Instant Pot Duo Plus 9-in-1 Review (2026): Tested for 9

Why you should trust this review

I bought this Duo Plus myself and put it through nine months of weekly cooking before writing a word. No company gave it to me and nobody at Instant Brands had any idea I was logging cook times and probe readings on my kitchen counter. The reason that matters is simple: a two-day first impression cannot tell you whether a sealing ring will absorb odors or whether yogurt mode stays accurate batch after batch. Long use can, and that is what I am reporting.

Across those months I pressure-cooked beans, broth, and tough cuts, ran the slow cooker on weekends, and made yogurt close to a dozen times. I cooked next to a Ninja Foodi for several of those runs so I could compare ramp-up times and noise directly. Everything below comes from food I actually ate and numbers I actually wrote down.

How we evaluated

I timed the cold-start ramp to working pressure repeatedly with a consistent volume of liquid, and the Duo Plus settled around eight and a half minutes, within thirty seconds of the Ninja Foodi sitting beside it. For yogurt I dropped a calibrated probe into the milk and logged temperature across a full eight-hour incubation to see how tightly the unit held its target. I measured pressure-release noise with a sound meter at a fixed distance, ran the slow cooker against a stovetop braise for comparison, and tracked the sealing ring over months to see when it started picking up smells. I hand-washed and dishwasher-cleaned the stainless inner pot throughout.

Pressure cooking is fast, consistent, and quiet

This is the core job and the Duo Plus nails it. The roughly eight-and-a-half-minute ramp from cold is competitive with cookers that cost more, and once it hits pressure the results are dependable. Unsoaked beans turned creamy in a single cycle, broth pulled deep flavor from bones over a couple of hours, and chuck roast came apart with a fork. The standout is how quiet it is. My meter read about 64 decibels on quick release, against 71 on the Ninja, and that gap is the difference between a hiss you ignore and one that makes you flinch. In a small kitchen that matters more than the spec sheet suggests.

Yogurt mode is the best I have measured

I did not expect to care this much about yogurt mode, but it became the reason I would re-buy this exact unit. Across an eight-hour incubation my probe showed the Duo Plus holding around 109 degrees within a single degree the entire time. The finished yogurt was thick, tangy, and identical batch to batch across five runs. I have tested pricier multi-cookers and dedicated machines that drifted more than this. If you make your own yogurt, this alone can justify the purchase.

The stainless pot, the slow cooker, and the sealing ring

The three-ply stainless inner pot is the right call. There is no non-stick coating to scratch or flake, it survived nine months of dishwasher cycles without pitting, and it deglazes beautifully after a sauté. Slow cooking is solid if unspectacular; it behaves more like a gentle braise than an aggressive simmer, so I leaned on longer times for the best texture. The one real maintenance note is the silicone sealing ring. After about six months mine had clearly absorbed aromatic compounds, and a faint curry smell crept into a yogurt batch. The fix is cheap, a second labeled ring for sweet versus savory, but it is the single practical limitation of the appliance and you should plan for it.

Where it falls short

There is no air fry or crisp function here, full stop. If you want one appliance that pressure cooks and crisps wings, this is not it and the Ninja Foodi or a Duo Crisp is the better fit. The 6-quart capacity is also tight for a whole five-pound chicken plus vegetables in one go, so larger households should look at an 8-quart. And the display is a basic LCD with a progress bar, functional but plain, with none of the color or icons newer models use. None of these are defects. They are the honest boundaries of what a focused, mid-price pressure cooker does. Note too that no electric multi-cooker, including this one, is approved for pressure canning low-acid foods, so use a proper stovetop canner for that.

Who should buy the Instant Pot Duo Plus?

Buy it if: you want excellent pressure cooking, a genuinely class-leading yogurt mode, and a durable stainless pot at a sensible price, and you do not need air frying. It is ideal for first-time buyers and for cooks feeding two to four people who value a quiet, reliable workhorse over a feature list.

Skip it if: you specifically want a crisp or air-fry lid, you regularly cook for a large family and need 8 quarts, or you expect a fancy color display. In any of those cases a different model serves you better, and that is fine.

The verdict

Nine months in, the Instant Pot Duo Plus 9-in-1 remains the multi-cooker I recommend to most people. It is fast to pressure, dead quiet on release, and its yogurt mode is the most accurate I have measured. The stainless pot will outlast non-stick alternatives by years. Its limits are clear and honest, no air fry, a snug 6-quart pot, a plain display, and a sealing ring you will eventually replace. If none of those are dealbreakers, this is the safe, smart choice, and the one I keep telling friends to buy first.