Yes. You can actually make distilled water with your Instant Pot! Distilled water is great for so many different purposes for your home. The distillation process helps to remove impurities from the water. It’s perfect for using in your iron, refilling your car battery, in your humidifier, and if you’re lucky to have one, even your cigar humidor. You’re about to call me crazy for what I’m going to have you do, but it’s such a fun little hack.
Ingredients:
- 1 gallon of tap water
- Food-grade heat-safe vinyl tubing, approximately 2 1/2-3 feet long and 5/16-inch diameter, or whatever tubing snugly fits the outside dimensions of the vent cock
- Heat-safe container
Directions:
- Remove the venting knob on top of your Instant Pot lid. Just pull up, and it’ll slide right off.
- Add 1 gallon of water into the Instant Pot liner. Close lid and lock in place. Place one end of the vinyl tubing onto the metal piece sticking out of the vent hole and the other end to a heat-safe container.
- Press the Steam button, and adjust time to 25 minutes. Watch your water steam! 20-25 minutes should be plenty of time to distill your water. Check your water level at about the 20-minute mark, as boiling times vary at different elevations.
Tip: Word of caution — the tubing and heat-safe container will be extremely hot, so please do not handle with bare hands. Even when the process is done, use oven-safe mitts to handle everything.
Author Note: Yes, it will get hot. The boiling point of water is upwards of 212 degrees F. A test shows a temperature reading of approximately 210 degrees F in the food-grade heat safe vinyl tubing. Food grade, heat-safe vinyl tubing can handle around 175 degrees F for “working” conditions. It’s not ever in working mode and has a pressure range of 19 -80 PSI. The concept is to get the pressure pin at the top of the lid to pop up. The Instant Pot pressure release limit is 16.68 PSI (115kPa), per the user safety manual.
Different Instant Pots have various functions, such as the plus and minus buttons (for higher or lower). The keep warm function with more heat added would take the temperature up to approximately 167 degrees F. Another approach would be to utilize the steam or sauté button to reach boiling point. Use the keep warm function and select the positive button to maintain the temperature. Or press the slow cooker button with the minus button (lower button function) to keep a working heat of 180-190 degrees F. Check your user manual for the temperature variance.
The reason to use vinyl food-grade, heat resistant tubing is it’s readily available. Heat resistant, food-grade silicone tubing is available on the market and can be used for heat variance. Many brewers utilize this process, but the brewing process lingers on and has more steps involved. This process is also used in almost all coffee makers. Silicone can handle the heat from negative 100 degrees F to 500 degrees F; however, if under pressure and used with a pump or motor at 30 PSI at 70 degrees, it could blow. There are many types of silicone tubing, including braided and reinforced tubing.
There’s always more than one way to approach a process and make room for improvement. Utilize this process and adjust it to fit the intended use of the distilled water.
More from DIY Crafts and Projects for Your Instant Pot:
Author David Murphy is a chef and food blogger whose recipes have been featured on Food & Wine, Delish, Munchies, Daily Mail, Buzzfeed, Jezebel, Today, and more. He recently went viral with his discovery of how to make wine in the Instant Pot! This led to him experimenting with all sorts of recipes that could be adapted for the appliance, and the publication of his first book, Instant Pot Magic. Then as he branched out even more, he realized the Instant Pot doesn’t have to be only for food! The revolutionary home appliance is taking DIY to a whole new level, and David Murphy is just the guy to show you how — in his newest book he’s curated an astounding collection of creative things to do with your Instant Pot.
Excerpted with permission from DIY Crafts and Projects for Your Instant Pot: Lip Balm, Tie-Dye, Candles, and Dozens of Other Amazing Ideas! by David Murphy. Copyright 2019 by Racehorse Publishing, an imprint of Skyhorse Publishing, Inc.
