The love of instant pots by many home and professional chefs is immeasurable. This has compelled the availability of different types of instant pots to meet the surging demands. So, what’s the difference between the Instant Pot Pro Vs Instant Pot Ultra? Read further to know more.
Many instant cooking pots serve similar essential multi-cooking appliances. All instant pots generally have an exterior body with an engraved display interface, pressure valve, lid, steam release valve, or non-stick interior. This review details the features, smart programs, appliances, and sizes of the Instant Pot Pro vs Ultra.
What are instant pots?
Instant pots are electric-powered pressure cookers. The pots have a proprietary lid that, if closed, seals the steam from the food inside to create pressure. Also, the concealed pressure cooks your food 2 to 10 times quicker than ordinary slow cookers could do; this makes you save on energy costs.
Instant Pot Pro
The Instant Pot Pro is a 10-in-1 cooker that offers a steamer, rice cooker, sous vide, and extra. The new precise microprocessor combines forces with the steam release system to ensure silent operation.
The display screen, though it can look clattered, has buttons for showing the cooking or heating process, shortcuts, etc. You can enjoy more granular control with the Pot Pro than with other models.
Additionally, the Pot Pro boost of 28 cooking programs for convenient cooking is the highest from the instant pot family. Therefore the pot is easy to use even for new users because of the inbuilt command functions.
The pot also heats up quickly, reducing the average cooking time of a given meal to a fraction. You will love the ergonomically designed EasySeal lid and silicon handles that allow easy use or movement of the pot.
Instant Pot Ultra
Though an older model from the instant pot family, it’s still respected as the more robust and versatile cooker pot. Like the Instant Pot Pro, the Instant Pot Ultra replaces 10 cooking appliances. The steam release system is easy with the switch, which also resets automatically whenever the pot lid is closed.
Similarly, the diffusing cover on the lid helps in noise reduction and the splashing of steam on your counter. The embedded microprocessor regulates the pressure or temperature and adjusts the heating intensity.
Unlike other instant pot pressure cookers that offer yogurt makers, cake makers, or sterilization, the Instant Pot Ultra has a new function; the egg maker. These functions make the ultra adorable as it lets you customize almost everything. Lastly, the altitude adjustments help eradicate guesswork in your recipe-making.
Features of Instant Pot Pro vs. Ultra
The pots have an almost similar physical design. But narrowing down, you will notice a few differences as follows.
Appliances
The functions of the Pot Ultra are a pressure cooker, yogurt maker, slow cooker, cake maker, rice/porridge cooker, sauté/searing, warmer, steamer, egg maker, and sterilizer. Likewise, the pot pro offers a steamer, pressure cooker, rice cooker, warmer, slow cooker, yogurt maker, sauté/searing, cake maker sterilizer, and sous vide.
Although Ultra doesn’t have the sous vide feature, you can do so with the sterilizer function, but controlling the temperature can be challenging. Hence, sous vide of your steak, vegetables, pork, or chicken is possible with both the Pot Pro and the Ultra. Apparently, the Pot Pro with no egg maker appliance can still cook eggs with the simple adjustment of the manual settings.
So, differentiating these two cookers according to the appliances is almost impossible. This is because some appliances in one cooker can be replicated easily to perform the function not shown on display. However, the Pot Pro offers better temperature control with its sous vide appliance.
Smart Programs
No matter the design, each instant pot has a microprocessor controlling food cooking intensity. This ensures your food is cooked evenly and retains its taste while conserving nutrients.
The Ultra has 16 intelligent programs that can be modified to make any recipe. This can be handy when you’d like to make a few or many different dishes, one after the other, with just the same pot. Amazing right?
Instant Pot Pro’s 28 programs are all customizable to suit different needs. That’s not all, you can even select 5 favorite programs for future reference in case you plan to make similar dishes.
Sizes
When choosing any pressure cooker, be it instant or not, the size is equally vital. This is because each size is made specifically for serving a certain number of people. A quick survey of the pressure cooker market will show they are either 3quart, 6quart, 8quart, or 10quart.
The Pot Pro is available in only two sizes; 6qt and 8qt. On the contrary, the pot ultra is available in more sizes, namely; 3qt, 6qt, and 8qt, thus great for small and large families.
What are the Differences between Instant Pot Pro and Ultra?
Both these pressure cookers are excellent and perform multiple functions to make your work in the kitchen easy. As per the appliances, the Pot Pro stands out with its sous vide cooker even though the ultra pot can serve the same function.
While both the cookers have a microprocessor, the one for the Instant Pot Pro is more accurate. This is because it embraces the newest technology, which enables faster food heating. The pro cooker handles, enhanced steam release, and Easy-to-seal lid differentiate it from the previous instant pot generations.
Although the ultra pot has few programs, they can be customized for cooking different recipes. Luckily, the Pot Pro offers many programs and extra sizes for more versatility.
Another difference that can’t be overlooked is the price. The Ultra comes at a lower price than the Pot Pro. Therefore the ultra pot is excellent if you have limited funds, while the pot pro is a good choice if you are looking for efficiency.
Many people prefer instant pots due to their ability to perform multiple functions. Both the Instant Pot Pro and Ultra offer are designed to offer 9 similar cooking appliances. The only differing appliance is the egg maker for the ultra, and sous vide for the pot pro. As a result, you can only judge which is best according to your preference.