You can cook individually, use the same setting on both drawers or, cleverly, use different settings on each drawer but have them synchronise to finish at the same time. But given the size of this 6.5-quart pot, you can’t dehydrate a lot of food at once, even using the multilayer rack we bought for $30. If you're using an ad-blocker you might miss out on seeing the deals. The simple truth is that, unhealthy as it is, deep-fat frying food makes it taste so good. First, pressure cook to tenderize, lock in juices, and infuse flavor – up to 70% faster vs. traditional ovens. The same rule applies for foods that may foam or froth, such as oatmeal and split peas. Testers sautéed sliced onions to evaluate how evenly the models brown them. Two cooking zones for the ultimate flexibility. This lid houses a fan that circulates warm air inside the pot for air-frying foods such as french fries, or for browning when baking. Inside the cavernous 5.2-litre basket, you can cook enough chips for a family, or fit in larger items, including a 1.2kg chicken, which Ninja says can be cooked in around 30-to-35 minutes. You can choose between two types of multi-cookers, depending on whether you'd like a pressure-cooking mode. Not quite. This popular brand has become an internet sensation and an Amazon best seller. The process is long—6 to 8 hours for most fruits and veggies, and 5 to 7 hours for meats. Here, you’ll find that the batter drips off and you won’t get even results. Multi-cookers without pressure mode usually have a tempered glass lid. Instant Pot, however, uses uncoated stainless steel for its multi-cookers with pressure mode. • Canning: The Instant Pot Max boasts a canning feature, but CR has not tested the feature. If you quickly cook a whole chicken using the pressure-cook mode, for example, you can finish it by using the crisping lid to nicely brown and crisp the skin. Prices of multi-cookers range from $70 to $160. Grill pans can help you cook other types of food. Here’s what we’ve seen in our test labs: • Air frying/crisping: Sales of air fryers have increased significantly in the past several years. Performance is excellent across the board, delivering crispy chips, succulent burgers and perfectly cooked corn. Deciding When It's Time to Upgrade Your Child's Car Seat, Sous Vide Tools That Up Your Game in the Kitchen. There's no preheating required, except when steaming, but planning ahead is essential, given that the slow-cook mode starts at a standard 5 hours on the models we tested, and one model needed even more time to serve up beef stew that was tender, not tough. Our tests found that all five of these models in pressure mode cook faster than a rangetop or an oven. You'll see three of these cookers in our ratings from Instant Pot, Ninja, and Philips. The only minor complaint is that while capacity is large, each drawer is the same size as a regular air fryer, so you can’t fit in larger ingredients, such as a whole chicken. A high-end brand that offers a variety of countertop appliances, Breville multi-cookers are available at major retailers such as Bed Bath & Beyond, Amazon, and specialty stores such as Williams-Sonoma and Sur-la-Table. If you want the same kind of taste but using between 70% and 80% less oil, you need one of our best air fryers. If you want to do more than just cook chips, the Ninja Air Fryer Max AF160UK is the perfect choice, able to cook most family meals during the week. Sales of multi-cookers have increased dramatically over the past few years, thanks in part to the runaway popularity of the Instant Pot. Crisp almost any meal with the perfect caramelized, golden brown finish. Multi-cookers vary widely in price, so think about what you need this cooker to do, and pay attention to these details. A brand leader in the countertop cooking appliance category with a wide selection of models, Crock-Pot multi-cookers are available at mass merchants, such as Walmart, Target, Best Buy, other major retailers, department stores, and Amazon.