Definitely. Duos were very reliable . Newer,cheaper means they are cutting corners to make it less reliable
Complaint
Kitchen & Dining
Instant Pot Duo 7-in-1 Electric Pressure Cooker, 6 Quart
Best Entry-Level Multi-Cooker
The Instant Pot Duo 7-in-1 is the original multi-cooker that launched a category, combining pressure cooker, slow cooker, rice cooker, steamer, sauté pan, yogurt maker, and warmer in a single 6-quart pot. Available on Amazon.ca (ASIN B00FLYWNYQ) at around $129 CAD.
10 mentions · 3 threadslast mention Feb 20267.5/ 10
ClearPick Score
Decent
Score informed by 10 owner mentions across 3 Reddit threads · see every quote ↓
4 positive3 mixed3 negative
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Best Entry-Level Multi-Cooker
Instant Pot Duo 7-in-1 Electric Pressure Cooker, 6 Quart
~$129 CAD est. on Amazon.ca
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Every mention, sourced
Real comments from Reddit, linked to the original thread. Nothing paraphrased.
We are on our 4th Instant Pot now, the first 2 were the Duo style, the 3rd was the "Classic" style and for whatever reason we had the most issues with that one... They have basically all done the exact same thing, the only annoying issue we had with the "Classic" variant was that sometimes the seal would take forever to lock or we would have to push up the metal pin with a toothpick to get it to come up to pressure.
Comparison
Update. I just successfully cooked steel cut oats with water on high pressure. Hemipenis just gave an awesome tip on utilizing the low pressure setting for anything other than water - we've been using high pressure every time which might be the cause of our issues here!
Praise
Also look into the pot in pot method (commonly abbreviated PIP) for things with a thick sauce. Takes a little longer to cook, but you don't have to water down sauces. Basically, just put the minimum water needed in bottom of pot, put trivet in. Put your ingredients in a separate (oven safe) container/bowl, and place on top of trivet, voila!
Mention
I would say that if the recipe fails on two different pots...that the water test has actually worked on....then it's just a Recipe Fail and you would need to either add more water or use a different method such as slow cooking or cooking the meat without the sauce.
Mention
Don't know if it would help, but maybe try putting the sauce in the bottom and then put the chicken on top of that. It sounds like it should work, but I'm still a novice, too. If you dilute the sauce even further, you can always put the IP on saute to cook off some water and thicken it up.
Mention
This 100%. Cooking sauces need too much dilution to work correctly in the pressure cooker. Best to use the pot in pot method. Then you can use plain water to get the pressure in the pot, and your food does not need to be diluted into oblivion
Complaint
I prefer the stainless steel exterior of the Duo as opposed to the all-plastic exterior of the Classic.
Praise
That was pretty much the recommendation I got when I was shopping for a cooker. I opted for the IP and have been happy with it. I rarely fry food anyway but the suggestions I got all said get two appliances as the more functions you add, something will suffer.
Praise
Hi IP fans, long time lurker here. My husband and I are at our wits' end with our Instant Pot Duo. We are unable to get it to come to pressure while cooking chicken after multiple attempts. IP support has been unable to help and has actually sent us an entirely new IP because they thought we might have a defective unit. Unfortunately, the new pot has the same issue, so I wanted to post here to see if we are doing something wrong.
Complaint
✅ What Works
- Highly versatile — pressure cook, sauté, and more functions in one appliance
- Community workarounds (pot-in-pot, low pressure) reliably solve the common sauce-cooking issue
- Strong value replacing multiple single-purpose kitchen appliances
⚠️ Worth Knowing
- Sauces and thick liquids need excessive dilution to build pressure correctly out of the box
- Some owners report difficulty reaching pressure on certain foods even after a warranty-replacement unit
- One long-time owner noticed build quality decline across successive Instant Pot generations
ClearPick Verdict
The Instant Pot Duo draws a genuinely split real-world reaction (4 positive, 3 mixed, 3 negative among 10 mentions), centered mostly on cook quality rather than reliability. The most repeated issue is that sauces and thick liquids need to be heavily diluted to build pressure correctly out of the box — the community workaround is the "pot-in-pot" method or the low-pressure setting, which most owners eventually adopt successfully. A smaller number of owners report genuine functional trouble, including one who couldn't get their unit to reach pressure on chicken even after a warranty replacement, and one long-time user noticed build quality decline across successive generations of Instant Pots they've owned. Versatility and everyday value remain strong points. A great multi-cooker if you're willing to learn a couple of workarounds for sauces; if hassle-free out-of-box performance on saucy dishes matters most, budget time to learn the pot-in-pot technique or consider a dedicated slow cooker for those recipes.
