FIRST TIME USING MY INSTANT POT (Honey Garlic Chicken)

For Black Friday 2016, I only had one thing I was eyeing to buy since I had been wanting for for months...an Instant Pot. It arrived a week later. Then the box sat in the closet through the holidays while we were away. My goal was to use it by the end of January. Well, mid-February rolled around, it was still in the box until today...

I had been afraid to use it. Woke up this morning and told myself that today was the day I was going to tackle my new appliance. The manual felt thick until I read it realizing that it was that way since it was translated into several different languages (otherwise it would have been thin).

Still unsure of what to make but knowing that it was going to be chicken for the first recipe. I defrosted chicken in the sink during the day (But you can cook frozen chicken in Instant Pot too). Kept reading that it would be done in 5 minutes. Ended up taking much longer than anticipated. Dinner was fairly late for us as a result. Chicken was flavorful and tender but not something I couldn't make in comparable time. Felt that I was extra cautious since it was my FIRST TIME with my Instant Pot.

Yes, it takes 5 minutes on high pressure to make chicken but I set it on 8 minutes since I had 8 chicken thighs that were thick. Used two functions for my dish: 1) Saute  2) Poultry.

Honey Garlic Chicken (Using Instant Pot)
Ingredients: 
2-3 lbs Chicken Thighs
salt and pepper to season OR dry rub
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup ketchup
5 cloves garlic, chopped/minced
1 tsp basil
olive oil (for saute)
1 lb carrots

Directions:
Sprinkle dry rub on both sides of the chicken thighs (or just use salt and pepper).

In a separate bowl, mix water, honey, soy sauce, ketchup, garlic, basil.

Plug in your Instant Pot. With the lid off, put some olive oil to brown the chicken. Push the 'Saute' button. Cook chicken for a minute each side. Place it on a plate when done (found that I could brown 2-3 chicken thighs at a time due to space).

Put browned chicken thighs back into Instant Pot. The carrots will go on top of the chicken. Pour liquids from the separate bowl. Place and lock Instant Pot lid. Make sure the top of your pot is set to 'Sealed' (not 'Vent').

Push the 'Poultry' button. I set it on 8 minutes (recipe called for 5 minutes) since my chicken pieces were thicker.

Done.

I stood there staring at it for 5 minutes afraid to change the 'Sealed' to 'Vent' for quick pressure release. Moved it a little at a time for slow pressure release (my first time!!). Ended up switching to 'Vent' by using a spoon instead since I didn't want to get too close.

The result was tender chicken. Started with a simple chicken dish to test the waters.

How was your FIRST TIME using your Instant Pot?? What recipe did you use?

Notes:
1) It didn't take just 8 minutes since it takes time to reach high pressure.
2) When you saute, you cook like you normally do in a pan.
3) Easy to use but I was still nervous since I had heard stories of people putting holes in their ceilings with pressure cookers.