Multi cookers are often grouped with stove top pressure cookers because they have a program or two that cooks at pressure. But, somehow, comparing an appliance that can do so much more with a stove top pressure cooker that can only pressure cook always seemed a little unfair.
The Good Housekeeping Institute is making it right in this month’s issue by adding a new category to their annual appliance reviews: multi cookers!
“After more than 10 years of perfecting this technology we’re so happy multi-cookers are finally being recognized as a legitimate cookware category,” shares Fagor America’s CEO Patricio Barriga.
Splitting electric pressure multi cookers into their own section seems like a big deal, so we reached out to the Good Housekeeping Institute (GHI) to find out more.
Sharon Franke, Kitchen Appliances & Technology Director at GHI, revealed a key ingredient of the decision-making process beyond keeping an eye on the market – personal experience. “When we see a piece of kitchen equipment trending on social media, our friends and family start asking about it, and there are lots of new manufacturers entering the field, we realize it’s something we should take a look at,” says Franke.
And boy, did they.
The GHI rounded-up 10 multi cookers and got busy testing the pressure cooking, slow cooking and rice cooking programs. In all the institute cooked 44 pounds of veggies, 68 pounds of meat and 18 cups of rice to evaluate each cooker’s performance, safety and ease of use.
“Our procedures for testing multi cookers included determining how long it took each one to come up to pressure and how long for pressure to drop both naturally and with the quick release setting. In each pot, we cooked beef stew on both the slow and pressure cooker settings. Additionally, for each one with a browning setting we evaluated the ability to brown meat, and for those with a rice setting the ability to cook rice,” Franke elaborated.
Pressure cooking rice requires a nearly-magical formula of liquid, rice, time and pressure to perfect -apparently, not all manufacturers seem to know what it is. So, I asked for a little more detail on how GHI tested the multi cooker rice programs.
“In all cases we followed the manufacturer’s instructions,” Franke assured me. This emphasizes the importance of having a well written manual. Good directions ensure success for the consumer who just brought one of these machines home and is ready to make dinner.
In GHI’s review, seven cookers tied for second place, and two didn’t do so well for their lack of speed, difficult clean-up, confusing controls and missing programs (like “Saute”).
Only Fagor’s newest electric pressure multi cooker, the LUX, got top marks.
Fagor takes all
Fagor cleaned-up this year taking home GHI’s top prize for both the best stove top pressure cooker and best multi cooker. Their latest electric pressure cooker model, the LUX, aced all the veggie, meat and rice tests. It was also the quickest at reaching pressure, easy to clean-up, intuitive to use and, of course, having both a yogurty program a helpful manual closed the deal.
Fagor has sold electric pressure cookers for over a decade, so it’s no surprise that they’re happy with the results.
“We’ve been producing multi-cookers for years, it’s great to see our LUX spearheading this new cookware category and being recognized and honored by so many reputable institutions,” Barriga responds.
Don’t forget to visit The Good House Keeping Institute’s website to read all ten multi cooker reviews!
- Good Housekeeping Multi-cooker Reviews – The Good Housekeeping Institute
I have spent many hours reading reviews on amazon for multi cookers. The problem that I see over and over again, particularly with the Fagor Lux, is that after a short period of time, they no longer work and that the customer service is non responsive. have you evaluated any of this?
Jan, I have also heard of these problems but I don’t know how many units are affected compared to how many are sold. I have received two retail units from Fagor, which I use for my cooking and to record videos, and both still work.
In terms of their customer service, it’s not 24/7 because instead of outsourcing it the calls go directly to Fagor’s office in New Jersey. Unfortunately, this means that they’re closed on weekends, holidays and in the evenings. However, on the bright side when you finally get ahold of them you’re talking to someone who can actually solve the issue.
BTW, I really like the Fagor LUX and feel it is on par with the Instant Pot and Breville Fast Slow Pro.
Ciao,
L
Bella 6 Qt. Pressure Cooker with Touch Pad #14467
I purchased this PC yesterday, because it was the only brand of PC available at our local Best Buy (other brands sold out at Christmas). We literally got the last PC in the store.
I want to add one caution about this PC, which was not included in the Good Housekeeping review. Namely, it only cooks at one pressure and that is what would be considered as low pressure in most other brands (55-65 kPa which is 7.97-9.42 psi). That info is neither on the box nor in the User’s manual. Instead it is found in the question and answer section in the back of the cookbook.
Nevertheless I’m keeping it, but it does mean that I will have to somehow adjust all PC recipes that use high pressure.
Bev… it seems like they don’t really know or they made a mistake. I looked at the recipe booklet where you said and it says both…
“The operating pressure for PRESSURE COOK, SOUP, STEW,
MEAT, CHICKEN, RICE, RISOTTO AND STEAM functions on
average is 55-65 kPa which is 7.97 – 9.42 psi.”
AAAND in the next answer…
“The operating temperature for PRESSURE COOK, SOUP,
STEW, MEAT, CHICKEN, RICE, RISOTTO AND STEAM
functions on average is between 110°C – 115°C (230F – 239F).”
115°C is actually achieved at 11psi. So… something is fishy. Try the recommended times for 11psi pressure cookers, first, to see if they work in your Bella. If not, come back here and I’ll work-out the adjustment for you. ; )
Ciao,
L
Laura,
I tried making hard boiled eggs in it following your instructions at:
http://www.hippressurecooking.com/cracked-soft-medium-and-hard-boiled-eggs-in-the-pressure-cooker/
Since I presumed the Bella PC used a low pressure, I cooked them for 5 min on the Pressure option. They did not come out hard boiled, more like your medium picture, or slightly more cooked. They were definitely not hard boiled.
Bev, the hardboiled eggs is not a good test as eggs can vary greatly in size and temperature (hence the sacrificial egg recommendation ; ). Soaked beans are a better, albeit not definitive, test.
Ciao,
L
Laura,
I have some red kidney beans that I started soaking a bit ago. I’ll try cooking them sometime this afternoon and let you know how they turned out.
Laura,
I cooked kidney beans (soaked 10 hours) in plain water on Pressure for 8 (eight) minutes. I used a natural release, which took 26-1/2 minutes. The kidney beans were very well done (very soft, but not falling apart).
Bev, until we have confirmation from Bella, I would use electric pressure cooker recipes as written – however, double-check the meat temperatures and be aware that if something isn’t done to just pressure cook longer.
I’ve sent them a note, and I will let you know if I find out anything more about what pressure the cooker REALLY cooks to!
Ciao,
L
Laura,
Thanks so much for taking the time to clarify this for me :-).
I’ll make sure to double check meat temperatures until then.