containers or jars.
Ciao,
L
Well, yes. When I say airtight it might be more appropriate to say steam-tight. And since the foil top isn’t rigid, it will “give” under the pressure if it has to. It’s not like a jar with a lid screwed on that could shatter.
This was a solid recipe. It didn’t rise very much, but that may have been my fault, as i don’t have much experience making bread.
The loaf is essentially like a big biscuit in its looks and taste. I will probably make this again.