If you’re looking for an honest instant pot omni plus review, here’s what six months of family cooking actually revealed. I’m Wook — a bus driver, dad of two teenage sons, and someone who started researching kitchen appliances after noticing chemical smells from our old air fryer. The Omni Plus 18L has been our main oven-style unit since last fall. This is what I found.
What Is the Instant Pot Omni Plus 18L?
The Instant Pot Omni Plus is a countertop oven-style air fryer with an 18-liter capacity — large enough to fit a whole chicken, a 12-inch pizza, or multiple racks of food at once. Unlike basket-style air fryers, it uses a stainless steel interior with no PTFE or PFAS coatings on the cooking surfaces. For families who want a non-toxic option that can actually handle a full meal without batching, this is the category to look at.
| Spec | Details |
|---|---|
| Capacity | 18 Liters |
| Interior | Stainless Steel (PTFE-free, PFAS-free) |
| Wattage | 1800W |
| Temp Range | 105°F – 450°F |
| Cooking Modes | 11 (Air Fry, Bake, Broil, Toast, Roast, Rotisserie, Dehydrate, Warm, Proof, Reheat, Slow Cook) |
| Rotisserie | Yes (included) |
| Rack Positions | 2 |
instant pot omni plus review: Six Months With a Family of Four
I want to be upfront about how we actually use this thing. Two teenage boys, a wife who bakes, and me — someone who mostly handles weeknight dinners after a long shift. The Omni Plus gets used almost every day, sometimes twice.
Capacity: The Real Reason to Buy This
The 18-liter interior is the headline feature, and it earns it. A whole 4-pound chicken fits on the rotisserie bar with room to spin freely. Two racks of chicken thighs cook simultaneously. A 12-inch pizza sits flat without touching the sides. For anyone who’s been batching meals in a 4 or 5-quart basket fryer, using this for the first time feels like a genuine upgrade.
For a family of four eating a real dinner — protein, vegetables, maybe a side — this is the size that actually makes sense. The PFAS-free air fryers guide covers why interior material matters as much as capacity, but the short version is: stainless steel means no coating to worry about degrading over time.
Stainless Steel Interior After Heavy Use
Six months in, the interior looks exactly as expected for stainless — some discoloration from high-heat roasting, minor grease residue in the corners if you skip a cleaning cycle. Nothing alarming. The cooking surfaces themselves show no flaking or degradation because there’s no coating to flake. According to the EPA’s overview of PFAS chemicals, avoiding PTFE and PFAS coatings altogether is the cleanest approach — stainless interiors do exactly that.
Cooking Performance
At 1800W it preheats faster than I expected for a unit this size. Air fry results on chicken are genuinely crispy — comparable to what I get from a dedicated basket fryer, just at a much larger scale. The rotisserie function is the one my sons actually request by name. A slow-rotisserie chicken with the skin properly rendered is something a basket fryer simply can’t replicate.
Toast and bake modes work well. Broil runs hot and fast — useful for finishing dishes that need a browned top. Dehydrate is something I haven’t used much, but it works based on the few times I tried it with apple slices.
The one honest note on cooking performance: the top rack runs slightly hotter than the bottom. If you’re running two racks simultaneously, swapping them halfway through gives more even results. It’s a minor adjustment once you know it, but worth flagging.
Cleanup
This is where the size works against you. The drip tray and racks are dishwasher safe — that part is fine. The interior walls need wiping down after anything greasy, and reaching the back corners of an 18-liter cavity takes effort. Budget five minutes for cleanup after a full roast. For daily air frying of smaller items, a quick wipe is usually enough.
What I Like
- 18L capacity feeds a real family in one batch — no more splitting meals across two rounds
- Stainless steel interior — no PTFE, no PFAS, nothing to flake or degrade
- Rotisserie function actually works — consistently one of the best features we use
- 11 cooking modes — versatile enough to replace multiple countertop appliances
- Solid build quality — six months of daily use with no issues
What I Don’t Like
- Countertop footprint is significant — measure your available space before ordering
- Interior cleanup takes more effort than a basket fryer
- Top and bottom racks cook slightly unevenly — rack swapping mid-cook helps
- Control panel learning curve — 11 modes means more buttons to figure out initially
Who Should Buy It
The Instant Pot Omni Plus 18L is built for families. If you’re regularly cooking for three or more people and you want a non-toxic cooking surface with enough capacity to handle full meals, this is where I’d spend the money. It’s also a strong choice if you want one appliance that can genuinely replace your toaster oven, air fryer, and dehydrator.
Who Should Look Elsewhere
If you’re cooking for one or two people, or your counter space is limited, the capacity and footprint are overkill. The Ninja AF150AMZ is a better fit for smaller households — compact, ceramic-coated, and much easier to store.
Bottom Line
This instant pot omni plus review comes down to one question: do you need to feed a real family without batching? If yes, the 18L stainless interior, rotisserie function, and multi-mode versatility make it the strongest non-toxic option at this size. Six months of daily use hasn’t changed that assessment.
Affiliate Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. If you purchase through our links, we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. We only recommend products we’ve personally tested and genuinely stand behind.