Here's How To Make Wine In Your Instant Pot

Instant pots are pretty amazing, and totally worth the counter space even in the most cramped of kitchens. After all, not only is this wonder appliance the next best thing to having a personal chef, making sure you have a hot dinner all ready and waiting when you come home from work, and breakfasts that practically prepare themselves while you sleep, but instant pots are ready to party, too. They can make decadent desserts and boozy concoctions and yes, even cook your (smallish) Thanksgiving turkey.

While you may not need yet another reason to love your instant pot, we're going to give you one that may make you love yours so much you want to marry it — yes, it's true, you really can make wine in your instant pot! We're not talking mulled wine, either (although that's also a pretty awesome thing to do), but actually taking fruit juice and performing a biblical-style miracle that turns it into wine.

The FoodnService blog published a recipe for instant pot wine that takes just three ingredients: a 2-quart (64 oz.) bottle of fruit juice, a cup of sugar, and half a packet of wine yeast. The first step is to make sure your instant pot is as clean as can be, since if you don't sanitize it properly, any bacteria left in the appliance can destroy the fermentation process.

Once the instant pot is clean and dry, you may proceed with the rest of the winemaking process. Set aside 1 cup of juice, then add the sugar to the bottle, cap, and shake vigorously for a minute or two. Open the bottle and add the yeast (remember, just half the packet), recap and shake just gently this time, then open and pour the wine-to-be into the instant pot along with that leftover cup of juice. Don't throw away the juice bottle since you'll be needing it later.

Once the ingredients are in the pot, close it, lock it, then put it on "Yogurt" mode on the "Less" option to keep the mixture at the proper temperature for the yeast to do its wine-making thing. Be sure to leave the lid vent open so the wine can breathe. You'll need to let it run for 48 hours, so if your instant pot only runs for 24 hours, go for two cycles. Every 6 to 8 hours you'll need to either open or close the lid vent, though, since this allows the pressure to build and release. 

After the 48 hours is up, pour the wine back into the juice bottle, then put the cap on loosely! Don't seal the cap all the way, otherwise your wine might explode since there's still fermenting going on. Place a piece of clear packing tape across the lid, then another going the other way, so the bottle contents remain contaminant-free. Place it in a dark, room-temperature location, then leave it alone for 30 days before drinking.

According to the recipe's creator and friends, instant pot wine is actually quite palatable. Not exactly Lafite-Rothschild Bordeaux, perhaps, but way more cost effective!