Instant Pot Duo and Duo Plus: 6 quarts, and sous vide only on the second

An electric pressure cooker is a pot with a lid that locks. It is not a wand on the rim of an ordinary pot, and it is not a basket with a fan. Instant Pot splits the idea across several models. Two were opened in full on 20 October 2026: the Duo at 6 quarts, and the Duo Plus at 6 quarts, version V3. We did not cook in them. Neither product page showed a price. Other widgets on the site showed 0.00 dollars, and that is not a price. So there is no price range here, only a specification.

Duo: seven functions, and no sous vide

On the Duo 6QT page Instant Pot lists seven functions: pressure, slow cook, sauté, steam, rice, yogurt, and keep warm. 13 one-touch programs. A volume of 6 quarts, "up to 6 servings" in their wording. Power 1,000 watts, 120 volts, 60 hertz, with a UL and ULC mark. The inner pot is 18/8 stainless steel with a tri-ply bottom. The lid and the inner pot can go in the dishwasher. An Easy-Release switch for the steam. "Over 10" safety mechanisms, without a full list on the page. In the box: a stainless steamer rack. Dimensions: length 13.4 inches, width 12.2, height 12.5. A one-year limited warranty.

The warranty, on the same page, does not cover a product that was purchased, used or operated outside the United States and Canada. That sentence matters to someone who lives somewhere else. We did not translate it into "a worldwide warranty," because the page says the opposite. Registering on the site is not a condition of the warranty, according to the same text, but service goes through their department, and they do not pay the shipping to the workshop.

In the questions on that same page automatic keep-warm lasts up to 10 hours, or until you turn it off. You can also turn it off before cooking or during it. Quick release is a move from sealing to venting, and a jet comes out. Natural release is leaving it on sealing until the pressure drops. For a faster natural release, turn keep-warm off. According to that answer, quick release is not for fatty, thick or starchy food, and the examples are stew, chili, pasta and porridge, and also food that expands, such as beans and grains. Do not bring a face or hands near the valve. Cleaning: the steamer rack, the lid and its accessories in the dishwasher on the top rack. The inner pot in the dishwasher. Wipe the body with a barely damp cloth, and wait for it to dry before you put the pot back.

The features line says cooking up to 70 percent faster than traditional slow cooking. Later on the same page, in another block, it says "compared with traditional cooking methods," without the word slow. We did not merge them. That is the maker's number, not a measurement.

Duo Plus: nine functions, and one of them is sous vide

On the Duo Plus 6QT V3 page there are nine functions: pressure, slow cook, sauté, sous vide, steam, sterilize, keep warm, rice and yogurt. 15 one-touch programs, not 13. The same volume of 6 quarts and the same "up to 6 servings." The same power, 1,000 watts, 120 volts, 60 hertz. A display with time, temperature and pressure. An 18/8 pot with a tri-ply bottom and an anti-spin design. In the box: two extra sealing rings and a steam rack. Dimensions according to the page: width 13.4, height 12.9, length 12.2. On the Duo the length was 13.4 and the width 12.2. The labels may have swapped between the pages, and we did not "correct" them. Someone measuring a cupboard measures the box.

Here too a one-year warranty, and the same exclusion: it does not cover use outside the United States and Canada. Here too there is no price on the page. Here too there is no word about Wi-Fi.

Sous vide under that name is not the Anova wand. In the article on the Precision Cooker there is a flow rate, an accuracy of a tenth of a degree, and a pot you already own. The Duo Plus page has no sous-vide temperature range and no flow rate. So we did not invent them. Someone buying the Plus because it says sous vide needs to know that this is a program in the closed pot, not a circulator.

Where Wi-Fi is written

In the comparison table of cookers Instant Pot sets out four columns: RIO at 6 quarts with 7 functions, RIO Wide at 7.5 quarts, Duo Crisp at 6.5 quarts with 13 functions that include air fry and sous vide, and Pro Max at 6 quarts with 10 functions. In the Pro Max feature row it says Smart WiFi Remote Control. We did not open the Pro Max product page, so there is no wattage, dimension or price for it here. There is only what the table says: the remote control is attached there to the Pro Max, not to the Duo and not to the Duo Plus.

Duo Crisp, in the same table, is the pot with an air-fry lid. We did not open that one either. Someone looking for a dedicated basket, with two zones, is at the Ninja FlexBasket, not in this row. Someone looking for a countertop oven at 1,800 watts is at the Breville Joule.

120 volts comes back on both pages that were opened. Together with the warranty exclusion outside the United States and Canada, that is two brakes before an order to Israel. We did not find a 230-volt model on these pages.

What 6 quarts means in a kitchen, without inventing litres

The pages speak in quarts, not in litres. We did not convert, because a separate source is not required in order to use the number the maker gave: 6 quarts, "up to 6 servings" on both models. A serving, for them, is not a definition in grams. A thick stew for six people can fill the pot, and a thin soup for the same six can sit under the maximum line or over it, depending on the recipe. The pot's own maximum line was not quoted here, because we did not open a manual with a height drawing. Someone buying "for a family of eight" on the basis of "up to 6 servings" is buying too small, according to Instant Pot's own sentence. For a larger quantity the table on the site offers the RIO Wide at 7.5 quarts, and again: we did not open its product page, so there is no wattage and no dimension beyond the name and the volume in the table.

Keep-warm for up to 10 hours, from the questions on the Duo page, is the window in which the pot waits for dinner. Turn it off if you want the pressure to drop faster by the natural route. Leave it on if people eat at different hours. Ten hours are not "the food stays as it came out of the cook." They are only what the function does according to the page. Taste after a whole night was not tested.

Cleaning is part of the choice as much as the watts are. Lid in the dishwasher, pot in the dishwasher, body with a cloth. A sealing ring picks up smell. The Duo Plus arrives with two extra rings, so you can separate sweet from savoury if you keep the habit. The regular Duo, according to the page, does not list two extra rings, only a rack. Someone who cooks both chocolate porridge and onion soup will feel that difference in the box, not in the number of programs.

1,000 watts at 120 volts are not the Ninja's 1,690 and not Breville's 1,800. The pot does not claim to brown like a basket. The sauté on it is browning on the bottom before you lock the lid, and then the pressure does the rest. A recipe that ends with "put it in the oven to brown" still needs an oven or a basket at the end. The pot does not close the recipe by itself, unless the recipe really ends inside the pot.

The dimensions, even when the length and width labels do not sit in the same order, are around 12 to 14 inches on each axis. That is a square on the counter, with a height of about 13 inches, plus room to open the lid. Do not measure only the footprint. The lid lifts. If the cabinet is low, check the arc, not only the closed height written on the page.

How to read a recipe next to a pressure cooker

The pot counts the pressure cycle on its own screen. The pages we opened do not say exactly when the count starts relative to the moment the pressure comes up, so we do not say here that "the timer starts only after the pressure." What is written: do not quick-release a thick stew or beans. Put that warning in the recipe note, not in memory.

According to the KitchenAppes homepage, cooking mode keeps the screen on and shows one step at a time, and timers start directly from the step that needs them. The steps before the lock, the ingredients, and the step after the pressure is released sit there. You read the minutes of the pressure cycle on the appliance. The shopping list is built beforehand, not in the middle of the steam. You can browse the community recipes on KitchenAppes and read more about us. On a network connection, when you get to the Pro Max and not to the Duo, the article on Wi-Fi is still worth reading.

Questions

How much does it cost?

On the Duo and Duo Plus pages we opened on 20 October 2026 there was no price. A figure of 0.00 dollars that appeared on other widgets on the site is not a price, and it was not quoted.

What is the practical difference between the models?

Duo: seven functions and 13 programs, with no sous vide on the list. Duo Plus V3: nine functions, including sous vide and sterilize, and 15 programs. Both are 6 quarts, 1,000 watts, 120 volts, with a one-year warranty.

Is the warranty valid in Israel?

The page says the warranty does not cover a product that was purchased, used or operated outside the United States and Canada. We did not find a clause that covers another country.

Is there an app for the Duo?

Not on the Duo and Duo Plus pages. In the comparison table, Smart WiFi is listed on the Pro Max. We did not open the Pro Max page, and there is no specification for it here beyond that row.

Does sous vide on the Duo Plus replace Anova?

Not according to what was published. Anova publishes a wand, a flow rate and an accuracy. Duo Plus publishes a function named sous vide, without the range and without the flow. Without those numbers there is no accuracy comparison.