Instant Pot Omni Plus Toaster Oven & Air Fryer – What You Didn’t Know

You bought an air fryer toaster oven because you wanted crispy wings without the deep-fry mess. Six months later, it’s sitting on your counter collecting crumbs, and you’re still using the regular oven for everything. That’s not your fault — most countertop ovens promise versatility but deliver mediocrity. They toast unevenly, roast too slowly, or take so long to preheat you give up and order takeout.

The Instant Pot Omni Plus takes a different approach. It uses dual quartz infrared heating and a convection fan to cook food faster and more evenly than most ovens in its class. After testing it for several weeks — roasting vegetables, air frying chicken wings, toasting bagels, even dehydrating fruit — I found a few things the marketing material doesn’t tell you. Some good, some annoying, all worth knowing before you buy.

Instant Pot

Instant Pot Omni Plus 19QT/18L Toaster Oven…

10 Cooking Functions: Air fry, bake, broil, dehydrate, toast, reheat, roast, warm, convection bake, or use the rotisserie spit, all in one easy appliance with little to no preheating time.

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This article covers the real-world performance of the Omni Plus, the settings that actually matter, and the quirks you’ll notice within the first week. No fluff, no affiliate hype — just what I learned from using the thing.

If you’re in the market for a single appliance that replaces a toaster, air fryer, and small convection oven, the Instant Pot Omni Plus 19QT/18L Toaster Oven Air Fryer does all three reasonably well. It packs ten cooking functions into a footprint smaller than most microwave ovens, and the EvenCrisp technology uses infrared heat to brown food without needing much oil.

The Infrared Difference — Why This Oven Heats Faster

Most toaster ovens rely on standard nichrome wire heating elements. They work, but they take time to glow red hot and transfer heat mainly through convection and contact. The Omni Plus uses golden quartz infrared tubes. These emit infrared radiation that directly heats the surface of food rather than just warming the air around it. The result is faster browning and a crunchier exterior, especially on foods like breaded chicken or frozen fries.

I tested this side by side with a standard coil-based toaster oven. The Omni Plus hit 400°F roughly 40 seconds faster in my tests. It doesn’t sound like much, but over a week of cooking that time adds up. The real difference shows in the finished product: the infrared heat leaves less of a pale, steamed texture on the bottom of pizza slices. The crust crisps evenly across the whole surface.

One trade-off worth mentioning: infrared heating is more intense near the top elements. If you crowd the tray with tall items like stuffed peppers or thick chicken breasts, the tops can darken before the centers finish cooking. The solution is simple — use the lower rack position or flip food halfway through. The manual suggests this, but most people skip it.

EvenCrisp Technology vs. Convection Baking — When to Use Each

The Omni Plus has two distinct modes that beginners often confuse: the dedicated Air Fry setting (which uses the EvenCrisp infrared with the fan) and the Convection Bake setting (which uses the fan with standard top and bottom heat). They are not interchangeable.

For frozen french fries, Air Fry at 400°F for 12–14 minutes gives you a golden, crunchy exterior without any oil. Convection Bake at the same temperature and time yields fries that are cooked through but softer — more like oven-baked. The difference is about 20% more crispness on the Air Fry setting. I noticed it most with battered foods like onion rings or fish sticks.

For roasting vegetables like broccoli or Brussels sprouts, use the Roast setting at 375°F. The lower fan speed keeps the air from drying them out too fast, while the infrared still browns the edges nicely. If you use Air Fry for vegetables, the high fan turns them leathery in under 15 minutes.

Capacity Tricks — What Actually Fits in the Omni Plus

The specs say it fits a 12-inch pizza. That’s true only if the pizza is round and doesn’t have an overhanging crust. Rectangular baking sheets are a different story. A standard quarter-sheet pan (9×13 inches) fits easily. A half-sheet pan (13×18) does not — it’s about two inches too long. The interior height is 7 inches, which means you can roast a 4-pound chicken if you use the rotisserie spit, but you cannot use a standard 9-inch loaf pan and a baking sheet at the same time on two racks. The racks are close together.

The rotisserie spit is a genuinely useful feature that most people overlook. It fits a 3–4 pound chicken or a small pork loin. The motor runs quietly, and the infrared elements brown the skin uniformly. I did a whole chicken at 350°F for 55 minutes on the Rotisserie setting. The breast reached 160°F and the thighs hit 175°F. The skin was crispy enough to eat like a chip. Cleanup was the only downside — the spit rod and forks need hand washing, and the drip tray catches a surprising amount of fat.

One more thing about capacity: the crumb tray slides out from the front, which is standard. But the tray is shallow. If you’re cooking greasy foods like bacon, the grease can overflow the tray and drip onto the lower heating elements. That produces smoke. Keep bacon on the lower rack and line the tray with foil to avoid the mess.

Three Settings You’re Probably Using Wrong

The Omni Plus has ten functions, but three of them are regularly misused.

Toast — Most people set it to the darkest level and walk away. The infrared heat toasts faster than you expect. A bagel at level 4 comes out dark brown with a slightly burnt edge after 3 minutes. Try level 2 or 3 for a normal bagel. Also, the Toast mode stops automatically based on the shade setting, but it doesn’t beep loudly enough to hear from another room. I burned two slices of sourdough before I figured that out.

Dehydrate — This runs at 170°F with the fan on low. It works well for apple chips and beef jerky, but the timer maxes out at 8 hours. If you’re dehydrating something like whole strawberries or thick-cut mango, you’ll need to reset the timer manually. The oven doesn’t remember the previous settings, so you have to press the buttons again. Mildly annoying, but workable.

Reheat — It uses a lower fan speed and a moderate temperature (around 300°F) to warm leftovers without drying them out. The infrared heats the surface quickly, so pizza reheats with a crisp crust in about 4 minutes. But for something like a casserole or lasagna, the center stays cold if you don’t stir it halfway. Microwave first, then finish in the Omni Plus for a better result.

Five Questions People Actually Ask About This Oven

Does the Instant Pot Omni Plus smoke a lot during first use?

Yes, the first time you run it, you’ll see some smoke and smell a chemical odor. That’s the manufacturing oils burning off the heating elements. Run it empty at 450°F for 20 minutes with the door slightly cracked. Open windows. The smell dissipates completely after that first burn-in. Don’t cook food during that cycle.

Can I use aluminum foil or parchment paper in the Omni Plus?

You can, but with two rules. Never let foil touch the top heating elements — it can arc and damage the oven. Keep foil flat on the tray or drip pan. Parchment paper works fine up to 450°F, but the high fan in Air Fry mode sometimes lifts the paper edges. Weigh them down with a few food items or use a silicone mat instead.

How noisy is the air fryer fan?

It’s not silent, but it’s quieter than most dedicated air fryer baskets. The Omni Plus fan measures around 52 decibels at arm’s length on the Air Fry setting. That’s similar to a running dishwasher. You can hold a conversation in the same room without raising your voice. The Rotisserie motor adds a low hum but nothing intrusive.

Does the double-layer glass door really keep the kitchen cool?

It helps, but it’s not magic. The exterior door glass stays warm to the touch — around 120°F after 30 minutes at 400°F. The sides of the unit get hot, especially near the top vents. Keep it at least 4 inches from the wall. The double-glass does trap heat better than single-glass ovens, so your kitchen warms up about 30% less than with an open-rack toaster oven. But it’s still a heat-producing appliance, especially during long roasts.

What’s the biggest annoyance you found?

The control panel. The touch-sensitive buttons require a firm, precise press. If your fingers are slightly greasy or wet, the buttons don’t register. The display is also difficult to see from above — you have to be at eye level or slightly below. After a few weeks, I learned the rough positions by feel, but it’s not intuitive. A physical dial would have been better.

What I’d Tell Anyone Considering This Oven

• Use the Air Fry setting for frozen foods and breaded items. Convection Bake is better for baked goods and sheet-pan dinners.
• Always preheat for at least 3 minutes when using Air Fry. The infrared elements reach full temperature quickly, but the fan takes a moment to circulate properly.
• Clean the crumb tray after every greasy cook. Smoke from recirculated grease is the number one complaint in online forums, and it’s avoidable.
• Rotisserie a whole chicken at least once. It’s the feature that separates this oven from most competitors in its price range. Our detailed review covers the exact timings and rack positions.
• Don’t expect the Toast function to work like a $20 toaster. It’s adequate but slower, and the shade settings run darker than you’d guess. Start low and work up.
• The Omni Plus is a good fit if you cook for two to four people regularly and want to replace three countertop appliances. If you’re a single person or a large family, consider a dedicated air fryer or a full-size convection oven instead.
• For easier cleanup, check out some of the best air fryer toaster ovens for easy cleaning — the Omni Plus performs well but its interior doesn’t have a nonstick coating, so baked-on residue needs a bit of scrubbing.