A Chef’s Instant Pot Duo Crisp Air Fryer Review & Comparison
Updated: Sep 28, 2022 by · As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases
Multicookers have become extremely popular recently, due to the wide variety of ways you can utilize them in the home kitchen. I am going to have a look at the Duo Crisp Air Fryer from Instant Pot, which is the newest addition to their line of pressure cookers. With the addition of a unique air fryer lid, this machine offers a whole new range of cooking possibilities that allow you to broaden your scope in the kitchen with one single appliance.
Of course, not all multicookers are created equally. My goal is to demystify the process of pressure cookery with the added air fry function. More specifically, I will help you to determine if this type of machine has a place in your own kitchen. Beyond that, I will have a look at three other multicooker options and compare them to the Duo Crisp so you can be sure which is right for you.
In the end, my hope is that you better understand how these appliances can make your time in your kitchen enjoyable and successful as you reach new heights in your culinary endeavors.
Performance: Whats Not To Like
I expected the Pressure Cook function to work here as well as on other Instant Pot models Ive used, and there were no surprises. I slow-cooked soup, pressure cooked oatmeal, and steamed vegetables. This has a Sous Vide mode, so I tested its ability to hold its temperature, and it stayed steady. However, the size of the pot limits the size of food that can be cooked using Sous Vide, so it may not be large enough for every sous vide recipe. The Sous Vide mode can also be used for making yogurt or for any recipes where a steady temperature is required.
Air frying is done in the stainless steel cooking pot with or without the fryer basket. The basket reduces the cooking space but offers better airflow. The broiler/dehydrator rack that fits in the basket allows a second layer of cooking. It has two large finger holes that make it simple to place in the basket, but once the rack is hot, gloved fingers didnt fit, so I used a pair of thin tongs.
I used the Bake mode for some cookies, with three on the bottom of the fryer basket and three on the broiling/dehydrating tray. The cookies on top cooked a bit more quickly, which was expected since the heat is from the top. I removed the rack and gave the bottom cookies another two minutes. The results werent perfect, but good enough. While there are better ways to bake cookies, its good to know this can manage a few treats.
The Spruce Eats / Donna Currie
What Are The Measurements For The Ultimate Lid Duo Crisp
The 6.5-quart Duo Crisp with Ultimate Lid is 1500 watts, 18 pounds, and 15.5 L × 15.5 W × 13.4 H.
When youre measuring, since the lid is attached, make sure you have enough room overhead to ensure you can open the lid fully without running into any cupboards or light fixtures. On my counters, I needed to turn the unit sideways to cook in it.
The manual for the Duo Crisp with Ultimate Lid specifies that the minimum cooking liquids is 2 cups of liquid unless otherwise specified in the recipe.
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Is The Mealthy Crisplid A Good Alternative
I recommend the Instant Pot air fryer lid over the Mealthy Crisp lid, mainly because the lid serves more as a broiler than an air fryer because it doesnt circulate air a well as the Instant Pot lid. This means your food will take a little longer to cook. Plus, I feel its best to stick with appliances made by the same manufacturer. However, the Mealthy Crisp Lid does fit 8-quart Instant Pots, so this is a great choice if you have a pot you already love and want to upgrade!
Air Fry / Cooking Rack
The included air fry / cooking rack is meant to be reversible. Use the tall side up for air frying, pressure cooking, and steaming. The shorter side up is meant for broiling and dehydrating.
In practice, the single-level air fry/cooking rack doesnt hold as much as the crisper basket that comes with the two-lid Duo Crisp model. It also can be more difficult to clean if youre cooking something drippy, simply because of all the small openings in the rack.
The trivet doesnt fit a 7×3 cake pan, which is our workhorse for pot-in-pot cooking. However, it is wide enough to fit a 6-inch round pan.
Also Check: Do You Have To Use Rack In Instant Pot
Instant Pot 11 In 1 Review
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Cooking With Instant Pot Duo Crisp Air Fryer/electric Pressure Cooker Combo
Pressure cooking works wonderfully just like with regular Instant Pot pressure cookers. It doesnt dry out the food and makes it have rich flavor.
For air frying Instant Pot Duo Crisp uses rapid air circulation to crisp and cook food. You also get air fryer lid and multi-level air fryer basket accessories.
Air frying works pretty well however the very best air fryers do perform better. Still, Instant Pot Duo Crisp does a fairly good job of giving food that crispy texture we all enjoy. You can even combine pressure cooking and air frying with some dishes to achieve outstanding results. For example pressure cook chicken for juiciness and rich flavor and then air fry it for crispy skin.
Admittedly the design is not as convenient as its on conventional air fryer. If you use both levels in the basket then flipping the food in the bottom one is complicated as you have to fully remove the food in upper level .
It also doesnt have a window so you cant see the food being cooked but this also applies to most air fryers .
Overall Instant Pot Duo Crisp works quite well despite some of the minor drawbacks.
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Back To School And Instant Pots For Students
Summer will be over before you know it so its time to start thinking about back to school sales. The best Instant Pots for students are always in high demand in the lead to schools returning, so it pays to start shopping as early as possible. For those heading off to college, youll want a convenient, multi-cooker that is suitable for your cooking needs. Right now many of our favorite picks are currently on sale making now the ideal time to buy one of the best microwaves. Be sure to follow our back to school guide for all of your shopping needs this season.
Ability To Pressure Cook Then Brown
For me, one of the downsides of the Instant Pot is that food can come out a little mushy at the end. I am loving the ability to pressure cook something, like chicken thighs or carnitas, then switch to broil or air fry mode to crisp. I made some of the best chicken wings of my life a few weeks ago combining the pressure cook + air fry functions!
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Instant Pot Pro Crisp: Features
The Instant Pot Pro Crisp has 11 different multi-cooker functions in one appliance, making mealtimes simpler and quicker than ever. The cooking modes of the Pro Crisp include pressure cooking, sauté, slow cooking, steaming, sous vide, warming, air frying, roasting, baking, broiling, and dehydrating. So whether you want to whip up a cake, or roast a whole chicken, the Instant Pot Pro Crisp has a function to suit your needs.
The possibilities extend even further with the devices interchangeable lids, which, together with EvenCrisp technology, can fry foods in a flash. The air frying capabilities of the Instant Pot Pro Crisp make cooking up fried chicken or fries super easy, as the device comes with a non-stick multilevel air frying basket. Air frying is great when home cooking using up to 95% less oil and grease than traditional fryers, and making your fried food favorites much healthier.
The Instant Pot Pro Crisp has ten built-in safety features, including the easy steam release valve, meaning no more waiting around for the pressure to lower before you retrieve your food. This is an improved feature from the Instant Pot Duo Crisp, as well as the new QuickCool protective cover. The protective cover has been designed with safety in mind, with advanced heat protection to keep your hands safe.
How Does It Compare
After weeks of testing, I determined the Instant Pot Pro Plus to be my top overall pick when it comes to the best Instant Pots on the market in 2022. Its midrange price, excellent cooking performance and user-friendly features made it an obvious recommendation. However, I ranked the Pro Crisp as my top upgrade pick. Admittedly, air-frying isnt something that all home cooks are interested in, and at the time of writing this article, the Pro Crisp is the most expensive Instant Pot model available. But if it is in your budget and youre interested in those coveted air-fryer capabilities, then this all-in-one design is a no-brainer choice.
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Cooking A Whole Roast Chicken Using The Pressure Cooker & Air Fryer Functions
I could not ignore the fact that this machine had something else to offer. I really wanted to know how I could employ two different functions in one recipe to achieve desirable results, in order to prove that this machine was worthy of the counter space it occupied.
I decided to put this to the test with one of my all-time favorite meals – roast chicken. I set out to make this dish in one pot with two functions. I was after a bird with juicy white meat and a crisp skin – something I feel I have perfected in my conventional oven. After consulting the Instant Pot Time Table that accompanied this cooker, I knew that I could cook a 4-pound chicken in about 30 minutes . I adjusted this time slightly because I intended to use the air fry function to finish this chicken off with golden brown skin.
I seasoned the chicken generously with salt and pepper, stuffed the cavity with garlic and lemon, trussed it with butcher’s twine, and nestled it into the wire rack that I lowered into the inner pot, along with a cup of water. I set the timer for 25 minutes.
I could not ignore the delicious, golden, aromatic liquid that had been left behind from the pressure cooking stage, so I quickly put that right back into the pot with an equal amount of jasmine rice that I had rinsed under water.
The Best Instant Pot: Instant Pot Pro
What we liked: This model pressurized the quickest and offered the best searing and sautéing experience, with a stable, non-spinning pot. The ability to use the stainless steel inner pot on an electric, induction, or ceramic stovetops was welcome, as it gives the user greater flexibility and control. Releasing the steam feels straightforward and safe because of its separate push-button release and the plastic cover around the steam valve. The control panel is easy to navigate with a mixture of buttons and a dial. We also liked the handles on its cooking pot, which made it easier to lift the pot up and out of the Instant Pot’s base.
What we didn’t like: Its pretty expensive, and while the sous vide function works, although it isn’t nearly as reliable as an immersion circulator.
Price at time of publish: $150
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The First Pressure Cooker Lid Broke Rendering It Unusable
During one of my first sessions using the Duo Crisp with Ultimate Lid, an essential piece of the pressure cooker lid that helps fasten it to the main lid snapped off, rendering it unusable as a pressure cooker or slow cooker. I can’t say for sure how it happened though the first few times I attached the pressure lid, I had to muscle it a bit to get it on.
A small and seemingly unimportant plastic bit will render your Instant Pot’s pressure cooker lid useless if it snaps off, as mine did.
In the replacement lid that I was sent, the small plastic protuberance that snapped off didn’t seem particularly shoddy. That said, I’d caution anyone with this model to be gentler than I was in trying to secure and remove the lid.
What’s The Best Size Instant Pot
Our Kitchen Appliances and Innovation Lab evaluates 6-quart models because we think it’s the most practical option. Its big enough for a decent-size batch of chicken soup or chili, but it doesnt hog too much counter space. That being said, the 8-quart model is great for large families or for those who love to meal prep.
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Instant Pot Duo Crisp Review
Do you like pressure cooking but also want some crispy French fries and maybe some fried chicken? With the Instant Pot Duo Crisp, now you can have an electric multicooker and an air fryer in the same package.
In addition, it is large enough for most medium-sized and large families, so you wont have to cook or fry in batch. Still, given that it is a product of two worlds the Duo Crisp may look like a unicorn.
So, to make sure everyone understands all its amazing features and all the cool things it can do, I decided to do a full review. Make sure to check it out!
Contents
What We Dont Like
Used for either air frying or pressure cooking individually, the Duo Crisp does nothing exceptional. As an air fryer, it has a lot of the same shortcomings as the standalone air fryers weve tested. The fryer basket, although larger than some weve tested, is still cramped, which makes it difficult to cook food evenly. We found that the basket couldnt handle more than about 12 ounces of chicken tenderswhen we made a larger, 16-ounce batch, the results were slightly mushy in the middle. We were able to cook 1½ pounds of frozen fries in the Duo Crisp but had to toss them more often than Instant Pot suggests. And the resulting fries were classic air fryer quality: dryish on the outside, with mostly fluffy interiors. For more evenly cooked, crispier results, we prefer cooking finger foods in a toaster oven or regular oven.
As a pressure cooker, the Duo Crisp lacks a lot of the preprogrammed settings that make the Instant Pot Duo or Ultra so convenient to use. You cant simply press a button to cook rice, for example, or stewinstead you have to look up the correct time and pressure setting and program it manually. The Duo Crisp also doesnt have a setting for making yogurt, which is admittedly a bit niche but something that some people love about their Instant Pot.
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Why Trust Good Housekeeping
Nicole Papantoniou, the director of the Good Housekeeping Kitchen Appliances & Innovation Lab, has been testing kitchen appliances professionally since 2013. She originally wrote this story and oversaw GH’s most recent round of testing of multicooker testing in August 2022. Brigitt Earley most recently updated the copy on this story in addition to having over a decade of experience testing and writing about consumer products, she holds a degree in Professional Culinary Arts from the French Culinary Institute .
Which Instant Pot Is The Best
The best Instant Pot is the one that has all of the features you need. The brand currently manufactures five different models with varying features and functionality, from basic models to advanced models with built-in air frying capabilities. In general, the Instant Pot Duo seems to be the most popular, because it offers excellent value its the most affordable model but still cooks seven ways and has basic, intuitive controls. There are two new additions to the lineup: the Instant Pot Duo Plus, a model thats very similar to the Duo but has quiet release technology and an upgraded digital control panel, and the Instant Pot Crisp, which doubles as an air fryer.
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