Should I Buy The Instant Pot Air Fryer Lid Or The Duo Crisp
If you already have an Instant Pot that you love, or don’t want to upgrade to the 8-quart, you can also purchase a separate air fryer lid to pair with it! The air fryer lid comes with its own controls and functions, and is able to air fry, broil, and dehydrate. The Instant Pot air fryer lid works just as well as the one that comes with the Duo Crisp , but the big drawback is that by using it with a 6-quart pot you’ll have even less space in your air fryer.
If you mainly want the lid so that you can brown food and make smaller batch sides like fries or crispy brussels sprouts, the lid is a great option! But, if you’re looking to air fry entire meals like chicken wings, we’d recommend upgrading to the 8-quart, or just know that you’ll need to work in multiple batches!
Multiple Appliances In One
This was the biggest sell for me, as I live in an apartment and don’t have a huge amount of storage space. I’m a bit of a kitchen appliance junkie, so I’ve had my eye on an air fryer for a long time but couldn’t justify the space it would take up, especially since I already own a toaster oven that can produce pretty similar results. The fact that the Duo Crisp combines multiple appliances into one is a huge plus for me!
What Is An Instant Pot And Why Should You Need One
Unlike the term air fryer, the Instant Pot is not a sort of kitchen device. Its more of a brand name. Because Instant Pot has become such a dominant player in the market, it has become associated with what it is: an electric multicooker.
The most appealing feature of an Instant Pot multicooker is its versatility. You can use it as a slow cooker, a skillet, a rice cooker, a yogurt maker, and a steamer, among other things. Multicookers like the Instant Pot can perform a variety of functions based on the model.
An Instant Pot is a multi-functional pressure cooker that replaces the classic pressure cooker. Its an electric pressure cooker that uses pressure cooker steam cooking, slow cooking, and other cooking methods.
One of the best features of the Instant Pot is the Delay Start timer, which allows you to cook food automatically by setting the timer even if you are not present. Instead of cooking supper and praying it remains heated long enough to avoid burning, you may program it all to complete cooking at a specific time. To make cooking easier and eliminate guesswork, some models include recipes. You simply click the buttons to cook the recipe.
The Instant Pot comes in multiple variants, but theyre all electric multicookers with many features. A slow cooker, steamer, rice cooker, sauté pan, and more may all be used with an Instant Pot. The electric pressure cooker feature, on the other hand, is the most popular.
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The Instant Vortex Has More Space
The Instant Vortex holds about about 2/3 of a bag of steak fries compared to the lid, which holds about 1/3 of the bag. The air fryer basket for the lid is even smaller than the inner pot of a standard six-quart Instant Pot, which should give you an idea of the limited space you’re working with. If you’re using your air fryer to cook for a family, the Instant Vortex is the way to go.
Whats With The Strange Plug
The Air Fryer Lid has a really different sort of plug, with the plug prongs under a thick plastic plug cover. The plug has a cover that takes up the space of both outlets so that you cannot have anything else plugged in at the same time.
This is a safety feature by Instant Pot to ensure you dont try to use your pressure cooker while air frying.
It is a little awkward to get used to at first, but it does ensure that your Instant Pot will be off while youre using the Air Fryer Lid.
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Air Fryer Sausage Balls
This time I tested out the baking function instead at 350 F for 10 min for super easy, party-friendly, 3-ingredient sausage balls. Its shredded sharp cheddar cheese, ground sausage and a box of Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix.
The air fryer was 5 minutes faster than baking in a traditional oven, with better, even coloring. The oven always has one flat dark side no matter if you rotate or turn them.
One great advantage of baking in this machine instead of the traditional big oven is keeping that heat all contained. Thats the main reason the Instant Pot is so wonderful on hot summer days. So this air fryer follows the same standard of cutting energy cost and heat. I can also see this as a nice addition when your kitchen oven is already cooking other dishes for dinner, you need to bake a cake. Just bake the cake in the air fryer. Its more gentle on baked desserts anyway.
Why You Might Not Enjoy This Gadget
- If you do not already own an electric pressure cooker, this may NOT be the right fit for you. If you are looking into making your initial investment into the electric pressure cooker and air fryer world, you might enjoy the all-in-one package of the Ninja Foodi .
- In our experience, the accessory racks and baskets that come with the Mealthy CrispLid felt a bit flimsier in quality than the accessories that come with the Foodi. However, there are many inexpensive accessories you can buy online to meet your needs if desired.
- We have found that stainless steel pot clean up after using the Mealthy CrispLid is significantly more work than the Ninja Foodis non-stick ceramic pots . The good news is that we have found stainless steel clean up MUCH easier with use of our favorite cleaner. Frankly, we would not recommend air frying in stainless steel without it.
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The Air Fryer Function
I was a little worried that the Instant Pot wouldn’t be able to circulate air as well as a traditional air fryer, but was pleasantly surprised by the result! So far I’ve used it to make fries, chicken wings, crispy chicken thighs, home fries, chicken nuggets, and carnitas with great success. I also like that it is built to tell you when to flip your food for even cooking.
One word of caution with the air fryer function I find it to be a little bit less powerful than a traditional air fryer, so when I’m following air fryer recipes I typically add on another 5 or so minutes to achieve the perfect crisp!
Cleaning The Air Fryer
Always wrap the drip tray in aluminium foil simply to save you time and potential frustration. You can simply throw the greasy foil away.
The trays are dishwasher safe and are really easy to wash by hand due to the nonstick coating. Theres a lot of parts to clean depending on what you decide to make. Be careful when cleaning the rotating basket by hand. Invest in using a brush instead of a sponge and watch out for your knuckles from scraping against the metal graded sides.
Now, the hard part: the door and its hinge. Crumbs and flour easily get stuck in the door hinge no matter how careful you try to cover or protect this area. It makes sense that they designed the door with that in mind so you can take the door off to wipe down. This takes a bit of fearless practice to get the hang of it. Naturally, your first instinct is to not want to break your new gadget toy over bread crumbs. There are Youtube videos to show you how to do take the door off.
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Is The Duo Crisp Air Fryer Lid Worth It
Yes! I love using my Instant Pot Duo Crisp Air Fryer lid because it lets me cook a lot of recipes in one pot. You can pressure cook then air fry at the end for incredibly crispy results.
You can also choose to just use the air fryer function on the air fryer lid to make foods like fried pickles so theyre healthier than the normal fried versions.
The air fryer attachment also helps save space so you dont need space for a whole huge air fryer in your kitchen.
Here are 20 Instant Pot Air Fryer Lid Recipes to get you through the day and test out your amazing air fryer lid!
What Is An Air Fryer And What Is It Good For
Air fryers sound like magical machines: They fry food with little to no oil?! Well, sort of. Air frying is technically not frying at all because, in order to really fry food, you have to submerge it in oil. Instead, air fryers work more like small convection ovens. These machines have a heating element and a fan that blows the hot air around the cooking chamber. The air is swirled around super-quickly in a circular fashion, and the food usually sits in a perforated basket. Both of these factors work together to result in perfect crisping for all sorts of things not just mozzarella sticks and chicken wings, either.
Weve found that nearly every vegetable tastes better after a quick 15-minute sting in an air fryer. Brussels sprouts cook up the best with a crispy exterior and the most tender insides youll ever have. We also recommend broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus, and more. You can even bake quick breads and cookies in your air fryer.
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The Advantage Of Cooking Chicken In A Pressure Cooker Or Instant Pot
When we cook or fry chicken in an open frying pan, sometimes it does not cook inside properly. But in the case of instant pot, it is cooked outside as well as inside properly within a short time. This is the main difference between usual deep-fried chicken and instant pot fried chicken. By this cooking method, the inner side of the chicken is made more mild and juicy and outside crispy.
What To Air Fry First Bacon
If you dont know what to cook first in the Instant Pots air fryer then make some bacon!
Proceed with caution. I got a little overly ambitious and decided to do the whole package of bacon. This resulted in my smoke alarm going off because the grease from the bacon started to burn and smoke.
I realized quickly to do things in moderation with this machine. Despite my smoke mishap, the bacon was perfectly delicious. I wrapped the drip catch tray with aluminum foil and set the temperature to 375 degrees for 10 min with 4 pieces of bacon per tray.
I had to rotate/ switch the 2 trays so they would get the same crispness. The whole ordeal is a greasy mess inside the Vortex. Thats one reason I thought to do the whole package of bacon, to have some for later with one-time cleanup. You can do several small batches, but make sure to discard the bacon grease and put in new aluminum foil.
But, the dilemma is how to get rid of pipping hot oil safely. The manual states to not clean anything until the machine has cooled completely. Maybe its not worth spilling hot oil everywhere. Dont be a glutton, just stick to 8 pieces of bacon.
I had to come up with a system for taking out the trays and safely putting them on a heat resistant surface and also could still catch the grease that would leak out of the graded trays that the bacon was laying on. This was really tricky at first. An easy solution was laying the little trays on a baking sheet.
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What Is An Air Fryer
This is the healthy equivalent of deep frying since it only uses heat energy and a tiny amount of oil. In addition, air fryers are a lot safer to use than appliances that need a lot of oil and dont make as much of a mess.
Unlike a multicooker, air fryers are only designed for one thing: making foods crispy. They have a special basket that goes under a heating element and a fan that makes sure the hot air circulates all the way through the basket, thus cooking the food. As a result, the food cooks faster and there will be less drying than if you were doing this in an oven.
Overall, the air fryer is perfect for all types of kitchens and can help you cook delicious and crispy meals for years to come.
Instant Pot Air Fryer Lid Review
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Everything you need to know about the Instant Pot Air Fryer Lid! Ill review how to use it, what Instant Pot models you can use it with, and what youll love about this new Instant Pot accessory.
The Instant Pot Air Fryer lid is a standalone lid that sits on your Instant Pot housing and lets you air fry, broil, or dehydrate the food.
The Air Fryer Lid is great for browning up foods after pressure cooking, and it gives you the convenience of an air fryer without having to purchase another appliance.
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What Are The Specs For The Instant Pot Air Fryer Lid
The Air Fryer Lid is 10.7 inches long, 11.6 inches wide, and 6.2 inches tall. When you add it to the height of an Instant Pot Duo, it sits approximately 18.7 inches from the counter.
The Air Fryer Lid weighs about 6 pounds. The heating element is 1500 watts and 120 V ~ 60 Hz.
To qualify for the limited 12-month warranty, you must register your product within 30 days to be eligible for warranty coverage.
How Does The Instant Pot Air Fryer Lid Compare To The Duo Crisp
The MOST common question on my Instant Pot Duo Crisp review was if the lid could be used on any model of Instant Pot. The Duo Crisp cant, but this new Air Fryer Lid works on most 6-quart models.
I love my Duo Crisp, and Im happy to say that the new Air Fryer Lid works just as well!
The Instant Pot Air Fryer Lid is comparable to the Instant Pot Duo Crisp lid in function, but sized down to fit on the 6-quart models.
The Air Fryer Lid is shaped a little differently than the Duo Crisp lid. The Duo Crisps controls are integrated into the face of the Duo Crisp, but the Air Fryer Lid has the controls on the top of the lid so it can work with several Instant Pot models.
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Note: Air Frying Does Not Guarantee A Healthful Diet
There has been a lot of talk about how air fryers are revolutionizing peoples diets. While 100 grams of fried and battered chicken breast contains 13.2 g of fat, compared to just 0.39 g of fat in an oven-roasted chicken breast, you reasonably see how that can be a sound conclusion.
You are using just 1 tablespoon of cooking oil rather than multiple cups, producing similar results as deep fryer with a fraction of the fat and calories. This lowering oil intake can be beneficial for a persons health dealing with heart disease and inflammation. However, it is not guaranteed that air-fried chicken is more healthful than roasted, grilled, slow-cooked, or pan-seared chicken.
Just replacing all deep-fried foods with air-fried foods in no way guarantees a healthful diet. People should focus on a diet filled with vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and lean protein. Maintaining a variety of foods and cooking methods will help people obtain a more healthful diet.
Using Instant Pot Air Fryer
Does an Instant Pot air fryer lid work?
There are 2 choices and yes they do work. Are they as good as a separate device? In my opinion they arent but are a good starting point if you arent sure whether you want to buy another appliance.
Can you add air fryer lid to Instant Pot?
Yes, IP makes their own version but the first one on the market was the CrispLid which I have and explain to you in depth in this post. You can use it on your 6 quart Crockpot Express or Mealthy pots too.
How do I use my Instant Pot air fryer lid?
Ill explain in depth here but its quite simple. Put food in basket, place lid on, set temperature and time and turn on. The glass lid is helpful to stop it once it reaches the crispy brown texture you want.
Let me share my thoughts on this CrispLid with you after making some air fryer pork chops this afternoon.
This is NOT just for the Instant Pot either! It fits on Crock Pot Express and Mealthy 6 and 8 quart pressure cookers too!!
This is what it looks like when you get yours!
Since it is so new you can pre order your Instant Crisp lid here and it will be sent out at the end of June. I wanted to share my thoughts with you before then though so you can see just how it works, and see whether Id recommend it after my trials.
Watch this video on how I used it to make a whole chicken!
- I will tell you that I have been waiting for something like this for years!!
NOW you can do it all in one pot!!
This is what the Mealthy Crisplid air fryer lid comes with:
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