Small Orders Aren’t a Waste of Time—a Boston Butt in the Instant Pot Taught Me That

I Used to Think Small Orders Were a Distraction

Let me start with an opinion that made me unpopular in my own group chat: small customers aren’t a revenue tier. They’re a trust level.

I’ve been handling B2B kitchen equipment and catering prep orders for almost nine years. I’ve personally made—and documented—47 equipment mistakes, totaling roughly $5,300 in wasted product and rush fees. Now I maintain our team’s pre-order checklist. But I didn’t build that checklist because I’m careful. I built it because I kept proving I wasn’t.

If you’ve ever had a $30 order turn into a $300 headache, you already know where this is heading. The expensive mistakes were never the big ones. They were the small comments, the tiny gaps, and the “I’ll get to it later” jobs that felt like a waste of effort.

Why a Boston Butt in the Instant Pot Changed My Mind

It started with a request I almost declined. A customer sent a message: “Can you cook a four-pound Boston butt? It’s for a small family dinner.” My first honest thought was, “Is this order even worth the setup?”

Instead of saying no, I tested the boston butt instant pot method: a 4-lb bone-in Boston butt, a cup of chicken stock, 75 minutes at high pressure, then at least 15 minutes of natural release. I finished it under the broiler to get some crust. The result wasn’t “better than barbecue.” But it was good enough to serve, and it was repeatable.

Per USDA, pork is safe at 145°F. But a Boston butt doesn’t become pullable until the collagen breaks down—that takes the internal temperature to roughly 195-205°F. The Instant Pot does that without a smoker, a Dutch oven, or six hours of babysitting. For a single small order, that’s a no-brainer.

That first sale was $30. The same customer came back four times in the next year and spent $800 total. Not life-changing, sure. But it also made me realize something: the boston butt instant pot process became a standard line on our checklist for small-batch trial orders. A small order taught us more than a big one did.

The Other Lesson: How to Clean Instant Pot Lid (Before It Ruins a Batch)

I only believe in cleaning the Instant Pot lid after every single use because I ignored the advice once. Everyone told me, “Remove the sealing ring and wash it.” I thought, honestly, “What are the odds?”

The odds caught up with me four days later. I made a pot of chili, then used the same Instant Pot to prepare coconut rice for a client. The rice tasted like chili smoke. The gasket had absorbed the smell, and the steam-release valve had old food debris around it. The official Instant Pot manual says to wash the sealing ring after each use, but I decided I knew better.

That mistake cost roughly $400 in thrown-out ingredients plus a one-week delay. I still kick myself when I think about it.

If you’re here searching how to clean instant pot lid, this is the part you actually need:

• Remove the sealing ring, anti-block shield, steam release valve, and the small silicone piece underneath it.
• Wash each piece in warm, soapy water—not just the outside of the lid.
• Replace the sealing ring every 12-18 months, or sooner if it still smells after washing. (Note to self: keep one ring for savory and one for sweet. Should have done that years ago.)

This isn’t a cleaning lecture. It’s an observation about systems: the small step you skip is the one that ruins the single batch you actually needed to get right.

Then Came the Questions That Looked Unrelated

Once I started taking small orders seriously, the questions got weirder. A customer asked if an air brush hair dryer could speed up drying fresh pasta. Another typed “water heater portable” into our chat box, then clarified they needed something that could sit on a prep cart. A third asked, “can mason jars go in the freezer?”

Every one of those felt like a mismatch for a pressure cooker company. But every one had a real answer.

An air brush hair dryer is a styling tool, not a food-production tool. It can work for a quick drying task if you keep it on the cool setting and keep it moving, but it won’t replace a dehydrator. A portable water heater can handle a single sink of sanitizing water, but check for UL/NSF food-service listing before you put it near food contact surfaces. And yes, mason jars can go in the freezer—but not the way most people assume.

Straight-sided jars are the safest. Leave at least one inch of headspace. Keep the ring loose or remove it completely, fully cool the contents before freezing, and never fill a jar all the way to the rim. If you break those rules, you’re creating frozen glass shards in someone’s freezer.

I didn’t know all of that off the top of my head. I looked it up because the person asking was still a customer. As of January 2025, the USDA and Ball’s guide both emphasize the same point: straight-sided jars, wide mouths, and headspace.

The Part That Made My Colleagues Roll Their Eyes

Here is the objection I always hear: “You can’t take every small order seriously. You’ll go broke answering random questions.”

Fair. You don’t have to become a free help desk. But the way you handle a small request creates a memory. In 2022, I told a customer, “I’ll get back to you.” They heard, “I don’t want your business.” I only found out months later, after another vendor treated them like a person.

That was a communication failure. I said “small order,” and they heard “unimportant order.” Those are not the same thing.

The unexpected angle is this: big orders hide weaknesses; small orders expose them. A 200-piece order gets a schedule, a checklist, and a second pair of eyes before it ships. A single Boston butt order gets whatever is left in my head. If my head is still holding last week’s chili smell, that’s when a $30 order becomes a $400 mistake.

Bottom Line

So here’s my argument: small customers aren’t a burden. They’re a cheap way to stress-test your processes. If you can make a single Boston butt in an Instant Pot without cross-contamination, clean the lid properly, and answer a random question about mason jars or portable water heaters without making the person feel dumb, then you’re ready for the bigger orders too.

There’s something satisfying about watching a small account come back bigger. But it starts before they spend money. It starts when a $30 order gets the same respect as a $3,000 one.

Take it from someone who learned the hard way: the small thing you think you can skip is the exact thing that will cost you later. Clean the lid. Leave the headspace. And don’t roll your eyes at the air brush hair dryer question—that person might be your next best customer.