Instant Pot 6QT VORTEX Plus Air Fryer, 6-in-1, Air Fry, Broil, Dehydrate, Crisp, Roast, Reheat, Bake, Dishwasher-Safe Airfryer basket, from the Makers of Instant Pot, Stainless Steel

Robert United States

Why didnt I buy one of these things sooner??

I have had this for about ten days now and made five items. I dont usually leave reviews but thought I would for this air fryer. Its pretty great as far as I am concerned. Pro and Cons. Let me start with the cons. CONS 1. Complaints about plastic smell. Not really a con for me but I see others complaining so I will mention it. I had no problem. I ran the machine through several air fry cycles (400 degrees for 15 minutes) before I cooked any food and noticed the oft complained about plastic smell the first time. It then decreased each time I ran it through another cycle until I could barely notice it. Some reviews say to remove the silicon food grade tabs on the grate insert but note that the grate will then easily fall out when you try to empty the pan by tipping it over. It might eventually fall out with the tabs in place but I used a tongs to prevent the grate from falling out any time I tipped the pan over to empty it. 2. My big complaint is the instructions. They are sparse. It took me awhile to realize I can pull out the pan anytime I want to flip my food and the machine will simply start where it left off when the pan is replaced. If you already flipped your food you can just leave the machine be for the ten seconds it tells you to flip your food and resumes air frying. My learning consisted of trial and error (still doing that learning cook times and when to flip the food) and looking at air fryer demonstration videos and recipes online. The intstant website appears to have no recipes for the air fryer and the recipe page only has recipes for their insta pot. PROS The food!! From left to right I first did french fries then chicken thighs, steak, fish and grilled ham and cheese. FRENCH FRIES - Came out crispy and delicious. The picture is actually my second batch. The first batch went in, then I realized the machine was preheating. I just left the fries in. The machine then went to its 15 minute standard time at 400 degrees. The fries were OK but some were overcooked probably due to going in during the preheat cycle. The second batch went in after the machine preheated and used 12 minutes (after I learned how to adjust the time). This batch was much much improved. I used store bought frozen fries which seem to work really well. For fresh potatoes I learned I had to soak the fries first in water to get rid of some of the starch and dry them with paper towels otherwise the fries didnt turn out as crispy as the store bought frozen fries. My only slight complaint is the cooking grate would eventually fall out when I tipped the pan over to empty the fries onto a plate. I learned to hold the grate with tongs to keep it from falling out. Chicken - I love fried chicken so this was the real test. I made four bone in thighs. Two were egg wash and then panko bread crumbs (on the left of the picture) and two (on the right of the picture) were eggwash and seasoned flour. All four thighs were sprayed with cooking oil (PAM). I learned this is a must to get a good fry. As you can see some of the panko came off during the cook from the fan. The panko also tended to burn. Many recipes use panko so the food gets crispy but for me it was just OK. On the other hand the chicken with the eggwash and then flour was GREAT. Crispy, juicy, as good as when I deep fry with oil. STEAK - This is my go to method of making a steak when its too cold outside to grill. It took me awhile to get the time down but the steak turned out really good. I used the broil cycle at 380 degrees. I used an instant read thermometer to get a perfect medium-medium well of 140 inside. I first had the steak on 17 minutes (flipped half way) but it the internal temp was only 120. I then did another 5 minutes. The steak was juicy and perfectly cooked for me. FISH - This was my one "Its OK" dish that I have work on. I did cod loins at 400 degrees air fry for 8 minutes (flipping half way). I used eggwash and seasoned flour with a spray of cooking oil. The coating wasnt as crispy when I deep fried with oil. Next time I will try increasing the time to see if that improves it. I didnt want to overcook the fish which it wasnt. GRILLED HAM AND CHEESE - This was the last item prepared. It was probably one of the best grilled sandwiches I have had in a long time. Crispy on the outside with hot gooey cheese and ham on the inside. My go to way to make a grilled cheese from now on. I buttered the outside of the bread and put the machine 6 minutes on air fry at 400 flipping halfway. Like the french fries, the picture was my second sandwich. The first I had at 8 minutes and that was too long, the sandwich was overcooked. But when I got the time down it made a GREAT grilled ham and cheese. Easy to clean. I just washed the grate in warm soapy water and wiped the pan out with a paper towel after each use. So that its. I hope this helps other people looking at this machine or other air fryers. I am happy with mine so far. Its just a matter of trial and error until you learn the temps and cooking times that work for you.

Mark Karber United States

My new best friend!

Okay I'll say right off, maybe I should get more friends! But as a man who is a self-styled amateur chef, I have been pining for one of these types of cookers for a couple of years now. I always find a way to squeeze in one more item on the countertop. I choose this model based on reviews, features and brand name. I use my Instant Pot pressure cooker on a semi-regular basis and it is also a great cooking appliance, so I trust the brand name, and it doesn't disappoint. I first took the air fryer into the garage and ran it through a couple of cycles before using it in the kitchen. There was clearly some smell as noted elsewhere, likely from manufacturing. By the time I used it "for real" on the 3rd run, barely any smell. And by the next time...no discernable smell at all. My complaints are small, but let me get those out of the way. I wished it preheated up to temp faster. It's advertised in such a way that you think in 60 seconds, you're cooking. In my experience, it's 5+ minutes to get it to 400. Faster than an oven for sure, but not quite the blink of an eye I was hoping for. Second - the beeper is not loud enough. It beeps to tell you it's now at cooking temp, to rotate food or when food is done. For some reason, it seems louder to tell you food is done than it does to tell you the preheating is finished and to add food. You've got to be very close, so you can hear (or see) when it's up to proper temp. Since most foods are specifically timed, if you don't get your food in shortly after it heats up, it will start counting down whether there is food in it or not. Neither of these takes away from the overall 5 stars. I've had it for about 4 weeks and have tried a variety of items. I used the roast feature for skinless salmon. Amazing taste and quick. I found that 10 minutes was perfect for my fish. Others might find mine slightly overcooked, so experiment. It took about 3 tries for my fresh sweet potato fries to come out perfectly. I finally got it right at 20 minutes at 400 in the basket using the air fry function. Evenly cooked and delish. I did homemade coconut shrimp. I can't remember the exact time - it seems like 12 minutes at 380 but I'm going by memory. There are recipes out there to cross-check my memory. Again - used the air fry function. Baked potatoes were the best I've ever made at home. If you like potato skin, check this out. I rubbed them in olive oil, then lightly sprinkled sea salt, black pepper, and a blend of spices that is mostly garlic powder on the outside. These were large potatoes but I guessed and I guessed right - 400 degrees on bake setting for 50 minutes. Perfectly done inside and a nice crispy and tasty skin. You'll have to take a stab at it based on potato size. HUGE potatoes could be up to 60 minutes. Small taters - might be as low as 25 or 30 minutes. Other items I've done are quick prep items. Some frozen and breaded shrimp were perfectly done at 8 minutes at 400. Frozen tater tots same temp at 8-10 minutes. I sprayed a light coating of olive oil and salt on the tator tots. Crispy and delish. Everything so far has been easy and delicious. I have not used all functions - only bake, air fry, and broil so far. If you're on the fence and you like to cook, take the leap! 3/5/23 update: still really enjoying my air fryer. I find that it makes fish taste amazing. The dinner shown in the photo is flounder and sides. The flounder was cooked about 7 minutes using the broil function. Rubbed a bit of avocado oil, then used some fresh thyme and lemon pepper seasoning and a touch of garlic spice blend. Squeezed some lemon over the top, and broiled perfectly. I still use it, still enjoy it and continue to recommend it!

glosh22 United States

Buy this!! After using for three weeks, we bought a second one!!!

I have had air fryers before and my Samsung range has an air fry feature. All of these sort of left me thinking air fryers were not really very good. Then I visited with friends who owned this air fryer. WOW!! This actually makes food BETTER than any other cooking method!! I use the 2 we have at least 3 x each a day. They are AMAZING!!! Everything comes out great. I had a bit of trial and error at first but even then the food was better than other air fryers. We cook steak, fish, burgers, fried breaded foods, biscuits, hot dogs, grilled cheese, other grilled sandwiches, frozen veggies, a small roast and more in it! The food is BETTER than cooking in a skillet on the stove, in my oven, or in the oil fryer. If it is not so for you, you are doing it wrong. Lol I actually use the air fry feature for nearly everything. If it is something that I haven't done yet, I ask Alexa for temps, duration and which method. We usually go with air fry, even with biscuits. Alexa sometimes gives inaccurate cooking times. I tend to add a minute or two to what she says lol. I could look it up of course in the info the air fryer comes with, but for me, Alexa is faster. We love this so much that I am getting rid of our indoor grill as I just don't use it now (and I love that grill...this is just easier, faster and way less clean up). I have read things about odor from the unit. I am sorry but come on...every new appliance has smells. You need to wash it as they suggest before first use. Then use it a couple times. That smell, which was minimal anyway, goes away. We are now going to buy a double basket side by side because this just makes amazing food. We use 2 x 4 qt units now. We are going to add the bigger, double basket one for when we have company or a bigger meal. I love the light feature and use it a lot to avoid opening the unit before time to flip. Noise? What noise? This thing is pretty quiet. Clean up is a breeze!!!! The controls are super easy to use. My son and husband, who rarely cooked for themselves, both use this now and they both love it!! So BONUS!! LOL Extra time for me! The size is great and it looks wonderful on our counters. It is easy to keep the outside of unit clean too. Just a quick wipe and done. My family now is eager to try new foods because of how wonderful this cooks everything! We have eating issues and autism issues in our home that makes new foods a challenge. Well, no longer. Since this cooked the foods they already loved BETTER, they now are not hesitant to try new foods. That alone is amazing! I have been fighting this eating thing for 20 years. Now, when we eat out, my son has more options when ordering because of this air fryer! And you may be thinking that perhaps I was just a bad cook. No. I am a good cook. I even ran a restaurant for years. People love my cooking. Now, I can cook even better. I am still blown away by that. The old way is no longer the best way. I am 61 so that realization was a bit mind blowing. Summary....Buy it. It will change your life!! I was honestly shocked but this cooks better than any other method. You will love it!!!

4Jays Canada

I now understand the hype

First impressions: Unopened damaged box looked like there might be some damage inside but product was ok, no doubt due to secure packing. It’s much larger than I had envisioned. It’s well made. It’s easy to clean the basket and inner tray with a bit of soapy water. I made sure not to immerse the basket. Wiped interior and exterior with a damp paper towel. Not much of an instruction booklet but luckily it’s very intuitive to use. Simple operation to change temp from °F to °C and to change presets. Ran an initial test run to break it in. Unlike many other users, there was only a very faint plastic smell on first use (during the test run) that dissipated quickly. I also did not find it to overly loud as some reviewers claimed. There is a hum, which you’d expect from any appliance with a fan, but it’s certainly not what I found to be loud. Display is large and easy to read. Controls are intuitive. Tried a small batch of (Costco) fries - Airfry 20 minutes @400°F. Next time will reduce time to 18 minutes. Very crisp!! Lovely colour. I’m impressed. Super easy clean up with soapy water. I can envision multiple ways to use this appliance everyday. Bonus: rapid preheat, doesn’t heat up the house like an oven, relatively quiet, quick and even cooking, easy non-stick cleanup. Very happy with my purchase. And the price was reasonable although it increased immediately (within minutes) after I bought it and fluctuates wildly from week to week. Nonetheless, I bought 2 more to set aside as gifts.