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.
Regardless of which Instant Pot you buy, don’t forget the accessories. If you’re researching your first Instant Pot purchase or considering upgrading your current one, here’s a quick comparison of the Instant Pot Duo Nova vs Ultra. Please note this product is out of stock in store but available for Pre-order. Other than that, you have to pay close attention to the small parts of your lid. The good news is the brand has thousands of recipes that you can try out.
Both the Instant Pot Duo and the Duo Nova are available in 3, 6, and 8 liquid quartz. Being able to choose from three different sizes is great and instant vortex means you can get something that fits in your kitchen perfectly. This range of sizes isn’t typically offered by other pressure cooker brands.
The mini 3 quart models will have a few fewer programs than its larger 6- and 8-quart siblings. The texture of stewed beef was succulent, tender, and more flavorsome and delicious than conventional cooking. Bear in mind, there is a fair bit of prep work to do before the cooking process begins. Select the Saute program to brown onions or meat before pressing Cancel to stop sauteing once you’re happy. I was impressed by the searing process, which didn’t take as long to brown as it would in a conventional frying pan. The Instant Pot reaches the ideal, high temperature to brown and crisp the meat before adding in the rest of your ingredients and stock to the pot.
I would recommend the 7-in-1 moosoo air fryer Pressure Cooker back when it was launched, especially if you’re looking for a generous pot capacity. It’s the brand’s only product line that offers a 10-quart cooking pot. It’s more convenient when making both the primary and side dishes in your pressure cooker. Instead of cleaning the same pot after cooking, you can prepare the next dish and cook it right away. Helen is a freelance writer who specializes in kitchen appliances and has written for some of the biggest home-related titles around.
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.