Instant Pot review: the multi-cooker perfect for time poor amateurs
It’s the popular appliance you’ve seen on bench tops everywhere, but what makes the Instant Pot Duo Nova so special?
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The Instant Pot Duo Nova has been on pretty much everyone’s lips – and who can blame them? It packs the functionality of seven appliances in one, allowing you to do everything from sauté onions to whip up batches of yoghurt. Plus, let’s not forget its convenient set-and-forget functionality.
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To see if the Instant Pot Duo Nova (currently 35 per cent off at $195 - down from $299) is worth scooping up, our writer Mariela tested the appliance out at home. We also checked what purchasers of the Instant Pot Duo Nova love (and don’t love) about the popular appliance thanks to an analysis tool called Find Our View. Created by a team of brainiacs from MIT in Boston, the database broke down thousands of Amazon reviews to see how people rate the features they care about most.
While there are plenty of multi-use pressure cookers on the market, Find Our View analysed several models including the Instant Pot Duo Nova, Crock-Pot Traditional Slow Cooker and Crock-Pot Smart-Pot Slow Cooker. so you can compare similar popular models on the market. The top line? Instant Pot’s Duo Nova took the cake when it came to finding a model with simple controls and easy to clean design, while Crock-Pot’s Traditional slow cooker was seen as the go-to compact cooker.
Read what we thought about the Instant Pot Duo Nova below, plus check out some similar appliances on the market.
INSTANT POT DUO NOVA MULTI-USE PRESSURE COOKER REVIEW
Mariela Summerhays, former news.com.au Checkout Shopping Writer
Of all the household chores that need doing, the one I like least is cooking. I will gladly take on laundry, scrub clean kitchen counters and vacuum the carpet, if my husband will allow me to shirk the cooking duties.
Unfortunately, the task sometimes falls to me to prepare a meal for us and our three kids. Enter: the Instant Pot Duo Nova.
I’d heard of multi-use pressure cookers in the past, and had dismissed them, imagining the lofty promises of minimal cleaning time and precision cooking were simply marketing ploys. However, after coming into possession of an Instant Pot Duo Nova, I can wholeheartedly recommend its use to any time-conscious home cook.
One of the things that deters me most from cooking is the aftermath — with a full-time job that takes me hours from my home and three kids to take care when I get back, the last thing I want to do with the remaining hours of my day is stand over a sink of dirty pots and pans.
I love that the Instant Pot has allowed me to do away with a great number of cooking items. Cooking chicken noodle soup? Go ahead and sauté your chicken, then switch to the soup function when adding your broth ingredients. The internal pot is removable and easily washed. One appliance for every step of your meal preparation.
Then there’s the quality of the meals any amateur cook can produce with the Instant Pot. If, like me, cooking is not your idea of a good time, chances are you haven’t the innate knowledge of more enthusiastic cooks about how long you should cook rice or at what temperature you should sauté meat.
An intuitive interface to the front of the pot allows you to select from different preset programs – rice, soup, chilli and more – meaning you needn’t hover over your stove, and are assured of a perfect dish every time.
If there’s any drawback I can think of, it’s that cooking enthusiasts and hobbyists may not love the precision cooking nature of the Instant Pot. If you’re the kind who likes to experiment with temperature and the method of cooking the same dish, this may not be for you. For the rest of us though, the Instant Pot is excellent for timesaving and producing consistent dishes, time and time again.
• Overall rating: 4.5/5
BEST EASY TO USE MULTI-USE PRESSURE COOKER
Instant Pot Duo Nova Multi-Use Pressure Cooker 5.7L, Amazon Australia, $159 (down from $269)
This seven-in-one appliance will pressure cook, sauté, steam, slow cook, cook rice, warm food and even make yoghurt. No need to worry about whether you’ve closed the steam release valve, this version of the popular kitchen appliance automatically seals when closed. When your meal is ready, the simple push of a quick-release button lets the pressure out.
“How did I live without this? It can do it all and without having to stand in the kitchen to cook,” a happy reviewer posted.
“I’m pretty sure I’ve told everyone I know how great it is. I’ve only had it for a week and I’ve used it everyday”, one user said.
“It’s biggest strength in my opinion is not just how quickly and how well it cooks food (particularly tough cuts of meat) but the ability to walk away and leave it to do its thing. You don’t have to tend to it like a pot on the stove. Plus, it will naturally release the pressure on its own and then keep the food warm if you get distracted doing something.”
Pros:
+ Available in three capacities (three litres, 5.7 litres and eight litres).
+ Can also be used as a slow cooker and rice cooker.
+ If you’re looking for a foolproof multi-cooker, this might be it – Find Our View discovered 40 per cent of the reviews were made up of comments praising its simple controls.
+ One in four reviews even raved about how easy the Instant Pot cooker is to clean.
Cons:
- There weren’t many downsides, but 18 per cent of the reviews mentioned their model stopped working and needed to get repaired.
BEST EASY TO CLEAN MULTI-USE PRESSURE COOKERS
Crock-Pot Traditional 3.5L, Amazon Australia, $54.48
Crock-Pot’s compact Traditional multi cooker is perfect for couples and creates delicious side dishes – even over half of the Amazon reviews on this model mentioned how great it is for small meals, according to Find Our View analysis.
The 3.5-litre unit features a glazed ceramic build and a wrap around element to ensure the food cooks evenly. You can also expect a handy booklet with 20 recipes.
Pros:
+ Three settings: Low, High and Keep Warm.
+ It keeps the kitchen mess free, with Find Our View showing one in four reviews describing the multi cooker as easy to clean.
+ Includes dishwasher safe parts.
Cons:
- No timer or light indicator, both of which are common features in most other multi cookers.
Crock-Pot Smart-Pot Slow Cooker (6-Quart), Amazon Australia, $285.94
Designed to serve more than seven people, the Smart-Pot is ideal for families and anyone who loves entertaining. It boasts a ceramic coating claimed to make cleaning five times faster than Crock-Pots usual stoneware, and can cook up to six hours on high heat or 10 hours on low heat.
“It’s nice to come home and have supper ready,” an Amazon customer posted.
“Set it and forget it- it’s wonderful! Easy to clean and large enough for my family of 6.”
Pros:
+ What’s better than a multi cooker with simple settings? An easy-to-clean cooker, which is certainly the case with this Crock-Pot. After all, nearly one in five of the Amazon reviews on this model praised how easy it is to wash up.
+ Find Our View also discovered 15 per cent of the reviews on this model raved about its easy to use controls.
+ It holds a decent amount of ingredients, with 14 per cent of the comments impressed with how much food it can serve up.
Cons:
- It may not be the best multi-cooker if you’ve got kids running around, with Find Our View revealing many reviewers noted the outside of the appliance getting “extremely hot”.
- 14 per cent of the reviews mentioned the lid didn’t fit perfectly, similar to the Crock-Pot Traditional 3.5-litre cooker.
BEST LARGE MULTI-USE PRESSURE COOKERS
Russell Hobbs Express Chef Digital Multi-Cooker, eBay, $137 (down from $149.95)
Designed with three levels of pressure cooking and 10 preset programs – curry, soup, rice, slow cook and more – the Russell Hobbs Multi-Cooker is the ideal appliance for preparing any number of meals. Easy-to-use, its interface makes meal preparation a breeze, and most handy, a built-in timer will start cooking when you tell it to, meaning meals are ready when you walk in the door from work.
Pros:
+ Contains six litre non-stick bowl.
+ Three levels of pressure cooking.
+ Includes trivet, serving spoon and rice measuring cup.
+ Two-year warranty.
Cons:
- Involves trial and error when cooking dishes in the multi cooker for the first time, similar to other models.
Philips Viva Collection All-In-One Multi-Cooker, Amazon Australia, $174 (down from $249)
Cook on low and high temperatures for up to 12 hours but if you don’t have the time, this multi-cooker (which is also on sale right now for 30 per cent off) is fitted with seven pressure cooking modes, so you can still prepare a delicious meal when you’re time poor. Don’t worry about food going cold while you wait for your family to assemble around the dinner table – there’s an automatic function that warms food for 12 hour once the dish has finished cooking.
Pros:
+ Fits up to six litres.
+ Contains an anti-scratch pot.
+ Includes nine safety protection systems.
+ Comes with recipe book.
Cons:
- Some reviewers found the instruction manual a bit difficult to understand.
WHAT DOES A MULTI-USE PRESSURE COOKER DO?
A multi-use pressure cooker is an electric kitchen appliance that will cook food according to a predetermined time. Depending on the cooker in use, you will usually be able to sauté, boil, simmer, and steam ingredients.
WHAT DISHES CAN YOU PREPARE IN A PRESSURE COOKER?
Thanks to the many preset programs available on your average pressure cooker, there are a diverse range of cuisines and dishes that can be prepared. Some of the most popular include ramen, chicken noodle soup, chilli con carne, ribs and fried rice.
RELATED: Slow cooker recipes from taste.com.au
HOW BIG IS THE INSTANT POT DUO NOVA?
The Instant Pot Duo Nova comes in three different sizes – three litres, 5.7 litres and eight litres. The smallest size is recommended for preparing meals for one to two people; the second largest for up to six people; and lastly, the biggest for preparing big batches of food you intend to eat throughout the week.
Still hungry? We’ve rounded up guides on the best slow cookers, best rice cookers and best air fryers.
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