Imagine that you just back home with worried-free knowing your warm, home-cooked meals will be ready right now.
May 31, 2020
When you’re late and hungry, pressure cookers are god-sent heroes for preparing a good meal in a wink of your cooking time—both electric and stovetop versions. But, if you’re a set-it-and-forget-it type who are unfamiliar with pressure cooking or too busy to monitor what’s boiling on the stove, the electric pressure cookers may be your nicer choice—just fill the ingredients in the pot, close the lid, hit the button and all done!
Unlike old models, nowadays models come with variety features more than pressuring. They can slow cooking, searing, cooking rice, steaming, making yogurt, cooking sous vides or even air frying, deserving to occupy the counter space.
BEST ALL-AROUND
This is an upgraded version of Instant Pot Duo—the super popular multi-cooker in the market. The Nova offers more safe and sound features: an improved lid for secure uses, a useful quick release button and a new bigger brighter and sleeker display for easier notice. The cooking ability is still impressive. It works well in all features—7 functions pluses 14 pre-programs—but is excellent for pressure cooking, slow cooking and making beans.
Overall, it’s a great mixture of features, ease of uses and value, definitely no-regret buying.
Feature: Pressure cooker, slow cooker, rice cooker, steamer, sauté, yogurt maker, and warmer, 14 built-in programs
Delay Timer: 24 hours
Capacity: 3, 6, 8 qt.
THE RUNNER’S UP
The Zavor Lux—aka Fagor Lux—is what America’s Test Kitchen repeatedly pick over the Instant Pot for versatile features, unique heat element and dependable results. The performance is excellent—fast and precise cooking. Since it has extensive heating element areas, shallow sides and a broader cooking surface, it’s efficacious for searing and sautéing jobs.
Winning traits covers a progress monitor on the LCD display, a removable lid and reliable safety features. More? The FLEX mode allows for flexible techniques, even a sous vide.
Feature: Pressure cook (High and low), slow cook (High and low), steam, brown, flex (sous vide), simmer, yogurt, grains, eggs, dessert, keep Warm + 33 preset programs
Delay Timer: 6 hours
Capacity: 4, 8 qt.
BEST FEATURE
If you look for a clever appliance that worth your counter space, the Ninja is certainly to ponder. With the TenderCrisp technology, this compact multicooker enhances more skills than common features. The potent 1,460-watt machine combines pressure cooker and air fryer together that can speedily deliver crisp and juicy meats. Also, it also has sear, roast and slow cook functions—yielding evenly crunchy, golden-brown results, as well as intense-tasted soups. Plus, the PTFE/PFOA-free ceramic pot for ensuring food-safety cooking.
Usefully, it comes with a 15 easy-to-follow recipe book.
Feature: pressure cook, air fry/air crisp, steam, bake/roast, slow cook, yogurt, and sear/sauté + a 15-recipe book
Delay Timer: no
Capacity: 5 qt.
VALUE BUYING
This German machine is a value-buying. For under $100*, the Mueller Ultra pot can cook like a higher-tier machine—from healthy oatmeal, daily yogurt, fluffy cake, risotto, pulled pork to canning veggies. Moreover, the Manual Setting button flexibly lets adjusting the cooking time from 1 to 99 minutes range, with a 24-hour delay timer. Additionally, the assembly is nice—ceramic nonstick interior and a 18/10 stainless-steel with 3-ply bottom for boosting heat distribution.
For the price, it includes some useful accessories without buying extras—such a bargain!
Feature: Oatmeal, broth/soup, poultry, yogurt, egg, beans/chilli, rice, pressure cook (manual setting), seat/stew, cake, slow cook, steam, sauté, canning & multi-grain
Delay Timer: 24 hours
Capacity: 6 qt.
BEST SMART CONTROL
For tech-y folks, the CHEF iQ is pleasurable product for the smartness in all operation. Better than ‘set-and-forget’ multicookers, it nicely works via its app and censor inside—just simply put ingredients in the pot, let the integrated scale measure how much water to fill, pick a preset from tons of recipes and wait until done with self-releasing pressure. Aside from savvy techs, this powerful 1,500-watt machine has decent performance, solid assembly and user-friendliness.
Bonus, this small footprint unit surely looks appealing on your countertop.
Feature: Pressure cook, slow cook, sear/sauté, steam + 300+ cooking programs
Delay Timer: no
Capacity: 6 qt.
PROS’S FAVORITE
For experienced chefs who know how to cook at a certain pressure, the Fast-Slow Pro is a right tool. This premium machine offers lots of custom settings as letting you control everything—from temperature, pressure levels (from 1.5 to 12 psi), cooking time and releasing method easily and precisely. Also, since having automatically adjust time and temperature settings, it works superbly as a set-and-forget cooking pot, with 11 useful presets.
Plus, the classy knob controls, a clear LCD display and stainless-steel finish make a bunch stylish design.
Feature: 11 pressure cook settings + custom setting
Delay Timer: no
Capacity: 6 qt.
BEST VERSALTILE
This is truly an applicable Instant Pot upgrader. Apart from 16 built-in programs, it successfully does all the 10 duties—from basic slow cooking, pressuring, making soft and moist cake to sous vide. Spotlighting, it’s a right tool for pros and serious cookers. Unlike most units, the ‘Ultra’ setting lets you fully control the pressure conditions’precisely specifies temperature, pressure level, cooking time and delay time.
The clear streamline digital interface makes easy to interact and notice, as well as looks good on the countertop.
Feature: Pressure cooker, slow cooker, rice/porridge cooker, cake maker, yogurt maker, sauté/searing, steamer, warmer, sterilizer, the Ultra program + 16 preset programs
Delay Timer: 24 hours
Capacity: 3, 6, 8 qt.
BEST USER-FRIENDLY
This MultiPot 2.0 is really the game-changer—it works like a charm, has lots of functions, is simple to use, looks modern and is value-accent with full of accessories, from an extra gasket to mitts. For beginners, it’s definitely a sweet machine from the hand-free pressure release feature—no more panic to get burns, while the self-sealing lid ensures safe close before cooking. Also, the Mealthy app is user-friendly and helpful for trying new techniques.
What’s mores? This cooker can be turn into an air fryer and dehydrator with the innovative Mealthy CrispLid effortlessly.
Feature: Pressure cook, slow cook, sauté, steam, make cakes, pasteurize, make yogurt, cook rice, and Warm + 14 preset programs
Delay Timer: Yes
Capacity: 6 qt.
BEST BASIC
If you just need a reliable and straightforward pressure cooker and slow cooker without fancy elements, the Cuisinart serves is worth to consider. No bell and whistles, it offers complete features as a simple multicooker. With 1,000 watts (for 6-quart size), it smoothly lets searing meats to create complex taste, cooking in pressure, simmering to enhance flavor and keep warm until your dining time. Also, the cooking time can be set up to 99 minutes with a delay timer.
Moreover, this sleek unit comes with a 3-year warranty.
Feature: Low and High pressure, browning, simmer, sauté and automatic keep warm + a 45-recipe book
Delay Timer: Yes
Capacity: 4, 6(CPC-600), 8(CPC-800) qt.
BUDGET ALTERNATIVE
Crock-Pot Express Crock Multi-Cooker with Easy Release Steam Dial
At under $100*, this Crock-Pot offers effectiveness and value. As a low-cost multicooker, it offers no-fancy features but all yields pleasing results, especially for slow cooking and pressure cooking. It also has 13 instant settings, a delay timer and a warmer like high-priced models. The best part, the separate steam-released dial on removable lid helps preventing burns from freeing hot steams without using a mitt.
Favorably, not only budget-strict people, the modern but simplest-to-use control panel really make it a God-sent device for beginners.
Feature: Pressure cook, slow cook, sauté/brown, rice cooker, steamer and warmer + 13 preset programs
Delay Timer: 4 hours
Capacity: 6, 10 qt.
* price at date of reviewing
When talking about electric pressure cookers that come close to multi-functional machines, the Instant Pot series undoubtedly dominate the market since they come out with variety of features, selective programs, display and controllers, as well as offer impressive results in reasonable cost.
Still, there’re something that can’t be neglected: even though the Instant Pot is the conqueror in the all-in-one cookers, they—mentioning to the Duo series and standard models—aren’t great in slow-cooking game as taking too much time and too low temperature to cook. While the upgraders, like the Ultra, just give average results like a tawdry slow cooker. As the results, we strongly not recommend if the slow cooking is the main function you expect for.
Instant Pot Duo 6-in-1 ($79* for 6-qt), the super popular multicooker ever, is our standard quality of a good electric pressure cooker (and multi-cooker). It has whole cooking features and results are impressive. If you don’t mind for having bigger LCD display, streamline interface, seal ring and less scary steam release, the Duo is most worth buying since having the same cooking functions and materials with the Instant Pot Duo Nova ($99.99* for 6-qt).
Instant Pot Lux 6-in-1 ($70* for 6-qt), the earliest and the most inexpensive model, can be an option for a budget choice. But, comparing to the Duo, it has less safety features and only High-pressure level, spending a few bucks for the Duo seems much better.
Fissler Multi Pot ($100* for 6-qt) has standard cooking features but makes a feel sturdy-made for the price range. The outstanding point is the solid 18/8 stainless-steel pot with aluminum encapsulated base (like a good stainless-steel cookware), which makes the high prospect for good sautéing, browning and searing, as well as more even cooking.
Since massively rising of electric multicookers, the average price of these machines is lower and lower. So, the latest ‘bells and whistles’ for higher-tier models aren’t the yogurt maker or sterilizer, but the air fryer—or Crisp feature—and smart control play big role.
In 2018, Instant Pot Smart WiFi ($150* for 6-qt) was tremendously raved about the way it’s remote controlled, customized and monitored foods via Wi-Fi connectivity. However, comparing to the rivals these days, the Instant Pot’s Smart app happens to be complicated to use, easy to lose signals and outdated UI interface. If you’re fond of this highlight, we suggest spending extras with the Chef iQ ($199*) or Mealthy 2.0 ($225*) for much user-friendliness, real smart features, extravagant gimmicks and tons of easy-to-follow recipes.
Instant Pot Max ($150* for 6-qt) boasts for the selling point for reaching highest pressure in the market (at 15 psi), 1,100 watts and a hand-free valve to pressure release. This ‘Max’ feature is theoretical excellent for evidently fast cooking, searing ability and canning foods process. In practical, though it clearly pressures fast and delivers acceptable for searing (in machine searing level), the Max isn’t good for slow cook like the Duo series and also feels cumbersome for sous vide.
Talking about canning, it’s questioned for the reason of food-safety. According to the USDA Guide, safe canning process requires hot enough temperature (around 250°F) to for destroy bacteria inside canned food, while the Max might not reach ‘high enough’ heat. You might have to add some process for ensuring more safety. With about $200, the Max doesn’t offer real improvements. So, choosing the Ultra ($199* for 6-quart) might be better value.
Instant Pot Duo Crisp + Air Fryer ($150* for 6-qt) takes the cake for overwhelming universal functions. It’s supposed to take place of major countertop appliances—a pressure cooker, a slow cooker, a rotisserie, a toaster oven, a sous vide and an air fryer. Truthfully, it’s hard to find products that can completely combine the cooking ability of a pressure cooker and a toaster oven since the two require different cooking methods and construction designs to yield perfect results—So does this unit.
Like the Duo, the Duo Crisp delivers impressive jobs for moisture methods—pressuring, simmering, steaming and rice cooking. But for the convection method (like roasting, grilling or air frying), it gives average outcomes. Comparing to traditional convection ovens, it can cook but takes more time, has less space, needs more prepare and delivers less crispy. Say, unless you expect to use the air fry features as the main feature (just occasional duties for more crispy texture), it’s worth the money and counterspace.
Cuisinart CPC-900 Multicooker Pressure Cooker ($150* for 6-qt), the top-of-the-line product, is the real improvement of the basic CPC-600. It offers high pressure 15 psi (equal to Instant Pot Max) for fast pressuring. For the price, it has quite basic functions, quite similar to the Instant Pot Lux. Still, Cuisinart is impressively good at user-friendliness—it offers a big, sleek, easy-to-understand and set LCD control panel, a button for auto quick release and sturdy assembly.
We like that the CPC-900 has ‘Reduce’ feature like the Breville Fast-Slow Pro ($250) since it can reduce excess liquid to boost intense flavor. After all, when taking cost and features into the account, it’s quite expensive comparing to other multitaskers these days. However, if you expect for reliable pressure cooking, making stock and slow cooking features, it’s good to go.
Ninja Foodi (FD402) Deluxe ($279* for 8-qt) was launched in 2019, after the overwhelming success of the original Ninja Foodi. This upgrader model offers bigger capacity (8 quarts) for handling up to 7-pound chicken, vast powerful (1,760 watts) for effective roasting and dehydrating, and additional yogurt making button. It has new sleeker LCD interface that is still user-friendly like the older version. But, at this price, we expect for swankier features, like progress bars or smart control.
Overall, except you’re bother with the big footprint, weight and hinged lid, this monster is a good all-in-one machine that excels for pressure cooking and air frying.