Are Instant Pots Made In China? (2024)

As a chef who loves sharing kitchen secrets, I often hear folks asking, "Are Instant Pots made in China?" It's a hot topic for good reason.

Today, I'm peeling back the layers to give you the scoop on the Instant Pot—where it comes from, its top-notch safety features, and the array of cooking options it brings to our tables.

Choosing a trusted electric pressure cooker like the Instant Pot can seriously up your game in the kitchen, introducing you to new techniques while keeping things deliciously simple.

Are Instant Pots Made In China?

Yes, Instant Pots are manufactured in China, though it is a Canadian company.

Researching this question leads to many rabbit holes, but the Instant Pot live chat team and the branding on the packaging answer the question definitively. The company was founded in Canada and led by an Asian American.

The Origin and Manufacturing of Instant Pots

The Instant Pot pressure cooker was invented in 2009 by Robert Wang and a team of Canadian technology experts.

Their innovative design and rapid cooking methods instantly ignited the culinary world. The Instant Pot’s popularity has only increased, and more than a decade later, it still performs well in safety tests.

Robert Wang, originally from China, moved to Canada in the 90s and worked full-time in the technology sector. He was infatuated with his slow cooker and the popular pressure cookers in China. Mr. Wang lost his job in 2008 and sank his life savings into creating the first Instant Pot.

During the initial 18 months of planning and engineering, Mr. Wang focused on the "pain points" of home cooks using kitchen appliances so that his new company could provide a solution.

The first Instant Pot iteration had five cooking functions, and each new model added one or two more. The current version has an astounding 13 different options.

Wang used his prototype model every day for nine months to uncover what it could do and its limitations. After pitching the pressure cooker across Canada and various e-commerce brands, he discovered that Amazon was a prime fit because of the customer reviews.

By 2011, he had read over 40,000 reviews, a practice he continues to do today.

Understanding Customer Needs

After reading the initial reviews, Robert Wang started an Instant Pot community, one of the driving forces for sales today.

The community provides troubleshooting tips and over one thousand recipes to which anybody in the group can contribute. This provides peace of mind for home cooks and makes the Instant Pot a perfect starter appliance for new cooks.

This trust has led to a significant market saturation for the brand, especially on social media. Instant Pot recipes are popular on Pinterest, and various Instant Pot groups are on Facebook.

Aiming for Perfection Through Feedback

Feedback is important to the Instant Pot brand, as Robert Wang discovered from the beginning. Other than having a phenomenal product, the consumer feedback and the company's response to the feedback have created a devout following and new and improved safety features and cooking methods.

Revolutionary Cooking Capabilities of Electric Pressure Cookers

Instant Pot and other electric pressure cookers have changed how home cooks prepare meals. These handy devices are set-it-and-forget-it cooking methods.

The digital interfaces that adjust the time and temperature even let us know when to add and release the food. This makes midweek dinners a breeze and has encouraged many to create their own fabulous recipes.

Instant Pot Customer Service

Once we learned of the Instant Pot's creation and journey, it is no surprise that the brand offers incredible customer service.

Though the product is mass-produced in China, contacting customer representatives is a cinch. All models come with an app where the consumer can look up recipes, troubleshoot potential problems, and shop for new models.

There is also a customer service phone number, live chat, and troubleshooting guides on the website. The company goes to great lengths to provide a stellar product and stellar customer support.

If there is a problem, like an error code, that you do not understand, you can also reach out to members of the community for solutions.

Understanding Instant Pot's Multifunctional Features

Pressure Cooking Revolutionized

The key characteristic of the Instant Pot is its digital interface. The LCD walks you through the cooking process step by step. It will also stop cooking if the liquid, which is necessary for pressure cooking, gets too low without burning your food.

The other design feature that separates Instant Pot from other pressure cookers and slow cookers is the multi-function feature. There are up to 13 different cooking methods available, depending on the model you purchase.

Instant Pots can sautee, air fry, slow cook, and many other options.

Safety Features

The Instant Pot has a host of safety features, including alarms that sound for various reasons. The newest model, the 13-1 with Ultimate Lid, has over 100 safety features. The safety features are a nod to customer feedback and a gradual improvement of the product itself.

There was a recall in 2015 which was a manufacturer defect, but the Instant Pot brand has an incredible safety record. The different iterations of Instant Pot are brought around to include new features, improved technology, and improved safety features and to add new ones.

A Chemical-Free Cooking Experience

Not using nonstick chemical coatings on the inner pot is another measure of the thought that Instant Pot engineers put behind their products. The stainless steel is 304 series, which is food-grade.

I have used one of my Instant Pots for years, and it is as shiny as the day I bought it. The shininess shows me that the inner pot has not degraded due to chemical coatings that are exposed to high heat for multiple uses.

The Bottomline

So, are Instant Pots made in China? Yes. However, the company is not hard to reach for feedback or troubleshooting tips, no matter where you live.

There are many ways to reach out to customer representatives, and all owners are invited to join the Instant Pot community.

The company has an interesting story, and it appears that the philosophy and vision that the founder, Robert Wang, had, still resonates today. The company has an outstanding safety record and millions of positive customer reviews.

Thousands of step-by-step- instructions are included on the app, cooking is simple and quick, and the safety record makes it easy to see why this is one of the most popular kitchen appliances available on the market.

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