The “error” music of an Instant Pot is unusually perky. At first, you want to think it’s something positive, but when you turn to look at it, all you see is “ERR” flashing on its little screen, along with another message. That could be “BURN,” which I’ve lost count of the number of times that has happened to me (this means the bottom of the inner lid has too much food encrusted on it, and thus it cannot continue cooking properly. Unfortunately, it’s a very common one to get with BIRYANI!). But I know how to handle that error, and I know nothing is intrinsically wrong with the device. However, after making soy milk in the Instant Pot for the fourth time this morning, I came back to open it to then hear that miserable little music again, with an error I did not recognize: C6L.

Oh, crap. And I had a feeling I knew what this was about. Four weeks ago, I made soy milk in the Instant Pot for the first time. I got the “burn” error because I did not use a steamer rack to keep the soy bean solids from sticking to the bottom of the pot. So I tried to compensate by ensuring the soy milk was cooked fully by putting the pot on “saute” mode. Well, I didn’t realize how much quicker soy milk boils over than cow milk (wow, this will give cow milk a run for its money for boiling over the quickest!), and so the soy milk not only spilled down the sides, but into the inner pot of the Instant Pot. I tried my best to dry it out and scrape every last piece out that I could over the course of three messy days. For the most part, I thought I was successful. But I had this little dread in the back of my mind that something else could be wrong because several subsequent Instant Pot uses (especially with pressure cooking), Chris and I could smell a strong, unpleasant burning smell when the pot was on. It gave me no error, and it was cooking just fine, so I thought at some point, the burning smell might just stop?

Wrong. I made soy milk today, and the burning smell lingered. C6L is an error that means that the left sensor to detect pressure cooking either has debris, liquid, or something stuck in it that is preventing it from sensing properly. I went down a rabbit hole this morning of referencing Gemini, Claude, YouTube, and multiple websites to see if I could fix this myself. I unscrewed the bottom of the main device, cleaned out all the soy milk crud that had gotten stuck on it, and reached the sensors. I had to use toothpicks, toothbrushes, tiny pieces of damp tissue, and my bare fingers to get all this crap out. The YouTube video I watched suggested removing these thick white glue pieces on top of the sensors, so I did that. But then, I didn’t know how to put them back without them falling off. So I found out I had to buy this special heat-proof, sensor-sensitive glue (obviously… on Amazon!) to ensure the white glue pieces that ensure the sensors are reading pressure correctly was glued back on (doesn’t that sound weird?). So I am waiting for the glue to arrive.

All of this is giving me anxiety because this isn’t the first time my Instant Pot has suffered. In early 2022 in my postpartum and breastfeeding chaos days, I accidentally left my first Instant Pot lid too close to the stove when I had the oven on. The heat rising from the oven melted a key part of the lid that prevented it from latching properly onto the main device. After going onto Instant Pot’s official website and learning they do not sell replacement lids, and then chatting with their support team, I lamented that my pot was no longer usable. So I ended up tossing it (this really hurt) and buying a new one. It made me both angry and sad because I hate waste, and I loved my Instant Pot so much. I really hope this glue works with fixing my pressure sensors. Otherwise, worse case scenario, I may need to be that terrible person and buy a THIRD Instant Pot. My kitchen is just not complete without an Instant Pot; I do so, so much with it and use it at minimum 1-2 times per week! PLEASE DO NOT LET THIS BE ME!