It’s also great for college students who need small appliances for their dorm rooms. Overall, we’re a fan of the Instant™ Vortex® 6-Quart Air Fryer. It’s held up well – and the size is perfect for a couple who eats a normal amount of food. We also made a frozen chicken breast and it turned out the same, just with slightly longer cooking time. We have also developed a standard testing criteria for every air fryer we buy and try. We’ve made almost 200 unique items in this air fryer and it’s almost always worked out well.
We cooked four 4-ounce hamburgers in the Instant Pot 6 Quart Vortex 4 in 1 Air Fryer Oven. Browning was better on the second side and was similar to the coloring you get from broiling, rather than the deep brown crusty exterior you get from grilling or even pan frying. But once again, there was no smoke and no greasy splatters on the cooktop or pan to clean up. Like with the Instant Pot, there will be a learning curve with the Plus. It isn’t as straightforward as following the oven or air-fry directions on your packaged foods. You’ll probably need to lower the temperature while you’re baking and the air fry mode may need to run longer than expected.
But because you can control this in 4.5-quart sections, you don’t have to fire up the whole air fryer if you’re cooking a meal for one or a side dish. If you’re looking for an air fryer upgrade, this could be perfect. I’ve been testing air fryers regularly for a year, and have become very familiar with the strengths and weaknesses of various features, as well as what to look for in everyday use. And less noise doesn’t come at the expense of high-quality results – the Instant Vortex Slim upkeeps its siblings’ fantastic legacy of perfectly air-fried meals. Its temperature settings range from 95ºF / 35ºC to 400ºF / 205ºC, and the timer can go up to 60 minutes.
Best of all it does it all without heating up your whole house. One of the features we were most excited about was the rotisserie spit, so we tried that out next. First, we set the Vortex to Roast and let it preheat to its default 380 degrees. While that was happening, we slid our 4-pound chicken onto the rotisserie spit.
This air fryer also has a few extra bells and whistles that helped it stand out from the rest. It has built-in safety features like overheat protection and an auto-off sensor that powers the oven down when not in use. The Instant Vortex has a 1-year limited warranty and replacement parts can be purchased separately. Combining modern oven technology in a countertop appliance has been achieved with the Instant Omni Air Fryer Toaster Oven.
When you put food on multiple trays at at time, it doesn’t cook evenly, so you must swap the trays halfway through your cooking time. In comparison to other air fryers on the market, this is in the lower range but does more. Are you curious about all the other air fryers we tested out? Of course, that will depend on what you’re cooking, and therein lies my biggest issue with this machine.
The air fryer basket is non-stick meaning it’s easy to wipe down or clean with a little soap and water (never submerge the whole basket, though, only fill it/wipe it out with a cloth). The instant pot duo nova retails for $150 and while that’s on the higher end for an air fryer, the appliance does so, so much more. With six additional smart programs, the Vortex can replace other common kitchen gadgets—saving you money and precious cabinet and counter space.
This is the function that I think will get the least amount of use in my kitchen. This humble vegetable is so tender with crispy edges and doused in an amazing sesame sauce. Potatoes—in all forms—came out of instant vortex evenly crispy. I preferred the lightweight, easy cleanup, and simple design of the Instant Vortex 6 Quart Air Fryer. In fact, I liked it so much I bought a second one to keep in my RV. There are a handful of Instant Vortex Air Fryer Oven recipes on the Instant Pot website.