How to Make Wine in an Instant Pot

Ah, the Instant Pot—also known as the crock pot, the pressure cooker, or a fusion of the two. It's a great invention for anyone who enjoys a delicious hot meal they get to enjoy the moment they come home from work.

Online, you can find plenty of easy crock pot recipes to enjoy. There are healthy crock pot recipes that would make any yogi's mouth water, and plenty of tasty slow cooker recipes too.

Food's great and all, but what about wine? You do need wine in order to get a full meal, right? Ratchet as it may be, you can actually make wine in an Instant Pot. Here's how!

As much as we want to say that any slow cooker will work, the truth is that it won't. You need an actual Instant Pot, such as the one above. Only Instant Pots will have the settings you need to cook up a batch of wine in them.

One thing that your Instant Pot will need is a Yogurt Setting. This setting is below the average temperature of a human body, and incidentally, is the only temperature setting yeast can survive in.

Supplies aside from your own Instant Pot will be needed. Grab the following things, and you'll be ready to make wine in an Instant Pot:

• Grape Juice. David Murphy, who invented this recipe, used a 64-ounce bottle of Welch's Grape Juice.
• Sugar. You will need a cup of granulated white sugar.
• 1 Pack Lalvin Red Wine Yeast. You'll only be using half a pack, but still.
• A Funnel. Just trust me on this.
• Clear Packing Tape. Yep.

You ready? Let's start making wine!

Grab your gallon of grape juice, pour one cup of juice into a glass and set it aside for later. Do not drink this juice! You're going to need it for later.

Once you've done that, put a funnel on the top of the grape juice jug. Then use the funnel to pour the cup of granulated sugar into the jug. You're probably wondering why you need more sugar in an already-sugary grape juice jug.

Since you need sugar in order to help the fermentation process along, the extra sugar is mandatory. Regular grape juice doesn't have enough sugars to give you a good amount of alcohol.

Once you have added in the cup of sugar, put the cap back on the jug of wine and shake it up for about two minutes. You need to dissolve the sugar as much as possible in order for the fermentation to work.

After that, open up your bottle again and pour in half a packet of red wine yeast. Then, shake it up a bit once more.

Then, open up your Instant Pot and pour the mixture inside.

The grape juice mixture is now ready to ferment. Make sure that your cooking pot is inside your Instant Pot, and then pour the contents of your bottle inside the pot. Stir it a bit if you want to, just to help break up any other sugars or yeast clumps out there.

Now, pour the remaining cup of grape juice into the pot too. Stir gently, and close the pot.

Close and lock the lid of your Instant Pot, and "cook" it.

You will want to push the "Yogurt" setting on your Instant Pot, and then immediately press the "Lower" button. This will give your grape juice the perfect temperature to ferment. Your mixture should be around 80-ish degrees Fahrenheit.

Oh, and another important note: DO NOT CLOSE THE VENT ON YOUR POT!

Then, give your fermentation some time.

To get the best quality wine, you will need to make wine in an Instant Pot slowly. Fermenting your wine will take 48 hours, and during this time, you will need to run your pot constantly.

Every 6 to 8 hours, you will need close or open the vent, alternating between the two. This gives your wine enough air and enough pressure to ferment well.

You're getting ready for learning the finale of how to make wine in an Instant Pot! Pour the wine back in the jug, and loosely cover it using the cap. Then use the packing tape to hold the cap on top of the bottle, and add some more tape around the bottle's neck.

Fermentation causes bubbles to end up in your wine. This gives your wine a way to release all the fizzy bubbles it has without having the cap blow off the top and make a mess. Then, store it in a cool, dark place.

Patience, young grasshopper!

Though it's very tempting to drink the carbonated wine straight out of the bottle as soon as it's poured inside, it's not a good idea. It'll taste and feel a bit funky if you do.

You will need to wait 30 days in order to let out all the gas from the wine. If you really can't wait, most people can drink their wine relatively fizz-free within 8 days.

And that's how you make wine in an Instant Pot!

It's a little bit ratchet, a little bit scientific, and a lot of fun. If you love this recipe, give it a try with white wine. You never know—you might be able to get a high quality wine at a low price doing it.