Quick And Tasty Crispy And Delicious
The Instant Vortex Plus has a sleek look with a stainless steel finish and large easy-to-read buttons. It has six cooking settings including air fry, broil, grill, bake, reheat and dehydrate with different programmable temperature and time settings. The air fryer basket is large and square, creating more cooking space than its round competitors, making it a smart investment for the home. Its removable tray has a thin hinged handle so its easy to pull out, but can also be laid flat to retain the entire cooking area.
What The Duo Crisp With Ultimate Lid Does
Unlike any Instant Pot before it, the Duo Crisp with Ultimate Lid has air fryer functionality built into the main lid. Because of this convection cooking element, you can air fry, broil, bake and roast — all cooking methods that most Instant Pots don’t offer. It also has most of the functionality of your basic Instant Pot multicooker including pressure cook, slow cook, steam and sauté.
While you won’t have to screw on a bulky conical air fryer lid attachment as you do for the original Duo Crisp, you will have to slide in the pressure cooker lid when you want to pressure or slow cook. However, that lid is very light and thin measuring no more than 2 inches high it shouldn’t be hard to find space for one.
I found the dials and controls simple to use, but I’m not used to air fryers that require preheat time.
How The Air Fryer Fries
Air fryers are basically small convection ovens. Inside, they have a heating element and a fan that blows hot air around their small cooking chamber, circulating the air very quickly. Combined with its perforated basket, this means that the food comes into contact with the hot air at a much faster rate, frying it. No, it doesnt produce deep-fried results , but the air fryer can cook brown and crispy foods very well, making it a great way to cook foods like French fries, broccoli , and even proteins like salmon.
Also Check: Instant Pot 12 In 1
Harder To Clean Than Most Air Fryers
One major setback of this model for me is how difficult the air frying rack was to clean. When I finished cooking the chicken thighs with dredged flour and egg coating, the fine mesh wire rack was inundated with gunk. While trying to flip them midway through cooking, much of the coating and skin also stuck to the rack.
The wire air frying rack was no fun to clean.
Most air fryer baskets have a nonstick coating and take seconds to clean after use. For the Duo Crisp with Ultimate Lid, I had to give it a good 10-minute soak to get it clean, but it did all eventually come off with a scrubber, soap and elbow grease. I found it much more difficult to clean than the original Duo Crisp’s nonstick basket and rack, which is completely flat with larger holes that don’t trap as much food.
Other foods including sweet potatoes and frozen snacks didn’t stick to the wire rack. If you’re planning on cooking mostly those foods versus battered foods, you may not have the same issues I did.
The original Duo Crisp requires a separate basket insert for air frying which diminishes the overall capacity. On the upside, it was far easier to clean.
Air Fryer Vs Instant Pot: What Can You Cook
Lets start with the basics: What the heck is an Instant Pot and how does an air fryer work?
An Instant Pot is an electric pressure cooker and multicooker, while an air fryer is a countertop convection over that essentially fries your food with super hot air and a little oil.
You can use both the air fryer and the Instant Pot to prep some of the same foods, but generally speaking, air fryers are better used for foods you want to crisp or dry out, like healthier versions of French fries, fried chicken, or apple crisps, says Krista Maguire, RD, CSSD, Nutrition Manager at Beachbody.
An Instant Pot is best used for dishes with liquid, like soups and stews, chili, grains, casseroles, and one-pot dishes, she explains.
Here are some examples of foods that are best used in each:
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Types Of Instant Pot Air Fryers
At Kohls, youll find a variety of air fryers sure to meet your needs. Many of them even feature various smart programs that you can use to cook up all of your favorite meals. Not sure which option is right for you? Here are a few air fryers youre sure to love!
One popular option is an Instant Vortex 7 in 1 Air Fryer Oven. this small appliance gives you an easy way to not only air fry foods but you can also roast, toast, bake, and reheat to perfection. Simply fill the double trays or rating fry basket to start cooking. Once done, your food will be cooked through powerful convection heating that circulates the hot air to achieve that deep-fried taste and texture that you crave.
If you want to stick to having only an air fryer, you can find 6-qt air fryers with simple touch controls. With the touch of a button, you can air fry juicy chicken wings, crispy fries, onion rings and so much more! It still traps juices inside the crispy coating, without the added grease: its quicker, cleaner, healthier, and a whole lot easier.
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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.
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Best Quiet: Taotronics Air Fryer Tt
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Doesnt have a full touchscreen
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Presets need some adjustment
Love air-fried food, but not the noisy fans that accompany many air fryers? This model is well-rated for being ultra-quiet. In fact, our product tester said she could barely hear it when it was turned on. Like most air fryers, the cook can manually select the cooking time and temperature or use one of 11 cooking presets to prepare fries, steak, bacon, fish, shrimp, vegetables, chicken, potatoes, bread, cake, or thawing frozen snacks. The cooking basket holds 6-quarts, is nonstick, and is dishwasher safe.
The square-shaped design of this model gives you more room to fit food in the cooking basket compared to smaller fryers with rounded baskets. Our product tester noted the basket shape helps spread food out a bit more versus piling it on top of each other, which can lead to less crisp cooking results. In tests, this air fryer heated quickly, cooked evenly, and was extremely efficient. Our tester did warn that it does take a little practice playing around with settings to get the perfect amount of doneness.
The Spruce / Lindsay Boyers
Capacity: 6 quarts | Power Rating: 1750 watts | Dimensions: 11.73 x 13.39 x 11.73inches | Warranty: 1 year
“When I first started testing it, I actually turned it off and on a few times, because it was so quiet, I didnt think it was working.” – Lindsay Boyers, Product Tester
Instant Pots Air Fryers And Cookers Are Up To Half Off For Amazon’s October Prime Day
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If you’ve been eyeing those Instant Pots or Instant air fryers that everyone seems to have, they’re on sale as part of Amazon’s Prime Early Access Day with savings up to 50 percent. Some of the key products include the Instant Vortex 5.7-quart air fryer oven combo , the Instant pot Duo Plus and the Instant Pot Crisp 11-in-1 Air Fryer .
While Instant Pot Vortex is an air fryer, it also has one-touch controls for baking, roasting and reheating. It allows supports customized programs for specific types of food, so you can cook wings, potatoes or even cinnamon buns with a single touch. Grab the 5.7-quart model for just $70, or half off the regular price.
Instant Pot’s 8-quart 9-in-1 Duo Plus model is also on sale, if what you need is the brand’s classic pressure cooker. It has dropped to $90, or $76 off the retail retail price. The Duo Plus has nine functions in one device and could act as a rice cooker, slow cooker, yogurt maker, steamer, sauté pan, food warmer, sous vide and sterilizer, in addition to being a pressure cooker. It has 15 customizable programs to make cooking ribs, cake, soup and other types of food a lot easier as well.
Recommended Reading: Instant Pot Cooking Time
Instant Pot Air Fryer Duo Crisp My Honest Review
If youve been on the fence about whether you should purchase an Instant Pot or an air fryer, theres good news. Instant Brands have come out with a device that does BOTH!
The Instant Pot Air Fryer Due Crisp is exactly what it sounds like an Instant Pot and an air fryer in one device. This is the ultimate win for saving countertop space and having access to all of the capabilities of a pressure cooker AND an air fryer!
How It Performs As An Air Fryer
I cooked several of my favorite air fryer foods with the Duo Crisp and its Ultimate Lid. The air fryer was plenty proficient once it got heated. Speaking of which, this is one of the only air fryers I’ve used that needed an official preheat time. For an air frying session at 400 degrees Fahrenheit, it took about five minutes to preheat plus the actual cook time. I’m used to air fryers that don’t need preheating, so it took getting used to.
Also Check: Can You Sous Vide In An Instant Pot
I Tried The Instant Pot With Built
This first-ever Instant Pot with a built-in air fryer lid will save some space in your kitchen. But is it any good?
David Watsky
Senior Editor / Home and Kitchen
I live in Brooklyn where I write about food subscriptions, cooking, kitchen gadgets and commerce. Anything with sesame is my all-time favorite food this week.
- Got the job done as air fryer, pressure cooker and several other functions
- Has a larger air frying capacity than similar models
How Do You Clean An Air Fryer
Most removable parts on most air fryers are dishwasher safe. Check the owner’s manual of your air fryer for which parts, if any, are ok to run through the dishwasher.
These parts are also easily cleaned by hand with warm, soapy water and a non-abrasive sponge. If there’s any particularly difficult to remove grease or stuck-on food, let the parts soak in hot, soapy water first.
The interior and exterior of the air fryer can be wiped clean with a damp cloth, but should never be submerged in water since it contains electrical components.
If the heating element gets dirty, you can wipe it with a damp cloth when the unit is turned off, cooled, and unplugged.
Recommended Reading: Why Does Instant Pot Say Burn
How Exactly Does An Air Fryer Work
Air fryers essentially work their magic the same way a toaster oven doesby circulating hot air throughout an inner chamber, giving your food crunchier and crispier skin than if you’d tossed it into the oven.
“The beauty of an air fryer is that you don’t need to preheat it,” Theoktisto tells us. If you want to get your kids some crispy nuggets or chicken tenders on the table fast, this thing will do it. My mom recently purchased one and she finds it’s easier to cook for two people using it. I’d recommend it to empty nesters, working parents, and single people.”
How Does An Air Fryer Work
Air fryers don’t fry food in the traditional sense. Instead of oil, air fryers use hot air to crisp and brown foods. All air fryers contain a heating mechanism and fan that keeps the heated air circulating around the food. The process is similar to a convection oven.
Air fryers contain a perforated or mesh basket that allows air to move around the food for even cooking. The only downside to this design is you can only air fry breaded foods since battered foods would drip through the perforated air fryer basket.
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I Made A Few Air Fryer Favorites With The Duo Crisp
Fried chicken thighs: One air fryer recipe I’ve become fond of is simple fried chicken thighs. I take two or three thighs, dip them in egg and dredge them in flour. I made them with my standard recipe in both the Duo Crisp and my solo Magic Bullet air fryer. I cooked for 18 minutes and flipped them at the midway point. The results were remarkably similar, but the Instant Pot needed an extra five minutes to preheat.
Sweet potato fries: Fried potatoes are another classic air fryer food. They generally come out crispy and much less oily than with deep frying. I split a sweet potato in half and made a batch of fries in my solo air fryer and the Duo Crisp. Both batches emerged from 12 minutes of cooking with about the same amount of caramelization and browning.
The Duo Crisp with Ultimate Lid turned out equally browned sweet potato fries as my solo air fryer in the same amount of time.
I also made basic chicken cutlets from scratch in the Duo Crisp. These took a few minutes longer than they would have in a typical solo air fryer but came out looking great with a crispy crust and juicy insides.
The Duo Crisp with Ultimate lid turned out picture-perfect chicken cutlets.
Roasted broccoli: I roasted broccoli florets in the Duo Crisp for 12 minutes at 375 degrees F. While they came out great, there was only enough capacity to cook two servings. I’d probably generally opt to use my oven for something like this.
How To Use Instant Pot Air Fryer Lid
To use the air fryer lid, simply attach it to the Instant Pot Duo Crisp and turn it to lock. Select the air fryer option and set a temperature and time. Hit the Start button and let the air fryer warm up! Once its ready, itll prompt you to add food. You can add your food into the air fryer basket, the dehydrating tray, or just add it straight to the stainless steel inner pot .
Put the lid back on the unit and cook! Halfway through, the Instant Pot Duo Crisp will prompt you to turn the food to prevent burning. Remove the lid , turn the food, and put the lid back on. This cooking method in delicious fried and crispy foods!
Tip: This is a quick overview for how the lid works! Be sure to read the instructions and safety tips that come with your unit before cooking anything in it.
Recommended Reading: How To Reheat Soup In Instant Pot
Best With Toaster Oven: Cuisinart Toa
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Slightly hard to clean
Cuisinart excels at making compact toaster ovens and air fryers in one. Its TOA-60 option can air fry up to 4 pounds of food, roast a 4-pound chicken, and toast 6 slices of breadand thats just the beginning. It has heating elements on both the top and bottom, with the convection fan located above the top elements, so you can bake and broil when you aren’t air-frying bacon.
When we tested this in the Lab, we found it to be the most compact and quietest of the toaster oven machines, and it performed the best as an air fryer. Both French fries and chicken tenders come out with great coloring and good flavor, even though this runs hot and some were overcooked. Once you’re over the learning curve, you’ll definitely be able to achieve fried goodness. When we roasted a chicken in the Cuisinart, it came out with the crispiest skin and tasted delicious.
Our testers did find some downsides to this machine, in addition to the machine running hot. It’s a bit difficult to handle grease both during the chicken roasting and the cleanup after. Even though the interior is nonstick, we needed to get into the corners to get all the splatter. We also wished it had a digital interface instead of manual controls. If having the ability to fine-tune the presets to your exact preferences is a must, take a look at the slightly more expensive Cuisinart TOA-65 Airfryer Toaster Oven.
The Spruce Eats / Tamara Staples
Air Fryer Vs Instant Pot: Which Is Healthier
It all depends on what youre cooking and the ingredients you put inside of them.
Say youre cooking a cheesy bacon casserole in the Instant Pot and chicken or chickpeas in the air fryer, says Maguire. Then the air fryer would win this challenge. On the other hand, if the bacon is going in the air fryer and youre making a veggie soup in the Instant Pot, then the healthy meter goes in the other direction.
Read Also: How To Make Instant Pot Rice