This Isn't Your Mother's Pressure Cooker

A lot has changed in pressure cookers since the good old days. Fagor’s six-quart Electric Multi-Cooker is a safe, easy, and versatile device that looks fairly traditional. In fact, it’s not only a pressure cooker, but a rice cooker and slow cooker as well. Overall, we were impressed with the results of the dishes we were able to conjure up- it isn’t the best at any of the three tasks, but quite capable at all of them, and a good way to save some space in our ever-crowded kitchens.

The beauty of using a pressure cooker is how drastically it reduces cooking time. Beans, which can be very time consuming to cook, took less than 30 minutes to reach the perfect consistency using the pressure cooker function. We made some of the best risotto we’ve ever had using the pressure cooker as well, and it took very little effort. The Multi-Cooker offers two pressures – 9 psi and 5 psi – to use. It is true that some pressure cookers on the market have a psi of 15, but we were pleased with how quickly things cooked using the 9-psi mode. We were able to make beef stew with carrots and celery in 15 minutes.

It is difficult to overcook food with the pressure cooker, happily. The lid self-locks and will not open when there’s pressure inside the cooker, so as to avoid any issues with accidents. Additionally, the cooker has two separate pressure control valves. If the cook does not release the pressure when the cooker is done, the cooker will automatically do so- it also automatically switches to warming the food after any cooking program is complete.

The slow cooker works well for creating hearty winter dishes like soups and stews. Just put all the ingredients in the pot in the morning, let the cooker do its thing, and come home to a delicious meal. A great feature of this cooker is the browning function, which allows you to brown certain ingredients in the cooker, and then add all other ingredients to then begin the slow cooking process. One less pot to wash, and this one is fairly easy to clean.

The rice cooker worked well, although not quite as great as the other two functions. We felt our rice was a little sticky, and it’s a bit hard to plan correctly for the various types of rice (brown, sticky, multi-grain). We’ve tested some other rice cookers that are a bit better, so if that is your primary function, you may want to consider a different cooker.

The cooker has a removable cooking pot that is both dishwasher safe and nonstick, to make cleaning a cinch. And we’ve tried Fagor gear before, and found it durable and easy-to-use. The cooker is compact – 12 inches in diameter and 13 inches tall – and features an attractive brushed steel design. We also like the cooker’s LED programming soft keys. Lastly, Fagor includes a manual featuring 40 recipes. Given the cooker’s versatility and impressive performance, the $116 price tag from Amazon.com is a pretty good bargain, and a great gift idea for most any kitchen.