Instant Pot Sous Vide: Models, Steps and Limits

An Instant Pot can cook sous vide if it has a Sous Vide program. The program heats water in the inner pot to a temperature you set and holds it there for the time you set. The Duo Plus and Duo Evo Plus manuals give a range of 77°F to 194°F (25°C to 90°C).

America's Test Kitchen notes that the Instant Pot Pro has no fan to circulate the water and is not as accurate as a dedicated sous vide machine. Treat the program as a way to hold water near a set temperature, and check it with a thermometer.

Which Instant Pot models have a Sous Vide program

Not every Instant Pot has the program. The table below shows what Instant Pot's own product pages list under cooking functions for each model.

The Duo Evo Plus is no longer in that listing, but its manual includes a Sous Vide program with presets for egg, poultry, beef, pork and seafood.

How to check your own cooker

Instant Pot sells more than one version of some models under the same name. Its store lists both a Duo Plus and a Duo Plus V3, so check the cooker itself and do not rely on the model name alone.

Look at the control panel. A cooker with the program has a button or a dial option labeled Sous Vide. The Smart Programs list in the manual for your exact model number is the second place to check.

If there is no Sous Vide option, the steps below do not apply to your cooker. The overview of sous vide equipment describes the other ways to hold a water bath at temperature.

How to use the Sous Vide program

These steps follow Instant Pot's Duo Plus manual and Duo Evo Plus manual. Controls differ between models (the Duo Evo Plus uses a dial), so keep your own manual open.

1. Fill the inner pot to the half fill line. The Duo Plus manual says to use warm water. Place the inner pot in the cooker base.
2. Close the lid. The Duo Plus manual has you set the steam release to Vent. The Duo Evo Plus manual says the position does not matter for sous vide.
3. Select Sous Vide and set the temperature. Take the temperature from the calculator for your food and doneness. The Duo Plus program starts at a default of 133°F (56°C) for 3 hours, so change both numbers to match your cook.
4. Set the time. The Duo Plus manual gives a time range of 30 minutes to 99 hours 30 minutes. The calculator gives the time for your food's thickness.
5. Press Start and let the water heat. The display shows On while the water heats.
6. Bag the food while you wait. Season it and seal it in a pouch with the air removed. A zipper-lock bag sealed with the water displacement method works if you do not own a vacuum sealer.
7. Add the pouches when the display shows Hot. Open the lid and lower them in. On the Duo Plus the display shows Hot for a few moments and then switches to the countdown, so have the pouches ready.
8. Check the water line and close the lid. The manuals say to leave at least 2 in (5 cm) between the water line and the brim of the inner pot. The Duo Plus manual adds that the seal of a resealable bag should stay above the water.
9. Watch the water level on long cooks. For cooks over 4 hours, the Duo Evo Plus manual says to check the level from time to time so the pouch contents stay submerged, and to add heated water if needed. The Duo Plus manual says to add heated water any time it is needed.
10. Remove the pouches with tongs when the display shows End. Both manuals tell you to check the food with a thermometer. Pat meat dry and sear it in a very hot pan.

Choosing the time, bagging and searing work the same way as with a circulator, and how to sous vide goes through each of those steps.

A Duo Plus series manual adds a note on the lid: the pressure cooking lid is not necessary for sous vide, but it is recommended for temperature control.

Limits compared with an immersion circulator

No circulation. In its multicooker review, America's Test Kitchen notes that the Instant Pot Pro has no fan to circulate the water and is not as accurate as a good sous vide machine, and it concludes that the Pro does not deliver true sous vide cooking. Douglas Baldwin's guide to sous vide cooking reports that circulating water baths heat very uniformly.

Accuracy and stability. The same review says the Pro cannot hold temperatures as accurately or reliably as a dedicated machine. Of the Duo Evo Plus, it says the sous vide function took too long to heat and did not maintain a consistent temperature. The review does not publish the measured temperatures. The manuals do not state an accuracy figure either, and they tell you to check the food with a thermometer.

Crowding. Baldwin's guide warns that pouches must be completely submerged and not tightly arranged or overlapping, or the food can undercook. With no fan or pump to move water between pouches, give each one space and cook in a single layer.

Capacity. The pot is filled only to the half line, and the water line has to stay 2 in (5 cm) below the brim once the food is in. That limits how much food fits under water at once.

Doneness drift. Temperature sets doneness in sous vide. If the water runs a few degrees away from the setting, the food finishes at a different doneness than the one you chose from the doneness guide.

What cooks well in an Instant Pot

This list follows from the limits above, not from a published test of each food.

• Single portions that lie flat. They sit under the water line in a single layer, which is the arrangement Baldwin's spacing warning calls for. Chicken breast, pork chops and individual steaks are examples.
• Settings with room above 131°F (55°C). A small error in the water temperature then changes the doneness slightly without moving the food below the calculator's pasteurization floor. The time needed to pasteurize still gets longer as the water gets cooler, so measure the water for these settings too.
• Vegetables. The vegetables chart gives 183°F (83.9°C) for every vegetable in the calculator. That is inside the 77°F to 194°F (25°C to 90°C) range in the Duo Plus and Duo Evo Plus manuals.
• Long cooks that fit the pot. The timer on the Duo Plus runs to 99 hours 30 minutes, so the program can hold a long cook. The food has to fit under the water line, and you need to check the level as the manuals describe.

The pot is a poor match for three cases: food too large to sit under the water line, batches that would stack or overlap, and low temperature cooks where a few degrees decide both doneness and safety.

The Duo Evo Plus manual says its sous vide cooking times and temperatures are recommendations only. Set the time for your food's thickness from the calculator or the cooking times chart.