Picking the Right Instant Pot

The Instant Pot has quickly become a household name and it’s quite possibly the most popular pressure cooker on the market today. Unlike traditional pressure cookers, the Instant Pot offers more possibilities since it can sauté, steam, slow cook, sous vide, or just keep your food warm until you’re ready to eat.

With some models you can swap the pressure cooker lid for an air fryer lid so you can use your Instant Pot to air fry, roast, bake, broil, and dehydrate. With all these options in one package, it’s no wonder everyone seems to want one for home use. At present, there are eight different models of the Instant Pot, and the manufacturer is even adding other appliances such as a cooking blender to their lineup. But let’s focus on the Instant Pot models currently available.

Duo

The Instant Pot Duo is probably the best-selling Instant Pot model. It comes in three, six, or eight-quart options and speeds up cooking by 2-6 times. All sizes come with 13 standard one-touch Smart Programs for soup/broth, meat/stew, beans/chili, slow cooking, sauté, rice, porridge, steam, yogurt, keep warm, and pressure cook. The two larger sizes also have options for multigrain and poultry. 

Duo Crisp & Air Fryer

This model comes in either six-quart or eight-quart options and includes two different lids, the pressure cooker lid, and the air fryer lid, in one package. All in all, there are eleven different cooking methods available with this unit.

Duo Evo Plus

The next step up from the Duo Crisp, this model comes in six-quart or eight-quart options but there’s no air fryer lid included. The Plus functions as a pressure cooker, rice maker, slow cooker, yogurt maker, steamer, sous vide, sauté, food warmer, cake maker, and stockpot. In total there are ten different cooking methods available with this unit.

Duo Nova

The Duo Nova comes in three, six, eight, and ten-quart options and just the pressure cooker lid. This particular lid automatically seals the pressure valve while some other models have a manual seal. Releasing the pressure is just a push of the button and less risky than the manual release options. The three-quart can cook meals for up to three people. The six-quart will feed up to six. The eight-quart will serve large families or allow for preparing larger batches for the week. The ten-quart is the largest Instant Pot available and useful for large crowds or creating family dinners for the week.

Duo SV

The Duo SV is only available in a six-quart size which functions as a pressure cooker, slow cooker, rice maker, porridge pot, stewing pot, sauté pan, steamer, yogurt maker, food warmer, and sous vide immersion circulator.

Max

Like the Duo SV, this model is only available in a six-quart size. But the Max can attain 15psi pressure which means you can use this unit for canning as well as for pressure cooking, sous vide, slow cooking, sauté/searing, steaming, yogurt, food warming, and more. Previously, you could only reach 15 psi with a stovetop pressure cooker.

Smart Wi-Fi

This is a six-quart Instant Pot which you can control from a mobile device. You can cook, schedule, adjust, and monitor the progress of your meals wherever you are. The Smart Wi-Fi has eight functions and the app has hundreds of pre-programmed recipes for meats, stews, chili, yogurt, grains, and even cake.

Ultra

Instant Pot Ultra is a three, six, or eight-quart, ten-in-one customizable pressure cooker that speeds up cooking by two-to-six times. The Ultra provides complete custom programming for both pressure and non-pressure cooking. There is also an Altitude adjustment which avoids the need for recipe conversion to high altitude cooking.

Duo Plus

The Duo Plus has all the features of the Duo but comes with an upgraded lid that automatically seals the pot and has a quick-release button for steam venting. The Plus comes in three, six, and eight-quart varieties. The three-quart version has 13 one-touch Smart Programs while the other sizes have 15. The small Duo Plus is great for side dishes or meals for 1-2 people. The six-quart will serve up to five people and has several different color options to match your kitchen. The eight-quart is good for six or more people or for large batch meal prep.

Viva

The Viva has a six-quart or eight-quart option and comes with the upgraded easy seal lid as well as the sous vide smart program. Both units have 15 one-touch Smart Program buttons and will function as a pressure cooker, rice maker, slow cooker, yogurt maker, steamer, sauté pan, food warmer, stockpot, cake maker, egg cooker, sterilizer, and sous vide. The six-quart also comes in several color options.

Lux

The Lux comes in either three, six, or eight-quart options and has settings for soup/broth, meat/stew, egg, sauté, rice, porridge, steam, pressure cook, keep warm, and slow cook. The egg program can prepare soft, medium, and hard-boiled eggs in only a few minutes. The Lux comes in stainless steel, black, red, blue, and two floral patterns.

Which Instant Pot is best for you?

Honestly, it depends on what you need or wants out of your Instant Pot. Living at high altitudes and frustrated by recipe conversions? The Ultra might be the best for you. But if you are a techie then the Smart Wi-Fi might be your Instant Pot. It really depends on which features and options you’re looking for in your appliance.

The following is a handy guide that might help:

• Best Instant Pot for Beginners – Duo Nova
• Instant Pot that also Air Frys – Duo Crisp & Air Fry
• Most Innovative – Duo Evo Plus
• Best for the Tech Chef – Smart Wi-Fi
• Best for the Home Chef – Ultra
• Best for Parents – Duo Plus
• The Classic – Duo
• The Best Basic Instant Pot – Lux