REVIEW: Mealthy CrispLid Air Fryer Lid for Your Pressure Cooker

The newest Mealthy CrispLid is here, now with 5 dehydrate settings and a deeper basket! This awesome little appliance sits on top of your pressure cooker’s stainless steel pot to brown, crisp, or air-fry the food inside. Even better, the same lid works with both 6-quart and 8-quart pressure cookers!

People are right to be excited—I’ve never seen a pressure cooking accessory quite like this before! The CrispLid consists of a heating element and fan attached to a glass lid. You use the handle to place the CrispLid directly on top of any 6-quart or 8-quart stainless steel pressure cooking pot.

Seriously, ANY BRAND with a stainless steel inner pot—including any Instant Pot model, Power Quick Pot, and Pampered Chef’s Quick Cooker. (Sorry Power Pressure Cooker XL users—your nonstick pot just won’t work with this.)

When will the Crisp Lid be available?

You can order the CrispLid on Mealthy’s website! The CrispLid is also available on Amazon.

How Does the CrispLid Work?

Here’s how to use the Mealthy CrispLid with your electric pressure cooker. First, unplug your pressure cooker, release the pressure if necessary, and remove your pressure cooker lid. Use the handle to rest the crisp lid your stainless steel inner cooking pot.

Lower the handle until you hear it click into place. Press the temperature button to select a cooking temperature. (It goes from 300 to 500°F in 25 degree increments.) Then select a cooking time. (You can set a custom time from 1 minute to 60 minutes.)

Press the triangle start button to begin the cycle.

The heating element lights up and cycles on and off while it cooks to maintain the selected temperature. When food is cooked, or reaches desired crispiness, just turn off the CrispLid and place it on the silicone trivet to cool.

Remember: The handle has to be down or your CrispLid won’t turn on. You also have to hit the triangle start button to get it to turn on.

What You’ll Love about the CrispLid Pressure Cooker Air Fryer Lid

I love that the Mealthy CrispLid has a glass lid, so you can see how brown your food is getting—without lifting the lid.

The CrispLid air fryer comes with a 3-inch tall metal trivet, a mesh air frying basket, short stainless steel tongs, and a silicone trivet, so you can get started right away! The silicone trivet is a must-have—the air fryer is HOT after using, and it’s really nice to have a dedicated, safe place to put it.

The CrispLid design is really cool! The two steps on the stainless steel rim are what allows it to fit both 6-quart and 8-quart pressure cookers.

The CrispLid does get really hot on the bottom and you should always use caution when removing it. The handle is nicely designed to stay cool and to keep your hands far away from the heating element.

Your CrispLid will automatically remember your previous time and temperature settings the next time you use it.

CrispLid User Guide

Like the MultiPot, the CrispLid has an excellent User Guide  (Guide for the New CrispLid With Dehydrate). It has clear text and helpful illustrations that will help you feel confident using your new air-fryer lid!

For example, here’s a step from the getting started guide. I love that the illustration reinforces safety information like not plugging in both the pressure cooker and the crisp lid at the same time.

I recommend reading through the manual and getting familiar with the safety instructions.

What You Should Be Aware of Before Buying

You can only use the CrispLid with a 6-quart or 8-quart electric pressure cookers. In addition, it can only be used with a stainless steel pot. It does not fit other sizes and could damage ceramic, aluminum, or nonstick coatings.

The air fryer basket is small and doesn’t hold as much as I had hoped. You will need to rotate your food or do a few smaller batches to crisp food throughout.

The power cord on the Crisp Lid is really short. This is intentional to prevent tripping hazards. The User Guide directs you not to use extension cords with your Crisp Lid.

A safety feature built into the crisp lid is that it will only cook at or above 450F for 20 minutes. After that, you will have to wait at least 10 minutes before you can use it above 450F again. (For temperatures under 450F, the maximum cook time is 60 minutes.)

If you want to flip your food or rotate the food, raise the handle to pause the cooking process. However, if you’re not extremely quick at shifting the food, the cook time will restart when you lock the handle back in place. So you’ll want to keep an eye on the time before you adjust it.

How to Air Fry with the CrispLid

You don’t have to pressure cook something before air frying! Use the CrispLid to cook any food that would make it in an air fryer.

Fill the air fryer basket with the food you would like to cook. Place the tall trivet in the bottom of your stainless steel cooking pot, then put the filled air fryer basket on top. Place the Crisp Lid on top of the stainless steel cooking pot and lock the handle in place. Then follow your recipe instructions for temperature and cook time.

Remove the CrispLid to the silicone trivet when complete.

I tested these Garlic Parmesan Air-Fryer French Fries using both a traditional air fryer and the crisp lid and couldn’t tell the difference between the two.

How to Broil/Brown Foods with the CrispLid

If you wish to finish a dish in your pressure cooking pot—like browning mozzarella cheese on top of your pasta—the CrispLid is the perfect tool! After pressure cooking your food, release the pressure as directed, remove your pressure cooker lid, and unplug your pressure cooker.

Wait for the steam to clear, and double check that no food is above the max fill line of your pressure cooker. If necessary, add any ingredients you’d like to brown.

Place the Crisp Lid on top of the stainless steel cooking pot and lock the handle in place. Then follow your recipe instructions for temperature and cook time.

Again, remove the CrispLid to the silicone trivet when complete.

I tested browning my Pressure Cooker Bow Tie Pasta with the crisp lid, and it worked great!

What about Pressure Cooker Warranties?

Many pressure cooker brands include a limited warranty with their machines. Some, like the Power Quick Pot, are just 60 days, while others are typically for 1 year. These warranties may have restrictions on what accessories can be used with their pressure cookers.

These guidelines are often overly cautious. For example, the Pampered Chef Quick Cooker discourages users from any non-Pampered Chef products in the pressure cooker—even pressure cooking standbys like 7×3 cake pans or silicone trays—simply because only Pampered Chef products have been tested with the machines. Many other popular brands, like Instant Pot, are the same.

If you want to be extremely cautious, however, the Mealthy Pressure Cooker has been approved for use with the Mealthy CrispLid. (Look for my review on the Mealthy pressure cooker this weekend.)

In my experience testing this product, I loved it! I would definitely recommend the CrispLid to anyone who already has a 6-quart or 8-quart pressure cooker that has a stainless steel pot. It allows you use your pressure cooker as an air fryer, for less money than purchasing a separate air fryer. Plus it’s much easier to find space to store the CrispLid than a whole other appliance.

Disclosure: I received a free CrispLid to review. I was not compensated for this post, and all opinions expressed are always my own. Purchases made through Mealthy or other affiliate links on this blog, yields a small referral fee (at no additional cost for you). This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers.