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Article by Brooke Shoupe, RN
Key Points
- The Instant Vortex Pro is a slight upgrade to the Instant Vortex Plus model
- The upgraded model is slightly lighter and has 2 more automatic cook features vs the Plus model
- The Air Fryer can cook (obviously), proof bread, toast, and dehydrate
- Instant Vortex Pro Air Fryer Features
- Technical Specifications
- Can You Really Replace Multiple Kitchen Gadgets?
- What makes Instant Air Fryer Vortex Pro better?
- Is Instant Pot Vortex Pro easy to use?
- See Instant Vortex Pro 9 in-1 Air Fryer in Action
- Instant Vortex Pro Accessories
- Is the Instant Vortex Pro Air Fryer worth it?
- FAQs
- Modern aesthetics
- Easy to use touchscreen control panel
- Substantial capacity (total of 10-qt)
- Wide temperature range (90-400ºF)
- 9 core cooking functions: Air fry, broil, roast, bake, reheat, dehydrate, rotisserie, toast, and proof
- Quick preheat
- Easier cleanup that most oven airfryers
- PFOA and BPA Free
- Dishwasher safe parts
- Requires a significant amount of counter space
- Non-stick are usually not long lasting
- Plastic smell is present in new ovens
- When cooking with 2 trays, you have to to swap them halfway for even cooking
Known for their pressure cookers, Instant Pot also makes a line of air fryers.
The Instant Vortex Pro Air Fryer is an upgrade to the original 10-Quart Instant Vortex Plus Air Fryer Oven. It looks identical, and the improvements are pretty much concentrated on the control panel and preset functions. There is a slight size and weight difference as well, but it’s so minor I barely noticed it.
The touch interface now features bigger and more readable text. Plus, there are additional automatic cooking functions—toasting and proofing.
Those upgrades sum up everything new to the Instant Pot Vortex Pro Air Fryer Oven. Though there are really no significant changes to this new machine, I would still pick it over the old model simply because it’s easier to use and has more available accessories.
Award: 6th Best Instant Air Fryer
Instant Vortex Pro Air Fryer Features
There are a lot of great features on the Instant Vortex Pro Air Fryer, but most are the same across this and the older and now more affordable model. Still, there are some upgrades worth mentioning.
Here is a quick comparison of these two Instant Vortex Air Fryers.
| Instant Vortex Pro (This Model) | Instant Vortex 10 quart Air Fryer |
|---|---|
| 9 programmed functions including Air fry, bake, broil, dehydrate, roast, proof, toast, reheat and rotisserie. | 7 programmed functions, missing proof and toast functions |
| Dimensions: 13.75 x 14.37 x 13.23 inches | Dimensions: 13.23 x 13.23 x 14.37 inches |
| Lighter weight: 17.5 pounds | Weight: 19 pounds |
Now let’s look at the specific features of the Instant Pot Vortex Pro Air Fryer and what it has to offer over previous models.
A More Traditional Oven Door
One of the things I love about the Instant Pot Vortex Pro Air Fryer is that it has a flip-down door like a traditional toaster oven. In my opinion, this makes the appliance much easier to use. Opening the door automatically pauses the function so that it can restart when you close the door, which also makes flipping and checking on recipes much easier than with basket air fryers.
Energy Efficient Design
The Instant Pot Vortex Pro Air Fryer is more energy efficient than other air fryers for one simple reason – it shuts off the fan when it reaches temperature rather than continuously running. This allows you to cook your foods without excess noise or energy waste.
Cooking Functions
The Instant Vortex Pro has the following customizable cooking presets:
With those nine functions, the recipes you can make are simply endless!
Air Fry
As an air fryer, the Instant Pot Vortex Pro is highly efficient and easy to use. Unlike other air fryers, it has a preheat feature that allows you to bring the oven up to temperature before air frying your ingredients. This makes it easier to get your recipes cooked to perfection.
The best feature of the air frying function is the timer that tells you when to flip the recipe. You will almost always need to flip or shake your ingredients when using any air fryer, but the Instant Pot Vortex Pro Air Fryer makes it easy by telling you when to flip and pausing automatically when you open the door to do so.
Broil
The broil feature works just about as well as you would expect from a traditional oven. If you’re looking to get a nice crisp or golden color to finish off your recipe, the broil feature will do the job. With the heating element located at the top, putting your recipe on the adjustable rack near the top of the oven cavity will result in the perfect broil.
Roast
The roast feature works just about as well as roasting in an oven. The convection technology of the Instant Pot Vortex Pro Air Fryer is typical of most air fryer ovens and works about the same way. If you want to roast larger portions or hunks of meat, you could be waiting a while. It does take a bit longer to bring your roast’s internal temperature to the right level than in a traditional oven, but it is still a useful feature if you are cooking a large meal in which your oven is preoccupied.
Reheat
Reheating food in the Instant Pot Vortex Pro Air Fryer is one of the features I most love to use. You’ll never want to reheat anything in your microwave again. If you adjust the oven rack appropriately, you can easily reheat foods without getting them too crispy. Meanwhile, the air fryer doesn’t dry out foods like a microwave would. You’ll have a much easier time getting your family to eat leftovers with this function.
Bake
Baking in an air fryer is never the same as baking in an oven, but the Instant Pot Vortex Pro Air Fryer does it better than most. The heating element is still at the top like with other air fryers, so getting that crisp golden brown crust on the bottom of your breads or cookies can still be an issue.
However, I found that baking cookies is possible in this air fryer, which it is not a good option in most other brands. A big part of this is, again, the fact that you can preheat the oven before putting the recipe in to bake.
Dehydrate
The dehydrate feature is great for making fruit chips and jerky for healthy snacks. It works just about as well as a stand-alone dehydrator. When dehydrating apple chips, I noticed that the apples turned slightly brown. This means that the dehydrate function actually cooks the food somewhat rather than simply drying it. But, if you keep this in mind and adjust times and recipes accordingly, it will take the place of a dehydrator so that you can have one less appliance in your kitchen.
Rotisserie
Most air fryer ovens have a rotisserie feature, but I really like the way the rotisserie works with the Instant Pot Vortex Pro Air Fryer. First, in addition to coming with the traditional rotisserie spit and spikes, the Vortex Pro Air Fryer comes with a rotisserie basket.
This basket is more like a drum than a basket that locks into place, but it has an important purpose. Cooking a chicken, ribs, and other recipes on a rotisserie requires tying off the loose parts to ensure even cooking. Even the best cooks can be bad at tying up the legs and wings of a chicken.
The rotisserie basket removes the need to do so. Just lock your chicken into place, slide the drum on the spit and attach to the air fryer oven, choose the correct preset, and let the machine do the rest. You’ll get a perfect rotisserie chicken every time.
Toast
Toasting in the Instant Vortex Pro Air Fryer is as easy as toasting in any other countertop oven. You’ll get an even toast across all pieces, but you’ll need to flip it half way through cooking if you want it to be evenly toasted on both sides.
Proof
The proof function of the Instant Air Fryer Vortex Pro is adequate, but not as good as having a real proof box. It only reaches 80 degrees, which 80 to 110 degrees is the ideal temperature to proof dough.
Still, if you want to be able to make fresh breads and ensure that your dough is proofed appropriately before baking, this feature will do the job. For the reasons noted above, I don’t recommend baking loaves of bread in the Instant Vortex Air Fryer Pro, but you could bake dinner rolls in it after proofing. Just make sure you use the preheat function to bring the oven up to temperature before baking.
Technical Specifications
Can You Really Replace Multiple Kitchen Gadgets?
In fact, with this multitude of cooking programs, you can replace many kitchen gadgets with the Instant Air Fryer Vortex Pro. Be it your bread proofer, toaster, dehydrator, or deep fryer.
Replace Your Toaster
Note that a toaster is more efficient than an air fryer, but if you’re like me and trying to conserve counter space it does take the place of a toaster. Keep in mind that the upper side of the toast will brown much faster than the bottom, so if you want it to look perfect you’ll need to flip it halfway through. On the other hand, there is no need to flip toasting bagels, especially if you like the bottom soft and the top crispy as I do.
Replace Your Oven… Maybe
It’s also better than a full-sized oven for the functions shown above (in some aspects). For one, it’s smaller, resulting in less energy consumption, and more importantly, it’ll preheat swiftly.
You still need the full-sized oven for some recipes with special instructions, like baking with a water bath. Fortunately, the Instant Pot Vortex Pro Air Fryer performs wonderfully for basic baking and other cooking tasks. I found the bake function works best with pizzas and frozen foods rather than baked goods like cookies or cupcakes.
More Energy Efficient Than Traditional Ovens
Using a smaller machine for simple recipes (especially reheating) is more efficient than firing up the oven range. The Instant Vortex Pro Air Fryer uses much less energy than an oven.
A good way to judge this is by the wattage required to run the appliance. A conventional oven needs an average of 3000 watts, and a convection oven needs about 2000-3000 watts, but the Instant Vortex Pro only uses 1500 watts. That’s up to half the energy costs.
Rotisserie!
The Instant Vortex Pro Air Fryer hallmarks a simply fantastic rotisserie function!
Let’s use grill rotisserie as an example.
When you use a grill rotisserie, there’re more steps such as preparing charcoal, heating it up, etc. Not to mention the clean-up afterward. My point is grilling requires substantial labor.
With the Instant Vortex Pro, you’ll exert less effort compared to a grill rotisserie. Thus, if you want to quickly cook a tastier rotisserie chicken than at any grocery store, without a doubt, this is for you.
What makes Instant Air Fryer Vortex Pro better?
Compared to regular countertop ovens, the Instant Vortex Pro is more countertop-friendly. By that, I mean it’s narrower, albeit taller. Thanks to its sleek design, it will also add a nice touch to your kitchen.
And of course, if you don’t want it to stay on your countertop when not in use, it’s also easy to store.
Here’s more:
I already noted the rotisserie feature, right? Well, one other noteworthy feature is the rotisserie basket!
Simply put, it’s an air fryer basket that can rotate. This means you don’t need to flip your food halfway! This is a significant winning factor if you’re generally busy in the kitchen.
Think about it:
You have to stop what you’re doing just to shake the constituents with other air fryers, right? With the Instant Vortex Pro, you can get rid of that step!
So, what does this mean for you?
Well, the Vortex Pro, without a doubt, should be on your shortlist. That’s especially true if you’re leaning toward oven-type air fryers.
Is Instant Pot Vortex Pro easy to use?
Compared to basket-drawer type air fryers like Instant Vortex Plus Dual Air Fryer, the Instant Vortex Pro has inferior usability.
Eliminate (Some) Shaking
You don’t have the ability to shake your ingredients with oven-type air fryers. However, if you are using the rotisserie basket, shaking is entirely unnecessary. The basket is great for fries and other small, loose items. I found that things like chicken nuggets are best outside the rotisserie basket, but they have to be flipped half way through cooking for even cooking and crisping.
But wait, let me tell you something:
The Instant Vortex Pro’s usability is still top-notch in its own class.
Better Buttons, More 1-Touch Presets
Compared to the original Instant Vortex Plus, the buttons are more readable. The Vortex Pro also offers a brighter display, making it much easier to operate.
Here’s the kicker:
The Instant Vortex Pro 9 in 1 Air Fryer has smart one-touch programs. In a nutshell, these functions have a predetermined duration and temperature. Thus, you only need to press your desired program and let the machine do the rest.
You see, you have to manually set the duration and temperature with traditional ovens without smart programs. Plus, you may have to search online just to find out the correct one.
Therefore, the Instant Pot Vortex Pro will undoubtedly make cooking less of a chore without these extra steps.
Editable Presets
In fact, it’ll also tell you when to flip your ingredients, thanks to its status indicator. Isn’t that great?
Just so you know, you can also edit these programs depending on the recipe you’re following. Better yet, the machine saves your settings, so you can quickly replicate the recipe the next time you use the air fryer.
Safety Features
The Instant Vortex Pro Air Fryer also has some great safety features not found on other air fryers, and these also make the unit easy to use. Opening the door automatically shuts off or pauses the cooking cycle, so there is no need to remember to hit a button like with other air fryers.
This air fryer also has Overheat Protection, which automatically shuts off the unit if it gets too hot on the exterior.
How to clean the Instant Vortex Pro 9-in-1 Air Fryer?
Unfortunately, not all attachments are nonstick, so cleaning can be cumbersome. When there are lots of greases, you should soak the accessories in warm soapy water for hours. By then, washing all the accessories is a piece of cake. It’s easiest to clean the Instant Vortex Pro Air Fryer as soon as you are done with it, especially if there is grease or boilover.
Here’s the good news:
Luckily, most removable accessories are dishwasher-safe. Hence, if you ever feel lazy to manually wash the accessories, there’s always an easy way out.
Pro Tip: Always use the drip pan, so you don’t have to clean the insides like crazy. Also, when you wash it by hand, ensure to only use soft non-scratch sponges.
Note that the door is also removable (but not dishwasher safe). In other words, cleaning the Instant Pot Vortex Pro is indeed more manageable than most air fryer ovens on the market.
Another great feature that saves on cleaning time is the replaceable odor filter that uses patented Clear Cook and Odor Erase. This helps eliminate some of the grease accumulation within the air fryer as well as the odors. There is even an indicator light to let you know when the filter should be changed. If you frequently forget to change air filters and furnace filters in your home like I do, this reminder is pretty important.
See Instant Vortex Pro 9 in-1 Air Fryer in Action
Don’t take my word for it, watch this short demonstration.
The Instant Vortex Pro is a 9-in-1 multicooker that can air fry, broil, roast, bake, reheat, dehydrate, rotisserie, toast, and proof. It features a 10-qt (9.5 L) cooking capacity that can handle 2 lbs of fries, 4 lbs of chicken, or an 8-inch pizza. It’s one of those Air Fryers with a rotisserie function.
Instant Vortex Pro Accessories
Nonstick Donut/Bagel Pan
Model # 5273749
The Nonstick Donut/Bagel pan is a must-have when making homemade donuts or bagels is your thing.
Nonstick Grill Pan
Model # 5273748
If you want to mimic grilling experience (even a bit), you should consider this Grill Pan.
Nonstick Mini Muffin Pan
Model # 5273752
Since air fryers are technically oven, it won’t be complete without a muffin tray.
Nonstick Perforated Pizza Pan
Model # 5273750
Excellent accessory for an air fryer since it encourages better airflow which then, bakes better pizza.
Nonstick Round Cake Pan
Model # 5271553
If you like baking, it’s only natural to get this Round Cake Pan for, well, cakes!
Stainless Steel Skewer Set
Model # 5271735
For another bonus grilling experience, you can also get this must-have Skewer Set.
*Product Images and Video Courtesy of Instant Brands
Is the Instant Vortex Pro Air Fryer worth it?
FAQs
What comes with the Instant Vortex Pro?
The Instant Vortex Pro comes with 2 cooking trays, 1 drip pan, 1 rotisserie basket, 1 rotisserie spit and fork, and 1 rotisserie lift.
What is the proofing function for?
Proofing functions are great for making homemade yeast breads, including pizza crusts, bread loaves, and dinner rolls. The proofer allows the dough to rise in a clean, undisturbed environment at just the right temperature. It both rises faster and comes out lighter than bread proofed on a countertop under a dish towel.
What can you reheat in the Instant Vortex Pro Air Fryer?
You can reheat just about any meal, but you should stay away from liquids. The convection style heating of this air fryer makes putting liquids within it both dangerous and messy.
