Like most people who post anything about them online, I love my Instant Pot. It's magic, it saves time, and for those of us in hotter climates and small spaces, it doesn't create all that much heat in the kitchen. Much like its cousin, the Slow Cooker, you can set it up and then let it go about its business while you do something else entirely. The Instant Pot has the added bonus of sealing in cooking smells a bit more than a slow cooker. While as a kid it was great to come home and smell dinner cooking in the kitchen, we had a giant house, and since I have smaller, more modest accomodations...and because I work at home several days a week I get tired of the smell. Don't get me wrong, I love pulled pork, pot roast etc, but I don't want it to permeate everything I own for a good three days. The Instant Pot solves that (and makes brilliant pulled pork).

OK! So you have purchased a 1lb bag of dried black beans. Good.

The night before: rinse and sort the beans (AKA look for small stones, dirt clods, mystery objects from spacin a large bowl. After the water runs clear, add enough water to cover the beans by at least 2 inches. Cover the bowl and put it in the fridge overnight.

The next day, rinse and drain the bowl of beans. Place the drained beans in the Instant Pot, and if you started with 1lb dry beans, add 3 cups of water. Close the Instant Pot and switch the little latch at the back (the "venting knob") to "sealing". Since we are cooking these beans in a very general way, I like to say "as an ingredient" I've chosen to not add any seasonings.

Press "Manual" and set the instant pot to cook for 12 minutes (al dentor for as long as 15 minutes if you like mushier beans. I'll be using these in soups, salads and my infamous international fusion black bean hummus recipe, so I chose 11 minutes. After your Instant Pot attains the necessary heat and pressure you'll see it counting down the minutes and then end up at "keep warm" which it displays as a cryptic message that looks like "L000". When I see this, I can't help but say "LOUUUUUUUU!!!!!" at it out loud before turning it off (one of many reasons it's best I don't have roommates). When you see "L000", turn off the Instant Pot and let the pressure naturally release (about 10 minutes minimubefore you carefully flick the "venting knob" over to open or release. You want to use that "natural release" for the pressure or you'll have burst beans. For future reference this is also a good method to use with anything that might have gotten foamy in there or with large cuts of meat. Who wants to clean out a bunch of freaky foam from the valve later? NOT ME.

OK, once the pressure has been fully released and the venting knob is open, go ahead and open the Instant Pot and use your lovely black beans. Want to make something simple right away? Check out this five ingredient black bean soup recipe. Since I only cook for 1-2 at a time, three at the most, I wait for the beans to cool then package them up in freezer bags to use with future recipes. Hurrah!