As Julie Andrews sang to the Von Trapp children, “Let’s start at the very beginning. A very good place to start.” So where do we start? Well, you’ve got to find one, and hopefully by the time you are reading this, they are easier to find then they are at the time I am writing this.
Where Can You Find the Omni?
So before I start talking about how to find an Omni, I will preface it by saying that at the time I found one (September 13, 2019), it was quite the ordeal. At the time I am writing this, Instant Omni’s can only be found in specific Walmarts. Rumor is that in December, the Omni Plus will be available and possibly you can order them on Amazon. Until then, here are the things I learned on my hunt to find an Instant Omni 9 in 1 Toaster and Air Fryer.
1. Utilize the Walmart App
I live in NYC and Walmarts near me are few and far between. Not only that, but tolls, traffic, and time make it impossible to just drive around to different Walmarts searching shelves. The best way to narrow it down is to use the Walmart app. Make sure “NextDAY Delivery” is not selected and then type in “Instant Omni” in the search bar.
Click on “At Your Store” tab. If one does not show up, then click on the “Change” link to find other stores near you.
A list of stores near you will come up and you can click on those one at a time until you find a store that says they have some in stock. If you can’t find one in a store near you, change the zip code location and try ones farther away.
2. Call the store.
Once you find one through the app, you are going to want to purchase it right away. DON’T. I tried 3 times to buy them through the app. I would purchase it and get an email about 24 hrs later that they were no longer in stock and my purchase was canceled. I am not sure if that happened because they were sold out before they pulled them off the shelf for me or if the website was wrong. Either way, it was very frustrating. So if you find a store that has one in stock, call the store and ask them to check.
3. Go to the Store and buy it in person.
Once you have confirmation they have them in your store, I highly recommend going there and buying it in person. However, if you do buy it online, know that if they run out before they put it aside, they will refund your money.
Now that you have one, you can watch my video on unboxing and how to get started or scroll down to learn about each of the modes.
WHAT MODE DO I USE?
The great thing about Instant products, is their ease of use and their pre-set modes which they call Smart Programs. However, it can be confusing as to what makes each mode different and which mode you should use to cook your own recipes. I found it helpful in converting and creating my own recipes for the Instant Omni and other products, if I know exactly what each mode does so I can compare and contrast and set it to the perfect mode, temperature, and time.
First, here are the pre-set times and temperatures that default when you press each mode for the first time or reset it. However, the Omni will default to the last time and temperature you used previously.
- Air Fry: 400 degrees F / 18 mins
- Toast: Temp 2 / Level 3
- Bake: 350 degrees F / 40 mins
- Broil: 450 degrees F / 10 mins
- Roast: 365 degrees F / 40 mins
- Dehydrate: 135 degrees F / 8 hours
Here are the specifics of each mode:
Air Fry
Temperature Range : 180 – 450 degrees F
Time Range: 5 – 45 mins
Functions available: Rotate and Preheat
Functions unavailable: Bottom Heating Element and Fan Adjustment
Bake
Temperature Range : 180 – 450 degrees F
Time Range: 1 min – 4 hours
Functions available: Top and Bottom Heating Elements, Preheat, and Fan Adjustment (Hi/Lo)
Functions unavailable: Rotate
Broil
Temperature Range : 350 – 450 degrees F
Time Range: 2 – 20 mins
Functions available: Fan Adjustment (Hi/Lo) and Rotate
Functions unavailable: Preheat and Bottom Heating Element
Roast
Temperature Range : 180 – 450 degrees F
Time Range: 20 mins – 4 hours
Functions available: Fan Adjustment (Hi/Lo), Rotate, and Preheat
Functions unavailable: Bottom Heating Element
**Omni Plus,under ROAST mode, the bottom heating elements do turn on.**
Dehydrate
Temperature Range : 85 – 175 degrees F
Time Range: 30 mins – 72 hours
Functions available: Rotate and Fan Adjustment (Hi/Lo), Bottom Heating Element
Functions unavailable: Preheat
Toast
Temperature Range : 1 – 5 Level
Time Range: 1 (1:20 mins) – 6 (4:20 mins)
Functions available: Top and Bottom Heating Elements
Functions unavailable: Fan, Rotate, and Preheat
Reheat
Temperature Range : 120 – 360 degree F
Time Range: 5 – 60 mins
Functions available: Bottom Heating Element
Functions unavailable: Rotate and Fan Adjustment
*On the functions that do not use the Bottom Heating Element (Air Fry, Broil, and Roast in the Omni, and Air Fry and Broil in the Omni Plus) you can place the cooking tray on the very bottom level above the heating elements to help with drips.
Inserting the Rotisserie Spit
Unlike the Vortex Plus, the Omni does not have a lever to engage the Rotisserie spit when inserting and removing it. To insert/remove the spit, you simply place the pointed end of the spit into the circular housing on the right side and then slide the square end onto the bracket on the left.
A Few More Tips
- If you have a crazy dog like mine, that gets annoyed with beeping sounds, you can turn off all sounds by holding in the Temp and Time knobs for 3 seconds.
- You can reset all the Smart Programs to their default Time and Temp, by pressing and holding your finger over the “CANCEL” button for 3 seconds.
- Wipe down and spills or stains before starting the Omni oven again. I use a damp Norwex cloth which works great.
- Use the wire rack in different positions and flip upside down to bake food.
- When baking cakes or delicate desserts, press the “CONVECT” button and change the fan to “Lo”.
- To preheat the oven faster, choose a mode that uses both top and bottom heating elements. Then once it preheats, hit cancel and then change to the desired mode.
Hi Lana, Could you give me the internal dimensions and the dimensions of the accessories, please? I am trying to decide between this and the Cosori Toaster Oven! Thank you 🙂
The internal dimensions as best as I can measure, is 14 1/2 wide, 14 deep, and 6 1/2 high. The tray is 14 3/4 long by 12 deep at the shortest point because it is curved. This is from end to end not the cooking area. The tray has a 1/2 lip all around. Hope this helps.
Thank you – yes, very helpful! I am going to wait on the Omni Plus!!
I’m confused – on Toast you wrote that it’s functions available are top and bottom heating elements but under functions unavailable it says bottom heating element.
So does the Omni toast both top and bottom at the same time?
Thank you for catching that. I meant to write that the Fan was an unavailable function. The fan does not turn on during toast. It was a typo.
Oops it was a misprint. You are correct, on toast both top and bottom come on.
Do you think they will make extra wire racks and baskets available for the Omni Plus? I can only fit 8 wings on the basket, and had bought 32 to cook! My family doesn’t want me to cut off the little wing thing,.
That’s a great question. I am measuring other baskets to find ones that fit. But until then you can always use the black baking sheet on the lowest level and the tray in the middle and cook two racks. Just make sure to use air fry mode so the bottom heating element doesn’t come on.
If you use 2 racks like you said, do you need to toaster if doing air fry? Thank you
Hi! No, you just might want to rotate the racks halfway through. The airflow is pretty powerful to reach the bottom rack.
We found a crisp frying basket/pan combo at walmart. It’s copper in color and was less than 10 bucks. It’s working great in our Omni.
Oh I’ve seen that one and wondered if it works. I’ll have to go get it now.
Hi Lana, thanks for posting all your videos and I really appreciate this Mode guide. The manuals for the Omni plus are pretty bad, both the one that comes with it and the pdf version have inconsistency and errors. For example, on page 25 under the recommended cooking times and placements, for fries they manual says the placement is the rotisserie basket. The toaster oven doesn’t have rotisserie basket! They must have just copied this from the Vortex plus manual and erroneously put it in this manual. I wish the Omni plus did have a rotisserie basket, maybe eventually they… Read more »
Hi David. Thank you so much for all the great information. I am sorry it took me so long to answer, for some reason your comment didn;t go into my regular inbox. First, it is very confusing, but the “basket” the Omni is referring to is the mesh open tray that comes with it. They consider that the “air fry basket”. It’s quit confusing because they call the round cage in the Vortex the same thing. I will say, I have found a cage style basket that fits the Omni and I will be posting about it soon. I am… Read more »
Thanks Lana. That make sense about the circulation. I thought the black pan my prevent the circulation so I was flipping at the halfway mark, but I will try it the other way. Please keep me updated if you ever find out what the those silver things on the side are for. They do get in the way when trying to use the black pan in the roasting position. I also want to hear about what they tell about the roast function, on the omni plus the bottom is definitely on, I would imagine it would be the same on… Read more »
Hi Lana, thanks for posting all your videos and I really appreciate this Mode guide. The manuals for the Omni plus are pretty bad, both the one that comes with it and the pdf version have inconsistency and errors. For example, on page 25 under the recommended cooking times and placements, for fries they manual says the placement is the rotisserie basket. The toaster oven doesn’t have rotisserie basket! They must have just copied this from the Vortex plus manual and erroneously put it in this manual. I wish the Omni plus did have a rotisserie basket, maybe eventually they… Read more »
I meant rotate
Question. The black pan that comes with the omni is too tight to get in and out easily and is scratching the inside of the omni. Do you have that problem and if so any solutions? Thank you.
I had that problem in the beginning. That particular pan is really only to be used on the lower level. Does it fit tight when you slide it on the bottom level?
I had the same issue. I didn’t know the black pan was only to be used on the lowest level. I had a lot of difficulty getting it in or out when I was trying to use it in the roasting position. The silver hooks on the left side get in the way and scratch it. It does work better in the bottom position. But what is the solution for roasting, do you put the stainless steel rack in the roasting position and put a roasting pan on top of it? Do you what the largest size roasting or baking… Read more »
Yes, it’s still tight. It goes in but it takes some force to get it in and out. I can live with it but hubby is not happy. He started a ticket on it, we’ll see what Instant Pot says. Thanks for the heads up that it is for the lowest level.
What did you learn? I just got the Omni Plus and I’m curious now!
[…] Instant Omni:Finding One,Choosing the Right Mode, and Getting Started […]
Hi Lana, I love your reviews and videos, so thanks for making them! I’m considering the Omni Plus, but I’m wondering how fast it cooks and crisps? Specifically, I’m wondering about hard cooking eggs in their shells, what temperature and time does the Omni take to hard cook 6 eggs? I currently have a Power Air Fryer Oven 360 and 6 eggs take 21 minutes at 300° Also, does it crisp wings well? Mine doesn’t, so that’s another thing I’m interested in. I’m afraid to get another oven type and it not be any better then what I have already.… Read more »
HI. Thank you so much for your kind words. I have not done hard boiled eggs in either air fryer. I think the heated air method (oven, air fryer, etc.) takes longer in general. I eat hard boiled eggs a lot but I have found that steaming them seems to be the best way for me. I will try it int he air fryer though just to see what the times are and I will let you know. As for wings, they come out amazing. I make them all the time. I have a recipe on my blog for them… Read more »
Thank you for taking time to reply, I appreciate you! I’ll be very interested in the eggs. Thanks again!
I just got the Omni and I am wondering what are the 2 metal tabs on the inside left side for, it stops you from using all the levels in the oven with the baking pan?
Hi. Great question. I believe the tabs are to keep you from putting the black pan in those positions. It isn;t a baking pan but a drip tray. You can use it to cook food on but then it needs to be on the lower position it fits in or else it will overheat the oven. If you need a solid surface to bake on, cover the baking rack with foil.
You indicate that the bottom heating elements are not active in the Roast mode. This is not true of my new Omni Plus. Does this indicate a problem with my device?
Also, there appears to be a heating coil in the top center of the oven, just below the fan. This does not appear to heat in any mode (i.e., it does not glow as the heating rods do). Again, is this a problem?
Hi Fred. The bottom heating element dotted not come on in Roast Mode for the Omni. However, for the Omni Plus, which is what you have, it does. I’m not sure why they changed that in the Plus model. So if you want to air fry and user fill on the bottom, for the Omni Plus user the Air Fry or Broil mode. The coil heating always comes on except for in Toast however it does not glow out change color. So it looks like it’s not on, but it is. Hope this helps.
Thank you!
Are there additional wire racks available to purchase? If so, could you provide a link?
As of right now there are not. I’ve tried different solutions but haven’t found any.
Darn! Would be so useful. I’ve been looking all over the web myself and haven’t seen anything either. Thank you.
Now if you watch my accessories video I did find a basket that fits in the Omni and then you can place the air fry basket that comes with the Omni, on top do it mathes 2 levels. Also if you don’t use a function that uses the bottom heating element you can convert the bottom with foil and cook on that. You can see that in my video for” how to cook a rotisserie chicken over 4 lbs”.
Hi Lana, on the left side there are 2 hooks that point down. What are the hooks for?
Hi. Instant company doesn’t tell you but what I found is it helps to keep the drip or making pans from tipping when you pull them out. If they weren’t there when you pull the tray out to flip food or add food, the trays would fall.
Thank you for the quick response. I have looked everywhere and google searched every way possible. Can’t seem to find anything. Thank you again. Have a Great Day!
Hi Lana. I’m new to the Omni. In the modes that use lower heating should the heating source be turning on and off? I guessing so to maybe regulate the temperature but I wasn’t sure if something was defective. Thank you!
Yes, it will turn on and off to regulate the temperature just like you thought. Hope this helps. Happy cooking and stay safe!
Hi Lana,
Thank you for all your wonderful information. I have the Omni Plus and on roast the bottom element does come on but on your into you said to put the drip pan on the bottom for roast broil and air fry. Im confused. Will it roast if I cover the bottom elements with the drip pan ?
Hi, so in the original Omni the bottom heating elements don’t heat up in the roast mode. For some reason when they came out with the Omni Plus they changed that and on Roast they do come on. So if you have the Omni Plus, I wouldn’t use the drip pan on Roast mode. I’m glad you brought that up because I wrote this guide before the Omni Plus came out. I will make sure to add that in. Thank you!
I have had my Instant Omni Plus for a couple of weeks. When I bake, it browns the top way too fast before the inside can cook. What can I do?
Which rack position do you have the rack in when you bake? Is it possible it’s too close to the top?
Hi
Can you please explain what the rotate function is on Omni Plus and how it is used?
Hi. The rotate function is for the rotisserie spit. That’s the long metal stick that should of come with your Omni Plus. When you press that button, it will spin the rotisserie spit. I think the best way to explain it would be to watch my video on the Omni tutorial and the video how to truss and rotisserie a whole chicken. I adore you in detail how to use that function. It’s pretty great!
Thank you so much for explaining the vortex instant air fryer – you did such a easy helpful job at it- i cant tell you how much you helped me!
Awe I’m so glad I could be of help. You can reach out to me anytime you have a question. Happy cooking!
I was wondering if there is a way to bypass the preheat mode and go straight to cooking? I just bought the Omni to replace my Cuisinart Toaster Oven and have gotten used to a more manual type oven. I love all the functions on the Omni, but I would like to have a little more control. It seems to take forever to go from preheat to cooking timer countdown mode. If I can’t bypass it, would you recommend not placing the food in oven until preheated? I’ve seen a lot publications that tell you to place the food in… Read more »
Hi. The preheat setting is like preheating your oven, which you should always do. The positive thing is it takes a lot less time to preheat. One trick I do it to set the Omni before I start putting together whatever I’m going to cook so by the time I’m ready to put the food in the Omni, it’s ready. That says, there are a few foods you can just place in before its preheated. Frozen foods are great because they will deftost a bit during the preheat time. Rotisserie also is great to put in before the preheat time.
[…] Instant Omni:Finding One,Choosing the Right Mode, and Getting Started […]
Hey lana my question is about my omni instant oven. In which mode the top circle shape heating element comes on?
Hi. The top circle heating works in all modes except toast. However, it doesn’t turn colors like the other one so it looks like it’s not on, but it is.
I was thinking something wrong with my oven since i don’t see it getting red lol. I tried all modes. Was about to take it back.
Thank you for clearing that for me.