As such, the pot can be used to cook soups (or a soup broth), beef stew, bean chili, and more. In addition, it is equipped with several other cooking functions like instant vortex slow cook, steam, yogurt making, rice making, pressure cook, and Keep Warm module. If you don’t already have an Instant Pot, the Duo Evo Plus is a strong contender.
The SV stands for sous vide, and the newest version replaces the Sterilize button with a Sous Vide button. It has an LED screen and the basic lid that you turn to release the pressure. However, if you typically cook a main dish and a side dish, you may be happier simply buying two 6-quart Instant Pots so you can cook both at the same time. Depending on what you’re cooking, the 6-quart will fit a double or triple batch. Some odors, especially from intense recipes, stick to the sealing ring.
So, after all that, which Instant Pot model would we actually recommend? In truth, the Duo and the Duo Nova are very similar products and in a lot of instant vortex situations, they will offer exactly the same functionality and ease of use. The final drawback of the Duo Nova is that it is not widely available.
Traditional water bath canners can only reach temperatures of 212 degrees Fahrenheit, which isn’t hot enough to kill off bacteria that grows in foods with low acid levels. Pressure canning takes care of that, keeping you and your loved ones safe. 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 a bit of a drawback. However, The Instant Pot Duo Nova also comes in an extra special 10 liquid quartz size. This huge Instant Pot is absolutely ideal if you’re cooking for a large family or need to cater for a party.
You may remember your grandmother’s old stove top pressure cooker, and wonder “Will My Instant Pot Blow Up? ” The amazing difference between an electric pressure cooker and the old school ones is there are tons of safety features that make it impossible for it to blow up. Additionally, these features make using a pressure cooker super easy.
The Instant Pot Duo Nova main functions are pressure cook, steam, slow cook, saute and keep warm, rice cooker and yogurt maker, and also has 14 one touch preset programs. For a speedy Thai red curry, the manual pressure cook function was our choice. As with the chili ,we used the saute function to brown chicken legs before adding all the other ingredients and pressure cooking on high for 20 minutes. Add to that the seven-and-a-half-minute heat up time and we were pleased with the fast cooking time which produced perfectly cooked chicken that fell off the bone with a temperature of 198 F/ 92 C. The pressure release was a slightly louder 79dB and while the sides of the pot and all the handles stayed cool, the metal part of the lid reached a high temperature of 187 F/ 86 C. The steam function uses pressure cooking to steam and again, we struggled to find a good recommendation for timings and plumped for four minutes with one cup of water in the bottom of the pot.
If a recipe doesn’t state whether to use high or low pressure, you can probably assume it’s high pressure. Under high pressure, the fiber in the food is tenderized and flavors develop in a very short time. Nutrient-rich steam condenses in the pot instead of evaporating and nutritional value is retained because of the speed of cooking. By pushing the pressure level, I’m able to adjust to low or high pressure.
The Instant Pot Duo Nova hits a sweet spot of offering some of the newer, more convenient features without a high-end price. The Duo Nova has the button layout of the Duo mixed with the auto-seal lid of the Duo Ultra and the blue LCD display from the Duo Plus. All of my recipes are written to work in ANY model of Instant Pot. Some models come to pressure a little faster than others, but the cook times are within a few minutes.