Multicookers and slow cookers both take up a good amount of kitchen real estate. If you can only have one in your kitchen, should you go for the set it and forget it slow cooker, or the multi-use Instant Pot?
Buy our winning multicooker:
Buy our winning slow cooker:
Follow Hannah on Instagram:
Follow Lisa on Instagram:
ABOUT US: Located in Boston’s Seaport District in the historic Innovation and Design Building, America’s Test Kitchen features 15,000 square feet of kitchen space including multiple photography and video studios. It is the home of Cook’s Illustrated magazine and Cook’s Country magazine and is the workday destination for more than 60 test cooks, editors, and cookware specialists. Our mission is to test recipes over and over again until we understand how and why they work and until we arrive at the best version.
If you like us, follow us:
23 Comments
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
It’s seams the model you recommend is discontinued the link shows one that 279.00 do you have a suggestion of another model
And of course, the recommended multi cooker is discontinued. Time for a new review!
I'm watching this only after I was gifted an InstantPot Duo 6 quart about 3 years ago. I was having trouble cooking in my Dutch ovens after an injury and a friend gave the duo to me as a possible solution.
Not able to cut up chicken or even fresh vegetables I found it perfect for just throw it in food and coming back later.
Although the IP Duo Evo has some good improvements there is no reason to upgrade from my original Duo now!
I see Instant Pot discontinued the Duo Evo Plus. Do you know why? It looks like the Pro model replaced the Duo Evo Plus. What would you now recommend as the best 8 quart unit?
I was planning on replacing my 8 quart Duo with the Duo Evo Plus. Should I consider one of the newer models or look for either a NOS or refurbished Duo Evo Plus?
I'm also going to be looking for a new slow cooker. I have all older Hamilton Beach 8 quart model. The Kitchenaid shown in this video would be great but I don't think it comes in 8 quart (which is important to me). So what would you recommend in that size?
Thanks and happy new year.
I love my Instant Pots! I too am curious about how accurate the slow cooker feature is.
You never tested deep enough. They smell so vile and that smell taints food and before you say it’s deficient washing at fault. I can assure you that I know how to wash a seal and the stainless under the seal. I get fantastic results from my pressure cookers. No odor nor tainted foods. I think I wasted money buying my instapot.
Worth it. Bought mine early on because I’d had something similar when I lived in China in 2008. I’m on my second after UPS destroyed mine in a move. Still have a fairly basic model, not the rock bottom. I’ve thought about upgrading because they’re so pretty and techie but I just mostly cook beans, soups, formerly spaghetti when I could eat tomatoes. Anyway, 15:39 I just bought a Instant Omni Plus to finally replace take the place of my old FlavorWave Oven. The replicas just didn’t do it for me. I’m so excited for the Omni. So between the Pot and hopefully the Omni, worth it!
I recall when crockpots first came out in the 1970s; ugly avocado-green or burnt-orange decor, cylindrical, round footprint. They were more often used for holiday spiced cider at parties than actual meal prep, but were too often the most likely wedding gift for new couples. Quickly, they ended up in the no-man's land of kitchen storage: above-fridge cabinets, back of base cabinet bottom shelves, and the farthest corners of corner base cabinets. They eventually got duty and covered in cobwebs before finally going out to yard sale tables and then packed off to thrift stores.
In the mid-1980's, I decided to buy one from a thrift store; cost me about $6. This was my first crockpot, but I found they were WONDERFUL, for exactly what you said: toss in a bunch of ingredients, go off for X-number of hours to get work done, come back for a great meal. I ended up upgrading to a 6qt oval with removable porcelain liner and auto-shutoff feature. Basically, living alone by that time, I could toss a bunch of beans, lentils, veggies, and/or meats into it, then go off to work and come home to a great prepared meal that also generated leftovers I could refrigerate or freeze for later.
Currently, I've been living in a studio apartment and unfortunately the LEASE forbids any resident to leave the apartment with a crockpot running (fire safety issues). And having my apartment door within 10ft of where the crockpot sits, and the apartment door 8ft from the elevators (so they can smell if something's cooking), has meant that I can't use the crockpot unless I am home. Frankly, there's very little reason to run a crockpot while you're in a studio apartment; you might as well just cook things normally, because you're right there to keep an eye on it. Very sad…
But, yeah; I was part of the resurgence of crockpot use that continues to this day.
So now I've joined the throng moving to 'multicookers'. What they do that crockpots don't do is cook things in much shorter time than crockpots or even conventional cooking can achieve. I purchased a Zavor (ATK-approved, however without the enthusiastic media presence that includes use tips and a multitude of recipes), which I have yet to use. I bought it figuring this was a work-around for my lease restrictions on crockpots; I should be present to keep an eye on its cooking, plus it cooks meal in short time, whether I'm working or at home.
And now that's I finally retired (and Covid concerns keep me home a great deal more), I should get more use from it than a crockpot. But we have yet to see. I need to 'clear the decks' so I can thoroughly concentrate on learning this new technology, but I'm still settling into my nest and culling my possessions, I so haven't had the mental room to put my full attention to it. Once I do, I will experiment and test, then decide whether I keep the crockpot or the multicooker; I don't really have room for both.
The instant pot is my favorite toy in the kitchen. Me and my wife own a business and we do not have time for regular cooking and we can't do the takeout thing. So gross, anyways if you love real home-cooking you need to get one today. My wife's clean-up is literally 5 minutes and my prep is a whopping ten minutes of gathering ingredients and chopping.
Wait, is that an iPod and speaker ver Lisa’s shoulder? 🥰
I caught a deal on a scratch and dent 8qt instant pot w/ air fryer lid. It works great. Being a single guy it would be nice if they made a 4qt version with an air fryer lid – but it's a great machine. Some drawbacks;
1) Size – it's pretty big, and the extra air fryer lid is kinda big and bulky too – so there are storage issues in a small kitchen (like mine)
2) does a great job of air frying – even when I don't turn stuff mid-way – But clean up includes a large air fry pot, the large main pot, and a trivet to raise the fryer pot – with a basic air fryer you've got a much smaller basket and a trivet.
3) – pressure cooker works great and saves time – but recipes don't include starting warm up, and ending pressure release – both of which can take several minutes – the pressure release in particular seems to take an unexpectedly long time. But it cooked dry beans in about an hour – including warm up and pressure release.
I found I was almost exclusively using the air fryer (single guy) so, when I saw a Black Friday sale on an Instant Pot Air Fryer I bought it – also works well, and is half the size of the Instant Pot Duo – which is gathering dust waiting for me to quit being lazy and make more elaborate recipes – for which I will be glad to have it. (though I may try to sell it and buy a 3-4qt model now that I have a separate air fryer)
Unfortunately, this specific model supposedly has been discontinued.
I got an instapot dupe i guess you'd call it 2 years ago and it's still where ever I ended up finding space for it. The directions were too confusing. Slow release natural release.. too much thinking. 2 things I couldn't get over 1 I only cook for 2 so most recipes I have to halve and 2 I like being creative and what I read in the manual made me nervous to stray from the exact recipes. Also I guess a 3rd thing it seems annoying to clean. Much prefer my sheet pan
5 hours for tacos?
Instant Pot is a brand. There are many brands of electric pressure cookers. I prefer the Ninja Foodi, which performs many, many more functions, including air frying.
One major question remains: safety.
Ilmu yang sangat ber manfa,at semoga ber manfa,at👍👍🤝
Pressure cook
Yogurt
Rice
Dried beans
Slow cook
Sous vide
I use all these
Own 3
Essential experienced cooks device
Another is the Air Fryer
So much filler
I bough my 6qt instant pot at a thrift store for 2.67. It looked almost new, a little scrubbing and a few cleanings just to be safe and shes perfect.
What about the nutritional value between slow cooking and pressure cooking?
Sure would like some things added like clean-up, counter space, energy efficiency. A stove, pot, and lid (that we all have already). Seems like we need to invest in a powered island, just to operate the thing and still have any counter top left. Maybe vs microwave (which we also have). I don't cook a roast or anything that can take all day to begin with, though.
I see the meat is stuck at the bottom is that supposed to be like that? Is that burnt meat? Thanks.