Instant Pot Duo Crisp review: The best all-in-one appliance, according to our kitchen appliance expert

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Many kitchen appliances claim to be your 6-in-1 or 8-in-1 solution, the only cooker you'll need. Few actually live up to the hype. In my five years of putting kitchen appliances through testing protocols, the one exception I've found is the Instant Pot Duo Crisp Pressure Cooker.

The Duo Crisp has earned a permanent spot in my kitchen and is the top pick in several of our guides, including the best Instant Pots, best air fryers, best slow cookers, and best sous vide cookers. Below, I will outline why you should consider it if you like to dabble in today's trendiest cooking techniques.

Specs

Getting started

The Duo Crisp setup process is simple if you have experience with air fryers and pressure cookers. Just remove the packaging, select the correct lid, plug in the unit, and choose the settings you want on the intuitive controls. If you don't have experience with these appliances, the Instant Pot Duo Crisp may be intimidating initially. There are several safeguards to keep you from hurting yourself or causing damage, but take a minute to browse the user manual to get comfortable with it.

There are separate lids for air frying and pressure cooking. The Duo Crisp can sense what lid you've chosen, so you don't have to worry about getting it wrong. If you're unsure what to make, the Instant Brands Connect app (available for iOS and Android) features hundreds of recipes with easy-to-follow step-by-step instructions.

Pressure cooking

Pressure cooking is what Instant Pot is known for, and the Duo Crisp showed why. We cooked pulled pork, rice, beans, and more in a dozen pressure cookers for our guide to the best Instant Pots, and the Duo Crisp produced nearly perfect results. The Duo Crisp's pressure cooking lid has a vent that closes automatically when you lock it to ensure pressure can build. The pressure cooker lid is also used to slow cook, steam, and sous vide. 

The rice came out with a pleasingly sticky texture without excessive dryness and was ready in under 20 minutes. Only one other cooker was that fast. The texture and flavor of the beans and pork were impressive, though they required a longer pressure-build time than most units we tested. 

Many recipes have you saute meat before pressure cooking it. You can saute right in the Duo Crisp, but you don't have much room. The pot has an 8-inch diameter, and ultimately the saute results were mixed. I made the app's "perfect seared chicken" recipe, and the pot struggled to sear the chicken evenly. Yet, it browned a chuck roast and burgers well. Despite the mixed results, it beat using additional cookware to make the meal.

Air frying

The Instant Pot Duo Crisp proved its excellence during air frying tests, yielding perfectly crisp frozen fries and tender broccoli. The air fryer lid is larger and has a built-in heating element and fan. Since the lid gets hot, the unit has a heat-resistant pad to set it on. In addition to air frying, this lid is used to roast, bake, broil, and dehydrate. 

In our testing, the lower layer of food ended up less crispy than the top because the heat is primarily directed from the lid. Another drawback is that the basket lacks handles, making agitating the ingredients difficult during the cooking process.

Sous vide cooking

We cooked eggs and steak to test seven sous vide machines and assessed how quickly and accurately each unit heated the water. In separate tests, the Instant Pot Duo Crisp took about 30 minutes to heat four quarts of water from room temperature to 130 and 190 degrees Fahrenheit. This was longer than other cookers. Yet, it maintained consistent temperatures, only deviating from the target temperature by one or two degrees.

Compared to immersion circulators, which you put in a container of your choosing, the Duo Crisp offers a relatively small capacity. Despite its drawbacks, it's a user-friendly appliance if you're curious about the cooking method and don't want to buy a dedicated sous vide cooker.

Slow cooking

The Instant Pot showed its prowess in slow-cooking beans and vegetables, producing delectable results. However, the roast turned out tougher than most, requiring a knife to slice. When following slow cooker recipes, we recommend adding extra cooking time. The Duo Crisp recorded higher temperatures than the average slow cooker, including boiling while on high heat. Yet, it maintained consistent temperatures throughout the cooking process.

Since slow cookers are often used at potlucks and get-togethers, portability is key. The Duo Crisp is lightweight, has stay-cool handles, and the lid loosely stays closed, making it ideal for transporting without spillage.

Clean up

After cooking in the stainless steel pot, the caked-on debris can be hard to remove by hand. Fortunately, the pot and the pressure cooker lid are dishwasher-safe and don't hog space in your dishwasher. The air fryer basket is best washed by hand to protect its nonstick coating, which makes it easier to clean. The other elements, including the air fryer lid and cooker base, don't come in contact with food, but you should wipe them down with a damp cloth occasionally once they cool down.

Cons

The Instant Pot Duo Crisp is outstanding, but it isn't as good as the single-function appliances that top our guides. This is a common issue among multi-cookers. Here's a breakdown of where the Duo Crisp lags behind:

• When pressure cooking, the Duo Crisp builds pressure slower than most.
• When air frying, it's hard to agitate the food, and the ingredients on the bottom cook more slowly.
• When sous vide cooking, it takes half an hour to get up to temp, much slower than most.
• When slow cooking, our recipes required additional time.

What are your alternatives?

The Ninja Foodi does a better job of air frying and searing meat than the Duo Crisp. However, the Ninja costs more, doesn't have sous vide functionality, and doesn't pressure cook as well. Check out our Instant Pot vs. Ninja Foodi comparison for more details. 

While it doesn't pressure or slow cook, the Anova Precision Oven is another impressive all-in-one appliance I regularly use. I like that you can sous vide without vacuum sealing the ingredients. It's great for air frying, baking, toasting, steaming, and more, though it preheats slowly and costs $700. Read our guide to the best all-in-one kitchen appliances for more recommendations. 

The bottom line

If you have a sizable budget and plenty of space, get dedicated appliances for each cooking method. If you don't mind meals taking a little longer and want to save money and room, the Instant Pot Duo Crisp is the unit to buy. I recommend it even at its $200 retail price, but we've seen it on sale for as little as $125 this past year. 

Pros: Simple setup, user-friendly, comes with an app featuring hundreds of recipes, maintains consistent temperatures for longer cooks, able to sous vide, air fry, saute, slow cook, and pressure cook

Cons: Heats slowly, small cooking capacity for some tasks