We love the extra grill feature that adds another dimension to the cooking performance. Compact and stylish with a useful viewing window, but you need to take care when handling the drawer. While there could be improvements in the drawer design, we think it works as an excellent add-on or replacement to your standard oven.
After you set your desired cooking temperature and time, it automatically goes into a preheat mode. This actually comes in use, because if your food isn’t ready once time is up and you want to air fry it for a few more minutes, it will automatically revert to preheating again. Set moosoo air fryer the mode and temperature, and the display reads ON while preheating the oven. I would much prefer to see PRE or a real-time count up to the requested temperature. This isn’t a dealbreaker, I just found the display a bit uninformative for a product that heats up to 400 degrees.
The air fry preset mode suggests 190°C for 20 minutes, but we took this down to 10 minutes in line with the recipe suggestion and pressed start. Inside the box you’ll find a cooking tray that sits neatly inside the non-stick cooking drawer. This ensures your food is slightly raised from the base so any grease can drain. While there isn’t the biggest gap between the tray and base of the drawer, it did create some space for the excess oil to pool while cooking. At 5.15kg (11lb 6oz), we found the Instant Vortex Plus easy to lift out of the box and place on the worktop.
Though the Instant Vortex has fewer functions than some of the other products I tested, I found that the simplified functionality can actually be a positive for many novice home cooks. Many competing products boast a ton of extra features that actually perform the same task, and I like that this product keeps it simple. Air fry, roast, bake, and reheat are enough to cover necessary cooking tasks in the average home kitchen. Instant instructs you to clean the cooking basket by hand, which is a little disappointing as most air fryer baskets can go through the dishwasher. This is to prevent any water from fogging up the ClearCook window after prolonged use. The Instant Vortex Plus 6-in 1 Air Fryer with ClearCook and OdorErase has a roast setting, so we used this to roast a selection of vegetables for 15 minutes at 370°F.
That way, you can lay your food in a single layer and avoid overcrowding, resulting in that signature crisp, evenly cooked texture. I’ve spent more than a decade covering lifestyle, news, and policy. When I’m not putting pen to paper, I’m exploring new cultures through travel and taking on home makeover projects, one room at a time. I used the Instant Vortex Slim for two weeks, cooking various meals from breakfast through to dinner, as well as a few tasty treats, to test its limits and performance. I tried official Instant Pot recipes and cooking timelines, but also experimented using my own instincts to see how adaptable the Instant Pot is in use. Unlike its siblings, the Instant Vortex Slim doesn’t have a ClearCook window through which you can watch your food cook.
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.
Equipped with pre-programmed settings and a temperature-controlling dial, the interface is also super user-friendly. The only downside to this model is the broiler function, instant pot duo nova which is pre-set to 400 degrees F and for two minutes and didn’t perform well for us in testing. These appliances aren’t just for piles of fries and chicken wings.
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 instant pot duo nova’s basket, it’s very easy to clean.