Instant Pot Duo Crisp with Ultimate Lid Air Fryer + Multi-Cooker, Pressure Cooker, Slow Cooker, Steamer, Grill, Sauté pan, Sous Vide -1500W, 6.2L, Black

Product Information

The chicken wing flats were more moist and tender than the chicken wing drums, but neither were very crispy compared with those from other air fryers we have tested. In practice, this means you don’t have to worry about cleaning the fan and heating element every time you pressure cook. One user was able to get the valve to drop by banging on the lid, another dropped her IP from about an inch above the counter and the valve dropped – not something we recommend.

The Instant Pot Duo Crisp Ultimate Lid features a unique lid construction that doubles as both an air fry and a pressure cooker lid. It also has most of the functionality of your basic Instant Pot multicooker including pressure cook, slow cook, steam and sauté. It features 12 different cooking functions, and comes with the option to delay cooking (so you can come home to a hot meal) and keep your food warm. Messages like 'add ingredients' and 'OK to open the lid' display clearly on the large LCD screen, and there's a three-stage progress bar to indicate how far along the preheating or cooking process you are. When it came to evaluating the Instant Pot Duo Crisp Ultimate Lid, we knew that we needed to put it through numerous tests to evaluate its vast functionality.Other Instant Pot models require you to switch out the lid for a special air fry lid or offer no air fry capability at all. When I finished cooking the chicken thighs with dredged flour and egg coating, the fine mesh wire rack was inundated with gunk. If you prefer learning by watching videos, check out our How to use the Instant Pot Duo Crisp with Ultimate Lid video on YouTube.

I didn’t find that the Duo Crisp’s other cooking modes had improved in any drastic way from previous iterations, but they still produced excellent results nonetheless. But, having recently reviewed air fryers and highly recommended a model from Instant, we were curious about how an Instant Pot-air fryer hybrid functioned. Once we switched on the pressure cooker, the preheat took 10 minutes before the 20-minute cook started.

I’m a fool for these awesome devices and have stopped using my air fryer ‘cos it’s so difficult to clean well. Just above it, an LED display shows you the cooking time, temperature, progress (pre-heating, cooking or keep warm), plus any cooking instructions such as “close the lid” or “turn food”. She has been reviewing small appliances, including blenders, juicers, and multi-cookers, for more than 8 years, and also upholsters furniture when she's not testing the latest food tech gadgets.

None of the cooking methods are noisy; the Instant Pot Duo Crisp is loudest during pressure release, but it still only hit 73dB on our sound meter. In our tests, the air fryer function of the Instant Pot Duo Crisp worked fine, but the exposed heating element on the lid felt dangerous.

The latest model also comes with a snazzy redesign in the form of a flat lid, sleek black exterior and easy open lever on the front. To use the air fryer function, you open the lid, which is attached to the body of the Instant Pot by a hinge, and remove the inner lid cover by pressing a red button (the cover actually falls off, so you have to be sure to catch it). But if you usually cook for big groups, it might be worth investing in one of the larger capacity Instant Pots such as the 8-quart/ 7. It comes with 13 cooking functions, automatic pressure release, and a very intuitive lid-locking system. Handles on either side make it easy to carry around – although, weighing in at just over 10kg, you probably wouldn’t want to do too much of that.