Instant Pot - Vortex Plus 13L Air Fryer Oven

Yo, we were in the same boat not long ago - didn’t want any of that non-stick teflon coating bs, or plastic trays that smell weird when hot. Ended up grabbing the Instant Vortex Plus (stainless steel one) and it’s been solid. Trays are full stainless, no peeling, no coating drama. Cleans easy af. It just works. Been air frying the hell outta veggies, frozen stuff, chicken thighs, all that - and it's holding up like a champ. We also looked at the Cuisinart toaster oven w/ air fryer function - pretty sure you can swap the trays for stainless if needed. That one looks more like a real oven tho, more space but also bigger footprint on the counter. My advice? Skip anything that has non-stick unless you like scraping black flakes off your food in 6 months. Ask me how I know 😅 TL;DR: – Stainless trays or bust. – Instant Vortex Plus (SS version) been goin strong. – Avoid non-stick if you wanna keep your sanity.

Mine is the Instant Vortex. Slightly smaller than a standard microwave. Has two shelves. I use it for so much. Its great for chicken thighs, sausages, raw vegetables, making toast. And of course also from freezer to plate items. It heats up leftovers 10x better than a microwave. Pizza and fries especially.

Ours just died after using it almost every day for two years, which is why I’m in this thread. We liked it quite a bit, but agree with Wirecutter’s criticism that the Instant Vortex’s user interface is crap - it’s just a cheap touchscreen with poor sensitivity. I’m looking at other models now - the Instant Vortex was a lovely gift but I don’t think I want to buy another.

Just bought this to replace my Instant Vortex. I was looking for a ceramic basket fryer and this looked to be the best one I found, especially for the price. I haven't used it enough yet to really evaluate, but so far it seems great, and also looks good on my countertop. It's very compact for it's capacity. I few things I miss from my Vortex is the shake/flip alert, which is such an easy thing to include that I don't know why all fryers don't have this. The other thing I miss from my vortex is the knob, which makes it so much faster to dial in the temp/time. I'm still debating whether I miss the window or not. It's sometimes useful, but not sure if it's really a crucial feature. But otherwise it's a great air fryer.

I got the Instant Pot Vortex Plus last Christmas and I have used it quite a bit. It isn’t great for everything so I wouldn’t consider it the only tging you need in your kitchen. I read you should not use many cooking sprays on the non-stick coating in an air fryer so I got an inexpensive spray bottle and put vegetable oil in it to spray my air fryer or food in it. I usually don’t bother preheating my air fryer before putting my food in. It just sits in the air fryer during the preheating time. I did not use liners for a long time but got some silicone liners for my air fryer recently. I did not find clean up too hard without them but they are nice to have.

What kind of air fryer is it? What are you trying to cook? I have the Instant Pot Vortex Plus. The machine turns on when you insert the basket and then you select what function, temperature and cooking time you want and push start. The machine then will run for a couple of minutes and then beep and say on the screen to add food. You don’t have to factor in the preheat time in the cooking time as it does it automatically. Halfway through the cooking time it will beep and say turn food. When it reaches the end of the set time it stops and you can remove the food. If the food needs more time you can start it up again for however long you think it needs. Kind of like using a microwave. I usually just put my food in my air fryer and insert the basket and let it just be in there during the brief reheating time. When it says to turn food I pull the basket out and either shake it or turn over the food and put it back in. On my air fryer you can pull the basket out whenever you want and the cooking will pause and restart when you insert the basket unless you cancel the cooking cycle or unplug the machine.

Thanks for the reply. I have an Instant Pot Vortex Plus, which is great, but I often have to stage food and keep stuff warm, so want to try a dual. Might give the Paderno a try, it has good reviews and it's $150, wife likes blue.

I’ve had the instant vortex (the model with the trays) for I want to say a couple years now. I’m bad with time, but it’s been great. No issues.

I bought one back in July and since I unpacked it I haven’t used my oven once. There may be better ones but it’s worked well for me. I like the dial to change time and temp.

I have the Instant Vortex Plus. It's the most used item in my kitchen, bar none.

Word! I have the Vortex plus.