A multicooker is a convenient and user-friendly appliance, ideal even for those who rarely cook. From soups to baked goods, a multicooker can handle a wide variety of meals with minimal effort. These all-in-one cooking devices are perfect for today’s fast-paced lifestyle.
What Is a Multicooker? Benefits & Uses
A multicooker is a versatile kitchen appliance that combines the functions of multiple devices into one. In other words, a multicooker can adapt to a range of different cooking methods, making it a convenient, space-saving solution for everyday meals.
Different Types of Multicookers for Home Kitchens
These innovative kitchen cooking aids include but are not limited to:
- Pressure cookers
- Air fryers
- Convection ovens
- Electric skillets
Why Use a Multicooker for Faster Cooking
Multicookers are often designed to significantly cut the time you spend cooking—some machines can reduce your cooking time by more than 50%. For example, compared to a conventional oven, cooking a whole chicken in an air fryer or pressure cooker can take less than half the usual time.
Beyond speed, these appliances often include multiple cooking modes that let you prepare different foods simultaneously. For instance, certain multicookers allow you to dehydrate fruit while frying crispy bacon or fries in separate drawers.
Typical Multicooker Characteristics
Common features of multicookers inclue:
- Compact design
- LCD screen
- Touch screen or analogue buttons
- Multiple accessories
- Electric-powered
- User-friendly interface
Different Types of Multicookers & How They Work
Pressure Cookers for Fast Cooking
Pressure cookers use high-pressure technology to cook food quickly and evenly, even tougher meats like beef. By increasing the internal temperature of your food through pressurization, pressure cookers can prepare a wide variety of meals in roughly half the time of traditional cooking methods.
Convection Ovens for Even Heat Distribution
Convection ovens cook food by evenly circulating hot air throughout the appliance, allowing meals to cook faster and more uniformly than in conventional ovens.
By contrast, regular ovens rely on heating elements at the top and bottom, which can result in longer cook times and uneven cooking. The bottom heat supply is suitable for roasting, while the top is better for grilling or browning.
But whether using a conventional or convection oven, following the manufacturer’s instructions for your specific oven will ensure the best cooking results.
Electric Skillets for Versatile One-Pot Meals
Electric skillets, like the Essential Smart Skillet, are versatile appliances ideal for frying, sautéing, and making one-pot meals like pastas, stews, and rice dishes. Like other multicookers, these skillets are designed to offer multiple cooking options in a single device.
Multi-use Cookers for All-in-One Cooking
A multi-use cooker has multiple functions, making it ideal for all-in-one cooking. Many models feature extras like racks and rotisseries, providing varied cooking options.
Multi-use cookers are a favorite for anyone looking for a convenient, money-saving solution, as they eliminate the need to purchase separate appliances to do separate tasks.
A multi-use cooker is often capable of:
- Boiling
- Roasting
- Sautéing
- Frying
- Baking
- Dehydrating
Why a Multicooker May Not Be for You
All multicookers come with advantages and disadvantages. Selecting the ideal one for your lifestyle and cooking preference is key for practical, everyday use.
The major disadvantage of a multicooker is that some are hard to clean. Often, a cooker features multiple components, and not all those components are dishwasher-safe. Also, some parts aren’t waterproof and will be damaged as soon as they’re submerged.
As with any new multi-cooking device or unit, it’s always best to read and follow the user guide for proper care.
Advantages of Using a Multicooker Over Stoves or Ovens
Multicookers for home use provide numerous advantages, such as:
Saving Time
Multicookers can cook meals quickly or allow you to set a timer to cook while you’re doing other things. This makes them an ideal appliance for parents, busy professionals, or anyone who wants healthy, home-cooked food without spending hours standing over the stovetop.
If you live alone, you could benefit from an all-purpose cooking appliance like an air fryer. Air fryers are perfect for cooking for one, and are available in small sizes.
Meanwhile for large families, pressure cookers and combo ovens offer bigger capacities and multiple cooking options, allowing meals to be prepared more quickly than with traditional stovetops and ovens.
Saving Space
Multicookers are often compactly built, making it easy to store these devices in a kitchen cabinet or on the countertop. In addition to maximizing your space, some models are purposely designed with eye-catching aesthetics to complement your kitchen decor.
Saving Money
By combining multiple functions in a single appliance, a multicooker saves you from having to buy separate cookware, saving you money in the long run.
Enhancing Flavor & Texture
Not only do multicookers cook efficiently, but they also preserve the textures and overall flavor profiles of your meals.
Easy Portability
Another thing that makes multi-cooking devices attractive and convenient is that they’re portable. Multicookers are often mobile, allowing you to transport the pot from the kitchen countertop to the dinner table for easy serving. (Just be sure to read the user guide’s rules about safe surfaces for your multicooker.)
If you’re going away for a few days, you can take your trusty multicooker with you. This way, you can enjoy home-cooked meals wherever you are.
Simplifying Cooking
Multicookers come with presets that make undercooking or overcooking food near impossible. This makes the job even easier for beginners and seasoned cooks alike.
Popular Multicooker Options for Your Home
The following is a list of multicookers with clever or unique features for you to consider:
Instant Pot Duo Plus 6-Quart Smart Multicooker
While it does everything a traditional pressure cooker can, the Instant Pot Pro Plus 6-Quart Smart Multicooker also offers unique features. One standout is its quiet steam release, which might seem like a minor feature, but plays a big role in safety and convenience. You can quietly release steam through the one-touch panel or remotely via the Connect App, keeping your hands safe from burns.
With the Instant Pot Duo Plus, you can perform advanced cooking techniques such as sous vide, where vacuum-sealed food is cooked in a bath of water at low temperature.
In addition, this multicooker offers functions including:
- Steaming
- Sautéing
- Cooking rice
- Keeping food warm
The pot can cook up to a capacity of six servings and includes safety features such as protection against overheating and a secure lid-locking mechanism.
Ninja Combi All-In-One Multicooker Plus Air Fryer
The Ninja Combi All-In-One Multicooker has multiple features designed to save you time in the kitchen. It boasts a quick mealtime cook of 15 minutes and has the capacity to cook for up to eight people at once. And despite its speed and efficiency, this multicooker is still energy-efficient.
The Ninja Combi All-In-One comes with several cooking accessories, allowing you switch from roasting to frying in one compact device. With this multicooker, quickly preparing large meals is effortless.
Simultaneous HyperSteam and Air Fry technology combine steam and airflow for ultra-fast cooking. One of the most popular features of the Ninja Combi is its ability to cook foods from frozen to ready in just 30 minutes, taking meals from frozen to finished in one step.
The Ninja Combi features:
- 14 cooking functions
- Dishwasher-safe accessories
- Compact design
- Large capacity
- Complimentary recipe book
Instant Pot Duo Crisp Multicooker With Air Frying
The Instant Pot Duo Crisp is an air fryer and multicooker with 11 different cooking functions. This unique cooking device features two lids for interchangeable cooking styles. For instance, one lid lets this multicooker operate as an air fryer, while the other lid offer enables other cooking settings such as pressure cooking.
Instant Pot’s EvenCrisp Airflow technology distributes hot air consistently for reliable and effective cooking. And quick-touch menu options take the guesswork out of meal preparation, as each cooking option is already pre-programmed.
With its generous eight-quart capacity, the Instant Pot Duo Crisp ideal for cooking for large groups or meal prepping for the week.
The Instant Pot Dup Crisp features:
- Stainless-steel inner pot
- Larger quantity
- Dishwasher-safe lid and inner pot
- Button steam release
- 11-in-1 cooking functions
- Customizable temperature
CHEF iQ Multicooker With 300 Presets
The CHEF iQ Cooker boasts 300 preset cooking functions, exceeding other mainstream multicookers. For additional flexibility, you also have the option of creating your own personalized cooking settings.
This Wi-Fi-enabled multicooker allows you to monitor food through the CHEF iQ app. Due to the high-temperature sealed cooking environment, the iQ Cooker allows you to cook meals up to 70% faster than traditional cooking methods. Smart sensors at the bottom of the pot accurately measure food mass and quantity, ensuring consistent results.
Additionally, the pressure cook feature has an automated release function, so you won’t need to remember how long your food has been in.
The iQ Cooker offers:
- Sautéing
- Pressure cooking
- Fermenting
- Keeping food warm
- Dehydrating
- Slow cooking
- Sous vide
This multicooker also includes the following features:
- Built-in scale to guarantee accurate measurements
- Smart Thermometer ensures food gets perfectly cooked
- Bright touchscreen display
- Ceramic coated non-stick inner pot
- BPA-free utensils and accessories
With the iQ Cooker, a guided cooking option showcases a library of videos and recipes to enhance your cooking experience.
This multicooker is also backed by multiple safety certifications, including from the FDA (Food and Drug Administration), ETL (Electrical Testing Laboratories), and FCC (Federal Communication Commission).
How Multicookers Take Cooking to The Next Level
With their advanced technology and features, multicookers have transformed how we cook, making it easier to prepare healthier meals with less effort. No matter which you choose, you can be confident knowing that no matter what dish you feel like making, there’s a multicooker to complement your cooking needs.
