Are you looking for one of the best rated electric pressure cookers with a stainless steel pot and LCD screen? Look no further than the Instant Pot Duo Plus! Our Instant Pot Duo Plus review looks at features, accessories, release dates, recipe app, pot sizes and pressure levels. We also make a quick comparison between this model, the IP-DUO and the Ultra electric pressure cookers.
Instant Pot Duo Plus: Overview
This Instant Pot electric pressure cooker belongs to the popular and reliable IP-DUO series. However, the Duo Plus is a new incarnation for 2017 with an LCD screen and new cooking programs.
The LCD screen is large and shows white text on a blue background. This makes it bright and easy to read. It displays four new status icons: Heat, Pressure Cook, Keep Warm On/Off and Sound On/Off. It also displays time information, heating level (less, normal, more) and pressure-cook setting (low, high). The ability to mute the beeping noises might be useful when you make yogurt overnight.
The Instant Pot Duo Plus has three new programs: Cake, Egg and Sterilize. The Cake program can cook cheesecake or chocolate cake. The Egg program provides a convenient way to make hard-boiled eggs in just a few minutes. The Sterilize program can be used for pasteurizing dairy products. You may also sterilize bottles, jars and utensils. However, it is not suitable for pressure canning.
The Duo Plus has a stainless steel inner cooking pot, lid and steam rack. The inner cooking pot has a food grade stainless steel (304 18/8) surface, while the outer pot has a 3-ply bottom for efficient heating. Therefore, it is free from non-stick coatings that can get scratched or chip off!
This electric pressure cooker does not disappoint when it comes to safety. It has no less than 10 safety mechanisms to prevent a pressure-cooking catastrophe.
What is in the box?
- Condensation collector
- detachable lid
- electric pressure cooker
- instruction manual
- measuring cup
- power cable
- recipe booklet
- serving spoon
- soup spoon
- stainless steel pot (6-quart size)
- stainless steel steam rack with handles
Smartphone Recipe App
Good news for smartphone users! Instant Pot has recently launched a new free recipe app for Android and Apple devices. The app gives you access to more than 300 recipes in a variety of cooking styles. The recipe app guides you through the whole process and shows you which buttons to press and what to do to create delicious food in the Instant Pot cookers.
What pressure can it achieve?
The Duo Plus has two pressure settings. Low pressure is about 6 to 7 psi. High pressure is about 10 to 11 psi. It cannot achieve a pressure of 15 psi like a stove top pressure cooker.
Instant Pot IP-DUO vs. Duo Plus
How does the Instant Pot IP-DUO electric pressure cookers compare to the IP-DUO PLUS?
The basic specifications of the cookers are the same. The biggest difference is the updated control panel with its LCD screen and extra programs. The Duo Plus is promoted as a “9-in-1” kitchen gadget, while the IP-DUO is a “7-in-1” appliance. The IP-DUO models do not have the Cake, Egg and Sterilize programs. Also, the Duo Plus does not have an adjust key: you can simply keep pressing the program button to choose between the less, normal or more settings.
Still, the IP-DUO cookers are available in three pot sizes: 3-quart, 6-quart and 8-quart. The Duo Plus is only available with a 6-quart capacity.
Instant Pot Duo Plus vs. Ultra
They both have a blue LCD screen and similar smart program options. They both are only available with a 6-quart capacity. However, there are a few small differences.
The Instant Pot Ultra has a larger LCD screen with a central dial controller, which eliminates the need for individual program buttons. The “Ultra” program provides you with the option of custom programming. It also has a longer 6-hour maximum pressure-cooking time and a new steam release button for safer steam release. Therefore, the Ultra has more features, but it is also more expensive than the Duo Plus.
You might be interested in reading our Instant Pot Ultra review.
Why buy the Duo Plus?
We would buy the Instant Pot Duo Plus 60 instead of the IP-DUO60 because it has an improved control panel with a bright LCD screen. A program for boiling eggs is a welcome addition, even though it is not faster than an electric egg cooker. Nevertheless, you do not have to buy and own an egg cooker for cooking eggs: simply use the Duo Plus and its Egg program to boil eggs. You can even make yogurt with its Yogurt program!
The Duo Plus has buttons for each smart program. It also has buttons for adjusting the pressure level, delay start time (up to 24 hours) and keep warm on/off (up to 10 hours). The plus/minus buttons are a definite plus and can be used to adjust the cooking time.
Its stainless steel pot is an asset when compared to other electric pressure cookers with non-stick coated pots. However, it is not available with a larger capacity pot. The 6-quart pot size might be enough for two or three people, but not for a large family. You might have to consider buying the Instant Pot IP-DUO80 if you have a family with four or more mouths to feed.
It seems like the Instant Pot Duo Plus has a lot of good points which add up to make it one of the best electric pressure cookers that money can buy (check price on Amazon).