I’ve kept an Instant Pot in my kitchen for years because it’s useful for making soups and stews in a fraction of the time that a slow cooker requires. The Instant Pot Pro Plus ($169.99), Instant Brands’ latest and most advanced model (and an update to the Instant Pot Smart Wi-Fi, which is no longer available), features two key differences over the $99.99 Instant Pot Duo I’ve been using. First, it can sous vide, which means I can keep my Anova Precision Cooker and big plastic water bath box in the cupboard. Second, it works with a mobile app, letting you control the cooking process from your phone. That said, the app is most useful for the recipes it provides—it doesn’t really add much to the cooking experience. So while mobile connectivity is a fun addition, you’re ultimately better off with the $129.99 Instant Pot Pro, which does everything this model can aside from connect to your phone.
A Spacious Instant Pot
The Instant Pot Pro Plus measures 12.7 by 13.0 by 13.2 inches (HWD), with a wide black cylinder with a control panel on the front, handles on the side, and a large lid with another handle on top. The only hint of its app connectivity is a small Wi-Fi icon in the corner of the control panel.
The silver, 5.7-by-5.5-inch control panel’s backlit touch buttons appear only after you plug the pot in. A four-digit display in the center shows the remaining cook time and, above that, indicators display the current stage in the cooking process (Preheating, Cooking, or Keep Warm).
Four buttons below the display let you choose between three pressure settings, three temperature settings, and three venting settings. Here, you can also check whether Nutriboost, a pulse steam feature that breaks down starches, is on. Four cooking mode buttons sit on both sides of this center area; options include Canning, Pressure Cook, Rice, Sauté, Slow Cook, Sous Vide, Steam, and Yogurt. Finally, a large physical dial at the bottom center of the panel lets you adjust cooking times. Cancel, Delay Start, Keep Warm, and Start buttons surround it.
The appliance’s internal cavity holds a six-quart steel pot that sits on a heating element and is removable for cleaning. The pot has dedicated side handles that nest into the exterior ones; it’s much easier to grip and move this inner steel pot than the handle-less pots that many other models use.
The large, chunky lid is the mechanical heart of the Instant Pot because it enables the pressure cooking and controlled venting processes. A removable silicone ring (you get two in the box) mounts into the underside of the lid to provide the seal.
The top of the lid houses a primary vent under a removable plastic dome, while a smaller, secondary vent sits next to it. The primary vent trickles out hot air in natural venting mode, or blasts it out actively with a loud hiss in the quick and pulse venting modes.
Cook With Your Phone
You can control the Instant Pot Pro Plus completely through its front panel, but this model also boasts wireless and app connectivity. The Instant Brands Connect app (available for Android and iOS) lets you connect the pot to your Wi-Fi network and control it with your phone.
The app is very simple to use, but it doesn’t offer much in the way of actual cooking controls. Instead, it features hundreds of different step-by-step recipes that utilize the Instant Pot. Choose a recipe, select Start Cooking, and tap through each step as you prepare the ingredients. When a step involves cooking with the Instant Pot, you can send those cooking presets right to the appliance from your phone. The app also lets you bookmark your favorite recipes or add any to custom collections.
If you don’t want to use a prefab recipe, tap the Kitchen tab and select the Instant Pot Pro Plus. Here, you can select any mode and simply start cooking. The implementation is a bit awkward, because if you want to control cooking time, pressure levels, temperature, venting, and other settings, you need to tap the pencil icon next to the mode and input those details. I would much prefer the option to make those changes upfront for each cooking mode, rather than turning to a separate menu.
Once the Instant Pot begins to cook your food, you can consult a small bar at the bottom of the app to see the current cooking phase (Preheating, Cooking, Venting, or Keeping Warm), as well as any timer associated with that phase. In light of the big, bright information icons on the appliance’s control panel, the lack of a full-screen display for the Pot’s status in the app is disappointing.
Drool-Worthy Results
The Instant Pot Pro Plus has eight different cooking modes, but the main appeal is the pressure cooking function, so I started with that option.
I cooked a beef stew with baby carrots, onions, mushrooms, and beef shin, putting all of the ingredients in the pot along with spices, a can of beef broth, and a bottle of dark lager. I twisted the lid on, entered my cooking preferences (one hour and 30 minutes cooking at high pressure, then pulse venting), and set it to cook. The Instant Pot turned on with a beep and spent about 20 minutes preheating and reaching the right pressure level before the timer began. 90 minutes later, the cooking stopped and it began to vent in loud, hissing bursts that startled my cat. The sound is normal for quickly venting pressure cookers, even if Pixel (my cat) hates it. The stew came out perfectly.
After that, I made chili by combining diced beef, ground turkey, a diced onion, red beans, and crushed tomatoes, along with a healthy amount of dark chili powder and some other spices. This time, I set the Instant Pot to saute with the app, put some oil in the pot, and let the onion sweat in there for a few minutes with the lid off. Next, I added the meat and browned it in the same mode, before mixing in the beans and tomatoes.
After I clamped the lid on, I set the Instant Pot to pressure cook for an hour and 30 minutes and then to vent with natural venting. Again, it took about 20 minutes to reach the correct temperature and pressure, then another 90 minutes to cook. Naturally venting took another 20 minutes or so; I let the air leak out slowly through the valve instead of fully opening it. A soft mechanical pop indicated that the process was complete. The chili turned out just as well as the stew, and the result was comparable with a non-smart Instant Pot and a slow cooker that requires a longer cooking time.
My last experiment with the Instant Pot Pro Plus was to cook turkey legs with the sous vide function (which involves placing food sealed in a plastic bag into a water bath set to a precise cooking temperature). I set the pot to 160 degrees, filled it with water up to the halfway line, and closed the lid. It took over half an hour to heat up to the correct temperature, during which I seasoned the thighs and sealed them in a freezer bag. The appliance dinged and sent my phone a notification when it hit the correct temperature. At this point, I put the sealed turkey legs in the water bath and secured the lid. The Instant Pot then started a six-hour timer. The legs came out fully cooked and moist. Cooking them at 150 degrees over a much longer period of time would have probably made them even more tender, but I was pleased with the results, so I consider the sous vide experiment a success.
Handy With or Without the App
The Instant Pot Pro Plus is a useful appliance for pressure cooking, slow cooking, and even sous vide cooking. It’s simple to use and delivers reliable, delicious results. The app is useful for step-by-step recipes, but you can easily get by without it because it offers few worthwhile operational controls. As such, we recommend the more affordable Instant Pot Pro for most people; it includes the sous vide mode and all the same cooking functionality as the Pot Pro Plus for $40 less, making it a better buy.
