Reviewed in the United States on March 13, 2014
This is a 6 month update - Have used the product now for about 6 months and feel it proper to update some of my former comments as I have become more familiar with it's features. (I don't shill for Amazon or InstantPot, this is an independent appraisal)
A lot of 5 star ratings. My initial rating was four stars. After a fair amount of use I decided to upgrade it to five. I really like InstantPot and would recommend it to others. I do a lot of soups and stews, a meal in a bowl; I dislike washing dishes! After many years of cooking for a crowd 3 times a day, my wife does not want to spend a lot of time in the kitchen. She is a good cook when in the mood, but is the undisputed speed-queen in fixing a meal. She opens 5 cans, dumps them into a large saucepan, a little water and seasoning; 5 minutes later on High heat - Voila! - almost scorched Dinner. For gals who have cooked over 10,000 meals, this may be just the ticket! I enjoy cooking! My preferred menu utilizes pressure cooking to large extent because I live at 5,000 ft. elevation. A must if you live in Leadville Colo.
My instant pot occupies a small unused ledge in the corner of the kitchen. Two instant pots together would nicely fill the space. Main reason I bought the InstantPot Duo 60 is the removable Tri-clad bottom mirror-finish all stainless steel liner (looks like chrome), along with the delay and cooking timer auto-shutoff. This sets it apart from old-time swisher type 1st Gen P.C.'s. An added lower pressure setting extends its ability to more tender foods. Tender vegetables and yogurt making features are what differs it from the non-duo 60. I haven't made Yogurt yet, but as a Diabetic, crisp veggies are a priority. Sometime soon I'm gonna try making some Yogurt. I've used it in several different modes, enough to feel comfortable about offering my little opinion. To make a stew, you can brown the meat, pressure cook it until tender, quickly de-pressurize, add some beans or veggies, put on the glass lid, set the timer for 2 or 3 hours and slow cook until done. Eat the meal, put the entire steel pot of leftovers with glass lid, (must be ordered separately), in the fridge for tomorrow or day after, all using a single container using only one very safe, quiet, clean appliance. For Chicken Soup with Matzo Balls I cook a whole chicken on the Poultry setting for 35 minutes and let it depressurize on its own. Still under pressure it actually cooks for another 15 minutes. Remove the Chicken, de-skin and de-bone all those little bones and cartilage. Set the pot outside on top of the Barbecue for a few hours, (when it's cold out), to solidify and remove all but some of the surface layer of fat. Put the shredded chicken pieces back in, add the veggies and seasonings, another 6 minutes low pressure cooking or slow cook 'till done; add the freshly cooked, hot Matzo Balls when serving. Others have said they have purchased an extra liner and glass lid so you can see how that would extend its usability. The liner really is easy to clean. Rinse it out under the hot water, a soapy sponge, re-rinse and set it in the sink basket to dry. It's operation is really quiet and there is not any visible steam whooshing through the air. You could very easily cook on the dining room table, or a small adjacent table. Making a pot of beans outdoors next to the barbecue is easy too.
Lack of a 15 lb setting poses a problem for some potential buyers as it does add somewhat to the overall cooking time. Some P.C. reviewers have remarked that is a big problem for them. The actual high pressure setting is 11 psi which drops the cooking temp for 260 to 240 degrees. The low pressure is 7 psi. I'm sure it must add to cooking time, but for me, it is not a consideration. In some instances I find it preferable to use my second electric 15 psi P.C. tucked away in another kitchen corner using my stove to steam some Broccoli, using my Barbeque as a convection oven for a Casserole in the summer so I don't heat up the house, If I have two electric pressure cookers going at once it's getting a big Sunday meal done in even less time! During the week I just nuke leftovers.
Initially, at the start you can program it just about any way you like over a wide range of different settings and presets. After 10 seconds has elapsed, it starts whatever you have programmed and cannot be changed without stopping and resetting it. In my initial review I complained a little about the Manual setting. I have come to realize that a good percentage of negative comments (aside from shipping damage or DOA out of the box) are because the person does not understand the operation of the device. Well... I guess I am no different than anyone else in that I misunderstood the purpose of the Manual Program. Manual is a pressure cook only setting and it allows you to vary the P.C. time. No need to change temp, just time and pressure. If you can't find any of the preset times to suit you. Manual will allow you to choose either pressure, or any time from 1 - 120 minutes. Most will not really need to use Manual, but they added it just in case someone finds it useful I guess. Except for the Rice setting you can use almost any setting any way you want, OR you can do it by the book. You can pretty much do whatever you want. You could cook a Chicken using the Bean/Stew setting. Pssst! there aren't any InstantPot police! Because it has so many settings, it takes a while to find all the various available combinations. I've found combinations that cover all the bases. However It is very easy to just stop the running program and switch to a different program to enter a new or different time, pressure, or temp. It takes maybe ten seconds to do this. The only thing keeping you from thinking outside the box is you. Go crazy! Be creative! No Rules! For most, this probably would never even be an issue. I'm kinda finicky, (just ask my wife). For someone who just wants to have a pot of beef stew ready when they get home, no sweat, Read the manual, you won't encounter any problems, the standard settings will work fine). My initial rating was four stars because I thought I was limited by the presets. It turns out that is not really the case. With the InstantPot you really can do just about anything you want. It's just a matter or re-evaluating how you perceive you are able to use it. At first, the presets seem to be absolutes; they are not. It is all just a matter of perception, a little extra thought, a few more button clicks... or if you find the presets work well, as many reviewers have, you can literally just set it and forget it.
The even heating of the Tri-Clad bottom of the stainless steel liner is a best feature for me as it greatly reduces, if not in most instances, eliminates entirely any probability of scorching your food. The 3 preset settings seem to work as advertised for the most part. Suppose you are going to cook a thick sauce. The preset temp is often Med. which might be too high. When you first turn it on, with any of the four top LH settings you are able to increase or decrease temperature, time and pressure, Hi-Lo. For something thick, you may choose to change the temp from Med. to Low which should avoid scorching. What I do when slow-cooking, is select Saute and High temp setting to save time in order to get 3 1/2 quarts of soup mix boiling, then stop it, select Slow Cook and reset the time choosing a low and slow temperature to finish cooking. I find the best way to cook pasta is to fill it two-thirds full of water, Select Saute, high temp to get the water boiling furiously, stop and reset temp to Medium to finish cooking the pasta. It might prove quicker to cook pasta on your stove, but you can also do it with the InstantPot, drain the water, add spices, Italian Sausage and/or Meatballs, Marinara Sauce, Slow cook on low heat and keep warm with the glass lid on beside the dining room table for a leisurely, more pleasurable, (second helpings don't get cold), dining experience with friends and family. High temp is what you want when pressure cooking meat or poultry with 1 or 2 inches of water which decreases startup time. Cook for 45 minutes using one and a half inches of water because very little water escapes as steam! Just this minute, as I am writing this, (first review), I paused and went into the kitchen to check up on my 5 1/2 quarts of Cowboy Chile that I am slow-cooking. It was almost out of time. I decided it needed another hour, so I stopped it, shut it off, re-selected Slow Cook medium temp, and reset the time for one more hour. The program would have automatically stopped by itself, gone into Keep Warm mode, so you can re-start to cook it longer, anyhoo it's not a deal-breaker. When slow-cooking on Low, my Chile just gurgles away nicely without any scorching with the pot maxed out to within 1 inch from the top. (DO NOT even think about filling the pot past 2/3 full when pressure cooking!) Once, the pot (stainless steel liner) had been in the freezer half-full of frozen soup. I put the pot liner back in its place, put on the glass lid, turned it on to keep warm for a little over an hour. it fully de-frosted the soup which was nice and warm to boot! Don't know if any one would ever do that, but you can set the keep warm timer for up to 10 hours and forget about it, Swedish Meatballs served warm, Fondue? No danger of overheating or boiling away. I speed up the bean pre-soak by putting the beans in the pot and setting the keep warm for an hour, and then letting them sit overnight. I find this necessary in the High and dry climate of Northern Nevada. Everything I've cooked so far has turned out just the way I wanted it, but not without a little creative fiddling. Every new gadget requires a learning curve. Because of it's many features, practice makes perfect! I give the InstantPot designers credit as most automatic settings work well, automating it for ease of use and safety. Cooking is part Science, but, I think, more Art than Science. I have the glass lid on for attended operation. A more tactile experience in food preparation. When slow-cooking I can check on it from time to time and make little adjustments, e.g. more time, less heat, add more chicken stock, taste it, more Oregano, a little Paprika, It's done when it's done, however long that takes.
Most programs work just fine on full automatic, but some small exceptions may demand more online flexibility. I must admit that I am biased in that I very often combine pressure cooking with slow cooking. I live at 5,000 feet with 10% humidity in July. I store a lot of beans which dry out after 6 months. To slow-cook those beans from scratch takes hours and they still are not done because water boils here at 201 degrees. It is surprising what a difference that makes. In New Orleans beans have much higher moisture content and at 212 degrees are done in an hour or less. I have to use a rapid boil just to make tea. A pressure cooker is the great equalizer, a must at higher altitudes because 15 lbs is 15 lbs pressure inside the pot regardless of altitude. I take a little extra time with my beans by using the low pressure setting. I especially like the delay start, cook, auto shut-off, keep warm features. The cooking timer and auto shut-off is absolutely essential for peace of mind for unattended operation as I have been known to doze off when cooking late at night. Every electric cooking appliance I own, including my Induction Range, is flameless and has a timed shutoff feature. I am retired and have the time, but, for those busy people on the go, the set-it-and-forget-it, ability of the InstantPot may prove it's best feature.
I very much like my InstantPot and have used it 2 or 3 times a week for one-pot meals. Having used it now for almost half a year, (I've got a pot of Navy beans cooking now as I update this review). I would say my initial impression was pretty close. One thing I especially like is I use less pots and pans when I am using the InstantPot, (I dislike washing pots and pans). It has some great features which leads me to believe they are really trying to hit it out of the park with this one. A Canadian Distributor; "Way to go eh! Makes me want to stand up and sing "Oh Canada!"
I guess price/point is the big bugaboo with manufacturers. If they added 15 psi I would fork over a little extra cash to get the "totally perfect" all-in-one cooker. They could test market it as their top-of-the-line world-beater Ultra Deluxe 7.6 litre model. I believe people will pay a little more if they know what they are paying for. For those desiring the convenience of an all-in-one cooker, at the price, there is little competition. I think it's a great value. Bottom line is: "I like it just fine the way it is." The InstantPot has earned a permanent place in my kitchen.
W.O
