Instant Pot 6 Quart Vortex 4 in 1 Air Fryer Oven review

Our Verdict

The Instant Pot half dozen Quart Vortex four in i Air Fryer Oven is the fastest air fryer we tested.

For

Gives crispy just tender results
Excellent at roasting a chicken
Brusque cooking times
Exterior stays cool to the touch

Against

Baskets are not dishwasher safe
Noisy

Tom's Guide Verdict

The Instant Pot half-dozen Quart Vortex iv in ane Air Fryer Oven is the fastest air fryer we tested.

Pros

+
Gives crispy but tender results
+
Excellent at roasting a chicken
+
Curt cooking times
+
Outside stays cool to the touch on

Cons

-
Baskets are not dishwasher prophylactic
-
Noisy

Instant Pot 6 Quart Vortex 4 in 1 Air Fryer Oven: Specs

Size: 11.5 ten xiii ten 12.8 inches
Capacity: 6 quarts 2 pounds fries, 4 pound chicken
Controls: Digital
Modes: Air Fry, Roast, Bake, Reheat
Smart features: None

Non only is the Instant Pot six Quart Vortex 4 in ane Air Fryer Oven one of the best at delivering the crisis you dearest well-nigh fried foods — but information technology consistently delivers keen results in the shortest cooking times. This means you can go dinner on the table fast. The display is large and easy to read and the digital controls are intuitive to use.

Its design could be more user-friendly in terms of cleaning though, and it'due south non the quietest of air fryers. Read on for the total Instant Pot 6 Quart Vortex iv in i Air Fryer Oven review.

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Instant Pot vi Quart Vortex 4 in 1 Air Fryer Oven review: Cost and availability

The Instant Pot half dozen Quart Vortex 4 in 1 Air Fryer Oven is available at Best Buy for $99.99 and at Walmart for $99. It is available in black.

Instant Pot six Quart Vortex 4 in ane Air Fryer Oven review: Blueprint

The Instant Pot 6 Quart Vortex 4 in 1 Air Fryer Oven is a big blackness box, measuring 11.v ten 13 10 12.8 inches, that will require quite a bit of countertop space. However it is non terribly heavy at 12.1 pounds, so it'south easy to motility to a cabinet or closet if you lot don't plan to proceed it on brandish. It has a handle that protrudes for removing a single cooking basket. The control panel features big buttons that are clearly marked and a dial for controlling the setting, temperature and time. When you're not using it, the control pad blacks out so it doesn't appear obtrusive.

Instant Pot 6 Quart Vortex iv in 1 Air Fryer Oven review: Cooking operation

On our tests, we plant that the Instant Pot 6 Quart Vortex 4 in 1 Air Fryer Oven performed best on brussels sprouts and frozen French chips. In fact, it was the only air fryer to score full marks for frozen French chips, needing just 15 minutes to cook. It also scored highly for breaded craven besides, needing just thirteen minutes to cook this later preheating. Even so, it somewhat struggled for air frying chicken wings.

Instant Pot 6 Quart Vortex 4 in 1 Air Fryer Oven review — (Image credit: Tom's Guide)

There are no preset cooking programs on this air fryer; instead you need to set the temperature and time manually besides as the overall setting, such as air fry, roast or reheat. This tin can exist daunting if you're new to air frying. At that place'south too trivial guidance in terms of cooking charts supplied — you lot will need to become online to notice these.

Subsequently you lot ready your desired cooking temperature and time, it automatically goes into a preheat mode. At that place is no option to deactivate the preheat. This actually comes in use, because if your food isn't ready in one case time is up and y'all want to air fry it for a few more minutes, it will automatically revert to preheating once again.

Although the handbasket has a vi-quart capacity, you can't cook that quantity of food at once. For reasonable cooking times and all-time results, you'll but want to melt well-nigh i pound of food at a time or as much as tin can fit on the 10-inch foursquare bottom in a single layer. During cooking you go a prompt on the screen to turn the food, which is helpful every bit it'due south ever a good idea to rearrange food during air frying to get an fifty-fifty result.

Brussels sprouts, frozen French fries and breaded craven cutlets came out simply most perfect; all were browned, crisped, moist and tender. Homemade French fries came out reasonably browned and crispy without becoming dry or cardboard-like in just 18 minutes. This air fryer didn't perform quite so well on chicken wings though, as these were cooked to doneness, but could have been better browned and crisped. Every bit the manufacturer claims you can cook two pounds of French chips, we cooked a whole bag at once. Yes, the basket could hold that much and cook them quickly, but they came out uneven with some overly crisped and others nevertheless soft and stake, so we wouldn't recommend it for this.

The roast setting worked beautifully, turning out a whole roast chicken with a well-browned peel and juicy meat in just 50 minutes. Equally in other air fryers, the lesser wasn't crisped, but this is to be expected unless the chicken is rotated.

We cooked four iv-ounce hamburgers in the Instant Pot 6 Quart Vortex 4 in 1 Air Fryer Oven. After a 5-infinitesimal preheat, they cooked in 10 minutes. Browning was ameliorate on the second side and was similar to the coloring you lot get from broiling, rather than the deep brownish crusty exterior yous get from grilling or fifty-fifty pan frying. Only once again, there was no smoke and no greasy splatters on the cooktop or pan to clean up.

Instant Pot 6 Quart Vortex 4 in i Air Fryer Oven review: Ease of use and cleaning

Of all the air fryers we tested, this is one of the nearly intuitive air fryers to plan. The buttons are nicely sized, clearly marked, and quick to answer. To program the temperature and time, you lot turn and press a dial. The basket has a rack on which the food rests and is like shooting fish in a barrel to pull out and reposition in the air fryer.

During cooking, no spot on the exterior of this air fryer gets hot enough to crusade a burn. The highest temperature that nosotros recorded was 126.6°F on the lower-front side of the machine. Both the handle and the controls don't get much warmer than room temperature. We measured a noise level of 66.5dB during heating, which is the loudest of the air fryers we had on test. It's worth mentioning that this is not so noisy that you won't be able to accept a conversation over the top of it while it's running.

Both the handbasket and the rack are nonstick and take relatively few crevices, making each easy to wash by paw. This is a good thing as they are not dishwasher safety.

With this air fryer you get a very limited guide which does explain how to operate the oven but for more details, cooking charts, and recipes yous have to visit the company website.

Instant Pot 6 Quart Vortex 4 in 1 Air Fryer Oven review: Verdict

The Instant Vortex half dozen-quart Air Fryer impressed usa with its smashing air frying results on brussel sprouts and, in item, frozen French fries. We likewise loved that it could deliver these results speedily. While it doesn't have preset programs for air frying, it is exceptionally easy to apply as the buttons are clear and the brandish isn't cluttered with icons.

However, if you're new to air frying and need the suggested settings and convenience that presets provide, yous may be disappointed; plus, there's no cooking guidelines in the manual then you have to visit Instant Brand's website for that information.

This appliance about took the top spot in our air fryers test, but the Cosori Smart Wifi Air Fryer 5.8qt performed slightly better in terms of craven wings and breaded chicken.

Sharon Franke is a journalist who specializes in testing and writing near kitchen equipment. A 30-year veteran of the Good Housekeeping Institute, Sharon also worked equally a professional chef in New York Urban center restaurants for seven years. In her free time, she is an gorging home cook who is in the process of mastering the art of baking sour dough bread.