Just a couple of weeks ago we got one of the very first production units of the much-awaited new Instant Pot model: SMART. It’s a new kind of pressure cooker that interacts with an app to give more detailed cooking instructions and see more information about what’s going on inside the pot. It’s not just a multi-cooker, it’s a smartcooker!
With Instant Pot’s OK we gave hip pressure cooking newsletter subscribers an advance peek last week, and now we can share these preview pics with everyone.
The Instant Pot SMART will begin shipping to US and Canada in late November/early December. The accompanying app – which lets you run existing recipe scripts, or write your own and share them – will initially be launched for ipads/iphones but and an Android-compatible app will be launched the first quarter of 2015.
Even without the app, the SMART has all of the features of their previous model DUO (saute’, keep warm, slow cook, rice cook, steam, pressure cook and make yogurt). Plus, extra icons at the top of the display let you know when the heating element is on or off, how much pressure is inside, whether bluetooth is on and if the app is connected.
Personally, I’m having lots of fun playing with it. Yes, I’ve written some pressure cooker recipe scripts but I’ve also written a script to ferment my milk kefir and raise my sourdough starter. Now, I just push a button and I don’t have to go through a lot of hand-wringing about whether something will take more or less time depending on my kitchen’s temperature.
We’ll share more information as we’re able so stay tuned! You’ll get the latest information and special announcements in the hip pressure cooking newsletter first, so be sure to subscribe (it’s free and we will not share your email address with anyone)!
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I’m curious how you make kefir in the instant pot. Could you elaborate? Thanks!
I put my jar of milk and kefir “grains” covered with a a paper towel and secured by an elastic inside the Instant Pot smart on top of a silicone trivet with no water and a normal lid. Then, I run a recipe script to keep the kefir at 25C (you can choose celsius or fahrenheit in the app) for 10 hours and beep. I then check it, stir it, and if I’m happy I usually just stick the jar in the refrigerator until I’m ready to strain. If I need kefir a little sooner, I use the yogurt function on the ferment setting (which is 30-34C – also in the DUO model) with the same set-up and I get kefir in about 4 hours – but I’m scared to cook the grains (they tend to get very large after this) so I only do it if I don’t have enough kefir for the kids to drink after dinner.
I’ve been making Kefir every day for over a year, I even brought it with me when I traveled to NY this summer. I used organic supermarket American milk and found the grains didn’t grow well and the kefir didn’t really taste that good – it tasted like popcorn gone bad. I’ve had to kind of guesstimate when the kefir would be ready depending on the starting temperature of the milk and temperature of the room – using the SMART, now, really removes a lot of the guess-work, fretting and checking because I like to catch the kefir before it separates into curds and whey and when it’s still a little carbonated and fizzy (which is not easy!!).
Ciao,
L
Will you be having a preorder/promo of the smart instant pot.
Interesting about the kefir as I just started trying to make some.
Helen
I don’t know if we’ll be doing pre-orders or not, so far production is on target maybe even ahead of schedule, but there definate are plans to do a coupon!
Ciao,
L
Do you know if they are planning a 220/240V version of this beast?
It strikes me that the only change required would be heating element. And that could be a double element wired in Series for 220V and Parallel for 110V
All the sensors and controls should be low voltage and these days pretty much everyone uses universal power supplies for the electronics.
Of course the bureaucratic approvals could be a show stopper.
HI Greg,
Aussies use the same voltage as Europeans. They introduced an EU Instant Pot this year, but it is a LUX (6-in-1). In about six months they will introduce the DUO (7-in-1 which makes yogurt and has two pressure levels). I’m not sure when they’ll have the SMART, it maybe a year from now.
You can follow their progress here:
http://www.instantpot.co.uk/
The bigger problem is not the voltage, but the shipping costs from the UK! I asked for a reader and I think it worked out to about £80 which is almost as much as the price of the cooker!
Ciao,
L
Well Not quite. Historically we use 240V ±6% While the Europeans use 220V (Not sure of the allowed range there.
In theory, we all moved to 230V ±10% in 1983 according to the International Electrotechnical Committee standard IEC60038.
In practice here, some providers ignored the standard while others adopted 230V+10%-2%. In other words, no change. Just worded differently. Where I am is officially 240 ±6%
At home I typically measure the house outlets at 243 to 250V. Though I have seen it as high as 265V. At those voltages a lot of nominally 220V electronics fail prematurely. Most switch mode power supplies (most electronic devices use these) run at 110/220V as it is a relatively simple process to detect and adapt to a doubling of the voltage. and 220V appliances will generally tolerate 230V. 240V can be a different matter though. Especially if it is at the high end of the allowed range as it often is.
But yes the freight charges can be a killer. I paid similar charges for my 3rd Kuhn Rikon and my Anova Sous Vide circulator.
Six more months to wait for the DUO UK model? Waaaaaah! Several months ago IP told me late October (now!). I’m impatiently waiting to order one for a family member in the UK. I don’t want to buy the LUX because the yogurt function will be very useful for her.
Sorry, I got the models mixed-up. I’m pretty sure that the DUO will be out by mid-November this year – and then the SMART six or so months after that. I apologize if I caused undue fretting – it’s tricky to track two different production schedules for three different models from one manufacturer!!
Ciao,
L : )
Hi, 2 questions:
Is this the iPot announced at CES?
Sous vide requires really closely regulated water bath temperature … do you have any information on how much the water temperature varies in that “mode”?
Sharvo
1.Yes it appears to have been announced at CES.
2. I checked the manual. There does not appear to be any mention of a Sous Vide capability. Perhaps the salesman was talking up the Slow Cooker function. It won’t be the first time a sales/marketing person has told lies. Or maybe it was a function in the early prototype that they couldn’t get to work and left out of the production machine. It wouldn’t be the first time that’s happened either. there is a link to the manual further up the page if you want to check yourself.
Sharvo, Yes, this is the one. Instant Pot had to change the name because it sounded too similar to a certain iTablet and certain iMusic player.
The sousvide is regulated via the smartcooker app which can hold a temperature you set. The temperature can go as low as 30°C (86°F) for up to 99 hours (per script step – you can do up to 15 steps each). The temperature is accurate to +/-1°C. There is no motor for recirculating the water.
I have the prototype app and they’re still making some updates (there might be more steps, or different functionality) so the final published app might be slightly different but the temperature ranges and accuracy should remain the same.
Greg, hopefully when they’ve got the final app they’ll write documentation for it!
Ciao,
L
LOL … I was ready to place an order … now I have to wait for this one. Do I have to sign up for the email to get the coupon (if it materializes)?
Recirculating motor and rack to stand up the bags … sounds like an opportunity for an after-market accessory … otherwise I would be a little concerned about pockets of uneven temperature.
Lovely site btw.
Sharvo
There are some developments in the availability of the Instant Pot SMART. Get the latest info in this forum discussion:
http://www.hippressurecooking.com/forums/topic/instant-pot-smart-worth-waiting-for/
See you there!
L
I got the email from instantpot.com with a $100 coupon for the new smart pot
But…
They have a very poor return policy.
What to do?
Helen
Helen, here is their return policy:
http://instantpot.com/support/return-policy/
They will replace the pressure cooker in case anything goes wrong or it doesn’t work. The only issue I see is that if you change your mind (and you have a perfectly good working cooker) they will still take it back minus a 20% restocking fee.
Knowing this, I would think carefully about whether you want an Instant Pot before buying it – but feel confident that once the decision is made they’ll make it right until you have a proper working model.
Ciao,
L
Hi Laura,
Regarding the warranty, I’m an Android user and it sounds like all of your testing has been with the iOS app. So if there is a problem on the IP with the bluetooth send/receive or the circuitry, I probably won’t know it until long after the 45 day window has closed. That does seem unreasonable to me. I want to use the coupon but it’ certainly a risk. Seems the fair thing to do would be extend the warranty for Android users for this shipment.
Regards,
Sharvo
Sharvo, this is what my contact at Instant Pot said:
“The Android app is still under development. I wouldn’t recommend he buying the cooker now. But we can offer him the same deal later in March 2015 when the Android app is available.”
Ciao,
L
That would definitely make me a happy camper! How can I make certain that happens?
I work in a telecom company with a bunch of engineer-y techies … a few pf them are foodies and I look forward to turning them on to your site.
Regards,
Sharvo
Coupon’s here:
http://www.hippressurecooking.com/ipsmart/
Helen & FoodFu, I’ll answer your queries, shortly.
Ciao,
L
My Instant Pot Smart just arrived.
Have unpacked it but to tired to cook:(
Still it looks lovely
Helen