Tested: How To Get Tar Out Of Instant Pot Fast (2026)

Immediate Action (First 5 Minutes)

Stop. Unplug the machine. Don't touch the inner pot yet. When people ask me how to get tar out of Instant Pot cookers, they usually mean one of two very different things. Either they severely burnt a batch of sugar into a black, hardened "sugar tar," or they were melting actual pine tar for a DIY salve and it boiled over. I've dealt with both in my own kitchen. If you're making DIY pine tar soap for your farm animals, you know exactly how sticky that stuff gets. If you just ruined a batch of caramel, you're dealing with sugar tar.

For sugar tar, pour boiling water directly into the stainless steel liner immediately. Fill it to the 2-quart line. This stops the cooking process and starts softening the hardened carbon. For actual pine tar, do not add water. Water will just make pine tar gummy and impossible to wipe up. Instead, grab a thick paper towel and scoop out as much of the warm, gooey pine tar as you possibly can before it cools and hardens into a brick.

I learned this the hard way when I was making a batch of pine tar hoof salve for my horses. I added water to the hot pot. It created a smeared, sticky nightmare that took me three hours to scrub out. Save yourself the trouble. Scoop the pine tar out dry, or soak the sugar tar in hot water. Set a timer for exactly 5 minutes while you gather your cleaning supplies.

What You'll Need (Tools and Products)

You can't just use regular dish soap for this. I've tested dozens of cleaners over the last ten years, and standard blue Dawn simply won't cut through carbonized sugar or sticky pine resin. You need heavy-duty degreasers and mild abrasives. This isn't the cheapest cleaning route, but it saves your expensive cookware from the trash bin.

Product	Best For	Estimated Price
Bar Keepers Friend Soft Cleanser (13 oz)	Sugar tar and scorch marks	$4 - $6
Dawn Powerwash Dish Spray (Fresh Scent)	Pine tar and sticky resins	$6 - $8
Cascade Platinum ActionPacs	Overnight soaking	$18 - $22
Silicone Spatula / Plastic Scraper	Lifting thick layers safely	$5 - $10

Grab a pair of thick rubber gloves. The water needs to be hot, and you'll be scrubbing for a while. I recommend the Playtex Reusable SmartGloves because they have a textured grip that helps you hold onto slippery stainless steel pots without dropping them in the sink.

Step-by-Step Removal

I'll be honest, this takes elbow grease. You won't just wipe this away with a damp cloth. Follow these exact steps based on the type of tar you're dealing with.

Step 1: The Initial Softening Phase

If you are tackling burnt sugar tar, dump out the initial 5-minute soak water. It will look like dark tea. Refill the Instant Pot Duo Nova liner with fresh water up to the halfway mark. Add two tablespoons of baking soda. Turn the machine on to the "Saute" function. Let it come to a rolling boil for exactly 12 minutes. The alkaline baking soda breaks down the acidic carbon bonds in the burnt sugar.

If you are cleaning actual pine tar, skip the water boiling. Spray the entire affected area generously with Dawn Powerwash. Let it sit for 10 minutes. The alcohol and surfactants in the Powerwash will start dissolving the sticky tree resin without needing heat.

Step 2: The Mechanical Scrape

Turn off the Instant Pot. Unplug it from the wall. Take your plastic scraper or silicone spatula and gently push against the bottom of the pot. For sugar tar, you'll see thick, black flakes peeling up. Scoop these out and throw them in the trash. Don't wash them down the sink. They will clog your P-trap and create a massive plumbing headache later.

For pine tar, the scraper will pull up gummy, brown strings. Wipe the scraper clean on a paper towel after every single pass. If you don't wipe it, you'll just redistribute the sticky pine tar back onto the clean metal.

Step 3: The Abrasive Paste Attack

Rinse the pot out with warm tap water. Now it's time for Bar Keepers Friend. Squeeze a generous amount of the Soft Cleanser directly onto the remaining stained areas. Add just a few drops of water to create a thick, frosting-like paste. I prefer the liquid version over the powder because it clings to the vertical sides of the inner pot much better.

Put on your rubber gloves. Grab a non-scratch scrub sponge. Scrub the paste into the metal using tight, circular motions. Focus heavily on the corners where the bottom meets the side walls. That's where tar loves to hide. Scrub for about 4 minutes straight.

Step 4: The Final Rinse and Inspection

Rinse the pot thoroughly with hot water. Hold it up to a bright light. Look closely at the bottom. If you see any dull, cloudy spots or tiny black specks, repeat Step 3. It's better to spend an extra five minutes scrubbing now than to smell burnt sugar the next time you cook a delicate risotto. Once it shines, wash it with regular dish soap to remove the BKF residue, and dry it completely with a microfiber towel.

Alternative Methods

Sometimes the standard scrubbing routine just doesn't work. Maybe the tar has been sitting there for weeks. Maybe you're dealing with a massive overflow that reached the heating element. Here are my backup strategies when the elbow grease fails.

The Freezer Thermal Shock (Best for Pine Tar)

Pine tar gets rock hard when it's cold. If you have a thick layer of pine tar stuck to the bottom, put the entire stainless steel inner pot into your kitchen freezer. Leave it in there for exactly 4 hours. The extreme cold causes the metal and the tar to contract at different rates. Take it out, and the tar will literally pop off in solid chunks when you tap it with a wooden spoon. I used this trick after my husband spilled roofing tar on a tool and set it in my pot by mistake.

The Dishwasher Tablet Soak (Best for Sugar Tar)

This is my favorite lazy method. Fill the pot with hot tap water. Drop in one Cascade Platinum ActionPac. Yes, just one. The concentrated enzymes and bleach alternatives in the pod are incredibly strong. Let it soak overnight for at least 10 hours. When you wake up, the black sugar tar will have dissolved into a cloudy brown soup. Pour it out, give it a quick wipe with a sponge, and it's spotless. This isn't the fastest option, but it requires zero physical scrubbing.

The Mineral Spirits Wipe (Extreme Pine Tar Only)

I only recommend this if you are completely desperate and dealing with actual pine or roofing tar. Put a small amount of mineral spirits on a heavy-duty shop towel. Wipe the tar away. It dissolves instantly. However, you must wash the pot with hot, soapy water at least three times afterward to remove the chemical residue. Never use this method for burnt food or sugar tar, and never use it on the ceramic-coated non-stick inner pots.

Prevention Tips

Cleaning up tar is miserable. Preventing it is incredibly easy. After hosting a dinner party where I served burnt flan, I swore off making high-sugar recipes directly in the stainless steel liner. Here is how you keep your Instant Pot pristine.

• Use the Pot-in-Pot Method: If you are melting pine tar for DIY salves or making heavy caramel, put the ingredients in a glass Mason jar. Place the jar on a silicone trivet inside the Instant Pot with a cup of water at the bottom. If it boils over, it only ruins the jar, not your expensive appliance.
• Deglaze Properly: When cooking sugary sauces like teriyaki or BBQ, always deglaze the bottom of the pot with broth or water before turning on the pressure cooking function. This prevents the sugar from scorching and turning into tar during the high-heat pressurization phase.
• Buy a Ceramic-Coated Liner: If you frequently cook sticky foods, invest in the official Instant Pot Ceramic Non-Stick Inner Pot. It costs around $30-$40. Sugar and pine tar slide right off it with just a warm soapy soak. Just remember to use silicone utensils so you don't scratch the coating.

FAQ

Will tar ruin the non-stick coating of my ceramic Instant Pot inner pot?

Yes, if you use abrasive scrubbers to remove it. Burnt sugar tar bonds tightly to ceramic coatings, and steel wool will permanently scratch the surface. Stick to the overnight dishwasher tablet soak method I mentioned above, as it dissolves the tar without requiring any harsh physical scrubbing.

Can I use oven cleaner on my Instant Pot stainless steel liner?

I strongly advise against using caustic oven cleaners like Easy-Off on your Instant Pot liner. The harsh lye can pit and discolor the stainless steel, and it's incredibly difficult to rinse out completely. You don't want those toxic chemicals leaching into your next batch of soup.

Why does my Instant Pot still smell like pine tar after cleaning?

Pine tar contains volatile organic compounds that cling to the silicone sealing ring, not the metal pot. Remove the silicone ring and bake it in the oven at 250°F for 20 minutes, or soak it in a 50/50 mix of white vinegar and water overnight to pull the odors out.

Is it safe to cook food in the pot after removing actual roofing tar?

If you used mineral spirits or heavy chemical solvents to remove actual roofing tar, I recommend retiring that inner pot from food use entirely. The microscopic pores in the metal can trap chemical residues that are unsafe for human consumption. Buy a replacement stainless steel liner for about $25-$35 and use the old one strictly for DIY crafts.