Instant Pot Pro Crisp Review (2023) Pressure Cooker & Air Fryer

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Instant Pot Pro Crisp Pressure Cooker and Air Fryer, Black
Instant Pot Pro Crisp Pressure Cooker and Air Fryer, Black

The Instant Pot Pro Crisp, sometimes referred to as Instant Pot Pro Air Fryer or simply the IP Pro Crisp undoubtedly belongs to the Best Instapot Multi-cookers.

Here’s the thing:

While it’s advertised as an 11-in-1 Pressure Cooker, it’s actually more than that. I counted every appliance/cookware it replaces; the Instant Pro Crisp turns out to be a 16-in-1 kitchen appliance.

In those 16 functions, the most prominent one is certainly air frying. Having both the air fry and pressure cook function lets you elevate your regular dishes to a professional level.

Naturally, that’s just the tip of the iceberg. So, to dive deeper, let’s start with Instant Pot Pro Air Fryer’s good and bad points.

PROS

  • 3rd Best Instant Pot (Overall)
  • 3rd Best 8-Qt Instant Pot
  • 3rd Best Instant Pot with Air Fryer
  • Gorgeous black-colored design
  • 11-in-1 pressure cooker that can air fry
  • 11 smart and programmable programs
  • Adjustable settings (volume, Fahrenheit or Celsius)
  • Delay cooking + keep warm
  • Generous 8 quarts capacity
  • Easy and safe to use quick release switch
  • Auto-sealing vent
  • Multi-level air fry basket to make room for more food
  • EvenCrisp Technology
  • Wide range of temperature for air frying
  • Use less oil for an air fried guilt-free dish
  • Includes protective storage cover
  • Quit steam release
  • Stainless steel inner pot with handles and stove-top safe
  • PFOA, PTFE, and BPA free
  • Dishwasher safe (excluding air fryer lid and base)
  • 1-year warranty

CONS

  • Excellent Multi-cooker with a premium price tag
  • Requires significant space on your countertop
  • It’s not the most convenient type of air fryer
  • A tad heavy and bulky air fryer lid
  • Only available in 8-qt

What can you cook with the Instant Pot Pro Crisp?

Pressure Cook and Slow Cook

Pressure Cooked Meat

Learning pressure cooking opens the door to a whole new world (culinary-wise). Essentially, you can create new types of recipes, and not to mention you have access to thousands of guides online.

The most important thing about pressure cooking is making tender and juicy recipes without breaking a sweat. In fact, that’s what makes Instant Pot worth every penny. 

Naturally, you can also do those mentioned above with slow cooking, albeit longer.

What can you cook: pulled pork, corned beef, pork loin, quinoa, curry, mashed potatoes, pasta, etc.

Apart from pressure and slow cooking, you can also…

steamed vegetables
Steam
vacuum sealed proteins for sous vide
Sous Vide
Seared Beef
Sear/Sautè
Warm Food
Warm

And best of all:

Air Fry

fries

With an air fry program on your pressure cooker, you can do all the complex methods in just one pot. So, after pressure cooking, you can still air fry to achieve crispy skin with ease. In other words, all you have to worry about is switching the lids.

More importantly, you have fewer parts to clean later on!

Here’s more:

With the air fry function or the Instant Pro Crisp in general, you’ll have healthier and cheaper recipes compared to deep frying. Also, thanks to EvenCrisp Air Flow technology, your food will evenly cook all throughout.

What can you cook: Fries, crispy chicken, fish and chips, chicken wings

You can roast small portions of protein in the Instant Pot Pro Crisp, like chicken wings, breast or thighs, pork chops, or sirloin steak.

Roast

roasted chicken

Bake

brownies

The Instant Pot Pro Crisp works as an oven too. Compared to a full-sized version, you don’t need to wait as long when preheating, plus it’s more energy efficient!

When you need to melt some cheese for your French Onion, or simply broil in general, you can use the Instant Pot Pro Air Fryer. By having so, you only need to wait for a quick few minutes to preheat. Better yet? It won’t consume as much energy as a full-sized oven.

Broil

broiled beef

Dehydrate

dehydrated fruits

Frankly, Instant Pot Pro Crisp won’t really replace your dehydrator (if you have one). 

That being said, if you only dehydrate foods occasionally, the Dehydrate function of Instapot is more than enough. As a result, you don’t need to buy extra machinery, which means it’s a cheaper and space saver alternative.

Is the Instant Pot with Air Fryer easy to use?

Sadly, Instant Pro Crisp Air Fryer has a steeper learning curve compared to other pressure cookers. That’s because it still has the extra air frying function that you need to get familiar with.

Luckily, it features easy-to-use controls, which balances out the said learning curve.

Controls

To start off, the cooking programs aren’t overcrowded, so they’re easy to read. Plus, with separate air fry (right) and pressure cook (left) buttons, you don’t have to guess which is which.

To put it differently, without looking through the manual all the time, you can immediately tell whether to use a pressure cooker or an air fryer lid. 

Instant Pot Pro Crisp control panel

This may be a tiny detail, but considering that it makes things less confusing, that’s a significant win for me! 

Besides, when you choose an air fry function, the status indicator on top of the screen will tell you. Other statuses include delay cooking, keeping warm, and volume, which you can mute if you dislike the noise.

Here’s more:

Unlike the affordable models of Instapot, the Instant Pot Pro Crisp features a dial. Changing the duration, temperature, and pressure level are significantly more straightforward than manual +- buttons. Additionally, thanks to this dial, the control panel looks simpler. 

As if that’s not enough:

The IP Pro Crisp also highlights a separate switch for steam release. Therefore, when you need to open the vent, it’ll be safer and easier since you don’t need to directly touch the vent.

Instant Pot Pro Crisp Pressure Cooking Lid

Better yet? The machine hallmarks an automatic vent sealing. Let me give you an example:

When you forget to seal the vent with the previous models, the pressure will not build up. Therefore, you’ll likely come back to an uncooked meal. 

On the other hand, with the automatic sealing feature, you’ll have properly pressure-cooked food, whether you forgot to seal the vent or not. Thus, that’ll be one less thing to worry about with the Instant Pot Pro Air Fryer.

Other notable usability features of the Pro Crisp Instant Pot

The inner pot of Pro Crisp Air Fryer provides more value than other models of Instant Pot or other brands, for that matter. 

instant pot inner pot with handles

First of all, its silicone-grip handles hinder it from moving, so sautéing with the Instapot performs more comfortably. Simultaneously, it’s easier to position or remove than regular pots.

Here’s the kicker:

The inner pot is also stove-top and oven safe (up to 450ºF). In other words, if you want more control with the heat, simply use your oven range with the same vessel. Then, you can transfer the container back to the Instapot when it’s ready for pressure or slow cooking. 

Furthermore, by utilizing the same pot, there’ll be less stuff to clean later on, which is always a good thing.

How to use the Instapot Pro Crisp’s Air Fryer Lid?

Unfortunately, when it comes to Air Fryer design, any pressure cooker type favors the least. For instance, when you need to flip your protein halfway, lifting the lid can be tedious. 

Simply put, I don’t recommend this when you have mobility issues. For an easier-to-use standalone air fryer, check out the Ninja 2-Basket Air Fryer instead.

On the flip side (pun intended):

With regards to space-saving design, having an all-in-one Pro Crisp Instant Pot is better than multiple machines. 

Now, here’s a video demo on using the Instapot Pro Air Frying function:

Important: When using the non-stick basket, please use plastic or silicone tongs or spatula to prevent chipping of the ceramic coating.

Here’s the other mind-blowing thing, air frying only requires little to no oil compared to deep frying. In short, it’s healthier, and of course, more budget-friendly.

Note: Please refer to the manual for in-depth how-to-use information when air frying with your Instant Pot.

How to clean the Instant Pot Pro Crisp Air Fryer?

Now:

Cleaning the Instant Pot Pro Crisp technically remains the same as other Instapot—easy.

The only difference is the added air fryer accessories which are luckily dishwasher safe (except for the air fryer lid). Just ensure to use soft sponges when hand cleaning the said accessories so as not to scratch them, especially the non-stick ones.

On the other hand, the motor base and the air fryer lid only need some wiping with a damp cloth.

See the 10-in-1 Instapot Pro Crisp in Action

Don’t take my word for it, here’s a short video demonstration from the brand.

The Instant Pot Pro Crisp 11-in-1 Pressure Cooker and Air Fryer is a fantastic multifunctional appliance. With its ability to both pressure cook and air fry, the possible recipes are simply endless. Moreover, thanks to its 8-quart capacity, it can fit more food, whether for air frying or pressure cooking.

What makes the Instant Pot and Air Fryer combo better than its competitors?

I’ve already mentioned some of the functions, so let me just re-enumerate them to keep things simple.

  • Has oven-safe and stove-top ready inner pot.
  • Automatic sealing with a separate switch for releasing steam.
  • EvenCrisp Air Flow for even cooking

Other notable features in the pressure cook department include the timed natural release. Essentially, when a recipe says to wait before releasing the pressure, you can use this function as a reminder.

On a slightly different note:

The air frying capability undoubtedly makes Instant Pot Pro Crisp better than the rest. Plus, the air fryer has a wide temperature margin of  70°F (21°C) to 450°F (232°C). With that said, you can make limitless recipes even with air frying alone.

Even better? Compared to the 6-quart Air Fryer Lid Attachment, this IP Pro Crisp 8-quart has more space for food such as a whole chicken.

What accessories can I get with the Instant Pot Pro Crisp?

Here are some must-have accessories for the Pro Crisp Instant Pot.

Inner Pot with Handles

Inner Pot with handles

Model # 212-0603-01

Get at Amazon →

If you often make main and side dishes in the Instant Pot (rice, for instance), an extra inner pot is a must-have. Briefly speaking, it’ll be a significant time-saver.

Instant Pot Transparent Lid

Instant Pot Tempered Glass Lid

Model # 213-0201-01

Get at Amazon →

When slow cooking, using a transparent lid allows you to see the contents. Thus, you don’t need to lift the cover, and more importantly, it prevents unnecessarily lowering the heat. 

Extra Sealing Ring

Instant Pot Sealing Rings

Model # 211-0007-01

Get at Amazon →

Some intense recipe’s odors or even flavors will likely stick to the porous sealing ring. Likewise, some of that odor might transfer to other recipes and mess up its overall taste. Fortunately, you can prevent that by getting an extra set of sealing rings (one for mild and one for robust flavors).

Steamer basket

Instant Pot Mesh Steamer Basket

Model # 5252247

Get at Amazon →

Sadly, I’m not a big fan of the included steam rack, which isn’t helpful for small ingredients. Therefore, if you’re going to steam often, I highly recommend getting a mesh-type steamer basket instead. 

*Product Images and Video Courtesy of Instant Brands

Technical Specifications

TypePressure Cooker / Multi-Cooker / Slow Cooker / Air Fryer
Brand/SeriesInstant Pot by Instant Brands
Model #113-0043-01, Pro Crisp AF 8
Price$$$
Rating4.6 out of 5
Pressure12.3 psi
Wattage1500 watts
Functions11-in-1: Pressure Cook, Slow Cook, Steamer, Sauté Pan, Air Fryer, Roaster, Mini Oven, Broiler, Dehydrator, Sous Vide, and Warmer
Pot, Air Fry BasketStainless Steel, Aluminum with ceramic coating
Capacity8 quarts (7.6 L) cooking pot
Dishwasher safeYes (except for the base and air fyer lid)
PFOA, PTFE, and BPA freeYes
ColorBlack
Dimensions (LxWxH) with pressure cooker lid: 14.78 × 14.24 × 14.17 inches
(37.55 × 36.16 × 36 cm)
with air fryer lid: 4.78 × 14.24 × 15.35 inches (37.55 × 36.16 × 39 cm)
Cord Lengthshort
ApplicationHome and Personal Use
Warranty1 Year
Related ProductsInstant Pot Duo Crisp, Instant Pot Max, InstaPot Pro Plus, Instant Pro, Instant Pot Star Wars, Instant Pot Smart Wifi 60
This table shows the technical specifications of Instant Pot Pro Crisp AF 8.

Is the Instant Pot Pro Crisp worth it?

Suppose you’re looking for an Air Fryer, and at the same time, you’re on the hunt for an electric pressure cooker, then getting Instant Pot Pro Crisp would be a great option.

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