| Product | Rating |
|---|---|
| Instant Pot DUO Plus 60, 6 Qt 9-in-1 | 4.6 |
| Instant Pot Duo Mini 3 Qt 7-in-1 Multi- Use Programmable Pressure Cooker | 4.6 |
| Instant Pot LUX60V3 V3 6 Qt 6-in-1 Multi-Use Programmable Pressure Cooker | 4.6 |
| Instant Pot Ultra 6 Qt 10-in-1 Multi- Use Programmable Pressure Cooker | 4.4 |
| Yedi 9-in-1 Total Package Instant Programmable Pressure Cooker | 4.7 |
| Mealthy MultiPot 9-in-1 Programmable Pressure Cooker 6 Quarts with Stainless Steel Pot | 4.7 |
Instant Pot DUO Plus 60, 6 Qt 9-in-1
Click here to buy or check the price of best instant pot
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.1. Multi-Use Programmable Pressure Cooker
2. Slow Cooker
3. Rice Cooker
4. Yogurt Maker
5. Egg Cooker
6. Sauté
7. Steamer
8. Warmer
9. Sterilizer
Best User Reviews:
1. I cannot say enough good things about the Instant Pot. I have told so many friends and family members about it that they should be giving me a commission at this point (but, sadly, they don’t). I used to use the crockpot fairly often since I work pretty long days and wanted something ready and hot when I got home.
The problem I found with the crockpot was that a lot of things end up tasting the same no matter what you do. That is not the case with this!!! Not only can you use it as a crockpot and maintain the integrity of the ingredients you put in somehow, but you can also do so much more. I have made my own Greek yogurt; you can saute ingredients first (only ONE pot messy!!), and cook things in the most delicious way in record time.
We cook at home about six nights a week, and at least 4-5 of those nights now involve the Instant Pot. It is great for meal prep and so much more. This is a MUST have kitchen accessory for anyone who wants to cook with convenience.
2. For my first try, I took a 3.5 lb beef roast out of the FREEZER one evening, put it into the Duo+ 60 Instant Pot with potatoes and carrots and had a perfectly delicious dinner in less than 2 hours. I LOVE that the lid and stainless steel inner pot can be put in the dishwasher.
I like that the cord detaches from the unit because I can put everything inside to keep it all together. It also came with two relatively small plastic utensils. (I think one of them is actually supposed to be a trivet, but I’m not very experienced with these gadgets. Looks like another spoon to me.) This gets stored on the countertop because I use it too often to bother putting it in a cabinet. It’s has a footprint of about 1 Sq ft. HOWEVER, I have to say that the first one I received had a DOA sensor and it took a couple of weeks to get a replacement from the manufacturer in Canada.
In hindsight, I should have just exchanged it with Amazon instead of calling them. On the other hand, though, they didn’t want the broken one back, so now I have an extra inner pot and lid. I suppose that it was worth the wait. I don’t have one yet myself, but I suggest the silicone lid accessory if you sometimes go straight to the fridge as I do. It probably works better than foil or plastic.
I am NOT a seller or advertiser or paid/compensated in ANY way for my review. NOBODY asked me to write this. I made my purchase decision from reviews like this and other research, and I paid full (Amazon) price for it with no regrets. Do your own due diligence before making your decision. 🙂
3. Having a wonderful time discovering all of the great stuff this thing will do. I love making perfect hard-boiled eggs. Last night it accelerated boeuf bourguignon nicely. Reheated a baked sweet potato for me. In no time flat today it steamed zucchini, potatoes, and carrots for my supper. It is making short order of my extra veggies in the fridge.
Tomorrow we will have ratatouille. Delighted that I found just the right sized glass lid to use for non-pressurized applications. The regular extra Instant Pot®️ accessories truly are overpriced, IMHO. I have a set of basichaus®️ silicone circular covers in assorted sizes that also work well; (you just cannot see through them, but the seal on the pot is excellent).
Fortunately, I have so much kitchenware that I can substitute most anything.
I’m so glad it was the 8-quart DUO Plus that was on the Special of the Day. You can put LOTS of stuff into it all at once. I’m “keeping warm” my cooked veggies and leftover boeuf right now. DO watch all of the YouTube videos for new owners with excellent help such as the ends of the heavy lid fit into the handles to hold it out of your way, and there is a little hanging hole on the rice paddle that can be used to release the pressure inside so you do not steam your fingers.
I’m so eager to make a cheesecake and a regular cake — sounds so much fun. The one item that I decided I must buy is a pair of the gaskets for the pressure cooker top; one for sweet and one for savory. The scent of stew lingers despite washing and soaking. Off to try to discover how I can use the pressure cooker feature to make authentic steamed plum pudding.
4. I’ve had this pot for two days & I’ve already made rice, butter chicken, chicken and dumplings, mac n cheese, and loaded potato soup! I’m super impressed. Some of the dishes don’t save a ton of time once it comes up to pressure then you release the pressure, but the flavor is like you cooked it all day and you throw the ingredients in the pot & wait for it to finish. Instead of standing over a hot stove & then being too tired even to eat what I cooked, I just put it in, have a glass of wine, then it’s ready. Something like a roast I’m sure would save a lot of time.
I like that all the controls are on the base unit, so the top can be immersed in water for cleaning, unlike the pressure cooker I have. The 6 quart is the perfect size for a family of 4. The inner pot fits in the dishwasher perfectly, unlike my crockpot liner & is stainless steel so it’s good for canning & you can use any utensils in it (no nonstick coating to contend with).
The sauté mode is impressive because it makes creating one-pot meals a breeze…perfect for browning meat before cooking or thickening sauces after cooking.
I bought a couple of cookbooks to go with my pot as I learn how to use it. The manual is great, but the small recipe booklet that comes with it is limited. I was able to Google some great recipes. There’s also an official Facebook group (members are called potheads) you can join for tips, recipes, questions, etc. 😀
I purchased extra seals to go with my pot because I cook a lot of spicy foods & sometimes read the seal can absorb the odor. It will be useful to have one for sweets and one for savory dishes. They even make a two-pack of red & blue seals, so you know which one is which. And, I’ll be set if they become hard to get. I plan on using the heck out of this thing!
I highly recommend it!
5. I admit it – I am a kitchen gadget freak. Still, I somehow avoided getting Instant Pot until recently.
Maybe it was the peer pressure, or maybe it was just idle curiosity that finally kicked me over the edge. I have a traditional pressure cooker collecting dust in the basement, and the truth is told, I’ve always been a little afraid of it. I have memories of mom cooking up dinner (circa 1965) in this hissing nightmare of a device. But still, I’d heard the Instant Pot was different.
It is different. For one thing, it doesn’t go on top of the stove. It plugs in, and it self-monitors to maintain constant pressure, so it doesn’t have to release excess steam — no hissing while it cooks.
The directions are well-written, and the unit is very well-built. If the recipe calls for it, you can brown meat in the stainless-steel insert, although I think this would be slower than just frying whatever meat you’re using on the stove in a regular frypan. Clean-up is a bit fussy since there is a silicone seal to remove and wash. The stainless steel cooking insert comes right out and can be hand washed or put in your dishwasher.
The idea of reducing my cook times is appealing, but all is not as it first seems. The unit takes a bit of time to reach a boil (and then to build up steam pressure) and takes a bit more time to depressurize. It is all exquisite and non-scary. I conclude that it is worth the effort to use it if you want to cook meat or fowl quickly. Still, remember that this is a fancy steamer: it doesn’t produce beautiful crunchy skin on chicken or beef.
Also, if you are making a meat dish that includes vegetables, you’ll need to cook in two stages. If you dump the meat in with the plants all at once, the greens will cook down to mush by the time the chicken is done. So, that means to get everything right, you need to allow separate time to pressurize/depressurize for the meat stage, and then pressurize/depressurize again for the vegetable stage. And, all of this is hands-on (as opposed to a slow-cooker, which is pretty much hands-off).
I made hard-boiled eggs that were quite good. But all-in-all, it was no faster than just boiling them on the stove.
So, I’m thankful to the inventor of Instant Pot for getting me over my pressure-cooker paranoia. And I do use the device when I need to cook/tenderize meat in a hurry. I’ll use it, for sure, but not often enough to make room for it upstairs in my already over-crowded kitchen. It is in my basement, in the space created when I tossed out the old-fashioned pressure cooker that I never used.
Instant Pot Duo Mini 3 Qt 7-in-1 Multi- Use Programmable Pressure Cooker
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Best User Reviews:
1. I bought the DUO 6 quart because it offered both low and high-pressure cooking. I saw the Bluetooth Instant pot, and I like technology, but who’s going to put the food in it?
I hate to cook. Been doing Blue Apron for a few months and I loved Blue Apron. I decided it was time to cook on my own, and boy is this the best appliance I have ever purchased. I have prepared more using the Instant Pot than I ever have. Sincerely, I can’t believe the flavor of the food. The first thing I made was chicken thighs with carrots, celery, and onions. In 20 minutes, I had a meal that was so tasty even my daughter was impressed (knowing how I cook). The chicken was tender, the carrots were soft, not mushy, and the flavor was incredible. When I would use a crockpot, everything I made was sentimental, and it all tasted the same.
The food I made in the Instant Pot was so good that 3 of my friends bought it too, one bought the 8 quarts. The stainless steel pot, along with parts being available thru Amazon is why I chose this one. There are great websites dedicated to Instant Pot, that makes finding recipes a breeze. The best thing I have figured out is this. Find a recipe you like and use the ingredients you like, just follow approx cook time. Easy really. The user manual kind of overwhelmed me, until I realized it was in several languages. After you read it, go to page 17 and do the water test. (I saved the water for my house plants) Then get cooking.
Clean up, I have Farberware stainless steel I received as a wedding gift (lots) of years ago and when I burned things, was a pain to clean. But I knew I did not want a Teflon pot insert. You can saute’ right in the stainless steel pot, and then close it up to pressure cooks. Surprised to say, this is easy to clean, especially after I learned to “deglaze” it doesn’t.
Occasionally I put in the dishwasher to disinfect. I found that I am using the manual mode way more than any programmed buttons. I can’t recommend it enough, from someone who hates cooking. This is the start of my new year’s resolution to get healthy. According to Dr. Mercola, steaming food is very sturdy. You will not be disappointed!
Oh my, when I saw I could add pictures I was so excited. Leg of lamb, Brussels sprout in 10 minutes and didn’t stink up the house, fresh beets 17 minutes! Pork and Sauerkraut, I could go on. I hope this helps anyone thinking about this pressure cooker. LOVE IT!
I’m buying an air fryer next for the crispy things healthy crispy things. Have a great time cooking in this Instant Pot, it has changed my life.
2. Love my Instant Pot(s). I have two-bought #2 a week after having my first.
It’s a versatile piece of cooking equipment that has me doing thing I never even thought about doing just a few weeks ago, making great soups, healthy apple crisp, yogurt and greek yogurt, easy poached and hard-cooked eggs, and all the kinds of things you would typically think of with a pressure cooker, slow cooker, rice cooker, saute pan, yogurt maker. I don’t even remember all it does.
What I like – I control all of my ingredients while easily and quickly making things that I might otherwise buy packaged. We are eating more fresh and real food without the stuff I can’t pronounce. My fridge is always stocked with jars of fresh soups, fruits, vegetables, yogurts, and great healthier snack options.
The biggest drawback I have experienced so far– everyone got one for Christmas. Because electric pressure cookers have suddenly caught on, finding reliable sources of recipes for all the things that an Instant Pot can do is tough. There are thousands of amateur recipes flying around. Every day hundreds and maybe thousands of new recipes are posted on Pinterest and Facebook and cooking blogs.
Some of them are amazing, but some are way off. Even the Instant Pot Recipe book that came with both of my Instant Pots is screwy. On page 26, there is a recipe for “3 Minute Steel Cut Oats”. I tried it; my Steel Cut Oats were as chewy as wood. In looking back to see what I did wrong, I was flipping through that same book. On page 32 there are cooking time tables which show that you need to prepare Steel Cut Oats for on high pressure for 10 minutes.
Getting cooking times right is a little tricky in that you need to adjust for the amount of liquid you are bringing up to heat, and the mass and starting temp of the food that needs to warm enough for the steam to begin building up enough to hit pressure and start the “high-pressure cook time.”
Again, finding reliable recipes and adjusting cooking times is the quirkiest thing, but if I had it to do all over, I would still have 2. (I was just going to buy a spare liner/pot and additional seal rings, but when I went to do that, for a little more I just purchased another complete unit. They aren’t that expensive, and I can see myself using both at the same time for parties. Buy one or two, you’ll love it!
Instant Pot LUX60V3 V3 6 Qt 6-in-1 Multi-Use Programmable Pressure Cooker
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Best User Reviews:
1. First, I’ll start with the fact that this arrived very quickly – less than 48 hours after I got it. I was excited, considering how horrible the USPS delivery is in my area. Amazon shipped this directly in the Instant Pot box, which concerned me. I felt that it should have been placed inside another sturdy box (my first one was). The packaging was good inside the product. Everything was padded with foam, wrapped in plastic, and nothing was broken.
It comes with a small cookbook, an Instant Pot shortcut sheet, and warranty info. The cookbook begins with instructions on how to set up the IP, how to test it to make sure that it works properly, and then several simple recipes and important tips.
The Instant Pot is a little intimidating at first, but DON’T WORRY. If you follow all of their instructions, it will NOT blow up or knock you out. 🙂
This is a great product that you can cook all kinds of meals in from homemade yogurt, to a meal that will make your husband or wife think you got at a fancy restaurant. Every kitchen needs one or TWO, or THREE Instant Pots! FIVE STARS for sure!
2. If you are a single person that needs a meal in a hurry, this might be the greatest product you have ever bought.
Yes, I’ve jumped onto the Instant Pot (IP) craze. So has my son. So when he went to college, he mistakenly thought he’d take my IP off to the college apartment with him. Ha. But I did take pity on him and buy him this smaller version.
One breast of chicken, a few chicken tenders will fit in here and cook perfectly. You can do things like cook your chicken breast in a few minutes, shred the chicken and toss it in barbecue sauce and now you have barbecue sandwiches. You can toss your hamburger, your pasta, and some other ingredients in there and have spaghetti in a few minutes.
So. Be warned. You still have to do some meal prep. You will have to wait for the thing to heat up and cool down. But I have found my meals to be significantly shorter when using this instant pot. I picked up this smaller one for my son, and he agrees that this is the tool to have in the kitchen. He makes cheesecake in it.
One of the things I like the most is that it’s safe. You latch it easily, and it makes a little sound when it’s latched. It won’t because of food stuck on the bottom or the sealing ring not being installed correctly etc. It’s also fairly intuitive to use.
Instant Pot Ultra 6 Qt 10-in-1 Multi- Use Programmable Pressure Cooker
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Best User Reviews:
1. I love the Ultra model because the digital dashboard display shows me the cooking process phase (preheat, cook, or keep warm), which is a massive relief for me since I’m still irrationally afraid of pressure cookers. I haven’t tried the extra functions yet.
Instant Pot allows me to go about my day how I want rather than plan my day around cooking. And it makes it so easy for me to quickly and easily prepare healthy meals.
Case study: Whole chicken. Stick in the rack that comes with the Instant Pot, a cup of water (minimum needed for pressure cook), a whole chicken (defrosted or even frozen; no seasoning or salt required), and pressure cook on high for 35 minutes. I let the natural steam release go and sometimes leave it in for a day, even hours after the 24-hour automatic shutoff. As long as I don’t open the lid, the chicken is pretty much sterile, so I don’t fret about it spoiling on my countertop. I can get to it when I get to it.
Then, I make bone broth. When the chicken is cold enough, I pick off all the meat (lasts me all week), throw the bones and skin back in the Instant Pot with the liquid from the cooked chicken, take out the rack, add a dash of vinegar and any veggie scraps I’ve collected the previous week, and pressure cook for 60-90 minutes. The collagenous goodness is undeniable.
I used to do all this with a rotisserie chicken maker (with kitchen twine and foil) and slower cooker, which would take two days of babysitting and greasy mess everywhere. No more. The pressure-cooked chicken might not be as flashy as the rotisserie, but the pressure-cooked bone broth extracts more nutrients than the slow cooker. The ease is well worth the trade-off for me.
2. I kept hearing about this thing called an Instant Pot. What was it – I didn’t know and didn’t much care. That is until I heard I could make my Greek yogurt and cook hard-boiled eggs in it. Yep, that’s what started me on my journey of watching YouTube videos on this mystery pot that I am now the proud owner of.
I love everything about my Instant Pot and was thrilled with the results of my first cheesecake – WOW! No more water bath cheesecake baking in my convection oven. Ravioli Lasagna was a breeze in an insert pan by Koysas which are food-grade stainless steel.
Of course, I use it for much more, and I genuinely am sold on this thing. I searched long and hard for which model to buy. I finally settled on the six qt Ultra for several reasons. I prefer the turn dial over all the buttons and the clean look of the display. The most significant factor was the steam valve being separate from the quick steam release valve. I am often in a hurry and knew I would probably at some point come in contact with that steam with the older models. I do use a steam diverter which I love so much, and that has alleviated my fear of that released steam.
*If interested in a steam diverter, Steam Mates makes the cutest ones. I bought all three, “Ruby,” “Nelson” the dragon and “Henry” – too cute but worked very well for diverting the steam from under your cabinets.
Update: love my six qt Ultra so much I came back for a three qt Ultra for our RV.
Newest Update: my three qt mini ultra has now become the partner to my six qt on the kitchen counter. A new six qt ultra has now become the instant pot that will go into our RV. The more I cooked in my six qt, the more I realized I needed that size for the RV. When Amazon’s Prime Day offered Prime members the six qt Ultra for $87.99, I jumped and ordered my second 6 qt. With reward points I had, I got the pot for $76.00 – DEAL!
Yedi 9-in-1 Total Package Instant Programmable Pressure Cooker
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Best User Reviews:
1. This is my first instant pot pressure cooker. So far, I have been impressed. They seem to have excellent customer service. I received a couple of emails from the company– one to make sure I found the glass lid in the packing box, and another to see that I was happy and the pot was working out for me. Seems like a good sign. I selected this pot for a few reasons. Firstly (and most important), because it has a two-year warranty instead of the ‘one year’ or ‘no warranty’ with other pots. Second because it came with all the extras for no extra price, and third because I found it on ‘lightning sale’ for 72 dollars. It was a super steal.
When it arrived, my first impression was that it seems relatively sturdy, heavy, and well built. The only thing I didn’t like was the seal to the front part of the digital display. See photo. However, this seal is no different than seals like that on other pots and digital appliances. And I am excited by the level of the customer service so far.
The inner pot is sturdy and has a nice thick bottom, which helps in even cooking with any pot.
It cooks quite well. It is so neat to be able to cook things so fast. I love it. So far, it cooks like a dream. It arrived only a couple of days ago, and already I am using it a few times a day. I have already put a second Yedi Pot on my wishlist for the future. I find that I use it so often that I sometimes need another while I am using it.
I have learned that if I forget to close the pressure valve while using the pressure cooking feature, the pot will over-heat and give an error message. That happened once when I was learning to use it. Luckily, a quick internet search for “error code 6,” and I was able to figure out the error of my ways, and the pot got right back to cooking.
I will be purchasing a second.
Update Aug 23, 2019: Old-fashioned customer service. They stand behind their product. I purchased a second Yedi and ended up having a problem with it. Customer service was great! It has been a long time since companies had the business model of “repeat business through client satisfaction!!” So many nowadays seem to have the attitude, “we have your money ha ha ha!!!” Another reviewer suggested that “Instant Pot and Yedi are manufactured by the same company, so the best bet is to get whichever is on sale.” I disagree with that. Customer service is important. GO with the two-year warranty and the company (Yedi) that will take care of you!
2. After much research, we ordered the Yedi as the reviews were good, and the ones that had issues indicated that the customer support was very good. The pot appears to be well made no issues with the manufacturing quality, and all the parts were as described. We made two meals, and all was good until the unit displayed an error5 code.
Contacted Customer service as indicated on instruction booklet via email on a Sunday evening. We received a response in about 10 minutes. Replacement unit would be sent and has arrived today, which is a Friday. We understand that electronic controls can and do fail. Bobby at customer service was helpful and quickly took care of our problem. This product is not difficult to use, as instructions are pretty easy to understand. I think with a little experimentation; it’s going to be a great tool for us.
For those wondering about recipes, there are many on the internet that are labeled for the Instant Pot, which will work fine in this unit it appears from our initial short time of having it. You may just need to tweak to taste on the timing on some, but I suspect that applies even to the IP as well. If you purchase this product, be sure and get the app which has recipes as well. We shall see how this new unit works out.
Mealthy MultiPot 9-in-1 Programmable Pressure Cooker 6 Quarts with Stainless Steel Pot
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Best User Reviews:
1. After having the Multipot for about a month, I figured I’d give my opinion. I picked this pot over the Instant Pot because of its stellar reviews, and the price was right. I have used it for a variety of things to test its ability and have found the following:
- Makes the worlds easiest to peel eggs ever, does not matter how fresh they are, I can take the shell off in about two pieces.
- Will quickly cook 4-5 frozen solid large chicken breast and keep them tender and not dried out.
- Making mashed potatoes, honestly more of a meh. By the time it comes up to pressure and starts, I could have had them boiling on my stove.
- Full pork roast for pulled pork turned out better than in my crockpot.
- The sear function works well. The buttons are easy to use and work with most recipes instead of having to program manually.
I haven’t tried making desserts in it yet as I’m kind of a baking junky and have a hard time not using my stove but I will. Loved that the Multipot came with the accessories and they have been very useful and are good quality, not little cheap things that a manufacturer throws in to make it seem better than it is.
The guides and manuals are straightforward and informative. Cleaning is simple and cleans easy. The entire unit feels very well made and have had no glitches or issues thus far. I am glad I bought this over the instant pot. I felt like I’d be paying for a name for the other one.
2. I was making my corned beef in my Mealthy last Sun. for St. Paddy’s Day. Removed the corned beef and went to add the veggies into the pot. When I tried to enter the cooking time, the whole LCD screen started flashing, and I got an Error 6 (apparently that is a fatal, catastrophic error.)
Yikes! I didn’t get to cook my veggies in the Mealthy. Might I add, the vegetables didn’t taste nearly as good microwaved. I was bummed, as my Mealthy has been bulletproof for a year, using it at least weekly. I called Mealthy’s customer service the next day and spoke with Matt. He was accommodating and took my information and said I was still within warranty. (Actually purchased this last March on Amazon.)
He told me Mealthy would send me out a replacement unit and to expect it in 3-5 business days. And sure enough, it arrived today. Just did the water test, and I’m ready to go. I have to admit; I missed not having my Mealthy for a week; it’s just so easy to get a quick meal on the table with it. But I just wanted to post that Mealthy’s customer service is outstanding. Though I am sad my unit failed after a year, I am still rating it five stars, as the customer service is fabulous and the unit itself is excellent.
First multi cooker I have owned and so far have been very impressed. User-friendly and the included accessories can’t be beaten for the price. I have made baby back ribs, corned beef (converted my oven-roasted recipe), and several chicken dishes, all of which have turned out great. I am astonished by the speed at which it cooks and how tender the meat is when finished. Am excited to try a few of the other features in the future. I highly recommend it.
