The Duo Nova is equipped with dual-pressure settings, giving you the option to cook at Low or High pressure. High pressure can reduce the cooking time by 2 to 6 times, while Low pressure prevents delicate foods from overcooking. It also has both automatic and manual Keep Warm programming to ensure that dishes are kept at ready-to-eat temperatures. A free Instant Pot app is available on iOS and Android mobiles, loaded with hundreds of easy recipes for almost all cuisines with plenty of great ideas to start your culinary venture.
You’re also getting a number of different one-touch cooking programs for things like soup, meat and stew, porridge and more, taking even more of the guesswork out of preparing a meal for your family. And with the 8-quart model, you’ll be able to prepare a lot of food — it’s arguably the best size for large families and those who entertain often. Instant Pot Ultra is one of the electric pressure cookers that comes to mind when you want a modern product with lots of smart programs (especially if you run an Ultra vs Duo Nova comparison). Its most popular design is the 6 quart Instant Pot, but it also comes in the 3 qt and 8 qt sizes, just like the Duo and Duo Nova or Instant Pot Lux. What makes the Instant Pot Ultra more noticeable is the large display and selection system (not as common on other Instant Pots). Furthermore, Ultra also has a cooking progress indicator, which may earn some admiration from beginners who can’t yet pressure cook or slow cook without worrying.
But before we start, I just want to make sure everyone knows I absolutely adore all Instant Pot models. They all have something that makes them incredibly useful in the kitchen, which is why I can’t choose just one best Instant Pot. However, I can select the best pressure cooker for a certain category of users, which is exactly what I’ll do for the Instant Pot Duo and Duo Nova.
During slow cooking the handles and sides all stayed cool, the lid reached 113 F/ 45 C which isn’t too warm to touch. Additionally, the quick steam release switch is separate from the steam valve, and ensures you can force the pressure to be released in a safer way. There’s also a progress bar on the LCD display screen to indicate the cooking status but these are minimal differences and this instant vortex is reflected in the similar price tags. It makes cooking big batches faster and easier than ever with the convenience of one-touch smart programs. This 10 qt pressure cooker is absolutely ideal if you’re cooking for a large family or group. It’s really great to be able to chuck all your raw ingredients into the cooker, knowing that there’ll be plenty of food to go around when it’s done.
Again, this product isn’t much different from the Duo electric pressure cooker, but it has some key features that help it stand out from the crowd. An automatic seal makes an Instant Pot even easier to use and is considered to be the safer option when pressure cooking. As a result, it’s fair to say that the manual seals on the Instant Pot Duo are instant vortex a bit of a drawback. The Instant Pot Air Fryer Lid is sold separately and is compatible with 6-quart Instant models that don’t already have air-frying capability (the Duo, Duo Nova, Duo Plus, Duo Gourmet, and Ultra). The Air Fryer Lid comes with a fry basket and other accessories; it allows you to air-fry straight from your pressure cooker.
This particular Instant Pot is a Walmart exclusive, but it’s almost identical to the standard Duo Nova aside from its front panel looking a bit different. It’s an upgraded version of the Instant Pot Duo, adding a lid that automatically seals shut when you close it. It’s a 7-in-1 device, combining a pressure cooker, yogurt maker, rice cooker, cake maker, slow cooker, egg cooker and sauté machine into one.
First up, slow cooked chili, the sauté function comes in handy here, allowing you to brown your meat and soften onions in the Instant Pot instead of having to use a separate pan or stove top. Despite the pot not having a non-stick coating there was no sticking during the sauté stage. We slow cooked our beef chili for six hours on the ‘more’ setting and the result was a delicious meaty chili with soft beef. The Instant Pot beeps to alert you that cooking has finished and the temperature of the chili at the end of cooking was 176 F/ 80 C. The chili wasn’t thickened to our liking but by switching back to saute it was easy to reduce it to the perfect consistency.