Instant Pot Duo Plus Review

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Instant Pot Duo plus reviewed! Get all the information you need to decide if Instant Pot Duo Plus is right for you and how it compares to Instant Pot Duo.

Full disclosure – The Instant Pot company sent me the Duo plus to review and the giveaway is sponsored by them as well. All opinions are mine alone.

What’s in this article?

1. About Instant Pot
2. Instant Pot models
3. Instant Pot Duo Plus review
4. Duo versus Duo Plus – what’s the difference?
5. Should I buy the new Instant Pot Duo Plus?
6. Why I love Instant Pot Duo Plus
7. Giveaway

Before I start reviewing Instant Pot DUO Plus, let me introduce the product.

About Instant Pot 

Instant Pot^® is the Smart Multi-Use, Programmable Pressure Cooker designed by Double Insight with the objective of being convenient, dependable and safe.

Did you know that Instant Pot is the number one selling brand on Amazon.com with one of the highest overall customer ratings in the Home and Kitchen category?

And why not?

It saves you Time, Space and yes, $$$. 

Imagine a device that on average cooks 3 times faster, replaces 9 appliances and uses 70% less energy !! 

Instant Pot Products

Instant Pot not only functions as a pressure cooker but also as a slow cooker, rice /porridge cooker, steamer, sauté, warmer, yogurt maker (in all models except LUX, the base model), sterilizer (in select models like the Duo Plus and the next generation ULTRA).

If you need help deciding which Instant Pot is right for you, check out this article. It compares the key features of all Instant Pot models.

But this article is about the new awesome Duo Plus so let me tell you what the Instant DUO plus 9-in-1 has to offer.  

Duo Plus 9-in-1 review

In a nutshell, the Duo Plus has 15 built-in smart programs – Soup/Broth, Meat/Stew, Bean/Chili, Cake, Egg, Slow Cook, Sauté/Searing, Rice, Multigrain, Porridge, Steam, Sterilize, Yogurt, Keep Warm, and Pressure Cook.

With 15 microprocessor controlled programs, you can cook your meals with a press of a button.

I thought the best way to dive into this review is to compare it with the Duo – the most popular Instant model, so here we go –

Duo (version 3) Vs Duo Plus – what’s the difference?

Duo Plus is an upgraded version of  Duo 7-in-1  which is by far the most popular Instant Pot model.

I love my Duo and use it every day. I, in fact, have two of them :).

That’s why when Instant Pot came out with the Duo Plus 9-in-1 version, my reaction was “Wait, 9 in 1, Duo Plus!  What’s new?” So the top three are as follows:

• Three new programs: Cake, Egg, and Sterilize
• Awesome new Front panel with 4 new icons that indicate cooking status: Heat, Pressure Cook, Keep warm and Sound
• Updated Trivet and Manual

Changes in Duo plus compared to Duo (version 1 and 2)

If you own version 1 or version 2 of Duo like I do, you’ll realize the upgrades in Duo Plus are HUGE!

1. Pressure Cook button instead of a Manual button – Pressure cook feels more right than Manual. 
2. Timer button has been replaced with the more intuitive Delay Start 
3. No more Adjust key. Press the program key to toggle between ‘Less’, ‘Normal’ and ‘More’. This essentially means if you are using the Saute function, you can change the heat settings from Less to More without hitting cancel!  (I totally dig this change)
4. You can also adjust the cooking time, pressure levels and keep warm mode ANY time during the cooking process.
5. Ability to turn the beeping sound off (version 1 does not have this option).
6. “Keep Warm” and “Cancel” button have been separated.

You can skip over to “Should I buy the new Instant Pot Duo plus“, but if you want to read in detail about all the changes, read on…

A. Three new programs – Cake, Egg, and Sterilize

Duo Plus incorporates all of the features of Duo and includes 3 new programs – Cake, Egg, and Sterilize.

• Cake program offers 3 options – Less for lighter moist cakes, Normal for denser moist cakes and More for New York style cheesecakes.
• Egg program also offers 3 options – Less for soft boiled eggs, Normal for medium boiled eggs and More for hard-boiled eggs.
• Sterilize program allows you to pasteurize dairy products using the Less setting, and the Normal and More options can be used for sterilization of utensils and canning of acidic fruits and vegetables. And yes, you can totally sterilize your babies bottles too.

Note – You can bake a cake, sterilize bottles as well as boil eggs in Duo by using the Manual option and selecting the appropriate pressure and time settings. It is just that with Duo plus you can do all that with a touch of a button.

While the Poultry option has been removed from Duo plus, you can use the pressure cook setting to cook chicken in the Instant Pot.

B. The newly designed control panel

With Duo plus, Instant pot totally redesigned the control panel to include a large, blue, user-friendly LCD display.

The display includes 4 new icons that show you the status of the cooker –

1. Heat – indicates heating or cooking in progress
2. Pressure Cook – pressure cook program is selected
3. Keep Warm – indicates if it is ON/OFF
4. Sound – indicates if the sound is ON/OFF when cooking starts or is completed

Note – If you own an Instant Pot Duo and your display does not look like the on the right, it means that your Duo is either version 1 or 2.

C. Updated Manual 

If you want to get a good grasp of everything that Instant Pot can do, you have to read the manual. Don’t worry it is not a lengthy read. Thankfully, the folks at Instant Pot completely redesigned the manual for Instant Pot Duo Plus and condensed all the important information in about 25 pages.

A quick read and you are all set to cook in no time.

D. Changed Inner-bowl markings

Inner bowl markings now indicate the max level to fill along with 2/3 and 1/2.

E. Trivet

There are small changes in the trivet as well. The handles now have curves making it easier to hold.

Sizes offered

DUO Plus comes in 3 sizes – 3-quart (mini), 6-quart or 8-quart.

If you are wondering what size to buy, here’s a quick guide

1. 3 quart (mini) – Perfect for dorm rooms, to take on a road trip, can be used as a spare rice cooker, or for preparing side dishes. Perfect for a family of 2.
2. 6 quart –  6-qt is perfect for a family of 4 and you can easily cook enough food for both lunch and dinner in one go.
3. 8 quart – It is the preferred size for large families, 6+ people. Also, if you do a lot of entertaining or prep/cook meals for the whole week and space and money is not a constraint, 8-quart maybe a good option for you.

What’s inside the box?

Instant Pot comes with a steel insert, steam rack with handles, recipe booklet, serving spoon, soup spoon, and a measuring cup.

Should I buy the new Instant Pot Duo plus?

Instant Pot took all the feedback that they got for their popular Duo model and addressed it in the Plus model – The manual is an easy read, better inner pot markings, cake, egg and sterilize buttons are built-in programs and the display is bigger and better and includes 4 new icons that show the status of cooking.

A note for Duo (version 1 or 2) or Lux owners – You will totally love the fact that you can change the heat, pressure level and cooking time settings anytime during the cooking cycle. I think this is a huge upgrade!

So, if you are okay spending a little more for these user-friendly upgrades, then I would strongly recommend that you get Duo Plus. or else Duo 7-in-1 is a great buy as well.

You’ll love the new packaging – it makes for a gorgeous AND functional gift!

Why I love my new Instant Pot Duo plus?

As I mentioned I already own two Instant Pot Duo (version 2), I love the new Instant Pot Duo plus because of the following features –

1. Sterilize feature – I use it to sterilize my glass bottles before I store a fresh batch of homemade ghee. I wish I had this when my kids were little, it would have been so easy to sterilize their baby bottles.
2. Love the one touch cake and egg buttons. My 11 year old loves to make cakes in the Instant Pot 🙂
3. I can change the heat, pressure level and cook time settings anytime during the cooking cycle

Some of my favorite recipes to make in my Instant Pot

• Indian Chickpeas curry (Chole)
• Dal fry
• Kidney beans curry (Rajma)
• How to make yogurt in Instant Pot
• How to ferment Idli batter in Instant Pot

So to summarize..

It saves you Time, Space and yes, $$$.  Imagine a device that on average cooks 3 times faster, replaces 9 appliances and uses 70% less energy !! 

1. Replaces 9 commonly used kitchen appliances. Functions as a Pressure Cooker, Slow Cooker, Rice/Porridge Cooker, Yogurt Maker, Cake/Egg Maker and it can also Sauté/Sear, Steam, Warm and Sterilize.
2. Speeds up cooking by 2~6 times using up to 70% less energy.
3. Produces nutritious healthy food in a convenient and consistent fashion.
4. No more babysitting – Instant Pot auto shuts off after the cooking cycle is complete. That is a huge advantage compared to the traditional stove-top pressure cookers which need to be manually switched off.
5. Resilient and  Easy-to-clean – All components in contact with food are food grade 304 (18/8) stainless steel including the lid, the inner pot with a 3-ply bottom and steam rack with handles. They are easy to clean and dishwasher safe.

And it’s super safe!  

1. Safety lid lock prevents accidental opening of the cooker while it is pressurized.
2. Lid position detection sensor monitors whether the lid is in an unsafe position for pressure cooking.
3. Temperature monitoring avoids burning food.
4. Pressure controller ensures pressure is always in the safe range.
5. Electrical current and temperature fuse cut off power if the current or internal temperature exceeds safety limits.

If you have any questions about this product, let me know. I would happy to answer.

Here are a few links that you may find helpful if you are debating if you really need an Instant Pot?
– Instant Pot pressure cooker review – Do you really need one?
– 10 things to know before using your Instant Pot
– All you need to know about your Instant Pot

Giveaway

I am so thrilled to host this giveaway in partnership with Instant Pot. GIVEAWAY CLOSED.

Rules

• One lucky winner will receive Instant Pot Duo Plus Mini, 3 Quart Programmable Pressure Cooker.
• Open to USA/CANADA residents adults 18+.
• One (1) winner will be chosen.
• Prize must be claimed within 72 hours of announcement or a new winner will be drawn.
• All entries will be verified.
• This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, Instagram, Rafflecopter, Amazon or any other entity unless otherwise specified.

a Rafflecopter giveaway