Introduction
Somewhere between the basic Instant Pot Duo and the more advanced, app-connected models sits the Duo Plus — a multicooker that keeps most of what made the original Duo popular while adding a couple of extras that push it a bit further. Nine functions, a bigger companion recipe library, and a sterilizing mode round out what’s already a fairly comprehensive pressure cooking, slow cooking, and rice-making setup. This article goes through what the Duo Plus actually offers, how each of its functions tends to show up in everyday cooking, who it’s probably worth buying for, and a handful of practical points worth knowing before it takes over a chunk of your kitchen counter.
As always with these breakdowns, this isn’t meant to declare it the definitive best multicooker out there. It’s meant to lay out exactly what it does, clearly enough that you can decide for yourself whether it matches how you actually cook and how much you’re willing to learn.
Key Features
Nine built-in functions. Pressure cooking, slow cooking, rice making, steaming, sautéing, yogurt making, warming, and sterilizing — nine distinct cooking modes packed into a single pot, which is a genuinely broad spread compared to most standalone kitchen appliances.
6-quart capacity. This size lands comfortably in the middle ground, generally enough for a small to medium household without feeling oversized sitting on a counter.
Pressure cooking as the backbone function. This remains the signature trick behind the entire Instant Pot lineup — sealed, pressurized steam that cooks food dramatically faster than a regular stovetop pot, which matters most for dishes like dried beans, tougher cuts of meat, or homemade stock that would otherwise eat up hours of your afternoon.
A genuine slow cook mode. Flip things around and you get a traditional slow cooker experience built right in, suited to dishes like stews or braises that actually benefit from a long, gentle simmer instead of speed.
Built-in rice maker. A dedicated setting handles rice and grains at a level comparable to a standalone rice cooker, which means skipping a separate single-purpose appliance entirely if you don’t want one cluttering a cabinet.
Steaming capability. With a rack or trivet insert, it steams vegetables, seafood, and similar foods using steam generated directly inside the sealed pot.
Sauté function built in. Browning meat, onions, or garlic right in the pot before switching over to pressure or slow cook mode saves you from dirtying a separate pan for that initial step, which streamlines a surprising number of one-pot recipes.
Yogurt mode. A dedicated setting holds the low, steady temperature yogurt culturing requires — a genuinely uncommon feature outside this particular category of appliance, and one that opens the door to homemade dairy projects most cooks wouldn’t otherwise attempt.
Warmer and sterilizer functions. Beyond active cooking, there’s a warming mode for holding finished food at serving temperature, plus a sterilizing function generally used for things like baby bottles or canning jars that need heat-based sanitizing before use.
Companion app with over 800 recipes. The Duo Plus connects to an app offering a genuinely large recipe library, meant to help newer owners actually get comfortable with all nine functions instead of sticking to the same two or three recipes indefinitely.
Stainless steel inner pot. Durable, and free of the coatings you’d find on some nonstick alternatives, which matters for anyone specifically wanting to avoid those coatings in their cookware.
How It Can Be Used
Pressure cooking tends to be the function most Duo Plus owners reach for the most often, mainly because it slashes cook time on dishes that would otherwise take hours through conventional methods — dried beans without an overnight soak, a genuinely tender pot roast, a hearty stew finished in a fraction of the usual stovetop time.
Slow cooking serves an entirely different purpose, generally chosen for dishes where a longer, gentler cooking process actually produces a better result — pulled pork, chili, or a soup meant to simmer for hours while you’re off handling other things around the house.
The rice function often ends up replacing a dedicated rice cooker outright, which is particularly appealing to households that would rather not keep a separate rice-only appliance taking up permanent counter or cabinet space.
Sautéing usually comes into play at the very beginning of a recipe, letting you brown onions, garlic, or meat directly in the pot before switching to pressure or slow cook mode, cutting an entire separate pan out of the process for a lot of one-pot meals.
Steaming generally requires a trivet or rack insert, letting vegetables, dumplings, or seafood cook using the steam that builds up inside the sealed pot, either as a standalone task or as one stage within a larger, multi-part meal.
The yogurt function tends to attract a fairly specific crowd — people genuinely interested in making their own yogurt at home, relying on the pot to hold a precise, low temperature over an extended stretch of time that would be difficult to replicate with a standard stovetop or oven setup.
The warmer function gets used constantly, mostly just bridging the gap between when a dish finishes cooking and when it’s actually time to eat, while the sterilizer function shows up more occasionally — for parents needing to sanitize bottles, or home canners preparing jars ahead of a canning session.
The companion app tends to see the most use from newer owners, offering guided recipes tailored specifically to each of the Duo Plus’s nine functions, which takes a lot of the guesswork out of figuring out how to actually use features like yogurt making or sterilizing for the first time.
Who It May Be Suitable For
Anyone hoping to consolidate several kitchen appliances into one. Given its nine built-in functions, the Duo Plus particularly suits households looking to clear out a separate rice cooker, slow cooker, steamer, and yogurt maker all in one move.
People who genuinely value faster cooking. If dried beans, tough cuts of meat, or homemade stock have always felt like they eat up your entire day, pressure cooking changes that math considerably, often cutting total cook time by more than half.
Home cooks curious about trying new kitchen projects. Between the yogurt-making and sterilizing functions, this particular model opens the door to a few tasks that go well beyond typical stovetop cooking, appealing to those who like experimenting.
Those who prefer guided, recipe-based learning. The app’s large recipe library is especially useful for newer multicooker owners who’d rather follow clear, structured instructions than try to reverse-engineer settings through trial and error.
Small to medium households. The 6-quart size generally handles a couple or a small family comfortably, with enough flexibility for batch cooking or leftovers without feeling cramped.
If you’re regularly cooking for a much larger group, or you know you’ll only ever use one specific function without any real interest in the other eight, a bigger-capacity multicooker or a simpler, single-purpose appliance is probably going to serve you better in the long run.
Important Things to Consider
Nine functions genuinely means a learning curve. Understanding pressure cooking safety, timing differences between modes, and how each of the nine settings actually behaves takes some real initial familiarization, especially if you’ve never used an electric pressure cooker of any kind before.
Pressure cooking safety is worth taking seriously. Proper sealing, venting, and pressure release procedures matter more than people sometimes expect, and it’s genuinely worth reading through the included instructions closely rather than winging it during your first few uses.
It still needs dedicated counter or storage space. A 6-quart multicooker is a reasonably substantial appliance on its own, and any additional accessories, like a steaming trivet, need somewhere to live between uses too.
No single function fully replaces a dedicated single-purpose appliance. Each individual mode is genuinely useful, but a standalone rice cooker, slow cooker, or yogurt maker built solely around one specific task will generally still outperform the equivalent built-in function here, particularly for very frequent or specialized use.
The app requires a smartphone to unlock its full value. You can absolutely use the Duo Plus without ever touching the app, but you’ll be missing out on the bulk of that 800-plus recipe library if you skip setting it up.
The sealing ring holds onto odors over time. This is a fairly universal Instant Pot complaint across the whole product line — the rubber sealing ring can retain smells from strongly flavored dishes, usually resolved through regular cleaning or by keeping a second, dedicated ring on hand for sweeter versus savory cooking.
Recipe conversion takes some adjustment. Turning a familiar stovetop or oven recipe into something that works well under pressure generally means rethinking both cook time and liquid quantities, which can take a bit of trial and error for anyone used to more traditional cooking methods.
Comparison of General Categories
Multi-function electric pressure cookers, the broad category the Duo Plus belongs to, generally aim to fold several individual kitchen appliances into a single unit, trading a little specialized performance in exchange for considerably more overall versatility and less clutter.
Dedicated stovetop pressure cookers skip the multicooker extras entirely, offering pressure cooking alone without any of the additional modes, generally demanding more hands-on attention throughout the process but sometimes reaching full pressure a bit faster than an electric model.
Standalone slow cookers are built solely around long, low-temperature cooking, generally offering more dedicated capacity for that specific task than the Duo Plus’s built-in slow cook mode can match.
Standalone rice cookers are engineered specifically around rice and grains, often including more specialized settings for different rice varieties than the more general-purpose rice function bundled into a multicooker like this one.
Standalone yogurt makers offer more precise, consistent temperature control tailored solely to yogurt culturing, generally outperforming the secondary yogurt function found on any multi-purpose device.
Which category actually makes the most sense for you really comes down to how many separate kitchen tasks you’d genuinely want consolidated into one appliance, how much specialized performance any single function truly needs to hit for your typical use, and how much value you personally place on saving both counter space and the combined cost of buying several individual, single-purpose appliances instead.
Frequently Asked Questions
What exactly is included in the “9-in-1” label here? Pressure cooking, slow cooking, rice making, steaming, sautéing, yogurt making, warming, and sterilizing — nine distinct built-in functions in total.
Is pressure cooking genuinely safe for someone who’s never tried it before? Generally, yes — as long as you follow the manufacturer’s instructions closely and take the time to understand proper sealing and venting. Electric pressure cookers like this one build in a number of safety mechanisms, but understanding correct use remains an important first step regardless.
Do I need the companion app to actually use this multicooker? No, the physical, built-in controls work perfectly well on their own. The app simply adds access to a much larger recipe library, which tends to be especially helpful for people who are newer to the appliance.
Can the rice function really replace a dedicated rice cooker? For most households, yes — it works as a genuinely practical substitute, though anyone specifically wanting highly specialized rice settings for a particular rice variety might still prefer a standalone unit built just for that.
What is the sterilizer function actually used for? It’s generally used to sanitize items like baby bottles or canning jars using consistent heat, functioning as a useful extra beyond the appliance’s primary cooking-focused functions.
Is the sealing ring difficult to maintain over time? It’s a rubber component that can pick up odors from strongly flavored foods with repeated use, so regular cleaning or keeping a second, dedicated ring for different types of cooking is a common and fairly simple fix.
Is the 6-quart capacity enough for a larger family? It generally suits small to medium households comfortably, though bigger families or anyone needing consistently larger batches might want to look toward a bigger-capacity model within the same broader product line.
Conclusion
The Instant Pot Duo Plus 9-in-1 builds on the standard Duo lineup by adding sterilizing into the mix, backed by a companion app and a genuinely substantial recipe library, all housed within a single 6-quart stainless steel pot. Its nine functions are aimed squarely at consolidating what would otherwise be several separate kitchen appliances into one, while meaningfully cutting down cook time on a wide range of traditionally slow, labor-intensive dishes.
Whether it ends up being the right pick for your particular kitchen really comes down to how many of those nine functions you’d genuinely use on a regular, ongoing basis, how much counter space you’re realistically able to spare, and how much you personally value guided, app-based recipe support over figuring things out entirely on your own through trial and error. For anyone looking to meaningfully trim down the number of appliances cluttering their kitchen while also picking up noticeably faster cooking along the way, the Duo Plus covers a genuinely wide amount of ground in one single unit.
