The Instant Pot Duo Crisp is a pressure cooker and an air fryer in one. Is it worthy of the hype? What can it do? Would I buy it again? Here’s my honest review.
Instant Pot + Air Fryer
I haven’t made it much of a secret that I am obsessed with my Instant Pot. Well, Instant Pots – I have three! I have quite a few Instant Pot recipes on here, and I’ve been teaching Instant Pot classes at The Chattery for a few years now. I also have a pretty passionate love for air frying as well.
Not too long before Christmas, I noticed a new Instant Pot product – the Instant Pot Duo Crisp. The Duo Crisp was, for all intents and purposes, Instant Pot’s answer to the Ninja Foodi, a pressure cooker/air fryer combo that I’d looked into but ultimately decided to forego just because I did not need one more gadget in my tiny kitchen.
The Duo Crisp, though, was pretty tempting. I could get rid of an Instant Pot and my air fryer, actually freeing up a little bit of space in my kitchen. It didn’t exactly work out like that (more on that in a minute) but I was still sold. I didn’t talk myself into it before Christmas, but in January I caught a sale on the Duo Crisp on the Kohl’s website so I decided to take the leap.
What are the Parts of the Instant Pot Duo Crisp?
The first thing that you notice about the Duo Crisp (or, at least, the first thing that I noticed) is that the box is freaking huge. It’s twice the size of a regular Instant Pot box, and when you open it up you realize why: the Duo Crisp has more parts than a regular Instant Pot. Here are the parts of the Instant Pot Duo Crisp:
- Instant Pot body
- Inner pot
- Pressure cooker lid (including the sealing ring, float valve, steam release handle, and anti-block shield)
- Air fryer lid + base (you set the lid on the base when it is hot)
- Air fryer basket
- Dehydrating/broiling tray to add a second level to the air fryer basket
- Condensation collector
How Big Is It?
Another reason that the box is so big is that, well, the Instant Pot is big. The Duo Crisp is an 8-quart Instant Pot, presumably to make it large enough to hold a decent-sized air fryer basket. My air fryer was a 5 1/2 quart air fryer, so I was okay with the size of the 8-quart Instant Pot.
I was concerned, however, that the large size of the 8-quart Instant Pot might be a little much for me. I typically recommend that attendees in my classes get a 6-quart Instant Pot, as, unless you have a very large family, the 6-quart should be plenty big enough to accommodate your needs.
There are only two of us in my house, so I definitely don’t need a gigantic Instant Pot. I worried that the 8-quart pot would be too large for my recipes, which were tested in a 6-quart pot. I needn’t have worried. I have not had any problems with recipes burning or not cooking correctly using the amounts or times that I tested in my original (6-quart) recipes.
What are the Settings on the Instant Pot Duo Crisp?
The Instant Pot Duo Crisp does not have as many settings as my Instant Pot Duo 7-in-1 or my Instant Pot Ultra, but that’s fine with me. Honestly, the only settings I use are: Pressure Cook, Sautè, Steam, and, on rare occasions, Slow Cook or Yogurt. The settings that are available are:
| Setting | Default Temperature | Suggested Use | Which Lid? |
| Air Fry | 400 degrees | Smaller foods: fresh or frozen fries, shrimp, frozen snacks, chicken tenders and smaller cuts of chicken. | Air Fryer |
| Roast | 380 degrees | Larger cuts of meat: pork or beef roasts, lamb, whole chicken, potatoes | Air Fryer |
| Bake | 365 degrees | Cakes, breads, pastries | Air Fryer |
| Broil | 400 degrees | Melting cheese, browning tops of foods | Air Fryer + broil/ dehydrate tray |
| Dehydrate | 125 degrees | Dehydrating fruits and vegetables, making jerky | Air Fryer + broil/ dehydrate tray |
| Pressure Cook and Steam | Lo Pressure | Fish and seafood, rice, soft vegetables | Pressure cook lid |
| Hi Pressure | Hard vegetables, chicken, meat, soups and stews | ||
| Sautè | Lo | Simmer, reduce, thicken, caramelize | No lid |
| Hi | Pan sear, stir-fry, sautè, brown | ||
| Slow Cook | Lo (comparable to low on a regular slow cooker, suitable for all-day cooking) | Soups, stews, roasts | Pressure cooker lid |
| Hi (comparable to high on a regular slow cooker, suitable for quicker slow cooker – usually about 3-4 hours) | Appetizers, chicken, sauces | ||
| Sous Vide | 133 degrees | Various dishes | Pressure cooker lid |
What are the Pros and Cons of the Duo Crisp?
| Pros | Cons |
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Would I Buy It Again?
I’m not going to lie, I haven’t tested the full capability of the Duo Crisp. I have used it for sautéing, pressure cooking, slow cooking, air frying, broiling, and baking. I have not yet used it for steaming, roasting, or dehydrating. It has worked perfectly in all of the applications for which I have used it, including baking banana bread in 3/4 of the time of the regular recipe. It doesn’t take up less space per se than my Instant Pot Duo and air fryer did, because of the separate air fryer lid, but I am okay with that. It has worked just as well as my traditional air fryer did for all air frying functions, including cooking bacon, making fries, and heating frozen snacks. Of course, the pressure cook settings are super-handy and I have not found any difference between how this 8-quart model cooks and how my 6-quart Instant Pot cooks. So, yes – I would definitely purchase the Instant Pot Duo Crisp again.
I could go on for days talking about how to use the Duo Crisp, but I won’t do that here. Instead, keep an eye out for recipes that include tutorials of how to use the different settings.
Note: Instant Pot also sells a stand-alone air fryer lid that converts 6-quart models to an air fryer. For more information, check out the listing on the Instant Pot website.
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