Instant Pot Duo Plus with Whisper-Quiet review: One appliance for all your cooking needs

If you’re intrigued by the world of pressure cookers but you’re also hungering for a sous vide appliance, the Instant Pot Duo Plus with Whisper-Quiet has your back. With an upgraded nine settings from the entry-level Instant Pot Rio’s seven, the Duo Plus can wrangle cakes, rice, and stews in minutes. But is it enough to be one of our best Instant Pots?

I made a decadent chocolate fudge cake, soup, legumes, steamed veggies, creme brulee, rice, and sauteed onions in the Duo Plus with Whisper-Quiet multi-cooker. I adored the touchpad and dial for adjusting settings, and while the Duo Plus looked great on my kitchen counter, its bulk meant that it was a struggle to hide away in a cupboard in between uses. 

But if you’ve the space for a 13 inch multi-cooker, this could be a great appliance to minimize cooking times for busy weeknight meals. With its 6QT capacity, you can cook hearty and nutritious hot meals for the entire family, too. But is it worth $149? To find out, keep reading this Instant Pot Duo Plus with Whisper-Quiet review.

Instant Pot Duo Plus review: Cheat sheet

• What is it? A mid-range pressure cooker with more settings than the entry-level Rio
• Who is it for? People who want settings like sous vide and rice on their Instant Pot
• What does it cost? £129 from Instant Pot U.K. and $149 from Amazon
• What do we like? The range of cooking modes and sleek design
• What don’t we like? Some of the modes feel a little minimal — sous vide has no way to alter water temperature

Instant Pot Duo Plus review: Specs

Instant Pot Duo Plus review: Price & availability

The Instant Pot Duo Plus with WhisperQuiet has an MRSP of £129, but is often on sale on Amazon U.K. — the lowest I’ve seen is £82. It’s $149 from Amazon U.S..The MRSP places the Duo Plus in the middle of Instant Pot’s range, $20 pricier than the entry-level Rio range, but $70 cheaper than the Wi-Fi-enabled smart appliance Pro Plus. 

Instant Pot Duo Plus review: Design & controls

The Duo Plus is a sleek appliance with a pleasing black exterior and a handy dial for adjusting settings. On the front touch panel there are twelve buttons for starting cooking and choosing delay start or keep warm. 

As the Duo Plus is WhisperQuiet, the steam release is notably quieter than other Instant Pots. The Duo Plus releases steam at 75dB max, whereas the Rio clocked in at almost 85dB. 

Instant Pot Duo Plus review: Cooking performance

The Instant Pot Duo Plus WhisperQuiet has nine settings: steam, saute, pressure cook, slow cook, keep warm, rice, sous vide, cake, and yogurt. 

Steam

When I steamed butternut squash in the Instant Pot Rio ($99), it took 10 minutes. So I figured 10 minutes in the Duo Plus. But when I opened up the Duo Plus after ten minutes (and five minutes of preheating), the butternut squash was still hard, so I upped the temperature to "high" and put it on for another 10 minutes. After 20 minutes, the butternut squash was vibrantly orange and soft all the way through. While it’s bizarre that the two appliances needed different times to steam veggies, I’ve learned that with all Instant Pots, there’s an element of experimentation required.

Saute

Before I pressure-cooked my butternut squash soup, I sauteed onion in olive oil using the ‘saute’ setting. This setting is extremely straightforward, but I recommend not adding the oil until preheating has finished, otherwise, it’ll start spitting and popping. If you’re making a soup or a stew in the Instant Pot, this setting is great for making it a genuine one-pot dish. 

Pressure cook

After sauteeing onions in olive oil, I added the rest of the ingredients and set the Duo Plus to ‘pressure cook’. I only set the timer for seven minutes as I wanted to see just how fast the Duo Plus could make delicious soup. To my delight, after seven minutes the soup was perfectly cooked and, after a literal 2-second blend in my Nutribullet Smart Touch ($99), I had a delicious soup with a flavorful and hearty broth. 

Slow cook 

While the Instant Pot Rio ($99) managed to pressure-cook dried chickpeas in 40 minutes, I decided to slow-cook them in the Instant Pot Duo Plus. I poured 1 cup of chickpeas with 5 cups of water in the Duo Plus and set it for 8 hours, the default ‘beans’ setting. After just 6 ½ hours, I checked on the chickpeas to find them perfectly cooked — but you can also achieve this result in 40 minutes by pressure cooking. 

Rice

The rice setting needs a little experimentation. I put about 2 cups of white basmati rice in the inner pot and covered it with water to my first knuckle. I put it in the Duo Plus for the default 12-minute rice setting, but when it finished, the rice was sloppy and mushy. Assuming I used too much water, I followed the same method but with 1:1.25 rice to water. This rice cooked for 12 minutes again and was much fluffier and kept its shape, but I still think it was overcooked. I think around 8-10 minutes in the Duo Plus would be better, which is odd, because 12 minutes is Instant Pot’s default time. 

Sous vide 

To test the sous vide function, I followed a creme brulee recipe I found on the Instant Pot app. After making the mix with cream, egg yolks, and sugar, I set the ramekins on an upside-down bowl and plate stand and filled the inner pot with ⅔ water. I turned on the ‘sous vide’ setting and cooked the creme brulee for 90 minutes. They looked good when they came out, but after an overnight stint in the fridge, they were still runny and unset. 

The ‘sous vide’ setting would be more efficient with a real-time water temperature display. As the temperature of the water is a guessing game unless you have a cooking thermometer (I don’t), you’ll need to experiment before making creme brulees for a dinner party. I wish the ‘sous vide’ setting came with a water temperature monitor to make food more consistent.

Cake

As someone who’s made a Christmas pudding in a rice cooker, I’m familiar with cooking cakes in unconventional ways. So I was excited to test out the Duo Plus’ ‘cake’ setting. To remove the risk for human error, I bought a cake mix from the grocery store and followed package instructions. Then I poured it in a 6 inch cake pan (it must be only 6 inches because any wider will not fit in the inner pot) and baked it on the ‘cake’ setting for the default 30 minutes. The chocolate cake was moist, but it looked a little deflated and wonky on the top. I solved that issue by smothering it in fudge frosting, and everyone in the office complimented the cake’s gooey texture. 

Instant Pot Duo Plus review: Storage & maintenance

The Duo Plus’ inner pot is dishwasher safe, so this Instant Pot has a super-easy cleanup. All you have to do is put the pot in the dishwasher and you’re done. While the Duo Plus isn’t as large as the Rio Wide, it’s still pretty hefty at 12 pounds. You’ll need to ensure you have storage space for a 13 inch x 13 inch x 13 inch appliance, too. 

Should you buy the Instant Pot Duo Plus?

While a few of the settings needed a little trial and error, if you’re a home cook looking to experiment, this is a great appliance for everyday use. And if you’re cooking for a large family, you’ll find the 6QT capacity more than enough for slow-cooked stews and soups. At only $149/£129 this isn’t the priciest Instant Pot, but is also more expensive than the Rio. If you’re just starting out in the world of pressure cooking, you might want to stick with Instant Pot’s entry-level model Rio ($99), which has everything you need for everyday pressure cooking.