Instant Pot, 8-Quart Whisper Quiet 9-in-1 Electric Pressure Cooker, Slow Rice Cooker, Steamer, Sauté, Yogurt Maker, Warmer & Sterilizer, App With Over 800 Recipes, Stainless Steel, Duo Plus

Quieter. Dial is simpler to use than models with all the buttons
Was recommended by a friend to get this. Most important thing is remembering how many minutes each food type needs. The new dial with “preset times” per food type helps avoid that and is less confusing than the model with too many buttons. You really don’t need all the bells and whistles if you have a recipe book nearby that tells you times; but for the same reason I love my Maverick ProTemp instant thermometer, they both have readings right on the appliance itself. Haven’t figured out how to cook polenta without scalding the bottom, but also haven’t figured out how to make it so tasty any other method! Pressure release is very quiet compared to my friends older non-”whisper quiet” version. 6qt is perfect for me (feeds no more than 4-5 adults), and is easy to find a place to store it as well. Seems fairly sturdy where it counts like the stainless steel insert. The insert is rather tall though. It takes more time to sear meat since there is effectively an 8” chimney for which the steam must travel to evaporate (vs 2” tall sauté pan that breathes easily). Overall a good inexpensive buy. Soft boiled eggs are quick and amazingly great (thanks to the dial to remind me they need to be low pressure). This beats the socks off my high quality German manual pressure cooker (thanks for the recommendation and the memories Alton. It’s still the fastest boiling pot in the west!), where I had to babysit and adjust temperature throughout the duration of the cook for every new recipe.

Makes cooking easy & foolproof
I’m relatively new to using the Instant Pot, but so far I love it. It makes cooking beans so much easier. It’s super functional, especially during times when you forget to lay out meat to thaw earlier in the day and feel pressed on timing. You can stick dry beans and frozen meat right in for cooking instead of having to wait hours to soak or thaw. I will say I wouldn’t rely completely on it being the “faster” option though simply because it does take a significant amount of time to depressurize, especially when it comes to food like soups where there’s a large quantity of liquid. I have a household of 4 and it’s great for us, though sometimes I do wish it had more room, but during my research I learned that the bigger Instant Pots take even more time to come to pressure and to depressurize so I just went with the 6 quart option and I’m satisfied with it. It is hard to remove the smells off of the inner ring when cleaning so definitely follow the instructions for using one inner ring for sweets and the other for savory foods (it does come with 2 rings). I’m not the best cook, but this allows me to cook way more things that I otherwise wouldn’t even attempt on my own because this kind of makes it a foolproof process.

Tamed the Dragon—Now It’s a Kitchen Whisperer!
The Instant Pot Duo Plus 8-Quart isn’t just an upgrade; it’s a revolution. Gone are the days when my old Instant Pot roared like a dragon, spewing its steamy wrath onto cupboards and ceilings, leaving behind water stains that told tales of culinary battles fought (and lost).This new model, with its whisper-quiet silencer, has completely tamed the beast. It now operates with the calm efficiency of a Zen master—no more sudden hisses, no more kitchen eruptions. It cooks, it steams, it pressure-cooks, all while being so polite you could hold a conversation right next to it without shouting over the chaos.The 8-quart capacity makes it perfect for tackling big meals or cooking enough soup to feed a medieval feast, and it handles every function—from slow cooking to rice steaming—with ease and dignity. But if you’re used to the older black Instant Pot, you might notice something different: this new gray model takes longer to cook some things, especially dry beans. It’s an adjustment, for sure, but one that’s worth making for the peace, quiet, and reliability this model brings to the table.Say goodbye to dragons and hello to perfectly cooked meals—just be ready for a slightly longer wait. It’s a game-changer, just at a slightly slower pace.