Instant Pot Duo 7-in-1 Electric Multi-Cooker 5.7L - Brushed Stainless Steel, Large Pressure Cooker, Slow Cooker, Rice Cooker, Sauté, Yoghurt Maker, Food Steamer Pot and Food Warmer, Dishwasher Safe

"Sooo... These Instant Pot things... Are they really as good as everyone says they are? Do they really cook things much more quickly than 'normal' cooking does, and are they safe?" If the words above sum up how you're feeling at the moment and you're reading review after review from Instant Pot owners (mostly) saying that they're the bees knees and have revolutionised their kitchen, but still need some convincing - come along with me and I'll lead you skipping and grinning down the path to Instant Pot ownership. Well, ok, you don't have to skip or grin - I'm not gonna pressure you. I only just became the proud new owner of an Instant Pot on Monday and cooked my first meal in it yesterday, which has been an absolute revelation - and I'll tell you why; it's all about the motherflippin' LENTILS, baby! You know how it can take an absolute age for lentils to get soft when they're boiled in a conventional pot-on-hob situation? Well, I was looking through recipes to try in my Instant Pot and discovered that it was apparently possible to make a lentil dhal in just 20 minutes in one of them - so that was me utterly convinced that I needed to give it a shot. Now, before I go any further, I should explain that until yesterday I'd never once cooked anything in a pressure cooker so I was totally in uncharted territory. I'd always read that pressure cookers were noisy, dangerous and terrifying things, so it was not without a little trepidation that I followed the instructions to do the first pressure test to make sure my IP was working as it should. This simply involved popping some water into the inner pot, closing the pressure valve and turning the gadget on for a few minutes. As the pressure built inside the pot, it obviously started to make some noise - there's a valve on the lid that closes once enough pressure has built up, and until it does that there's some hissing noise (which I found mildly unsettling initially), but once it closes, all you can hear is a gentle bubbling noise from inside the pot. Now, the most unsettling thing to a noob pressure cooker user is that in order to get to the culinary delights cooking inside the Instant Pot, you need to release the pressure via the valve on the top of its lid. This causes a fair bit of noise and clouds of super-hot steam to erupt from the valve so you need to be careful - thankfully, you get a couple of utensils (a small spoon/ladle and a rice paddle) with the IP that have holes in their handles that can be used to open the valve safely. Back to those lentils, I set about following that recipe to make the dhal, and used the IP's handy saute function to fry up the onions and garlic, and it was then a simple case of adding the lentils, spices and seasoning to the pot with some water to make the steam, and to then turn it on at high pressure for ten minutes. In some recipes it will ask you to do a NPR (natural pressure release) for a length of time, and in this case, I left it for ten minutes before opening the valve. What I ended up with was the most delicious home-made dhal I've ever had - waaay better than any I've attempted in the past - and cooked far more quickly than I would ever have thought possible. I attempted another recipe for a Brocolli pasta concoction last night which went a wee bit squiffy - which was my own fault for deviating from the recipe instructions, leaving me with a pot full of mostly uncooked pasta. A quick blast in the microwave fixed that, but the pasta sauce was delicious. The interesting thing about cooking with the IP is that the food from it seems to be far more intensely flavoured than usual - and this has a lot to do with the fact that cooking via pressure causes the flavours to permeate right through everything. Another good plus is that food retains far more of its nutritious value as it doesn't escape via the steam as per conventional cooking. The only downside I'm probably going to find - as with any new cooking gadget - is that there may be a few culinary disasters before I crack the techniques of cooking under pressure, but that's to be expected and won't be any fault of the pot itself. Summing up, I'd say that I'm completely bowled away by the Instant Pot. The high praise for it is not unwarranted, and I'm desperately excited about trying out more stuff in it - you can cook cheesecakes, dried beans and pulses cook ridiculously quickly (no more soaking for hours, yay!) and it seemingly makes cooking these days with our busy lives far more convenient as you can use one pot to do everything. Of course, it doesn't completely replace the oven and hob - you can't bake, fry or grill in it - but there are a heap of accessories for it that will make making soups, stews and all sorts of other things in it quick, simple and mess-free. Ladies and gentlemen, we have a winner. >>>UPDATE I've had a few more bashes at cooking recipes in my IP and the results have been mostly good, but I've hit a few problems; but these are all part of the learning process. The problem I've had is getting the food to water balance right; if there's not enough water or the consistency of the liquid in the pot is too thick, it will display 'BURN' once it has come to pressure as the temperature sensors on the bottom of the pot detect that it's became too hot. This effectively cancels the cooking process, so I've had to release the pressure, add more water and then try again. I have however managed to cook a saag aloo, a beautiful butternut squash pasta recipe and last night I cooked an amazingly tasty lentil chilli. Two out of those three ended up displaying the 'Burn' message at some point. This exemplifies the learning curve with the Instant Pot, but don't let that put you off - when things go right it utterly outstanding! >>>ANOTHER UPDATE I've now had my Instant Pot for nearly a year now and it's probably fair to say that I'm definitely getting the hang of it. One of the most useful aspects of the Instant Pot is that it makes cooking large batches of food really simple a quick. Every Sunday now, I end up cooking a huge amount of butternut squash and cauliflower curry to have for lunch for the whole week, and I've absolutely cracked the process now. I cook up a big batch of brown rice first, which cooks in 22 minutes, put it to one side and then cook the curry before dumping the rice into it. It seriously makes food prep simple as I can chop up all of the ingredients for the curry while the rice is cooking - so it feels super-efficient.

Having decided to wait to order the new instant pot I await with anticipation its arrival and having never used a pressure cooker I look forward to learning all its different functions. In the meantime I have been making yogurt, cooking one pot meals and reintroduced vegetarian meals for the family. Last night I steamed three christmas puddings which were not cooked until 2.30 am.This is where I am hoping that the instant pot will come into its own allowing me a much faster cooking method and a saving on the ever increasing electricity bill. I will update this review as soon as I have tried all the functions of the instant pot. Update 25\1\14. Thank you so much to Instant Pot, ordered on a Tuesday received on Friday delivered to Ireland, before due date. Thank you again. For me it has been a great learning curve, I have never used a pressure cooker or rice cooker before. Yes, I was nervous starting off, I have made mistakes but am enjoying the learning curve. I started with the Initial Test Run as recommended in the user manual, everything worked out great. Straight into a recipe from instant pot site, Arroz con Pollo which I made with pieces of turkey breast, the taste was superb, the turkey done to perfection. Next I tried steaming some straight from the trees cooking apples for canning. After two minutes the over heat display came on so I vented the Instant Pot, the apples were cooked perfectly,there was nothing stuck to the end of the pot, yet Instant Pot detected the lack of liquid and did what it was suppossed to do, my pot talks to me and I can assure you it never said anything bad about my culinary skills. Next I tried making yogurt, boiled the milk in the jars, let it cool to correct tempereture, added starter yougurt and probiotic, 6 3\4 hours later yogurt was set, it normally takes 8 hours in my yogurt machine. Boiling milk for yogurt on the hob always results in milk sticking to the pot. I find the saute function is excellent with the added benefit after 30 minutes you can press saute again and keep going if cooking in batches. What I especially like with this type of cooking is all the nutrients and vitamins from vegetables are incorporated into the rest of the food whereas usually water from vegetables is discarded, carrotts, celery brocolli, parsnips taste amazing compared to those boiled on the hob. Slow cooked Irish stew tasted so much better than usual with the family asking what I did different, I said I used Instant Pot. Chilli Con Carne, with beans soaked overnight was a feast compared to hours of cooking beans on the hob. I also tried the Perfect Brown Rice from the recipe book and indeed it was perfect, it did not even begin to stick to the pot. In the ten days or so since I started using Instant Pot I have used my oven once to bake oat cakes, all dinners were cooked in the pot. I do a lot of baking so I am looking forward to expermenting with Instant Pot for cakes etc. I did buy the extra pot and lid and think its very versatile ie dinner resting in pot and making yogurt in the other one. The lid is great with the slow cooker allowing you to see if you need to reduce temperature. I tried steaming some vegetables but they took longer than I thought to cook, I placed a glass bowl on the rack, I think the problem is that the end of the glass bowl I used was very narrow. If anyone has purchased a steaming basket I would really appreciate your thoughts on how they work, what quantities you can use and is it possible to cook something underneath the basket. So far I am really enjoying using the Instant Pot, I can see it will be invalible at christmas when I will have people staying. My advice from my experience so far is this is a great product, I am by no means an expert but cooking is a hobby for me, the food tastes amazing compared to conventional methods and it greatly reduces the clean up afterwards.

Simple to use and generally very happy with cooker. I wish it had a low heat setting for growing yeast in cold weather. The lowest heat is for keeping food warm and this gets too hot for the culture.

First - I am not a cook but now that I'm older, and my metabolic rate had slowed down dramatically, can't get away with just deliveries and restaurants foods anymore. My Tefal slow-cooker had died of old age and I broke the lid on my rice cooker so time to buy a new one. The Instant Pot is ridiculously a lot more expensive, even when bought on sale. Decided to invest as you can do a large batch in one pot in shorter time, I love stews and soups and rice - which is kind of what it is made for, and the internet seem to be full of praises with lots of recipe ideas. It is bulky and heavy, but same can be said about my old slow cooker. I do like that I can take the lid off completely, so it makes it easier to clean. Comes with 2 ladles, a measuring cup and a steam rack. There are a lot of buttons - so had to refer to the manual a few times just to make sure I get it right. The power cord seem to be a bit loose to me, but it did stay on. I went with hard boiled eggs as an easy experiment. Am very impressed by the perfect hard-boiled egg quality I got - not overcooked and easy to peel to boot. I don't think I've ever cooked a perfect hard-boiled egg before! Then got some game meat as 'tis the season so decided for a venison stew recipe which I got from the internet but mixed it up to my own taste. Put on the meat/stew programme and was a bit doubtful about the 35 minute cook time. Peeled and chopped up my root veggies, and the stew is done by the time I finished washing up. The quick release scared the heck out of me and bits of stew came spurting out near the end. Checked the venison - which was falling off the bone and surprisingly tender. I added my chunky root veggies and put on another 10 minutes. This time, I did a natural release for about 10 minute then quick release. Stopped the scary steam and bits of stew coming out. Perfect tender venison with no chewiness and cooked veggies. WIth my slow cooker, the stew takes hours to cook and even then, you get some chewy meat - and the veggies either turn out to either be undercooked or turned too mush. Am super pleased with my purchase so far! Am going to try the steam function next as never get it quite right steaming fish in the microwave. Do wish I can buy a spare pot by Amazon Prime though, as it would be nice to cook rice than use the second pot for the dish. At time to checking can only order from Global Shopping. Even the Instant Pot UK website does not offer it.

I love the pressure pot and it easy to clean after use. It is not noisy and it is value for money. I love the steamer option as it helps me to steam my food. Though, the steam rack could be better if the space in between is smaller. All the same, it is great product and not heavy.

I have been trying a few different electric pressure cookers over the last couple of weeks, namely the Instant Pot (IP) and Pressure King Pro (PKP) models as shown in the photos. There are quite a few others, but I think the comments below will also apply. I have used a standard hob based pressure cooker before but these provide a whole new level of cooking options. I am probably late to the party, but glad I got here in the end :) Although the various models basically do the same thing, I have to say the IP for me, has the most flexability and seems to be very well built. I think it was the first to come out or has certainly been around a while. Here are few things that I found when I was looking to to buy one of these pressure cookers. 1. Are accessories easily available ? 2. When using a glass lid (assuming the model you buy has one available) will all the non pressure options be available ? The PKPs safety features will only allow the browning function with the stock lid off. This seems to be a function of the latest model and took an age to confirm from the maker. 3. Are there different heat settings for the sauté/browning option ? PKP only has one, which is hot and I found quickly burnt. The IP has three. 4. What is support like from both manufactures and other pot users ? The PKP is of course half the price but I found the IP to be of much better quality specifically the plastic handle, finish, and quality of the inner pot. The bowl/inner pot is also stainless steel rather than non stick (some non stick models have coatings that can flake off after a while) and having a 3-ply base can also be used on a hob unlike some of the other inner pots. I have now purchased an additional inner pot and glass lid for the IP, which I would highly recommend! Having said all that, I am sure either one will revolutionize and spur you on to more creative cooking, which is what the IP has done fo me. A highly recommended purchase, really glad I got one!

Easy to use, Just bought mine, couldn't wait to use it so I threw in some frozen mince, chopped fresh and tinned Toms, water, passata, tom paste, Knorr stock pot, I was just guessing, thinking I'd have to adjust after cooking, Set it to pressure cook 25mins.. Turned out a really excellent Bolognese Ragu, stirred in some butter. Saute function to reduce it down after pressure cooking If I'd got the quantities correct I wouldn't have had to reduce but I didn't do too bad for a first time. I think, this is primarily a pressure cooker, so not much water is going to escape, so you'll have to just get used to how much liquids you need in recipes. All in all, , this thing is a hit with me. Plenty of recipes online, A great product.

After moving into shared accommodation with my sister and brother-in-law, this pot has really come into its own. Being disabled, it allows quick and easy one pot meals to be made without too much faffing around. I've not yet used the rice cooker function, but I hope that works as well as the pressure cooking selection. My favourite thing to cook is one pot chicken meals. It cooks the chicken so well, you get a nice juicy meat without any real effort apart from setting the timer for the various amounts involved. I find for a single frozen chicken breast (one that's meant to be cooked from frozen) it takes approximately five to six minutes. For around three chicken breasts, I set it to seven minutes to start with, then add the final ingredients after that has ended for a few more minutes. However, I recommend you take it slowly to start with until you get a feel for the pot and cooking time. I started with two minute increments the first time I used the pot. It's easily cleaned in a dishwasher or by hand, and so long as you follow the instructions for cleaning the flexible ring on the lid you can help with the overall durability. A tip I picked up years ago; buy a second flexible ring for the lid so you don't risk cross contamination of any strong lingering tastes between savoury and sweet dishes. The versatility is great. I can get hard boiled eggs cooked in minutes, use it as a slow cooker, and I have the option of a rice cooker as well. Although the wattage seems quite high, compared to other cooking methods you use less energy because it's so quick. It's quite a weighty pot, but that's from the necessary method of manufacture. However, unless you have to move it around to use it, then the inner pot and lid aren't too hard to pick up and remove for cleaning.