The Best Multicookers
If you buy something using links in our stories, we may earn a commission. This helps support our journalism. Learn more. Please also consider subscribing to WIRED
Everybody loves a little multicooker magic. Plug one in, the pressure builds, and it makes all of your slow-cooker favorites—chili, ribs, mac and cheese, broths, and braises—in a relative heartbeat. The "multi" in multicooker means these countertop devices not only pressure cook but also sauté, steam, slow cook, and sometimes sous vide.
They've even been a Big Thing ever since the ascendance of the Instant Pot a good six years ago—long enough that we're thankfully starting to see something like Instant Pot 2.0, where pan bottoms are flattening and searing capabilities are a bit more … capable. If you're new to multicookers, those are the bells and whistles to seek out and pay more for.
Overall, pressure cooking isn't better than slow cooking and vice versa. If you're a morning person and want to get a slow cooker rolling when you wake up, dinner will be waiting for you at the end of the day. (We have a fantastic dedicated slow cooker at the end of this guide, just for you.) If you prefer to do everything when you roll in from work, a multicooker is the way to go. One great thing about multicookers is that they make both options possible.
Read some of our other buying guides for cooking, including our roundups of the Best Multicooker Cookbooks, the Best Cookbooks for Technique, the Best Chef's Knives, Best Grills, and the 7 Pots and Pans You Need in Your Kitchen.