Reviews for Instant Pot Duo Mini 3 Qt
Instant Pot DUO Mini Review
A fantastic smaller appliance for singles or for couples that aren't fans of leftovers
Price: $60 Listing | $69.99 at Amazon
Pros: Perfect size for meals for one, easy to clean, skilful pressure cooking performance, doesn't need much counter infinite
Cons: Besides small for family unit meals, meat just shy of perfectly tender
Manufacturer: Instant Pot
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Our Verdict
If you're generally but cooking for one or two and like to melt throughout the week rather than making big batches of things on Sunday for meal prep, the Instant Pot DUO Mini is a near-perfect pressure cooker. The pocket-sized size allows for easy cooking of meals for two without wasting whatsoever free energy or cooking space, and it barely makes a dent in kitchen appliance counter existent estate. Despite the mini stature, it provides pretty much all the operation and convenience of its larger siblings, making it a not bad choice for small apartments or dorm rooms.
Editor's Note: This DUO review was updated on February 4, 2022, to provide more than details on why nosotros like this cooker and which other options we'd recommend.
Compare to Like Products
| This Production | Instant Pot Duo Plus 6 Quart | Instant Pot DUO Nova | Presto 02141 | Tayama TMC-60XL | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Awards |  |  |  | | |
| Cost | $60 List $69.99 at Amazon | $120 Listing $99.95 at Amazon | $100 List $79.00 at Amazon | $87 List $94.95 at Amazon | $76 List $85.79 at Amazon |
Overall Score | |||||
| Star Rating | |||||
| Pros | Perfect size for meals for one, piece of cake to clean, expert pressure cooking performance, doesn't need much counter space | Versatile, intuitive, feature-rich, cracking value | User friendly, easy to clean, reasonably priced, pressure release button | Proficient overall cooking operation, easy to clean | Inexpensive, decent cooking performance |
| Cons | Too small-scale for family unit meals, meat but shy of perfectly tender | Rice is a scrap sticky, hat and stainless steel pot can be difficult to clean | Meat slightly less tender than some other models | No chapeau storage | Lacks a saute function, relatively difficult to clean |
| Bottom Line | A fantastic smaller appliance for singles or for couples that aren't fans of leftovers | An easy-to-use, versatile model that won't break the bank and offers plenty of useful features | The best option for most kitchens, this model is like shooting fish in a barrel to apply and a breeze to clean | An easy to clean, great performing production, specially for the toll you pay | Non a bad pick for bargain seekers, but yous can go a lot more than convenience without spending too much more than |
| Rating Categories | Instant Pot DUO Mini | Instant Pot Duo Plu... | Instant Pot DUO Nova | Presto 02141 | Tayama TMC-60XL |
| User Friendliness (35%) | |||||
| Cooking Performance (30%) | |||||
| Ease Of Cleaning (25%) | |||||
| Cooking Features (10%) | |||||
| Specs | Instant Pot DUO Mini | Instant Pot Duo Plu... | Instant Pot DUO Nova | Presto 02141 | Tayama TMC-60XL |
| Pot Material | Stainless Steel | Stainless Steel | Stainless Steel | Nonstick | Nonstick |
| Saute | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yeah | No |
| Capacity | three quart | 6 quart | 6 quart | 6 quart | six quart |
Show total specification details Hide full specification details
Our Analysis and Test Results
Performance Comparison
The Mini is a swell product for a single person, side dishes, or for two that don't intend to eat any leftovers.
Credit: Laura Casner
User Friendliness
The Instant Pot DUO Mini is i of the most user-friendly pressure cooker nosotros've come across. Information technology offers pretty much everything you need without any unnecessary complications.
What really sets the Pot DUO Mini and other models from the brand apart is the control panel design. In that location are dedicated buttons for most cooking functions, making about meals only a couple of button presses away. This model removes the multigrain, sterilize, block, and egg preset buttons on some of the larger models, but we rarely institute ourselves using those buttons anyway. Despite the unit'south minor size, the LCD screen is notwithstanding relatively large and like shooting fish in a barrel to read, making it articulate which setting you lot take selected.
Instant Pot has gotten close to perfection in their design of pressure level cooker interfaces.
Credit: Laura Casner
Notably, either of the DUO Mini's handles tin can human action as a lid holder, giving you a convenient place to rest the chapeau every bit you stir or serve, no matter if you're left or correct-handed. The ane matter we wish the DUO Mini had was a force per unit area release button that would allow y'all to release the force per unit area without getting anywhere near the steam valve. However, these buttons are still relatively rare, and so it's not surprising that this mini model lacks i. While we notwithstanding preferred such a push button, we didn't discover it difficult to do quick pressure releases by safely opening the valve with a wooden spoon.
Cooking Functioning
We've found relatively little departure between force per unit area cookers regarding bodily cooking functioning, and the DUO Mini managed to pass all of our tests. It fabricated ribs that brutal off the bone, perfectly fluffy rice if slightly al dente, and its saute function made easy work of onions and peppers.
The 1 expanse where whatsoever model performed better than the DUO Mini in our cooking tests was preparing meat. Nosotros establish a couple of models that could brand steaks and craven taste slightly more tender. However, the differences were minor, and we still thoroughly enjoyed all the meat we cooked in the DUO Mini.
The Duo Mini consistently churned out good meals.
Credit: Laura Casner
Ease of Cleaning
All pressure cookers provide some cleaning challenges considering of the inherent design of the lids, only beyond this, we plant the DUO Mini quick and piece of cake to clean.
Similar every pressure cooker currently on the market place, the DUO Mini has a chasm where the chapeau locks on that tin can gather gunk and is hard to clean. Otherwise, its design is easy to make clean. The lid has a removable gasket, so you can easily make certain both it and the groove information technology sits in stay clean. The actual cooking pot is stainless steel. This pattern means you're more likely to get some food stuck on when using the saute office than you would with not-stick pots. Still, unlike not-stick pots, you needn't have any qualms well-nigh putting it in the dishwasher.
We constitute the stainless steel cooking pot relatively like shooting fish in a barrel to make clean.
Credit: Laura Casner
Cooking Features
Partially due to the relative lack of command panel space, the Mini has slightly fewer cooking functions than some larger models.
Still, it still offers the near mutual cooking presets, such as force per unit area cook, rice, tedious cook, saute, and others.
We wish there were a steam release button, but opening the valve with a wooden spoon isn't too difficult.
Credit: Laura Casner
Should Y'all Buy the DUO Mini?
If yous're cooking for only yourself or yous and your significant other, the Instant Pot DUO Mini offers all you demand in a package that doesn't take up much space on your counter. The DUO Mini by and large sells for slightly less than its full-sized siblings. However, the departure is minor, and with the larger models, you can go double the cooking capacity by spending just about twenty% more than. Therefore, y'all pay a slight premium for the DUO Mini's small stature, only that premium is well worth it if you don't have much counter space.
What Other Pressure Cooker Should You Consider?
If yous have a picayune more counter space, the Instant Pot Duo Plus six or the Instant Pot Duo Nova are also potential options you'll likely exist happy with. All there offer similar cooking performance and ease of cleaning. They all besides provide similar user-friendliness and cooking features. So depending on your upkeep and size needs, you lot might consider reading more nearly the other Instant Pots in this review.
— Michelle Powell and Max Mutter
Source: https://www.techgearlab.com/reviews/kitchen/pressure-cooker/instant-pot-duo-mini