Instant Pot has a lot of competition, but the company has continued to release new pots to set itself apart from other multifunctional pressure cooker brands. Instant Pot offers 13 different pots, each with different features and cooking programs. One of its new offerings is the Instant Pot Duo Gourmet. What does the Duo Gourmet offer over other multifunctional pressure cookers? How is the Instant Pot Duo Gourmet different from the regular Instant Pot Duo? We examine the Duo Gourmet to find out.
What is the Instant Pot Duo Gourmet?
The Duo Gourmet is a 9-in-1 cooker. It acts as a pressure cooker, slow cooker, rice cooker, sauté pan, and warmer like most other Instant Pots, but it also serves as a sous vide machine, sterilizer, oatmeal maker, and yogurt maker, too.
You can make steak sous vide, and then turn around and make oatmeal or cheesecake. The Duo Gourmet is a powerful and versatile Instant Pot with 15 smart cooking programs. It’s supposed to reduce energy consumption and usual cooking times by up to 70 percent.
What sizes does the Duo Gourmet come in?
The Instant Pot Duo Gourmet only comes in the 6-quart size, unlike the regular Duo, which comes in 3, 6, and 8 quarts. A 6-quart pot is plenty large enough to make recipes for a family of four to six. However, you might find the Pot is limited on space when it comes to using the sous vide function.
Sous vide is a French cooking technique that means “under vacuum.” The cooking technique requires you to submerge bags of ingredients in water. The water cooks the food at a low, yet even temperature, and your food comes out tender and juicy. Steaks cook perfectly even, with the same pinkness throughout.
Many people like to have a water tank that’s at least 10 quarts when cooking sous vide, so the 6-quart pot might make things tougher when you’re trying to make enough food for a large family. It is doable, it’s just not the best choice for cooking a lot of ingredients simultaneously.
What recipes can you make in the Duo Gourmet?
You can make just about anything in the Instant Pot Duo Gourmet, with a few exceptions. Make a pot roast, chili, shredded chicken, mashed potatoes, or desserts. Make eggs sous vide style, or sous vide steak, and finish it with a quick sauté. Prepare oatmeal, yogurt, or even wine. If you have the Instant Pot Air frying Lid, you can attach it to your Duo Gourmet and make French fries, chicken tenders, and other crispy snacks.
The Duo Gourmet has 20 buttons including pressure cook, soup/broth, meat, stew, sterilize, slow cook, rice, brown rice, oatmeal, bean, chili, yogurt, sous vide, delay start, keep warm, cancel, pressure level, plus, and minus. Notice there are separate buttons for different types of rice, as well as separate buttons for beans and chili. This makes the Duo Gourmet super easy to use for a beginner. The lid automatically seals, and the steam release button releases steam safely to make using the pot easier, too. The Duo Gourmet Pot has loads of safety features, so just about anyone can use this model.
You can’t make excessively large meals in your Duo Gourmet, however, as you have a limited amount of space in the Pot. If you attempt to air fry too many ingredients using the Instant Pot Air Fryer Lid accessory, your meal could turn out soggy and undercooked. A similar idea applies to other cooking methods — sous vide, pressure cooked, and slow cooked meals won’t cook as evenly if you overstuff the pot with ingredients.
How much does the Instant Pot Duo Gourmet cost?
The Duo Gourmet sells for around $80, which is a good value considering the prices of other 6-quart Instant Pot models. The regular 6-quart Duo retails for $100, but it also usually sells for around $80. The Duo Gourmet offers more a more advanced pot for around the same price as the regular Duo.
Is the Instant Pot Duo Gourmet worth it?
Yes. With easier sealing and steam release functions and additional cooking programs, this is yet another winner from Instant Pot. It comes with plenty of accessories, including a steam rack, rice paddle, soup spoon, rice measuring cup, silicone mini mitts, and an extra sealing ring. The Duo Gourmet provides everything you need to easily and safely try out multifunctional pressure cooking without spending too much cash. And, if you want an air fryer, you can add on the Instant Pot air fryer lid and get an all-in-one machine that air fries, cooks sous vide, pressure cooks, slow cooks, sautés, sterilizes, and more.
