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#2 – Multi-Function Pressure Cookers
If you wish you had a car that could drive, fly, sail, float, travel underway, and in space — that’s kind of like what a multi-function pressure cooker is when it comes to everything they can do with food. It’s a one-man band. They do it all, but they actually do it quite well. Multi-function pressure cookers became popular with the introduction of the Instant® Pot, and they gained so much steam. Pun intended.
What All Can You Do With A Pressure Cooker?
Alright, so what can one of these pressure cookers do? They can steam, sauté, dehydrate, proof, broil, air fry, bake, slow cook, pressure cook, make yogurt, and even sous vide… The list goes on. When I first got mine, I’ll admit I was a little intimidated at first because it seemed like a complicated thing. I’m the kind of guy that usually doesn’t mind spending hours cooking things in the kitchen with a simple pan, the long way on the stove.
But, I decided to read the manual and try a few different things. I sauteed some onions and garlic and some Impossible beef and spices with the sauté function and threw in a can of tomatoes with some spices and a cup of dried kidney beans with a little water to make some chili and set it on the pressure cooker function. It tasted like a slow-cooked chili that took all day to make. My mind was blown. Pressure cookers can cook beans from hard and dry to soft in minutes. Not hours like it normally does. Minutes.
The cost savings of buying dried beans instead of canned could probably pay this thing off given enough time. From a pound of dried chickpeas, you can make about three pounds of hummus and you don’t even need to soak the chickpeas overnight. If you don’t soak them, they cook soft in less than an hour, but if you do soak them they cook in just three minutes under pressure.
How Do You Use A Multi-Function Pressure Cooker?
To make something like a soup, you could use the saute function to saute some chopped celery, onion, and carrot for a few minutes until soft; then add minced garlic and herbs. A minute later add some broth, potatoes, and frozen veggies, and then switch to the pressure cooker function to cook for a few minutes under pressure. After cooking for a few minutes under pressure, you turn a valve to release the steam which releases the pressure, then you can open the lid to add a little cream and a little roux to thicken it. With that, you’ve just made yourself a delicious homemade creamy corn chowder in less than a half hour.
Multi-function pressure cookers like the Ninja Foodi usually come with a booklet that has a bunch of recipes, but there are also a ton of recipes like this all over the internet for quick meals in a pressure cooker. You can throw together all kinds of delicious food like these one-pot pasta recipes.
What Appliances Are Replaced By A Multi-Function Pressure Cooker?
- Rice Cookers
- Toaster Ovens
- Yogurt Makers
- Portable Stoves
- Slow Cookers
- Dehydrators
- Air Fryers
- Steamers
After using my pressure cooker for about a week, I gave away a few of my other appliances to reclaim the space they took up in my kitchen. I no longer had a need for that separate rice cooker, air fryer, and slow cooker because the Ninja Foodi did all that too.
My Recommendation: Ninja Foodi 14-in-1 Pressure Cooker
The Foodi has quickly become one of my most used kitchen appliances. It makes amazing rice and one-pot meals. It comes with a guidebook, and that guidebook is your key to using it. It’ll tell you a pound of black beans cooks in six minutes with four cups of water or that a cup of rice cooks in two minutes with two cups of water.
It very much holds your hand. It’s a game-changer for making a quick meal, especially when you’re tired after a long day at work and just want something that tastes delicious but doesn’t require dirtying a hundred different dishes. Just watch how easy it makes an awesome mac and cheese:
Using A Ninja Foodi – Video
Runner Up: Instant Pot Duo Plus 9-in-1 Electric Pressure Cooker
Spiced Palate 