Introduction
The multicooker category exists because so many kitchens end up with a cluttered lineup of single-purpose appliances — a rice cooker, a slow cooker, a yogurt maker, a steamer — each used occasionally but taking up cabinet space year-round. The Instant Pot Duo Plus is one of the more established entries built around consolidating several of those functions into a single countertop unit, combining electric pressure cooking with a handful of other common cooking methods.
This article looks at what the Duo Plus actually offers: how it’s built, what each of its main functions does, the kinds of cooking tasks it tends to handle well, and the practical details worth thinking about before it becomes part of a kitchen routine. Rather than declaring a verdict, the goal is to lay out the details clearly so you can judge for yourself whether this type of appliance fits the way you cook.
A Quick Overview
The Duo Plus sits within Instant Pot’s broader Duo lineup, an evolution of the original Duo model with some added functionality and a more refined lid design. It’s built around a stainless steel inner pot, a sealed lid capable of building and maintaining pressure, and an electronic control panel that manages temperature, time, and pressure across its various cooking modes.
The 6-quart version covered here is generally sized for up to about six servings, positioning it as a reasonable middle-ground capacity for small to mid-sized households, batch cooking, or meal prepping for a few days at a time. Instant Pot also offers this model in other sizes, but the 6-quart tends to be the most common choice for typical households.
Key Features
Nine Cooking Functions in One Appliance
The Duo Plus is marketed as a 9-in-1 device, combining pressure cooking, slow cooking, rice cooking, steaming, sautéing, yogurt making, warming, and sterilizing into a single unit, alongside sous vide functionality on many versions of this model. Rather than needing a separate appliance for each of these tasks, the Duo Plus handles them through different program settings on the same base unit and inner pot.
EasySeal Lid
One of the refinements introduced with the “Plus” version over the original Duo is the EasySeal lid, designed to automatically seal the pot for pressure cooking simply by closing the lid, rather than requiring a manual adjustment to a separate sealing position. This is intended to reduce a common point of user error in earlier pressure cooker designs, where forgetting to manually set the valve to “sealing” could prevent the pot from building pressure.
One-Touch Steam Release
Alongside the sealing lid, the Duo Plus includes a steam release switch designed for safer, more controlled venting once a cooking cycle finishes, intended to let built-up steam escape in a managed way rather than requiring more manual valve handling.
Smart Program Presets
The Duo Plus includes a range of one-touch Smart Programs — generally in the range of 15, depending on the specific version — covering tasks like soups, beans, poultry, rice, yogurt, desserts, and more. Each preset applies a pre-configured combination of pressure, temperature, and time suited to that type of food, which is intended to reduce the need to manually calculate settings for common dishes.
Stainless Steel Inner Pot with Tri-Ply Bottom
The inner cooking pot is made from food-grade 18/8 stainless steel with a tri-ply bottom, a layered construction intended to promote more even heat distribution, particularly useful for the sauté function where uneven heating can lead to scorching or inconsistent browning. The pot also has an anti-spin design, intended to keep it steady while stirring or sautéing.
Display Panel with Cooking Progress Bar
A digital display shows the selected program, remaining cook time, and a progress bar indicating which stage of the cooking cycle is currently active — such as building pressure, actively cooking, or releasing steam — giving a general sense of how much time remains before a dish is ready.
Multiple Safety Mechanisms
The Duo Plus includes more than ten built-in safety features, including overheat protection and a lid-locking mechanism that prevents the lid from being opened while the pot is still pressurized. These are intended to reduce common risks associated with pressure cooking, such as attempting to open a sealed lid before pressure has fully released.
Companion App with Recipes
The device pairs with a free companion app (available for iOS and Android) offering several hundred recipes, generally organized by cooking function or dish type, intended to help new users get familiar with what the appliance can do beyond the built-in presets.
Dishwasher-Safe Components
The lid, inner pot, and included accessories are generally dishwasher-safe, while the exterior housing is finger-print resistant stainless steel, intended to simplify day-to-day cleanup after cooking.
Included Accessories
The Duo Plus typically includes a stainless steel steam rack with handles, useful for steaming vegetables or eggs above the base of liquid in the pot, along with spare sealing rings — a practical inclusion since sealing rings are a wear part that periodically need replacing, and having a spare on hand from the outset can be convenient.
How It Can Be Used
Because the Duo Plus combines several distinct cooking methods, its day-to-day use tends to span a fairly wide range of dishes rather than being limited to one style of cooking. The pressure cook function is generally used for foods that benefit from faster cooking under pressure — dried beans, tougher cuts of meat, stews, and grains like rice or grains that would otherwise take much longer using conventional stovetop methods. Because pressure cooking raises the boiling point of liquid inside the sealed pot, it can significantly reduce cooking time compared to standard methods.
The slow cook function, by contrast, is suited to dishes that benefit from long, low-temperature cooking — things like pulled pork, chili, or soups that develop flavor over several hours rather than being rushed. Because both functions live in the same appliance, a household can choose between a fast pressure-cooked meal on a busy weeknight and a slow-cooked dish prepared earlier in the day, without needing separate equipment for each approach.
The sauté function allows browning meat, softening onions, or reducing sauces directly in the same pot before switching to pressure cooking or slow cooking, which can reduce the number of dishes used for a single recipe compared to browning in a separate pan and then transferring everything to a slow cooker or pressure cooker.
Beyond savory cooking, the yogurt function maintains a lower, consistent temperature over an extended period, suited to the fermentation process yogurt requires. The steam function, paired with the included rack, handles vegetables, eggs, or seafood using the same sealed-pot design but without building full pressure. The rice function applies settings tuned specifically for grains, while the warm function holds finished food at a safe serving temperature after cooking completes, useful for staggered mealtimes. The sterilize function can be used for tasks like sanitizing baby bottles or canning jars using sustained heat.
For many households, the appeal of having all of these functions in one unit is less about using every single mode regularly, and more about not needing to store, plug in, and clean a different appliance for each cooking method — reaching for whichever mode fits a given day’s meal rather than committing counter space to several separate machines.
Who It May Be Suitable For
Households looking to consolidate multiple kitchen appliances. Because the Duo Plus combines pressure cooking, slow cooking, rice cooking, steaming, sautéing, and yogurt making into one unit, it tends to appeal most to people trying to reduce the number of separate single-purpose appliances taking up counter and cabinet space.
People who want faster meals on busy weeknights. The pressure cook function’s ability to significantly cut cooking time for dishes like beans, stews, and tougher cuts of meat makes this appliance well suited to households balancing cooking with limited time.
Meal preppers and batch cooks. With a 6-quart capacity generally suited to around six servings, the Duo Plus tends to work well for people preparing larger batches of food to portion out across the week, particularly for dishes like grains, beans, or braised meats that reheat well.
Beginners to pressure cooking. Because of its EasySeal lid, one-touch Smart Programs, and built-in safety mechanisms, the Duo Plus is generally considered approachable for people who haven’t used a pressure cooker before and want some of the guesswork removed from the process.
Anyone interested in home yogurt-making. The dedicated yogurt function, which maintains a consistent low temperature over an extended fermentation period, makes this a practical entry point for households curious about making yogurt at home without a separate, single-purpose yogurt maker.
Important Things to Consider
It’s an electric pressure cooker first, and other functions build around that core. While the Duo Plus performs a range of tasks well, its slow cook and sauté functions, in particular, are sometimes described as performing somewhat differently from a dedicated slow cooker or a stovetop pan, since the same pot and heating element are shared across all functions rather than being individually optimized for each one.
Learning curve for pressure cooking specifically. Even with guided presets, understanding concepts like natural versus quick pressure release, appropriate liquid quantities for pressurizing, and adjusting cook times for different ingredients generally takes a bit of hands-on practice for anyone new to pressure cooking.
Sealing ring odor retention. The silicone sealing ring inside the lid can gradually absorb odors from strongly flavored foods over time, which is one reason spare sealing rings are commonly used — some owners keep a dedicated ring for savory cooking and another for more neutral or sweet foods like yogurt or desserts.
Counter space and lid clearance. The Duo Plus needs some clearance above and around it for the lid to open fully and for steam to vent safely during release, so it’s worth considering placement carefully, particularly under low cabinets.
Not identical to a dedicated single-purpose appliance in every mode. For example, the sauté function, while useful for reducing dishes and consolidating steps within a single recipe, doesn’t always replicate the exact heat control of a dedicated stovetop pan, and the slow cook setting may cook somewhat differently from a traditional slow cooker due to differences in pot material and heating design.
Maintenance of the sealing ring and float valve. Beyond general cleaning, the sealing ring and small components like the float valve and anti-block shield benefit from periodic inspection and cleaning to keep the pressure-sealing mechanism functioning properly over time.
Warranty coverage. Multicookers in this category are generally sold with a limited warranty period, and it’s worth confirming the current terms with the retailer or manufacturer at the time of purchase, since coverage details and duration can vary.
Comparison of General Categories
Rather than comparing specific competing brands, it helps to understand where the Duo Plus fits among the broader categories of cooking appliances:
Single-function appliances — a dedicated slow cooker, rice cooker, or stovetop pressure cooker, for example — are generally built and optimized around one specific cooking method. These can offer more refined performance for that particular task, but require separate appliances (and separate storage and cleanup) for each additional cooking style.
Multi-function electric pressure cookers — the category the Duo Plus belongs to — combine pressure cooking with several other common methods in a single unit, aiming to reduce the number of separate appliances needed in a typical kitchen. This tends to suit households prioritizing versatility and counter-space efficiency over having each function individually optimized.
Multi-function cookers with added air-frying capability extend this concept further by including an air fryer lid or basket alongside the standard pressure-cooking functions, offering additional versatility for crisping and roasting, generally at a higher price point and larger overall footprint.
Stovetop pressure cookers achieve similar time savings to electric models for tasks like beans or tougher cuts of meat, but require more direct user monitoring of heat and pressure throughout cooking, without the programmable presets, digital timers, or additional cooking modes found in electric multicookers.
Where a specific household lands among these categories generally comes down to how many different cooking methods they use regularly, how much they prioritize consolidated counter space, and whether the more specialized performance of single-purpose appliances outweighs the convenience of one multi-function unit.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the Duo Plus difficult to use for someone new to pressure cooking? It’s generally considered approachable for beginners, largely due to its EasySeal lid, one-touch Smart Program presets, and built-in safety mechanisms like the lid lock that prevents opening while the pot is still pressurized. That said, understanding some pressure cooking fundamentals — like liquid requirements and release methods — typically takes a little practice.
Can it replace a slow cooker entirely? It includes a slow cook function that can handle many of the same dishes as a dedicated slow cooker, though some users note it can cook somewhat differently due to differences in pot material and heat distribution compared to a traditional ceramic slow cooker insert.
How many people can the 6-quart size feed? It’s generally described as suited to up to about six servings, making it a reasonable choice for small to mid-sized households, or for batch cooking and meal prepping for a few days at a time.
Are the lid and inner pot dishwasher-safe? Yes, the lid, inner pot, and included accessories are generally dishwasher-safe, while the exterior housing should be wiped down separately rather than submerged.
Does it come with recipes? Yes, it pairs with a free companion app that includes several hundred recipes, generally organized by cooking function or dish type, in addition to the built-in Smart Program presets on the unit itself.
How often does the sealing ring need to be replaced? Sealing rings are a wear part and generally need replacing periodically depending on frequency of use, which is one reason the Duo Plus typically ships with spare sealing rings included.
Can it be used to make yogurt at home? Yes, it includes a dedicated yogurt function that maintains a consistent lower temperature over an extended period, which suits the fermentation process involved in making yogurt.
Conclusion
The Instant Pot Duo Plus 9-in-1 Multicooker represents a well-established approach within the broader multicooker category: combining pressure cooking, slow cooking, steaming, sautéing, rice cooking, yogurt making, warming, and sterilizing into a single stainless steel unit, supported by guided presets and a companion recipe app. Its appeal generally comes from reducing the number of separate appliances a kitchen needs to cover a wide range of cooking styles, along with built-in safety features and a sealing lid design aimed at making pressure cooking more approachable for newcomers.
Whether this particular appliance fits a given kitchen depends largely on how many different cooking methods get used regularly, how much value is placed on consolidating several appliances into one, and whether the somewhat generalized performance of a multi-function device is an acceptable tradeoff compared to more specialized, single-purpose equipment. For households looking to save time on weeknight cooking, batch-prep meals, or simplify their kitchen appliance lineup, this category of multicooker tends to be a practical fit; for those who prefer dedicated equipment finely tuned to one cooking method, it may be worth comparing against single-function alternatives as well.
