A recipe book is not included, but the Instant Pot website does have How-To Videos and as well as a good cooking time table and answers questions. There isn’t much information on using the dehydrate feature, nor many recipes yet on the Instant Pot app or website but I expect they’re working on getting more recipes. The Vortex Plus XL is an accurate air fryer, varying within 5 to 10 degrees of the desired temperature. Our taste judges pay special attention to the texture, evenness, and cook times of various food items during our cooking test.
While it’s very similar to the 4-in-1 air fryer, the standout feature in the Vortex Plus is the dehydrator. If you’re looking for a reliable air fryer that can also produce perfectly dried fruits and veggies, the Vortex Plus is for you. Just like the 4-in-1, the Vortex Plus has a roomy, 6-quart basket with a nonstick coating for easy cleanup. Equipped with pre-programmed settings and a temperature-controlling dial, the interface is also super user-friendly. The only downside to this model is the broiler function, which is pre-set to 400 degrees F and for two minutes and didn’t perform well for us in testing. Although the basket has a 6-quart capacity, you can’t cook that quantity of food at once.
We were excited about this feature, since we’ve noticed air frying smells—especially when it comes to greasy foods like fries—tend to overtake the kitchen and linger for a while. The air fryer comes with a QR-scannable guide that includes cooking times for various foods. Generally speaking, and as is the case with all air fryers, these serve as a guideline as you grow accustomed to the device. As is the case with cooking in any oven, in reality cooking times may vary depending on the size, quantity, and even quality of the ingredients being used.
This combination air fryer dreams big and gets a lot of things right, but it’s not without its flaws, and my testing experience left me hoping Instant will make improvements and rerelease it. For anyone who doesn’t have access to the Instant Brands app? It’s going to take a lot of trial and error to learn how to cook in this air fryer. We put this machine through a wide range of tests to see whether its air frying abilities really impressed us. I used the moosoo air fryer Slim for two weeks, cooking various meals from breakfast through to dinner, as well as a few tasty treats, to test its limits and performance.
Even trimmed down and trussed up, my small chicken still dragged the bottom of the foil-lined tray on each rotation. I cooked it at 380 for 1 hour, and it came out done, but pretty average with less than crispy skin. I’d recommend lower and slower if you’re going to instant vortex cook a full chicken in the Vortex Plus, or try experimenting with a smaller bird like a guinea hen if you can find one at your local butcher. The maker of the Instant Pot expands its empire with an air fryer that can do more than just serve up mozzarella sticks.
The baskets are also very easy to clean, even though there are two of them. The only bit that is difficult is the groove around the window, which collects crispy bits. A toothpick or bristled brush does the trick, but cleaning these bits out is a little more involved than a simple swipe of a sponge. Both slide in and out with ease, only requiring one hand to remove them. The baskets have large windows, and the lights inside make it very easy to see how far along in the cooking process you are.
I was able to find just one chicken under 5 pounds at my local grocery, and it was labeled 4.2 pounds (still technically too large for the weight limit). I removed the packaging, giblets and some extra fat, and the chicken’s final weight was 3.8 pounds. Small enough for the Vortex Plus, but not large enough to leave any leftovers for a family of four. It is the most versatile, probably most famous Asian sauce in the world. This humble vegetable is so tender with crispy edges and doused in an amazing sesame sauce. These uniquely delicious and crispy rice paper dumplings are so much more than your traditional dumplings or ordinary spring rolls.
In addition, this model suffers from a similar flaw to other models, in that the touchscreen can quickly become grubby. As stylish as the display here feels, greasy, food-stained fingers on reflective surfaces are the downside. The zesty lemon flavor, punchy pepper notes, and succulent chicken thighs make this easy recipe a winner for any day of the week. Pair this lemon pepper chicken with your favorite sides like steamed rice, side salad, or green beans for a complete meal for the whole family.