The pressure cooker has been around for hundreds of years. Slow cookers have been mainstays since 1940. More recently, multi-cookers like the Instant Pot combine both cooking technologies into multifunctional appliances that can make much more than soups and stews. But which appliance is best for your needs?
A multi-cooker is an electric pot that can steam rice, slow cook stews and soups, sauté like a frying pan and work like a pressure cooker to speed cooking time. With the right accessories, a multi-cooker can also bake cakes or air-fry potatoes and chicken. If you have a very small kitchen with no oven, or simply want to use your stove less to save energy, a multi-cooker can do just about anything your oven and stove top can—in one pot.
Slow cookers are ideal for foods like pulled meats, stews, soups, beans, meatballs and sauces. Fans of slow cookers love that you can dump all the ingredients into the pot in the morning and walk in the door after work to a hot dinner. Slow cookers cannot crisp or broil—slow-cooked foods tend to be soft in texture.
Pressure cookers seal tightly, trapping steam inside. That allows any liquid to rise far above the normal boiling temperature of water, which allows you to, say, cook dried beans in half an hour—something that in a normal Dutch oven would take many hours. Some models have indicators that show you when pressure has gone down, meaning it’s safe to unlock and remove the lid.
