Multicookers make cooking meals easier than ever before. These pots can handle a variety of tasks, including sautéing, pressure cooking, slow cooking, and much more. Besides being a whole oven in a portable device, they also come with a lot of great tech to make meals smarter, safer, and healthier.
But if you want to get on the multicooker train, where should you begin? We can help out: Here are several top models to compare.
Instant Pot Smart Wi-Fi Version
Often credited with starting the current multicooker craze, the Instant Pot can do a little of everything. In addition to cooking, pressure cooking and slow cooking, this Pot has settings for porridge, yogurt, rice, and other commonly cooked foods that take a lot of the guesswork out of preparing dishes you may not have tried before (with plenty of safety features so you don’t mess up). This particular 6-quart model gets an extra boost of interesting with its Wi-Fi connectivity, which allows you to receive updates on your meal and make sure you haven’t forgotten the Pot while out of the kitchen doing other tasks. It’s an ideal cooker, whether it’s your very first one or you’re looking for a high-tech upgrade.
Ninja Foodi Multi Cooker
Ninja has an excellent line of multicookers of its own, but the Foodi is particularly handy. It can pressure cook, sear, and sauté like most multicookers, but it also has an air frying lid for dry cooking functions like baking, roasting, and air frying.
One of the biggest complaints a lot of people have about multicookers is that they can’t crisp, so chicken skin comes out soggy. The Foodi lets you pressure cook a whole chicken, and then crisp the skin in the same appliance. You can also make french fries, desserts, or just about anything else you can imagine.
Breville Fast Slow Pro
Breville has won recognition for its high-tech, high-quality kitchen devices, and this 6-quart multicooker is no exception. It sports a large LCD with plentiful information and pressure and slow cook settings to deal with everything from dessert to bone-in meat dishes. If the Instant Pot doesn’t quite feel right to you, this is an alternative that will still give you many different cooking options and useful modern safety features.
Hamilton Beach 37571 Digital Multicooker
If keeping within budget is a priority for you, you’ll appreciate this Hamilton Beach model, which is priced under $100 but retains many of the features you’re looking for, including 14 presets, easy sauteing or steaming, Warm and Delay modes for planning ahead of time, and a compact, tightly sealed design. There’s even an included steam basket that doubles as a rice rinser! However, at 4.5 quarts, this model is a bit smaller than our other picks, which makes it more suited for single users and couples than large families.
Instant Pot Duo Evo Plus
If you don’t care about Wi-Fi, check out this popular Instant Pot model. It’s more affordable than the Wi-Fi version, but with all the same great cooking benefits and powerful settings. Also note the flexible buying options for this model: Options range from 3 to 8 quarts, but we like the middle-of-the-road 6-quart option. This Instant Pot model includes a new 1200-watt heating element that heats up even faster and makes for easier sauté prep, plus 48 customizable options for everything from sous vide to soups and ribs. Add in Instant Pot’s famous safety plus the great display features, and you’ve got one great recipe.
De’Longhi FH1363 MultiFry Extra
De’Longhi has an innovative approach to the multicooker world. This pot can handle pies, potatoes, fish, meat, and other dishes that can be cooked, baked, or broiled … but its real specialty is low-oil frying. If you’ve always wanted a frying device for your kitchen but couldn’t justify the expense, this model will let you get away with it by doing everything else, too (well, except for pressure cooking). It also has an internal (and removable) paddle for automatic stirring in dishes where ingredients need to be mixed.
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