The Instant Vortex Plus 140-3088-01 is a high-end air fryer suitable for cooking for about four people. It has a sleek look, with touch controls that light up only when you're using them. The control panel is slanted for easier reading from above. Unlike most air fryers, its drawer has a window, so you can watch your food as it cooks. It has six presets for different methods, such as 'Air Fry,' 'Broil,' and 'Dehydrate.' You can customize each preset's default time and temperature and save your changes.
Our Verdict
The Instant Vortex Plus is a decent air fryer. It preheats and cooks very quickly. Unfortunately, it doesn't have a good air frying performance since it either overcooks or undercooks a big proportion of your food. It's somewhat versatile since it has a good range of temperatures, but its fan speed doesn't change that much for different settings.
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Very good amount of surface area for cooking.
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Preheats and cooks quickly.
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Makes mediocre air fried food.
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Small range of fan speeds.
The Instant Vortex Plus is good for large-batch cooking. Its overall capacity is enough to serve about four people, and its basket has a lot of surface area, so you can spread more food out in a single layer compared to many 6-qt air fryers. It's also fast and decently versatile, but unfortunately, it cooks unevenly.
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Very good amount of surface area for cooking.
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6qt capacity.
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Preheats and cooks quickly.
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Makes mediocre air fried food.
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Small range of fan speeds.
The Instant Vortex Plus has a decent air frying performance. It's fast, maintains a stable temperature, and its basket has a good amount of surface area, all of which usually contribute to a good frying performance. However, it makes mediocre-quality fried food, with foods like breaded meat, vegetables, and French fries coming out unevenly browned, with half of your food under or overcooked. This is likely because of its recessed fan design, which blocks airflow.
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Very good amount of surface area for cooking.
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Preheats and cooks quickly.
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Makes mediocre air fried food.
The Instant Vortex Plus is a very fast air fryer. The manufacturer says you don't need to preheat it, and while it obviously needs time to come up to temperature if you choose to preheat, it does it faster than most air fryers we've tested. It also cooks very quickly.
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Preheats and cooks quickly.
The Instant Vortex Plus has a very good cooking capacity. Its 6-qt overall capacity is enough to serve about four people, and compared with other 6-qt fryers, it has more surface area in its basket, so you can arrange more food in a single layer.
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Very good amount of surface area for cooking.
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6qt capacity.
The Instant Vortex Plus is a somewhat bulky air fryer. Some 6qt air fryers have a more compact design.
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Somewhat bulky.
- 7.4 Air Frying
- 7.7 Large Batch Cooking
Performance Usages
- 7.1 Frying Performance
- 8.5 Cooking Speed
- 7.8 Cooking Capacity
- 7.0 Size
Differences Between Sizes And Variants
The Instant Vortex Plus 140-3088-01 comes in 'Black' or 'Stainless Steel.' We tested it in 'Black'. Here's a photo of our unit's label.
If you encounter another variant, let us know in the comments, and we'll update our review.
Compared To Other Air Fryers
The Instant Vortex Plus is a medium-sized air fryer that has some unusual features, like a window so you can watch your food as it cooks and customizable presets. Unfortunately, it doesn't have a good air frying performance, likely because of the placement of the fan in the cooking chamber. Other 6- and 7-qt models, like the COSORI TurboBlaze and the Gourmia GAF798, air fry food much more evenly. It's not extremely versatile since it has a narrow range of fan speeds, but you can set it to dehydrate for up to 72 hours, while most air fryers can only run for 24 hours at most using 'Dehydrate' mode.
If you're looking for a recommendation, check out our list of the best air fryers.
Test Results
The basket has a very good amount of cooking surface area, especially compared to most other 6-qt air fryers. Compared to the Dreo ChefMaker or the COSORI TurboBlaze, for example, you can arrange more food in a single layer. Like most air fryers, its basket and tray have a PTFE non-stick coating.
It's decently versatile, with a good range of temperature settings for different recipes. However, its fan speed doesn't vary that much between settings, meaning it's less versatile compared to models like the COSORI TurboBlaze, which has different fan speeds for air frying, baking, and dehydrating.
The various modes have different default cook times and temperatures, but you can adjust each within a certain range. Unlike most air fryers, you also customize the cooking time and temperature for each preset and save your changes. Plus, when using 'Dehydrate' mode, the air fryer can be set to go for up to 72 hours, while many air fryers' timers don't go past 24 hours.
- Air Fry Temperature: 180°F – 400°F, 1 – 60 minutes
- Roast: 180°F – 400°F, 1 – 60 minutes
- Bake: 180°F – 400°F, 1 – 60 minutes
- Reheat: 120°F – 360°F, 1 – 60 minutes
- Broil: 350°F – 400°F 1 – 40 minutes
- Dehydrate: 95°F – 175°F, 1 – 72 hours
It makes mediocre-quality air-fried food. It doesn't cook evenly, so when a significant proportion of your food is overcooked, an even larger amount is still undercooked and not crispy enough. About half your food comes out crispy and golden brown.
This fryer's weaker performance is due to its design. The fan is installed in a recessed area behind the heating element, unlike other air fryers. You can see an example of a more common design with the Beautiful 6qt Digital. The Instant's recessed fan likely prevents airflow from evenly reaching every part of your food.
It has very good temperature stability. After adding food to the drawer, it recovers its temperature decently quickly. During cooking, it maintains a more stable temperature than most air fryers we've tested.