An all-in-one electric pressure and multi-cooker is a clever piece of kit designed to take the fuss out of cooking, while saving you time in the kitchen. It’s likely we’ll be seeing these compact cooking gadgets crop up in the Black Friday sales, so we thought we’d take a closer look at one of the best Instant Pot models out there.
Designed to make it easy for you to whip up gourmet meals at the touch of a button, the Instant Pot Duo Nova $87.95 / £68 / AU$129.71 is a versatile piece of kit that performs a number of tasks within its compact body. It will help you prepare a delicious home-cooked meal in a third of the time it would take the conventional way and is ideal for those who have busy schedules, or for those who, quite simply, just can’t be bothered to cook.
The Instant Pot Duo Nova was released in August as an updated version of the Instant Pot Duo. We have reviewed the Instant Pot Duo V2 in depth here on TechRadar and gave it the thumbs up for its large capacity and batch cooking abilities. To give you a heads up on the Instant Pot Duo Nova however, we’re having a closer look at its tech specs here.
The Bottom Line: Want to be able to enjoy tasty meals quickly and without having to toil away over a hot stove? Then the Instant Pot Duo Nova multi-functional cooker provides a clever solution with minimum fuss so you can ‘set it and forget it’.
Pros: Useful for preparing evening meals and breakfasts alike, you can use the Instant Pot as an automatic pressure cooker as well as a slow cooker, a rice maker, a steamer, a place to sauté and reheat foods and more. The Instant Pot Duo Nova has been designed with a sleek steel body and comes in four sizes to suit the number of people you want to cook for. Its largest ‘10-quart’ capacity model is big enough to feed a huge gang of friends, but still small enough in overall size to store with relative ease.
Cons: As the number-one selling electric multi-cooker in the US, Instant Pot is a brand that stands out in this area for its intuitive design and versatile offering. If you type multi-cooker into Google however, you’ll find a host of well-respected brands who are also adding stylish pressure and multi-cookers to their collections.
While they may not be as well known as Instant Pot, their designs do come with similarly enticing, time-saving cooking options and inspiration – all at competitive prices. Look out for designs from the likes of Sage, Ninja, Cusinart and Tefal, whose multi-cooker designs we think shouldn’t be brushed off without careful consideration.
Instant Pot Duo Nova: Everything you need to know
The Instant Pot Duo Nova has a range of fast and flexible cooking settings that let you boil, simmer, bake, roast, slow cook and more, with all the action taking place in one pot and with one touch of a button. It’s a simple matter of setting the timer and letting the multi-cooker work its magic. The Instant Pot Duo Nova has a comprehensive tech spec, which we’ve highlighted here:
Easy seal lid: The Instant Pot Duo Nova’s updated features include an easy seal lid. This means that the lid will automatically set to seal when you close it – which can sometimes be tricky to remember – and it will release steam conveniently with a press of the quick-release button.
Size: It comes in four sizes – a 3 quart that’s good for rice and smaller side dishes and meals for up to two people, a 6 quart that will feed up to six people and an 8 quart, ideal for cooking large batches. Finally, there's a 10-quart model that is enough for a full-on cooking event.
Cooking programmes: While like the Duo it give you 7 appliances in 1, the display on the Instant Pot Duo Nova has been given a fresh new look with easy to read icons. This means it’s easier to access the 10 safety features and timed programs for foods such as broth, soup, chilli, poultry and porridge. The bright LED display will also keep you informed of what’s going on inside and tell you how much cooking time is left. As well as being able to pressure cook, you can slow cook and sauté and make use of the handy ‘keep warm’ feature should you wish.
Instant Pot Duo Nova: the final word
If you’re keen to give multi-cooking a go and want to take comfort in the knowledge that you’re choosing a popular and well-known brand, the Instant Pot Duo Nova is worth considering. As well as saving time and effort in the kitchen, with its range of inspirational recipe ideas it will make your weekly meal planning a breeze.
- Best Instant Pots and slow cookers: hearty grub, hardly any work
TechRadar is scouring every retailer and rounding up all the top deals over the Black Friday period, and we’ve put all the best Black Friday deals and Cyber Monday deals in easy-to-navigate articles to help you find the bargains you’re looking for.
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