Instant Pot Duo Mini 7-in-1 Electric Pressure Cooker Review Guide For 2023-2024

Instant Pot Duo Mini 7-in-1 Electric Pressure Cooker Review Guide For 2023-2024 – Instant Pots already have a cult-status in the US and Canada, and it’s easy to see why. The “set it and forget it” multi-cooker could replace almost every other appliance in your kitchen, and achieve better results in half the time. Rice? Got it covered. Soup? Already made. Those cheaper cuts of meat you’d never usually attempt to cook with? About to become the hero item of this stew. Say hello to recipes you could never be bothered to do in the past, and a lot less time to make them in. It’s the best Instant Pot you can get. Keep reading our Instant Pot Duo Mini 7-in-1 Electric Pressure Cooker Review Guide For 2023-2024 to find out even more.

Instant Pot Duo Mini 7-in-1 Electric Pressure Cooker Buyers Guide:

Price and performance:

With prices usually hovering around the £90 / $100 mark, the Instant Pot Duo V2 sits slap in the middle of what you can expect to pay for your average pressure-come-slow-cooker.

However, it’s very much above average given that price – in fact, from its pre-programmed options to the quality of the food it cooks, we’d consider it pound-for-pound the best multi-cooker on the market.

Design:

The Instant Pot sets out to replace seven kitchen appliances, which are listed as a pressure cooker, slow cooker, rice cooker, steamer, sauté pan, yogurt maker and warmer. While you’ll be hard-pressed to find anyone that operates all those machines in one home kitchen, Instant Pot’s 14 programs mean you’ll have the potential to cook a huge array of dishes without having to buy a yoghurt maker or rice cooker separately. Unlike other slow cookers, it’s safe to keep food warm until ready to serve – which isn’t an option with cheaper models.

We reviewed a 5.7 litre (6 quarts) Instant Pot and found it to be the perfect size for batch cooking, without having to totally rethink your kitchen when plugging it in or storing it. Remember that pressure cookers have strict maximum capacities, and you’ll need to add enough liquid at the start of cooking to ensure your food doesn’t burn. This means you may want to start with a bigger pot than you’re accustomed to, so you can fill the right amount of cooking liquid and end up with multiple portions of food at the end.

Despite the volume, this is a compact design, and it’s very easy to work through the different programs once you’ve had a close read of the safety guidelines. The timer is also useful – you can go and do other things and know exactly when you’ll be needed back in the kitchen. The Instant Pot’s lid makes a pleasing little beep when you close and open it, and you’ll hear it beeping from another room when it finishes a program. We were, however, surprised to see the dial plastic wearing away after a week or so.

Performance:

The Instant Pot claims to speed up cooking by two to seven times. We were impressed by how much this held true, especially with recipes that take hours on a traditional stove or oven. Tagines, chillies and curries were rich and succulent within twenty minutes of pressure cooking. Soups and stocks achieve a velvety consistency we’ve never been able to reach via stovetop techniques alone.

It’s also important to note that due to retaining heat and pressure, multi-cookers require less electricity to operate than using the oven or stove. Instant Pot claims you’ll use up to 70 per cent less energy than conventional methods.

What we like most about the Instant Pot is the amount of new recipes you’ll want to try now that time is no longer a major constraint. And it doesn’t just speed things up. A 24-hour timer allows for delayed cooking, and an automatic keep-warm holds the temperature of the food until you serve it for up to 10 hours. Instant Pot is in it for the long haul.

We found the Instant Pot and lid are very easy to clean. Because of the intensity of this kind of cooking, it’s worth soaking the pot in boiling water before cooking with it to get rid of any lingering flavours, especially if you’re going from savoury to sweet ingredients.

Incredibly easy to use, even a reluctant home cook will be able to work their way around the extensive cooking programs, and with regulated temperatures at every step, this is where you’ll see the real “set it and forget it” benefit of multi-cookers. There is virtually no noise or leaking steam, leaving you to finish off the rest of your cooking while it does the hard work for you.

The saute setting means you really save on washing up, and this is where it could really change your kitchen habits. Each stage happens in the pan, and then it’s ready to serve.

More experienced cooks might find the “hands off” approach difficult. Once the program is underway, there’s no way to check the seasoning or add extra liquid to stop it from burning (which is why we found we overcompensated with extra liquid in the first place). You may actually find the process quite unintuitive in terms of having to hand over the reigns to your Instant Pot. But once you have a few processes down, it’s easy to see why this alternative way to cooking is so popular – because it’s so easy.

Such is the cult-like draw of the Instant Pot brands, there are endless recipes online to use specifically with the brand. Which proved vital, because it’s not always obvious which settings to use for the kind of dish you want to create. We found we relied a lot on new Instant Pot recipes online, instead of being able to create our own favorites with the new appliance. It’s to this end the recipe book that comes with the Instant Pot doesn’t feel thorough enough. For the price point, you’d expect Instant Pot to provide something more inspiring.

Another aspect to keep in mind for the impatient cook: when pressure cooking, Instant Pot locks in your food so the lid can only come off once the pressure has reduced in the pan. It takes quite a while to get used to not being able to get to your food until the pressure valve pops down. The hotter or higher pressure you cook food at, the longer it will need to decompress, so although the cooking times say 5 minutes etc, it could easily be 20 extra minutes of waiting – but as this is a safety mechanism, we’re not going to penalise Instant Pot for it.

Instant Pot Duo Mini 7-in-1 Electric Pressure Cooker

Instant Pot Duo Mini is the ideal companion to the Duo 6 Quart, 7-in-1 programmable multi-cooker replaces 7 kitchen appliances, combines the functions of a Rice Cooker, Pressure Cooker, Slow Cooker, Steamer, Sauté, Yogurt Maker, and Warmer. 11 smart built-in programs – Rice, Soup/Broth, Meat/Stew, Bean/Chili, Sauté, Steam, Porridge, Yogurt, Slow Cook, and Keep Warm, your favorite dishes are as easy as pressing a button.

The Instant Pot Duo Mini Ricer Cooker Function cooks up to 6 cups of uncooked rice (12 cups cooked rice), the rice cooker function can cook all types of rice including white rice, brown rice, wild rice, sushi rice, risotto rice and more. Accessories include a rice measuring cup, stainless steel steam rack without handles, rice paddle, soup spoon, condensation collector and recipe booklet.

The Duo Mini is versatile it can be used at home to make a small dish for two, side dish or while traveling such as camping, traveling by RV, boating, sailing, hotel excursions etc..

A 24-hour delay start timer for delayed cooking is great for busy families allowing you to have your food ready when you get home from a busy day at work. Automatic keep warm holds the temperature of the dish until you serve.

Product Description:

• Compact size: Great size for small households and side dishes, or anywhere space is limited. Has all the features of the Duo60 in a compact size.
• Replaces up to 7 appliances: combines 7 kitchen appliances in 1 to save you space, including: pressure cooker, slow cooker, rice cooker, steamer, saute, yogurt maker, and warmer.
• 14 one touch cooking presets for quicker cooking: soup/broth, meat/stew, bean/chili, poultry, saute/searing, steam, rice, porridge, steam, slow cook, keep Warm, yogurt, manual, and pressure cook.
• Best selling model: monitors pressure, temperature, keeps time, and adjusts heating intensity and duration to achieve your desired results every time. Prepare dishes up to 70% faster.
• Easy to clean: fingerprint-resistant stainless steel lid and components and accessories that are dishwasher safe.

Features:

• 7-in-1 Multi-Use Programmable Pressure Cooker – Pressure Cooker, Slow Cooker, Rice/Porridge Cooker, Yogurt Maker, Sauté/Searing Pan, Steamer, and Warmer
• 11 Smart Built-In Programs – Soup/Broth, Meat/Stew, Bean/Chilli, Slow Cook, Sauté/Searing, Rice, Porridge, Steam, Yogurt, Keep Warm, and Pressure Cook
• User-friendly, LED screen – Displays the cooking time status
• Dual Pressure Settings – For fast and flexible cooking – Cooking with high pressure reduces cooking time by up to 70% and the low pressure avoids overcooking delicate food
• Quick & Easy Program Adjustments – Need to make an adjustment after cooking has started? The Duo Mini allows you to easily adjust the settings, even while cooking is in progress
• Smart – Each program remembers 3 sets of customizations in “Less”, “Normal”, and “More” settings on all cooking programs
• Delay Start time – Up to 24 hours
• Pressure Cook – The function allows to pressure cook for up to 4 hours
• Slow Cooker – In addition to the (3) temperature settings, you have the flexibility to customize the cooking time between 0.5 – 20 hours for each temperature level
• Sauté – In addition to the (3) temperature settings; now, you can easily adjust the time to a maximum of 30-minute. The 30-minute maximum is a safety precaution
• Automatic Keep Warm – Up to 10 hours
• Energy efficient – Saves up to 70% of energy
• Stainless Steel Cooking Pot – Healthy, food grade 304 (18/8) – no chemical coatings with markings at ½ and ⅔ line to better guide one on max-fill levels for pressure cooking. The inner pot is dishwasher safe
• Exterior – Brushed stainless steel, finger print resistant with lid holder for left and right handed users. The stainless steel (18/8) lid is dishwasher safe
• Accessories included – Stainless steel (18/8) steam rack without handles, extra sealing ring
• Print Materials – Manual (English and French), Quick Reference Guide, and Recipe Booklet in English (includes cooking time tables)
• 10 Safety Mechanisms – UL and ULC certified
• Warranty – 12 months
• Dimensions: 11.81 x 10.51 x 10.98 inches
• Weight: 8.64 pounds
• Power supply: 120V – 60Hz
• Heating Element: 700 watts
• Power Supply Cord: 35 inches, detached, 3 prong plug

Pros:

• Large capacity
• Makes batch cooking a breeze
• Instant and slow cooking capability

Cons:

• Hands-off approach won’t be for everyone
• Takes up a lot of kitchen space

Our Verdict:

The Instant Pot Duo is so effective, you may as well donate everything else in your kitchen right now.

Conclusion:

At the price, the Instant Pot sits in the middle of the multi-cooker market, but when you consider how many other appliances it covers, it’s worth the investment. The array of options and programs is what clinches it for us – and what justifies the extra spend. All in? This is a great appliance for a home cook keen to stock up their freezer, feed crowds and get it all done with minimal fuss and washing up. A brilliant all-rounder. We hope you enjoyed our Instant Pot Duo Mini 7-in-1 Electric Pressure Cooker Review Guide For 2023-2024.