What Is A Multicooker? (and which one should you get)
Here I am in the editing process of our multicooker cookbook, and I realise many people just don’t get what a multicooker is, which one they should get and often choose the wrong one for them.
So, editing notes of The Complete Multicooker Cookbook to one side and let’s have a deep dive into the world of multicookers and what they mean to you.
What Is A Multicooker?
A multicooker is a kitchen gadget that has multiple functions. It will have a display of buttons, and you can go from one setting to another all in one cooking pot.
It’s the ultimate one pot cooking device and saves you time moving your food and also of course saves you on washing up.
There are of course different types and different brands. You may be familiar with the instant pot, the first brand to call itself a multicooker. But many have come along since with a lot more functions such as the Ninja Speedi and the Ninja Foodi or even the Ninja Possible Cooker and because they do a lot more, very few now reference the instant pot as a multicooker.
In our complete multicooker cookbook we have a how to chapter and this fully explains the different types and also has pictures for each.
Is The Instant Pot A Multicooker? Yes, it is because it has multiple functions such as slow cook, pressure cook, yoghurt and steam. But I don’t count settings like soup or stew as they are just presets of recommended cooking times.
Okay so I have mentioned that I don’t consider the instant pot a multicooker, mainly because the slow cooker isn’t very good so here is what I do consider to be a multicooker….
The Instant Pot that includes an air fryer – This is the one we used in our Multicooker Cookbook. Because it also has an air fryer it really feels multifunctional which is what a multicooker should be. You can air fry, slow cook, pressure cook, steam, make yoghurt and more.
The Ninja Speedi – Whilst the Ninja Speedi doesn’t pressure cook it does everything else and is often the one I recommend to my readers. Especially those that are feeding 1-2 people and are in their golden years. It slow cooks better than the instant pot does, does steam air frying, steam baking, steaming, air frying, baking, grilling and more. Its also easy to go from slow cooking to air frying and vice versa. You can find out more about the ninja speedi here.
The Ninja Foodi – This is the godfather or the GOAT as far as the multicookers are concerned. The Ninja does a better job at the multicooker than its standard air fryer for quality of cooking. With this you have up to 15 functions depending on which one you own. I have previously owned the Ninja Foodi 9 in 1 which has 9 standard functions, now own the Ninja Foodi 15 in 1 which of course gives you 6 more functions and a built-in probe. However, when recommending a Ninja Foodi to others it’s the 11 in 1 which is an in between that I suggest people get.
READ MORE >>> The Ultimate Guide To Using The Ninja Foodi Probe
What Is The Point Of A Multicooker?
Okay so for those of you that don’t get the point of multicookers, I am a super fan of them so just thought I would put that out there first!!
I love them because I can slow cook and then air fry and vice versa. The same with pressure cooking and then air frying. Or that when air frying and you want to cook something in a liquid because it is like a cooking pot you can do this without lots of accessories.
What Is The Difference Between An Air Fryer & A Multicooker?
An air fryer is just an air fryer, and a multicooker is an air fryer plus other things. If you have the Ninja Speedi for example, you have a kitchen gadget that is an air fryer, slow cooker, steamer, dehydrator and another 6 things all in one. You can of course just use it for air frying if you want.
What Is The Difference Between A Slow Cooker & A Multicooker?
With a slow cooker vs a multicooker the same thing as mentioned above with the air fryer. A slow cooker is just a slow cooker, or if you are going off the popular brand a Crockpot. Both of my two slow cookers are Crockpots. But that is all it does. It slow cooks on low, high and keep warm.
However, if I have a multicooker that is a slow cooker it does other stuff and for me this is a much better option for those of you that love a slow cooker. Because you can brown your meat first (don’t you just hate it when you must brown in a pan and then add to the slow cooker) and I will brown it on bake, air fry or sauté.
Then you can slow cook. So, you can get a multicooker and it can be your slow cooker too. My favourite is the Ninja Foodi for this because I can bake, grill etc and then slow cook. To end confusion the Ninja Foodi Max the one with 15 functions is also often referred to as a Multicooker 15 in 1. (Not on sale on Amazon UK)
Best Multicooker With Pressure Cooker?
If you are looking for the best pressure cooker that is included in a multicooker I would recommend the Ninja Foodi 9 in 1. It has less functions which of course makes it more budget friendly. But it does the pressure cooking, air frying, dehydrating, slow cooking, which if pressure cooking is your thing, would be better for you.
Plus, you can pressure cook and then air fry lets say if you were doing a whole chicken and then after pressure cooking you wanted a crispy skin.
Best Multicooker With Air Fryer & Pressure Cooker?
The Ninja Foodi 9 in 1 is still the best if you want to pressure cook and if you want to air fry. It lets you go from one to another within a recipe with little effort. You could pressure cook and then air fry for a crispy texture.
For example, I love at Christmas to do the turkey crown in the Ninja Foodi using pressure cook. Then finish with an air fry for that beautiful golden crisp without it going dry.
Is A Multicooker Worth Buying?
Absolutely! I highly recommend getting a multicooker. I have loved them ever since I welcomed my first one into my Portuguese kitchen all those years ago. We got our first instant pot in 2016 (wow that long ago!!) and then the Ninja Foodi 9 in 1 became our new best friend in 2019.
For us, the biggest benefit of them is being able to a mixture of sauté, slow cook, pressure cook and air fry all from one cooking pot. They are not all super expensive, and you can get some good deals on them too.
Most importantly though, you also must think what kind of multicooker would be best for you?
For a moment, step back, forget about all the bells and whistles of the Ninja Foodi 15 in 1. Yes, I love it and all but the question is are you going to use all 15 functions, are you going to get value for money for it. Is the probe very important to you?
Then if it is then get the Ninja Foodi 11 in 1 Max and also don’t forget to grab The Complete Multicooker Cookbook & Cooking Guide so that you are fully prepared to get started.
Do you just want to pressure cook? Then grab the Instant Pot Duo it is a lot cheaper and its much lighter too as the Ninja Foodi is very heavy. This is what we cooked from when we went on an 8-week road trip throughout Europe in 2018. It’s a brilliant pressure cooker and you can do a lot of greats in it and of course it also had the yoghurt setting and a sauté. I don’t rate the slow cooker though, so if you are in it for slow cooking avoid this one.
If you love a bit of everything, get the Ninja Foodi 11 in 1! I like this for the middle ground. You can pressure cook, you can slow cook, you can air fry, you can steam air fry, you can sauté too. It’s a lesser version of the 15 in 1 but still has plenty you can do. It also works with the recipes in our Ninja Foodi cookbook. This is the one I am recommending to readers that want a multicooker that also pressure cooks.
If you don’t want to pressure cook, then the Ninja Speedi is the GOAT (get in with the kids it stands for greatest of all time!). I love the Ninja Speedi, and it can take you from slow cooking to air frying to steam air frying to steaming and of course it dehydrates too. We use this gadget the most out of our collection of Multicookers. I also love that the Ninja Speedi is much lighter compared to the Foodi and perfect for travelling with.
You can also explore the different functions and find out the latest prices below:
- The Ninja Foodi 15 in 1 Max (Not Available)
- The Instant Pot Duo (best for pressure cooking)
- The Ninja Foodi 11 in 1 (best air fryer pressure cooker)
- The Ninja Speedi (best multicooker and air fryer in one)
What Can I Cook In A Multicooker?
A multicooker can cook so many different things I would need a 5000 word count to get close to naming them all! A better way of looking at it, is to think about the functions and say it can do all of them as individual recipes. Plus, of course it depends on which type of multicooker you own.
For example, with our Ninja Foodi recipe book and if you had a Ninja Foodi 11 in 1 you can:
Dehydrate – make banana chips, dry your own mixed herbs, cook a dehydrated roast beef, turn tomatoes into tomato powder, dry onions and garlic and the list goes on.
This is us at the photoshoot of our book checking out the banana chips step by step photos for the book:
Grill/Broil – If you want an extra crisp on your food you can grill with it. We love it for perfectly toasted bread, grilling fish and veg, and even for your steak and kebabs.
Sauté/Sear – It’s like your own pan but it’s a multicooker. Anything you would sauté on the stovetop you can cook in the ninja foodi. We love it for a quick curry, sauteing onion and garlic before air frying or pressure cooking, and even for some homemade custard.
Slow Cook – The slow cooker element of the Ninja Foodi is underrated. You need to think of it as the slow cooker multi cooker. Think anything you would cook in a slow cooker can go in here. Just adjust slightly instead of 4 hours on high expect 4.5-5 hours.
Pressure Cook – Anything you would cook in an electric pressure cooker will work well in this. Our go to is everything from a whole chicken to a curry to a casserole to pasta dishes to your own homemade stock. Or what sits on the front cover of The Complete Multicooker Cookbook is steamed puddings and you can do any of your favourites from sticky toffee pudding to jam sponge.
Air Fry – anything you see in a standard air fryer you can cook in the air fryer of a multicooker. Think chicken breast, burgers, chips, breaded food, fish fillets, granola and the list goes on.
Bake – This is very similar to air frying, but at a lower temperature. This is what we use for melting chocolate, butter, boiling eggs (yes, you can really boil eggs in it!) and we often use this when defrosting a frozen meal in there.
Steam – I wonder if those with the Ninja Foodi actually use this that much? Just because you have the likes of steam air fry and pressure cook and basic steaming doesn’t seem that popular. But it is great and you can use it all the things you would normally steam – fish, poultry, rice, pasta, eggs etc.
Yoghurt – This has become a very popular function of the multicooker and its because its effortless and tastes so good. Because it needs to go on for 8 hours, then sit in the fridge for 8 hours, we recommend an overnight time schedule as outlined in our ninja recipe book.
Steam Air Fry & Steam Bake – These settings are very similar for results so you can use either. It allows you to steam and air fry or bake at the same time. This gives you a better bake and perfect for bread, cakes, chip shop style chips, desserts like apple crumble and also perfect for poultry too. It’s a reader favourite for a whole chicken too.
Can You Air Fry In A Multicooker? You sure can and its amazing. The air frying with say your ninja foodi can be done in the cooking pot or you can use the air fryer basket or the rack provided.
Can You Stir Fry In A Multicooker? Yes you can. You can use air fry, you can use saute, and then you can switch to slow cook and add your noodles and then let them soak up your stir fry sauce. Yummy!
Thanks for reading and we have more resources for you below.
Your Next Step: Get Your Copy Of The Complete Multicooker Cookbook
What people say about our cookbooks is how easy they are for the beginner and how we explain in great detail. The fact that we always have a Plan B in mind and hack to go with a recipe. The Independent says our air fryer cookery book is the best for beginners.
Get The Complete Multicooker Cookbook Here.
Also grab our time and temp chart. It can sit on your fridge thanks to its magnetic strip and has the time and temps to a lot of multicooker foods. You will love the steam and the steam air fry sections the most (they are my favourite!)
Get The Complete Multicooker Cooking Guide.
Choose Your Dream Multicooker
We have mentioned a few of the different multicookers we recommend and here is them and some more so you can go shopping and choose the right one for you!
- The Instant Pot Duo (best for pressure cooking)
- The Instant Pot & Air Fryer (similar to the Ninja Foodi 9 in 1)
- The Ninja Foodi 9 in 1 (everything that the 11 in 1 does minus the steam air frying and steam bake)
- The Ninja Foodi 11 in 1 (best air fryer pressure cooker)
- The Ninja Foodi 15 in 1 Max (NOT for sale anymore)
- The Ninja Speedi (best multicooker and air fryer in one)
Don’t Miss A Thing!
Get Ninja Speedi SOS: It’s a free ebook that gets you started with the Ninja Speedi. It’s perfect for beginners and gets your Speedi out of the box and cooking.
Complete The Ninja Speedi Challenge: We did 30 days dedicated to the Ninja Speedi with a recipe each day. It’s a great way to learn the Ninja Speedi and then you can set yourself the goal of a new recipe each day. You can get the ebook here or follow it on YouTube here.
Join Kitchen Gadgets Club – We have a Ninja Speedi recipes category and also have many other gadgets too. As a Ninja Speedi owner you can enjoy our air fryer, slow cooker, steam air fry and more.
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