Instant Pot Pro Plus 5.7L – cooking with Wi-Fi (kitchen review)

25/03/2024
By Ray Shaw
In Reviews

The Instant Pot Pro Plus is a 5.7 litre, 10-in-1 pressure cooker, slow cooker, rice cooker, steamer, sauté pan, yogurt maker, warmer, canning, sous vide, and NutriBoost. You can also use the Wi-Fi-connected App.

Home Appliance and Cooking Tech has grown in popularity, currently ranking #4 in our top 10 categories. The reason? Readers are eager to explore the potential of connected cooking tech in enhancing their culinary skills. With app-connected cooking tech, you gain access to a vast array of foolproof recipes, opening a whole new world of culinary possibilities.

Multi-cookers are a hot item (literally)

As a child of the 1950s, I vividly recall my mother’s trusty stove top pressure cooker. The sight of steam billowing from its top sent me running in fear, but my mother, undeterred, would whip up delicious stews and the most tender meats (who said mutton dressed as lamb?). She cherished her pressure cooker for its versatility and quick cooking. Interestingly, Wikipedia says that 37% of households in the US in the 50s had one or more pressure cookers.

Then it was the crock pot of the 60s.

Well, the electric multi-cooker category is on the ascent, growing at over 10% each year. Why? They can replace several discrete cooking appliances, including microwaves, stovetops, ovens, and more. Instant Pot Pro Plus is a 10-in-1, making it quite economical. More restaurants and takeaways use these for the ubiquitous pulled pork/beef/chicken, rice or casseroles.

In previous reviews, we have made pot beer bread with parmesan and bacon, pressure-cook or slow-cook roasts, and much more. We are not beginners, but we don’t use these devices regularly—we should.

Our advice: Don’t be afraid to experiment; try using the Instant Pot Pro Plus instead of other kitchen appliances. You might be pleasantly surprised at how it elevates your food’s taste as you discover pressure cookers’ fast delights.

Australian Review: Instant Pot Pro Plus 5.7L 10-in1 multi-cooker price at 25/3/24

Website	Instant Pot Product Page Manual
Price	RRP $399 but seen as low as $349
Warranty	12-months ACL Support page
Made in	China
Company	Instant Brands designs and distributes Instant, Corelle, Pyrex, CorningWare, Visions cookware, and Snapware food storage.
More	CyberShack food appliances news and reviews

We use Fail (below expectations), Pass (meets expectations) and Exceed (surpasses expectations or is the class leader) against many of the items below. We occasionally give a Pass(able) rating that is not as good as it should be and a Pass ‘+’ rating to show it is good but does not quite make it to Exceed. You can click on most images for an enlargement.

First Impression – Formidable – Pass+

This is a ‘bells and whistles’ touchscreen, Wi-Fi app model with a 5.7L pot. It is an idea for a smaller family or coupe, or you can get an 8 version or an 11-in-1 8L combo pot and Air Fryer.

The power is rated at 1200W, but our test showed searing at (about)1000W, pressure cooking at 600W, slow cooking (low/high) at 300/450W, and warming at 100/200W. Today, electricity costs about 40 cents per 1000W per hour (kWh).

If you have not used a multi-cooker before, it can be a little daunting, but read on.

Let’s explore the 10-in-1 uses of the Instant Pot Pro Plus

This information is applicable to all of the Instant Pot multi-cookers.

Pressure Cooker – Pass+

The theory is that water boils at 100°C but, under pressure from the sealed lid, gets to about 120°, cooking most foods faster (25 to 50% of the time), rendering tough muscle meats tender and with health benefits.

The Instant Pot Pro Plus is a third-generation electric pressure cooker with smart programming for different uses, a Wi-Fi App, variable heat, and protection mechanisms to make pressure cooking extremely safe.

We cooked Moroccan lamb shanks with olives and honey in 25 minutes (we would normally slow cook for hours), and they were certainly as good as a ‘bought one’.

25 minutes for tender lamb shanks – incredible.

Summary: Anything that can be cooked in a liquid base (stock, broth, cider, etc.) can be done faster and better in a pressure cooker. This is great for pulled pork or chicken, beef and silverside, lamb shanks, and more. See pressure cooker recipes here.

Slow Cook (often called a crock pot) – Pass+

I think this will be the main use in Winter for casseroles and stews. It is the opposite of pressure cooking, using 60-90° low heat for long-simmering (often 8 hours or more), covered cooking. Cooks love it as it is prepared in the morning, and you ignore it all day until you eat it. Most use a low-cost 3 to 6-litre slow cooker with three manual heat settings – slow, slower, and keep warm.

We cheated and used a Masterfoods Slow Cook sauce, cubed beef chuck steak, stock (canned minestrone soup), carrots and red wine. Chuck is a muscley, fatty cut that is often stringy when slow-cooked. The Instant Pot Pro Plus rendered this meat perfectly and added to a slow-cooked meal’s wintery warmness. The automatic keep warm feature is terrific.

Summary: There are thousands of slow-cook recipes, all of which rely on a simmering stock base. Consider the Instant Pot Pro Plus, a 5.7L slow cooker with benefits that soon justify the cost over a low-cost one.

Steamer (tested) – Pass+

Water boils in the main pot, and the supplied 180cm round stainless-steel steamer rack keeps food above it. The lid is used in a vent mode.

Steaming is the best way to prepare fresh vegetables like carrots, seafood like prawns, lobster, crab, muscles, or salmon steaks, dumplings, and steamed puddings. We also use it to soften Woolies-bought bagels – superb. One caveat: It is not a multi-level steamer, so invest in some 200cm (8”) round, stackable bamboo steamers.

Sauté – browning (deglazing)

The 210mm round pot is ideal for browning meats, par-cooking onions and other vegetables for slow or pressure cooking, and making or reducing simmer stock. The Instant Pot Pro Plus has six heat levels. You can also use it on a stovetop.

Yoghurt (not tested)

It has settings for dairy and non-dairy Fermentation and Pasteurisation and can make as little as 1 litre to 5.7 litres.

Sous Vide (not tested)

This cooks food in airtight plastic bags underwater for a long time from 25-90°. The food cooks in its juices and will not brown (caramelise), but you can use the Instant Pot Pro Plus to Sauté setting brown. Recipes are here.

Canning/preserving (not tested)

It can pressure cook low- and high-acid fruits and vegetables with two heat settings. It can also make jams, chutneys, and soups. The spoon into Fowlers Vacola jars.

NutriBoost (tested)

It is not so much a cooking style as a setting to ‘self-stir’ using steam to agitate the pot. It works well with Arborio rice and risotto to produce a better texture.

Keep Warm (tested)

You can set the temperature from 25 ° to 90° and the time from 10 minutes to 10 hours. We found that around 55° is best for slow-cooked foods.

Pressure release (tested) – Pass+

It has three settings: natural (30-60 minutes), pulse (about half that time), and Quick (5-10 minutes). Natural is best for high-starch foods that expand during cooking. Pulse venting uses timed bursts every 15 seconds. Quick releases a steady stream of steam for the impatient cook who wants to see what is inside.

The lid is built like a Mac Truck – heavy, very well made and securely locks into place. There is a handy notch where you can place it upright, and any water drains into a drip tray.

Pre-heat times – Pass+

The display shows pre-heating, cooking, and keeping warm indicator bars. It intelligently sets these for different programs. Pressure cooking took the longest – about 10 minutes to preheat.

The Instant Pot Connected App – Passable

You do not need the app to use the multi-cooker. Think of it more as a beginner’s guide and cookbook that can set the appropriate programs for you.

As with most apps, you need to establish an account, which can have privacy implications. Unfortunately, the links were not to the policy but to the Instant Pot US website. We hope Instant Pot Australia fixes this soon.

As the app only collects your email address and device type and allows you to opt out of marketing, it is relatively safe to sign.

But we were disappointed with the search facility. While a search for chicken returned 280 results, the search for beef rump returned none. It seems that generic single terms such as beef or chicken are searchable.

However, it does present new recipes in categories in a horizontal cascade mode suitable for mobile and tablet use.

Support and Maintenance – Pass+

There are extensive support pages as well as dozens of user sites.

The only item that can wear out is the silicon seal, which comes with a spare. A two-pack is $11.99. Replacement pots and pressure lids are available.

The pot is dishwasher-safe. To prevent sticking, we discovered that a light spray of Canola oil was best.

What it is not

It is not an air fryer, as it has a single bottom element and no air circulation fan.
The round pot is not great for grilling meats – browning, yes.
It is not a peek, poke, and stir device if you pressure cook. Once the lid is locked, that is it.
It can bake, but there are no pre-sets or programs. You set the time, but most recipes specify that.

CyberShack’s view – Instant Pot Pro Plus 5.7L is a useful app-connected 10-in-1 multi-cooker

While we need to experiment further, we are happy to do so as this shows great potential, especially over winter when we eschew salad! We will update the review over time.

The app takes a lot of guesswork out of the equation for a pressure cooker, but most recipes also recommend time. As a slow cooker, it is perfect for producing even more flavoursome and tender casseroles. As for the rest of the uses, the more you use it, the more attractive the price.

Ratings

Features: 90 – 10-in-1 with smart programming
Value: 95 – If you take the multi-function into account. Otherwise, buy a low-cost stovetop pressure cooker and a slow cooker.
Performance: 90 – It did everything well and took a lot of uncertainty out of the equation.
Ease of Use: 85 – There is initially a learning curve, but after a few dishes, you will be a pro.
Design: 90 – It is not pretty, but it is very functional, and the design care is evident, making it easier to use and last longer.