The Vortex Plus is currently retailing for $20 more than the Vortex. Our air fryer uses the basket method to cook while the 10-quart one uses racks or a rotating barrel or a rotisserie attachment for a whole chicken. It’s much more of a “mini convection oven” than just an air fryer. The Instant™ Vortex® Mini is fast, versatile, compact, and convenient, so you can make all your favorite fried sides and snacks with less of the oil and none of the mess. This small air fryer is available in 4 colors and features EvenCrisp™ technology for crispy, tender results every time.
Instant also recommends starting with conventional oven directions on food packages as a guide for temperature and time, not directions for deep frying. Of course, that will depend on what you’re cooking, and therein lies my biggest issue with this machine. The manual instant vortex provided in the box includes a small table of recommended times for a few foods, but for most, you’ll have to go through some trial and error to get a good result. I’m not a fan of wasting time or food, and I wish the directions were clearer on this front.
The air fryer basket is non-stick meaning it’s easy to wipe down or clean with a little soap and water (never submerge the whole basket, though, only fill it/wipe it out with a cloth). This model has the same spacious interior, convenient preheating cycle, and stellar cooking ability as its predecessor. But for a bit more money, it includes a few bells and whistles that we particularly appreciated. It’s quieter than most of the other models in the lineup, and its viewing window allowed us to monitor cooking progress without losing heat. The only smells we detected were from the food we were cooking, and we found the control panel even easier to use than that of our winner.
On our tests, we found that the Instant Pot 6 Quart Vortex 4 in 1 Air Fryer Oven performed best on brussels sprouts and frozen French fries. In fact, it was the only air fryer to score full marks for frozen French fries, needing just 15 minutes to cook. It also scored highly for breaded chicken as well, needing just 13 minutes to cook this after preheating. Thanks to the super-slick nonstick coating on the ’s basket, it’s very easy to clean.
The only difference is the Vortex Plus runs a little quieter than the Vortex, presumably due to the added filter and the thicker basket due to the viewing window. It’s plastic/stainless steel on the outside and features 6 functions (it includes dehydrate and broil compared to our Vortex®) – but the size and shape is identical to ours. We’ve used it with them and it’s identical in function and cooking moosoo air fryer outcomes. This hulking air fryer, which testers compared to a salon hair dryer, hogged our counters with its 17-inch footprint. Its heavy flip-top lid needed 2 feet of vertical clearance to open all the way and lock into place—a safety problem since the main heating element was fully exposed when the lid was open. We tried three, all made from a thin metal mesh that warped and stained during use.
It cooked those cutlets well, producing juicy interiors and golden, crisp exteriors, but the fries cooked a bit unevenly, with fries toward the outside crisping more quickly than those on the inside. Because this machine has a flip-top design, we had to toss food using tongs, which mangled some fries in the process. As a multicooker, it was straightforward to use but delivered mushy pressure-cooked beans and slow-cooked beef stew with undercooked vegetables.
The dial also moves smoothly and is fast for navigating minutes and temperature degrees, compared to holding down a button. A lot of the air frying experience—just like cooking in general—is trial and error. When you’re trying out your own recipe or heating up something that isn’t listed in a recipe book or app, you often have to use your best judgment and cross your fingers. We tried a range of foods in these air fryers to see how they perform. We tested the first edition of the Vortex Plus back in 2019 and had some mixed feelings. Maybe you’re Team Instant Pot forever and you’ve just got to have it.