Instant Vortex Plus Review
Pros: Fantastic cooking performance, easy to clean, easy to use, great temperature accuracy, multiple cooking functions
Cons: On the expensive side
Manufacturer: Instant Appliances
Our Verdict
Compare to Similar Products
 This Product
Instant Vortex Plus | |||||
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| Awards |  | | |||
| Price | $120 List $119.99 at Amazon | $120 List $99.99 at Amazon | $130 List $114.99 at Amazon | $96 List $59.49 at Amazon | $70 List |
Overall Score  |
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| Star Rating | |||||
| Pros | Fantastic cooking performance, easy to clean, easy to use, great temperature accuracy, multiple cooking functions | Great cooking performance, user friendly, excellent temperature accuracy | Good air frying performance, quite user friendly | Inexpensive, easy to clean, good cooking performance | Good cooking performance, inexpensive |
| Cons | On the expensive side | Not the easiest to clean | Relatively poor temperature accuracy, additional cooking functions somewhat lackluster | Fry basket can stick, medicore temperature accuracy | Very small capacity |
| Bottom Line | Exceptional frying performance and an easy to clean design make this one of the best options on the market | This high performing, four quart model offers the most consistent quality of the bunch | Good for air frying, but its extra cooking functions don't quite live up to expectations | An effective and inexpensive model that offers decent cooking performance and good temperature accuracy | A fairly good appliance that is held back by a relatively small capacity |
| Rating Categories | Instant Vortex Plus | Ninja 1550 Watt | Instant Vortex Plus... | Ultrean 4.2qt | Dash Compact |
| Cooking Performance (35%) | |||||
| User Friendliness (25%) | |||||
| Ease Of Cleaning (20%) | |||||
| Temperature Accuracy (20%) | |||||
| Specs | Instant Vortex Plus | Ninja 1550 Watt | Instant Vortex Plus... | Ultrean 4.2qt | Dash Compact |
| Outside Dimensions | 11.5" x 13.25" x 12.75" | 13.6" x 11" x 13.3" | 13.2" x 13.2" x 14.4" | 13.2" x 11.3" x 12.4" | 10.2" x 8.1" x 11.4" |
| Capacity | 6 qt | 4 qt | 6 qt | 4.2 qt | 2 qt |
| Accessories | None | Multi-layer rack for dehydrating | Two cooking trays, rotisseries basket, spit, and fork, drip pan | None | None |
| Power Consumption | 1700W | 1550W | 1500W | 1500W | 1000W |
Our Analysis and Test Results
Performance Comparison
Cooking Performance
The Vortex Plus left itself very little room for improvement in our cooking tests, prepping everything to near perfection.
Our kitchen experts and panel of taste testers struggled to find anything to complain about with the Vortex Plus' onion rings, doughnuts, and tater tots. The onion rings came out evenly cooked, with a solid and satisfying crisp. The doughnuts were delectable and fluffy on the inside, while taking on a crispy and flaky consistency on the outside. The tater tots displayed such a combination of crunch and fluffiness that we're pretty sure someone might classify them as deep-fried in a double-blind study — a compliment we would give to very few of the foods we've prepared in air fryers.
When cooking chicken, the Vortex Plus produced cuts so tender and moist they could be cut with a fork. However, the outsides only had a slight crisp to them — some models were able to make chicken taste just a bit crispier.
We've been using sweet potato fries as a bit of a torture test for our air fryers because we've yet to find a model that can get sweet potato fries truly crispy. The Vortex Plus didn't fully scale this mountain, but it made the fries crispier than any other model we've tested. Crispy enough, in fact, that we'd call them a reasonable replacement for deep-fried sweet potato fries.
User Friendliness
The Vortex Plus provided us with one of the most pleasant air frying experiences we've encountered.
The control panel couldn't be simpler. There are dedicated buttons for selecting each one of its six cooking functions, and a knob for quickly scrolling through cooking temperatures and times. The basket can easily be slid in and out using just one hand. This makes removing the basket mid-cooking to shake the contents (a requirement for many recipes) quick and simple. The tray can fall out when you're dumping its contents onto a plate, but this problem is easily remedied with a spatula or potholder.
Extra Cooking Features
On top of air frying, this device is capable of roasting, broiling, baking, reheating, and dehydrating.
Ease of Cleaning
Thanks to a unique fry basket design, the Vortex Plus is easier to clean than most air fryers on the market.
Most air fryers utilize fry baskets with small holes to maximize airflow. These small holes tend to get gunked up with grease and present a cleaning challenge. The Vortex Plus uses a removable tray that allows air to circulate under the food. We found this tray much easier to clean than the more common fry baskets.
Temperature Accuracy
The Vortex Plus displayed near-perfect temperature accuracy in our testing, reliably hitting the set temperature every single cook cycle.
Value
The Vortex Plus is a bit more expensive than the average air fryer, but not to a ridiculous degree. Seeing as it provides exceptional performance, this slight bump in price is well worth it, making it a great overall value.
Conclusion
The Instant Vortex Plus is one of the best air fryers currently on the market. Its exceptional performance and larger six-quart capacity make it the perfect choice for any air frying application.
— Max Mutter and Michelle Powell