Instant Pot Vortex Plus 6QT XL Air Fryer, 6-in-1, Broils, Dehydrates, Crisps, Roasts, Reheats, Bakes for Quick Easy Meals, 100+ In-App Recipes, Dishwasher-Safe, from the Makers of Instant Pot, Black

This is a great Air Fryer with all of the key features. The basket is nice large, and it works quickly. I was replacing a larger, much more expensive one that died after only a year. This was takes up less counter space and heats up faster.You have the ability to customize all presets temp and time, including the beeps. Unbelievably easy controls and the cooking is great. Basket is easy to clean in the sink. Great value for cost, I got this on Amazon when on sale.Food is always perfect when following recipes online.

I have had this for about ten days now and made five items. I dont usually leave reviews but thought I would for this air fryer. Its pretty great as far as I am concerned. Pro and Cons. Let me start with the cons.CONS1. Complaints about plastic smell. Not really a con for me but I see others complaining so I will mention it. I had no problem. I ran the machine through several air fry cycles (400 degrees for 15 minutes) before I cooked any food and noticed the oft complained about plastic smell the first time. It then decreased each time I ran it through another cycle until I could barely notice it. Some reviews say to remove the silicon food grade tabs on the grate insert but note that the grate will then easily fall out when you try to empty the pan by tipping it over. It might eventually fall out with the tabs in place but I used a tongs to prevent the grate from falling out any time I tipped the pan over to empty it.2. My big complaint is the instructions. They are sparse. It took me awhile to realize I can pull out the pan anytime I want to flip my food and the machine will simply start where it left off when the pan is replaced. If you already flipped your food you can just leave the machine be for the ten seconds it tells you to flip your food and resumes air frying. My learning consisted of trial and error (still doing that learning cook times and when to flip the food) and looking at air fryer demonstration videos and recipes online. The intstant website appears to have no recipes for the air fryer and the recipe page only has recipes for their insta pot.PROSThe food!! From left to right I first did french fries then chicken thighs, steak, fish and grilled ham and cheese.FRENCH FRIES - Came out crispy and delicious. The picture is actually my second batch. The first batch went in, then I realized the machine was preheating. I just left the fries in. The machine then went to its 15 minute standard time at 400 degrees. The fries were OK but some were overcooked probably due to going in during the preheat cycle. The second batch went in after the machine preheated and used 12 minutes (after I learned how to adjust the time). This batch was much much improved. I used store bought frozen fries which seem to work really well. For fresh potatoes I learned I had to soak the fries first in water to get rid of some of the starch and dry them with paper towels otherwise the fries didnt turn out as crispy as the store bought frozen fries. My only slight complaint is the cooking grate would eventually fall out when I tipped the pan over to empty the fries onto a plate. I learned to hold the grate with tongs to keep it from falling out.Chicken - I love fried chicken so this was the real test. I made four bone in thighs. Two were egg wash and then panko bread crumbs (on the left of the picture) and two (on the right of the picture) were eggwash and seasoned flour. All four thighs were sprayed with cooking oil (PAM). I learned this is a must to get a good fry. As you can see some of the panko came off during the cook from the fan. The panko also tended to burn. Many recipes use panko so the food gets crispy but for me it was just OK. On the other hand the chicken with the eggwash and then flour was GREAT. Crispy, juicy, as good as when I deep fry with oil.STEAK - This is my go to method of making a steak when its too cold outside to grill. It took me awhile to get the time down but the steak turned out really good. I used the broil cycle at 380 degrees. I used an instant read thermometer to get a perfect medium-medium well of 140 inside. I first had the steak on 17 minutes (flipped half way) but it the internal temp was only 120. I then did another 5 minutes. The steak was juicy and perfectly cooked for me.FISH - This was my one "Its OK" dish that I have work on. I did cod loins at 400 degrees air fry for 8 minutes (flipping half way). I used eggwash and seasoned flour with a spray of cooking oil. The coating wasnt as crispy when I deep fried with oil. Next time I will try increasing the time to see if that improves it. I didnt want to overcook the fish which it wasnt.GRILLED HAM AND CHEESE - This was the last item prepared. It was probably one of the best grilled sandwiches I have had in a long time. Crispy on the outside with hot gooey cheese and ham on the inside. My go to way to make a grilled cheese from now on. I buttered the outside of the bread and put the machine 6 minutes on air fry at 400 flipping halfway. Like the french fries, the picture was my second sandwich. The first I had at 8 minutes and that was too long, the sandwich was overcooked. But when I got the time down it made a GREAT grilled ham and cheese.Easy to clean. I just washed the grate in warm soapy water and wiped the pan out with a paper towel after each use.So that its. I hope this helps other people looking at this machine or other air fryers. I am happy with mine so far. Its just a matter of trial and error until you learn the temps and cooking times that work for you.

this is a great air fryer works really well and much more capacity then my old one. Controls are easy to use and this is very easy to to clean highly recommend. The oder that others mentioned was not an issue when you review the setup and follow the instructions the odor disappears

Very good fryer. Well made and attractive on the counter. Controls are excellent and easy to read and use, I particularly like the knob for setting time and temperature, much better than the up and down push buttons on some other fryers.As for cooking it does what it’s supposed to do, heats evenly, and crisps when you want it to. One thing I was a bit surprised at was just how well it works when reheating food. It’s not quite as fast as the microwave but food comes out much more evenly warmed and much closer to how it was when it was first cooked. It even crisps up the skin on leftover chicken.Also, this unit has a very good non-stick coating and it’s a real breeze to clean. Typically after emptying the food I just sit the fryer basket in the sink, give a couple of squirts of dish soap and fill it with hot water. After dinner a quick brush and rinse and it’s perfectly clean.So, there are only two downsides. First, even though this is a large six-quart machine don’t even think about cooking two pounds of chicken wings (or fries) in a single batch.. For things to get really crispy you need to limit yourself to a single layer on the bottom which ends up being about half the number of wings I can cook on a single cookie sheet in my convection oven. I admit they come out a bit crisper in the fryer but two batches takes longer than one big batch in the oven plus you have to heat the oven anyway to keep the first batch how while you cook the second. I already knew this would be the case before I bought it and I do have a regular convection oven for large batches so I’m not complaining but just giving others the heads up that advertising isn’t necessarily reality. .The second downside, and the one thing that I’m not particularly happy about, is the automatic preheat which you cannot turn it off. It’s unnecessary when you’re just wanting a quick reheat but it gets a bit bothersome when the timer goes off and you see your food needs a couple more minutes before it’s ready. I hit air fry again, select two minutes and then start but the thing absolutely insists on reheating again even though it’s already hot. Again, this is certainly not a deal breaker but it can be a bit irritating at times.One last thing that others have complained about is the initial smell the machine gives off when first used. Yes, it was smelly at first, particularly when I went through the first recommended heat cycle but I had my cooktop exhaust fan running the whole time. Sure, it smelled, but the smell was certainly not the “OMG I’M BEING POISONED” nonsense others have claimed. The unit continued to smell for probably the first five uses but that’s it and it’s gone.Overall I really like the things I can do with the fryer rather than firing up the big oven (and waiting twenty minutes for it to reach temp) and it is more useful than I thought it would be (and it certainly does crisp better than even a good convection oven). Unexpectedly it’s also really great at reheating chicken and pork chops which wasn’t something I had originally considered. Overall it’s a good purchase.