Breville was one of the early manufacturers of multi cooker products. Five years ago it released the Fast Slow Pro. The pressure cooker was something an experienced user could bend to their will, but beginners probably found themselves out of their depth. The Breville Fast Slow Go is a sibling of the Pro. An update is what the six-quart multi cooker is. It's the same size and draws the same amount of power. It has a lid that swings open from the right side. It didn't bother me because I'm a lefty. The new model has a better pot than the Pro's. An array of buttons surrounding a display with large numbers feels like a big improvement over the inscrutable Fast Slow Pro.
The pot is not flat but domed, it does not sear as well as our top pick, and the price is high. It performs as expected when cooking from a well-written recipe. It takes about three to five minutes for a finely chopped onion to be softened, just as the cookbook says it should be. The design of Breville's O-shaped plug, which gently discourages users from yanking on and damaging the power cord, is something I'm happy to praise.
If, like me, you have owned a multicooker since the early Instant Pot–craze days, you probably had a nice honeymoon period where you didn't mind the eccentricities of it. I started to wonder why so many of them, regardless of brand or style, had domed cooking surfaces and why we didn't like them. I realized I would prefer the large, 8-quart size, and that anything less than a 6-quart, even for someone who lives alone, didn't make sense.
The new cooking pot found on a few new Instant Pot models is very encouraging. The bottom of the Pro's pot is flat. The design has the same useful helpers for getting the pot in and out of the Pot.
One day I'll make lamb rag for a crowd, the next I'll use the larger size of the Pro to make sous-vide, something that feels more of a novelty in the smaller sizes. I crammed in a lot of baby backs when I poured Hugh Acheson's barbecue sauce on top of them. The meat fell off the bone. The thing did. The chef kissed me!
I thought it was weird when I first saw the Zojirushi Multicooker. In a category known for being Crock-Pot quaint or borderline ugly, this unit stood out like a flying saucer, stretching it wide, then closing it with a porthole. I noted that it's not a pressure cooker but a slow cooker that has some multi cooker functions. It makes yogurt, steams, makes rice, and has two settings for cooking.
Zojirushi's slow cooker has four to-the-degree temperature preset, which is more than any other slow cooker on the market. This is the only slow cooker that can sear well. It wasn't perfect but it was well. Considering how important a good sear is to slow cooker fare, it's a nice development. I was able to add all the other ingredients to the pot and just let it go for as long as the recipe called for.
The battle between slow cooker and electric pressure cooker shouldn't be a fight. It's great to be able to cook dinner in your Zavor or Instant Pot while you're at work, but sometimes it's better to start it before you go to sleep. Slow cooker invite you to enjoy what you are doing and even chill a little, because cooking with a pressure cooker is very hands on.
All Rights Reserved © 2024
