Best Multicooker NZ: Which One to Buy
Multicookers promise to replace six appliances at once. In practice, most households settle into using two or three functions regularly. Here's which ones.
What a multicooker actually is
Multicookers (Instant Pot being the best-known brand, with Breville, Russell Hobbs and Philips versions widely stocked at Noel Leeming, Harvey Norman and PB Tech) combine a pressure cooker, slow cooker, rice cooker and sometimes a yoghurt maker or air fryer lid into one pot. The genuine time-saving case is strongest for pressure cooking — turning a 3-hour beef stew into 45 minutes, or dried chickpeas into usable beans in under an hour without soaking overnight. That's a real, measurable win, not marketing spin.
Which functions people actually keep using
Based on how these appliances get used in practice, most households settle into a narrow set of go-to functions after the first month of trying everything: pressure cook, slow cook, and sauté (the ability to brown meat directly in the pot before pressure cooking, saving a dirty frying pan). The rice cooker function is usually redundant if you already own a dedicated rice cooker — a purpose-built rice cooker does a slightly better job. Yoghurt-making and "cake" settings are the features most likely to go untouched after the novelty wears off.
Pressure cooker vs slow cooker vs multicooker: do you need all three?
If you already own a good slow cooker and cook mostly low-and-slow meals, a multicooker's real upgrade is the pressure function, since it does something your slow cooker genuinely can't (cut cooking time dramatically). If you have neither, a multicooker is efficient bench-space-wise. But if you specifically want the best slow-cooked texture — the kind that comes from 8 hours at low temperature — a dedicated slow cooker with a thicker ceramic insert often still gives a better result than a multicooker's slow-cook setting, which tends to run hotter and faster.
Safety and learning curve
Modern electric pressure cookers have solid safety mechanisms (lid locks that won't open under pressure, auto pressure-release), but there is a genuine learning curve the first few uses — getting seal timing right, understanding natural vs quick release, and not overfilling with foods that expand (rice, pasta, beans) which can clog the release valve. Budget a few "practice" meals before you trust it for guests.
- Pressure cook: the standout time-saver — genuinely changes how fast you can cook tough cuts and legumes.
- Sauté function: useful for browning before pressure cooking, one less pan to wash.
- Slow cook: convenient, but a dedicated slow cooker may still give better results for all-day cooking.
- Rice function: fine in a pinch, not as good as a dedicated rice cooker.
- Extra functions (yoghurt, cake, sous vide): nice to have, rarely used long-term — don't pay a premium chasing these.