Instant pot Ip-DUO60 vs Power Pressure Cooker XL – Updated 2018
Get the Instant Pot IP-Duo60!
So not only did we do the research but we also had the opportunity to use the instant pot for more than a year now.
After a lot of research I’d recommend that you go with Instant Pot for a lot of reasons that are outlined below. You can jump ahead to the summary or read through the entire page if you wish. There’s a lot of useful info.
Instant Pot – Check out customer reviews and ratings on amazon
Power Pressure Cooker – Check out customer reviews and ratings on amazon
Instant Pot IP-Duo60 vs Power Pressure Cooker XL: Which One Should You Choose…?
What we’ve learned from our multi cooker…?
Power Pressure Cooker XL
The pressure cooker and slow cooker options turn out great results. It also works great as a steamer. We’ve made yogurt in it, again, the results were good. If this machine has any downside it is the rice cooker. We use the rice cooker because it is fast and easy, but the results are just okay. We make better rice stovetop.
Appearance and Size
Both machines are housed in stainless steel. They are decent looking, I guess, but both possess an awkward cylindrical shape. This does make it a little challenging to store it out of the way; neither can butt flush against a wall. They aren’t too large in size and about the same size.
The bottom line is that these machines are not going to take up a whole lot of space but in smaller kitchens (like ours) your counter top space might feel a bit cramped.
The power pressure cooker is also available in red.
PSI
The Instant Pot ip-duo 60 has a high-pressure (10.2 – 11.6 psi) and a low-pressure (5.8 – 7.2 psi) option. You can manually select high or low pressure for your recipes. The power pressure cooker does not have the option to manually select high or low pressure. Instead, the pressure is preprogrammed according to the function that you select. The psi ranges from 7.2 to 12, but according the manual, the psi is 7.2 for most cooking functions; meat/chicken, fish/veg./steam, beans/lentils, rice/risotto, and soup/stew. The canning/preserving button operates at 12 psi.
But what if you want to use the Power Pressure for a recipe that calls for high pressure? I suppose you could use the canning/preserving feature. But as Power Pressure Cooker user and yourbetterkitchen.com commenter Ken said, “The Power Pressure Cooker XL does actually have a high pressure setting, it’s the canning setting (12 PSI) so you can technically use this to cook food on high pressure. The problem is, this setting seems to use a special heat profile that very very slowly ramps up the heat, so it will take significantly longer for it to come up to pressure. If you look at the manual, it has a table of program settings showing the pressure for each. I too though wish that it had more configurable pressure settings, rather than just relying on the program settings to do it for you.” So, do with that information what you will. Personally, I enjoy having the flexibility of being able to use the manual mode that Instant Pot offers, it’s very convenient.
Control Panels
The interfaces are pretty similar; both are straight forward and easy to understand. I can you tell you from my own personal experience with the Instant Pot ip-duo60 that operation is quite simple. You select what your cooking using the appropriately labeled buttons, set the time, and voila! You might also turn the steam release knob in the right position and/or empty/attach the condensation collector.
The control panel is a bit different on the power pressure cooker, in additional to the labels, the buttons are adorned with cute little icons that are in shape of the food or the cooking function that you wish to use.
Instant Pot – Check out price
Power Pressure Cooker – Check out price
After using the instant pot and researching the power pressure cooker, I don’t get the sense that either machine would have an advantage in regards to the control panel. I do think that the design of the power pressure cooker could make it a little easier to use, but I am sure that both are easy to use.
Cooking Functions
What makes these multi-cookers so amazing is the fact that they can do so much. It’s the reason why our instant pot has a permanent place on our relatively small countertop. They have most of the same functions with the exception of the canning. Only one of these pressure cookers is equipped with canning feature and that is the Power Pressure Cooker xl. Check out the comparison table above to see all of the cooking functions.
Delay Timer
Both of these cookers come with a delay timer. A delay timer comes in handy when you want to make sure that your food is hot and ready for you when you get home. It allows you to plan well in advance.
Inner Pot
Instant Pot IP-Duo60
Also, there are some potential health concerns when dealing with Teflon.
I love that the instant pot has a stainless steel insert. It certainly isn’t as easy to clean as nonstick but I don’t find it to be particularly difficult to clean. This definitely influenced our purchase decision.
Capacity
The Instant Pot IP-Duo60 has a 6 quart capacity while the Power Pressure Cooker XL comes in two different sizes, 6 quart and 8-quart. However, you should know that the instant pot does make an 8-quart model as well. The name of the 8-quart model is Instant Pot IP-duo80 and it has all of the functions that the 60 has.
Price and Warranty
In my opinion, neither of these pressure cookers is going to break the bank. I would consider them to be mid-priced small kitchen appliances. But my definition of mid-price might vary from yours. You have to consider that I have come across very expensive toasters and high-end sous vides. I think that they are priced competitively and worth the cost considering everything that they can do.
Both of these units come with a 1-year warranty.
Warning: Pressure Canning…
The power pressure cooker has a pressure canning feature and there are folks that might really want to use that function. But I suggest that you do your own due diligence before proceeding. Proper pressure canning must be done with a specific psi based on altitude. But there is no way to measure the psi on these machines. And if the pressure drops below the specified psi at any time during the process then it is advised that you start the canning process over from scratch. If you want to read more about it, you can visit the nchfp.
Instant Duo  | Power Pressure Cooker  |
|
|---|---|---|
| Color: | black and stainless | black and stainless, red and stainless |
| Cooking Functions: | soup, meat/stew, bean/chili, poultry, rice, multigrain, porridge, steam, slow cook, saute, yogurt | canning/preserving, soup/stew, slow cook, rice/risotto, beans/lentils, steam, chicken/meat, |
| PSI: | High (10.2 -11.6) Low (5.8 - 7.2) | Low around 7.2 psi for most cooking functions and 12 psi for the "canning/preserving" function. The pressure depends on the program selection that you make. Slow cooking function around 4.3 psi. |
| Delay Timer: | Yes | Yes |
| Pressure Canner | No | Yes |
| Keep Warm: | Yes | Yes |
| Inner Pot: | stainless steel | non-stick |
| Warranty: | 1 year warranty | 1 year warranty |
| Price: | click here to see price | click here to see price |
Customer Reviews…
After examining the reviews and ratings across multiple resources. I think that both of these machines are pretty good – despite some concerns. Both do seem to be good choices. However the general reviews and consensus of a product can sometimes overlook the small details, glitches, or nuances that could sway you in one direction over the other.
When I research customer reviews, I’m looking for patterns. One person’s experience is often not enough to make a fair assessment of a given product.
The most concerning issue that I saw being brought up regularly amongst several instant pot ip-duo60 customers was the long-term durability. Unfortunately, I can’t speak personally to the long term durability of this machine. At the time of this writing I’ve only owned this machine for about 6 months – but so far so good.
Update: We’ve now had this machine for about a year and a half and it is still producing great results. At the time of this post, I most recently used it to pressure cook smoked turkey necks for greens (the longest part of cooking greens is the smoked meat).
However, there aren’t a whole lot of these complaints. There are many customers that appear to be perfectly content with the durability of this machine.
I ran into reports of durability issues with the power pressure cooker. In fact I was a little put-off by the numerous reports, I came across, of failed machines. There might be some underlying issues with this pressure cooker. Others, however, seem to be completely content with the Power Pressure Cooker XL.
Summary & Recommendation
Hopefully this Instant Pot ip-duo60 vs Power Pressure Cooker XL comparison helped you out. In my opinion, the Instant Pot ip-duo60 is the better choice. First of all, the Power Pressure Cooker has complaints about durability that would make me a bit uncomfortable to purchase.
The power cooker doesn’t have a high/low pressure setting for you to manually select high or low pressure. The functions are preprogrammed with a pressure setting and most of them are low pressure (see above). If you have a recipe that calls for high pressure, you will need to use the “canning/preserving” feature. I also don’t like that the power pressure cooker has a nonstick inner pot (they tend to get scratched and chipped quickly) while the instant pot has a stainless steel one.
The instant pot has much more positive feedback. We’ve had this machine for over a year and it is working great. But you don’t have to take my word for it, you should check out some of this feedback yourself.
The canning feature on the power pressure cooker is very cool and maybe it would sway you, but I wouldn’t feel comfortable using an electric pressure cooker as a canner (see above).
Go for the instant pot.
I believe that both of these appliances have the same canning ability. Namely, they can handle the boiling type of canning appropriate for high acid foods like tomatoes. However, neither appliance can safely can low acid foods and meats, which require 15 psi. Using an electric pressure cooker for such canning can be dangerous (food poisoning). So kudos to Instant Pot for not giving the unsafe impression that it can . . . can.
- October 31, 2016First I want to say thank you for doing this review. It’s been a hard decision for me. I ended up with the Power Pressure Cooker XL. I don’t necessarily plan to can foods, but it does explain the acidity level of food & the range in PSI or kPa. On this model, it ranges from 4.3 PSI/30kPa to 12PSI/82.7kPa.
- November 18, 2016I purchased this brand from Bed Bath & Beyond & their return policy on this is amazing, so even if this small appliance goes down in 5 years or longer, as long as I have my receipt they’ll exchange it. Making this one the better decision in my eyes. They don’t even carry the Instapot brand.
Hi Michelle,
- November 18, 2016Thank you for taking the time to leave a comment! I’m glad that you are happy with your choice. Pressure cookers are so amazing and they make weekly cooking for the busy family much easier (check out hippressurecooking.com for recipes and conversions). More people should get one. The instant pot is one of our most used kitchen appliances (aside from our foodsaver and vitamix). That Bed Bath & Beyond return policy is unbelievable. Sounds like you made a wise choice. I’m sure you will make many delicious meals in it!
Hi Michelle,
I am interested to hear your feedback now that you have had the machine for a few months. Can you comment? we have just ordered the Instapot, I am hoping it was a good choice but my girlfriend swears by it and we are just looking to regain some much needed quality family time that seems impossible to find these days. Thanks!
Kimberly
- February 6, 2017It is a huge time saver but it’s not a magic bullet, you still need to plan out meals before you go shopping. What we really appreciate about the Instant Pot is that you can prepare a whole meal in one pot. Also, your active cooking time goes down tremendously. That will definitely save you some time. If you really want to save time in your kitchen, I’d suggest that you prepare meals in bulk and in advance. Soups, chilis, and even chicken can be prepared, then frozen (there are a lot of resources on pinterest). With the help of a vacuum sealer. I can definitely relate to wanting to save more time in your kitchen.
- February 9, 2017I love my instant pot! I found that after I got one unit, I then wanted two! I make rice perfectly in it, I just don’t use the rice setting. I use the guidelines in “Hip Pressure Cooking’, by Laura D.A. Pazzaglia.
- December 7, 2016Great tip, thanks Kimberly, I’ll take a look as soon as ours arrive. It;s supposed to take over a month to get it 🙁 I’ve never experienced such a long wait time on Amazon :/
- February 6, 2017I know, they are short right now because this thing has been selling like hot cakes, but I promise you it’s worth the wait.
- February 9, 2017Do both machines have a browning option?
- December 12, 2016Yes, you can brown with both. Thanks for stopping by!
- February 23, 2017Thank you! This helped so much!
- January 22, 2017I’m so glad it helped you out!
- February 9, 2017I just picked a power pressure 9-in-1 and it has a button that says adjust pressure but in your review you say it doesn’t have this feature.. am I missing something here or is this an updated version?
- February 19, 2017Hi Wi,
When I saw the unit in person at Bed Bath and Beyond, the control panel did not have a low/high pressure setting. I’ve also checked the images of popular online retailers and none of them show a button that indicates that you can manually adjust the pressure (I even went directly to the Power Pressure Cooker website). Instead, each of the cooking options has a preprogrammed pressure setting. For example, the button “Rice/Risotto” operates with 7.2 psi. If you have a unit that has a “Pressure adjust” button, then that is news to me. Perhaps a change in newer units. I will be calling to find out shortly and I will update this post with the news.
My goal is to help others make a good purchase decision. I do make mistakes sometimes. And they are just that, mistakes. When I find out about a mistake I make a change. Nothing sinister. In fact, I appreciate you leaving this comment because it prompted me to do more research. By the way, I approve all constructive comments (even critical comments that point out mistakes on my part or problems customers have had with the product). But I definitely delete overly negative comments i.e. name calling, as that helps no one.
- February 23, 2017The Power Pressure Cooker XL does actually have a high pressure setting, it’s the canning setting (12 PSI) so you can technically use this to cook food on high pressure. The problem is, this setting seems to use a special heat profile that very very slowly ramps up the heat, so it will take significantly longer for it to come up to pressure. If you look at the manual, it has a table of program settings showing the pressure for each. I too though wish that it had more configurable pressure settings, rather than just relying on the program settings to do it for you.
- February 19, 2017Hello Ken,
- February 23, 2017Thank you for the information. I will update this comparison shortly. I hope you don’t mind, but I quoted your comment and added it above.
I am so glad that I found this review. I just got my Xl for valentines day. I was looking for pressure cooker recipes and I found a ton for the instant pot. So I was looking to compare the two. So far we made ribs in the xl, and they were “ok”. But this being my first pressure cooker I know there are going to be many trial and errors.
- February 21, 2017Hey Margarita,
- February 23, 2017There is a slight learning curve but you’ll find it really easy once you get going. I recommend checking out hippressurecooking.com. It is a huge resource!
Margarita, we now have 3 power pressure cookers, 1 6 quart and 2 10 quart. We LOVE them!! There are diffinatly trial and error when cooking with a new appliance but once you get it you’ve got it. I get a lot of recipes from Pressureluck on YouTube. He has the instapot but it dosent matter because everyone of his recipes I have done in my PPXL has been amazing! I hope by now you love yours as much as we love ours.
- January 13, 2018hi. I heard in the video that it does he work as 7 kitchen products and I wan wondering what they were??
- March 19, 2017Pressure cooker, steamer, rice maker, yogurt maker, slow cooker, sauté, yogurt maker, and warmer.
- April 14, 2017I was intrigued by the Instant Pot’s yogurt setting. Does anyone know which setting to use on the Power Pressure XL for making yogurt? I am having a hard time finding any info on how to make yogurt in the XL. The info-mercial for the XL says you can make yogurt but that’s it.
- April 7, 2017I have been very interested in the Insta Pot or Power Presser XL… so reading this post was very informative. I like many others, want to save time when it comes to cooking dinners etc. Very busy life with work and family, so any time saving methods I am all for! I just am on the fence about either product and hope if I make a purchase I would be happy-able to cook healthy meals. Find recipes my family likes! Does the stainless steel pot clean up easy on the insta pot? I am not a fan of scrubing etc. want to keep things nice for long term use though.
- May 21, 2017Any tips or advice is highly welcome! 😁
Thanks for stopping by Shannon! I find that the stainless steel pot cleans up pretty easily. I personally am not a big fan of nonstick. In my experience, no matter how much I baby those pans and the proper utensils, etc., they just never seem to last very long. In the end there are many happy customers for both of these electric pressure cookers.
- May 23, 2017I have an 8 quart PPC XL, and a 6 quart Instant Pot IP-Duo. I have to say I like them both, but I don’t like the non-stick inner pot that came with the PPC XL. TriStar doesn’t offer a stainless steel option, but I found one that works perfectly. Here is the link to it: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00UYZHTW8/ref=ox_sc_sfl_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER
I belong to a couple of pressure cooker groups on Facebook, and several people have bought this for their PPC XLs, and they all love it. Down side is they only have it in 8 quart size, no 6 or 10 quart sizes available.
- July 8, 2017Hey Joe, Thanks for the advice!
- July 13, 2017Hey thank you for this referral! I have an 8 qt PPC XL and just added it to my cart!
- November 13, 2017Hi, I just looked at the power cooker xl website and if yoi buy one, yoi can get a second one for 1/2 price. Would this sway your decisiin to the power pressure cooker xl if you coukd get 2 significantly cheaper.
- September 30, 2017Thanks for including this piece of information. This may certainly sway some shoppers. It is also important to consider the shipping cost, overall build quality, customer support and reviews.
Thanks Tom!
- October 4, 2017Maybe it is not less expensive after the one 30 dollars in shipping and handling. I’m leaning instant pot now. Thanks for your review.
- September 30, 2017That’s a great point!
- October 4, 2017With the growing popularity of the Instant Pot Duo60 I decided to order one (it’s not here yet). This morning I saw an infomercial for the Power Pressure Cooker XL. After reading your comparisons I know I made the better choice. Especially after reading the comments you made in the summary. Thanks for this!
- December 30, 2017Does anyone know if the 6 qt Instant Pot stainless steel inner pot can be used in the 6 qt Power Pressure cooker?
- December 30, 2017Hi, Bill:
- April 19, 2018Can one use the Instant Pot stainless inner pot in the Power XL? That would be perfect for someone who wants the canning function but fears of using Teflon.
Hmmm…I understand the concern. Usually teflon is subpar compared to stainless steel. I don’t know the exact dimensions of the Power Pressure Cooker inner pot. My concern is if the dimensions between the two pots are are different, will it still seal?
Your best bet is to contact Power Pressure Cooker directly to see if they offer a stainless steel inner pot that isn’t advertised on the website. I checked and didn’t see anything but they do offer a number to call for parts and accessories.
- April 21, 2018I do have one con about the power pressure cooker XL . iPad 2 now but the writing has come off of the pressure cap
- April 24, 2018Thank you Julie, the little details like this are important as it could sway a shopper in one direction over the other.
- April 26, 2018