This New Instant Pot Has a Built-In Air Fryer Lid. Here’s What I Thought of It

The 2 hottest small kitchen home equipment to enter the ring within the final a number of years are, by far, the multicooker (recognized to most because the “Prompt Pot”) and the air fryer. Given the continued clamor for each and an evergreen want for folk to save lots of area, a number of manufacturers have tried to fuse the 2 versatile kitchen instruments right into a single do-it-all countertop cooker. 

Prompt, essentially the most ubiquitous multicooker producer, started making air fryer ovens when the stylish kitchen devices started flying off cabinets a number of years again. About two years in the past, the model rolled out its first air fryer lid ($70) that attaches to one in every of its signature multicookers and turns it into an air fryer. The newest Prompt Pot launch — the Instant Pot Duo Crisp with Ultimate Lid — takes issues a step additional. This machine sports activities built-in convection and air fryer performance together with a slim stress cooker lid insert to make use of it as you’ll a conventional multicooker; sluggish cook dinner, stress cook dinner, steam, sauté and extra. 

As a routine person of the multicooker and air fryer, and a bona fide lover of something space-saving, I wrangled the brand new 6.5-quart Prompt Pot mannequin with Final Lid to see if it might do the work of each standard small home equipment. Whereas it wasn’t a complete flop, the dear $230 mannequin proved bulkier than an ordinary Prompt Pot and did not fairly have the pop of its air fryer lid predecessor. It was additionally robust to scrub and wanted preheat time to air fry.

At this bloated worth, I would not advocate it over the first-generation Duo Crisp, which is roughly $100 cheaper. Here is what I considered the hybrid air fryer and multicooker.

What the Duo Crisp with Final Lid does

Not like any Prompt Pot earlier than it, the Duo Crisp with Final Lid has air fryer performance constructed into the principle lid. Due to this convection cooking aspect, you possibly can air fry, broil, bake and roast — all cooking strategies that almost all Prompt Pots do not supply. It additionally has many of the performance of your primary Prompt Pot multicooker together with stress cook dinner, sluggish cook dinner, steam and sauté.

Whilst you will not need to screw on (or discover storage for) a cumbersome conical air fryer lid attachment as you do for the unique Duo Crisp, you will have to slip within the stress cooker lid if you need to stress or sluggish cook dinner. Nonetheless, that lid may be very gentle and skinny measuring not more than 2 inches excessive; it should not be onerous to seek out area for one. 

The way it performs as an air fryer

I cooked a number of of my favourite air fryer meals with the Duo Crisp and its Final Lid. The air fryer was a lot proficient as soon as it received heated. Talking of which, this is among the solely air fryers I’ve used that wanted an official preheat time. For an air frying session at 400 levels Fahrenheit, it took about 5 minutes to preheat plus the precise cook dinner time. I am used to air fryers that do not want preheating, so it took getting used to. 

I made a number of air fryer favorites with the Duo Crisp

Fried rooster thighs: One air fryer recipe I’ve turn out to be keen on is easy fried rooster thighs. I take two or three thighs, dip them in egg and dredge them in flour. I made them with my commonplace recipe in each the Duo Crisp and my solo Magic Bullet air fryer. I cooked for 18 minutes and flipped them on the halfway level. The outcomes have been remarkably comparable, however the Prompt Pot wanted an additional 5 minutes to preheat.

Candy potato fries: Fried potatoes are one other traditional air fryer meals. They typically come out crispy and far much less oily than with deep frying. I break up a candy potato in half and made a batch of fries in my solo air fryer and the Duo Crisp. Each batches emerged from 12 minutes of cooking with about the identical quantity of caramelization and browning.

I additionally made primary rooster cutlets from scratch within the Duo Crisp. These took a couple of minutes longer than they might have in a typical solo air fryer however got here out wanting nice with a crispy crust and juicy insides. 

Roasted broccoli: I roasted broccoli florets (tossed in olive oil) within the Duo Crisp for 12 minutes at 375 levels F. Whereas they got here out nice, there was solely sufficient capability to cook dinner two servings. I might in all probability typically decide to make use of my oven for one thing like this. 

Bigger air frying capability than the unique Duo Crisp

The most important draw of this mannequin over the model’s preliminary hybrid air fryer mannequin is extra cooking capability. With the air fryer rack in place, you possibly can match three medium rooster breasts and 4 rooster thighs within the cooking chamber (in all probability 5 in a pinch). The unique mannequin required a separate, smaller basket insert that had sufficient for less than three rooster thighs or two medium breasts.

Tougher to scrub than most air fryers

One main setback of this mannequin for me is how troublesome the air frying rack was to scrub. Once I completed cooking the rooster thighs with dredged flour and egg coating, the tremendous mesh wire rack was inundated with gunk. Whereas attempting to flip them halfway via cooking, a lot of the coating and pores and skin additionally caught to the rack. 

Most air fryer baskets have a nonstick coating and take seconds to scrub after use. For the Duo Crisp with Final Lid, I needed to give it an excellent 10-minute soak to get it clear, but it surely did all ultimately come off with a scrubber, cleaning soap and elbow grease. I discovered it far more troublesome to scrub than the unique Duo Crisp’s nonstick basket and rack, which is totally flat with bigger holes that do not lure as a lot meals. 

Different meals together with candy potatoes and frozen snacks did not follow the wire rack. In the event you’re planning on cooking largely these meals versus battered meals, you could not have the identical points I did. 

The way it performs as a stress cooker

I additionally made one in every of my go-to stress cooker recipes: pulled pork shoulder. I adopted a recipe I’ve used a number of occasions in different Prompt Pots: dredging the 3-pound pork shoulder in flour and spices, searing within the Prompt Pot and stress cooking for 45 minutes. The Duo Crisp turned out a close to mirror picture of the fork-tender pork shoulders I’ve made earlier than in the identical period of time.

The primary stress cooker lid broke, rendering it unusable

Throughout one in every of my first periods utilizing the Duo Crisp with Final Lid, a necessary piece of the stress cooker lid that helps fasten it to the principle lid snapped off, rendering it unusable as a stress cooker or sluggish cooker. I can not say for positive the way it occurred although the primary few occasions I connected the stress lid, I needed to muscle it a bit to get it on.

Within the substitute lid that I used to be despatched, the small plastic protuberance that snapped off did not appear notably shoddy. That mentioned, I might warning anybody with this mannequin to be gentler than I used to be in attempting to safe and take away the lid.

Who can buy the Duo Crisp with Final Lid?

The Duo Crisp with Final Lid is an effective alternative for somebody who makes use of a multicooker usually but additionally desires to air fry from time to time. I stress usually as a result of for those who have a tendency to make use of an air fryer excess of an Prompt Pot, stress cooker or multicooker, this mannequin is much bulkier and heavier than most solo air fryers. 

I personally air fry excess of I exploit a multicooker so I am proud of my small and lightweight 2.6-quart Magic Bullet air fryer and its nonstick basket. I depart it on my counter most occasions, whereas my multicooker is saved in a closet till I am prepared to make use of it. 

The Prompt Pot Duo Crisp with Final Lid is bulkier than most air fryers and it additionally requires extra cleanup after an air frying session than I am used to. It additionally takes about 5 minutes to preheat, whereas most different air fryers do not want preheat time in any respect. That mentioned, as soon as it was able to cook dinner, this machine air-fried, broiled and roasted with one of the best of ’em. 

I appreciated the brand new Duo Crisp tremendous, however the authentic Duo Crisp without the built-in air fryer lid can be had for about $130. For my cash, that is the higher choose for those who’re on the lookout for a machine that does all of it. If you have already got a 6-quart Prompt Pot you want, seize the air frying lid for $70.

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