[1 - 1] i'm just gonna make it sing a little
[1 - 13] song for me [Music]
[13 - 15] [Music] for decades slow cookers have been a
[15 - 17] staple in our kitchens acting like
[18 - 20] little automated grandmas cooking in the
[20 - 21] background over the course of a few
[21 - 23] hours however if you've been on the
[23 - 26] internet anytime in the last five years
[26 - 28] you've probably heard of instant pot the
[28 - 30] wildly popular multi-cooker that can
[30 - 33] pressure cook slow cook sear and more
[33 - 35] the question is do you really need one
[36 - 39] of these fancy shiny new instant pots or
[39 - 41] will the little old grandma slow cooker
[41 - 43] still do just fine hannah and i are
[43 - 45] going to cook the same recipe in our
[45 - 47] winning instant pot and our winning slow
[47 - 49] cooker so you can decide for yourself
[49 - 51] i'll go first let's check out the slow
[54 - 57] [Music] slow cookers are basically electric pots
[57 - 59] some have heating elements around the
[59 - 61] outside some have heating elements
[61 - 62] underneath they can be really nice and
[62 - 63] cozy you know there's something very
[63 - 65] satisfying i still remember a ski trip
[65 - 67] where my friend threw a bunch of
[67 - 69] ingredients in the crock pot before we
[69 - 70] went out we got back and there was like
[70 - 73] homemade warm chili and it was like the
[73 - 74] most satisfying thing so they can be
[74 - 76] really cool in that way we went into our
[76 - 79] testing with a couple parameters we love
[79 - 81] glass lids that's one thing it was a
[81 - 83] must-have on our list every time you
[83 - 85] lift the lid of a slow cooker you
[85 - 87] release heat and you slow down the
[87 - 89] cooking progress these things already
[89 - 91] take a long time to cook so with a glass
[91 - 93] lid you can just peek through to check
[93 - 94] the status you don't need to worry about
[94 - 97] releasing heat slowing everything down
[97 - 99] a glass lid will keep you nice and true
[99 - 100] to your recipe times which is always
[100 - 102] useful the other parameter was an oval
[102 - 104] shape we love an oval shape it's a
[104 - 106] capacity thing you know you can lay rib
[106 - 108] racks down you can do whole chickens you
[108 - 110] can just do more in an oval shape than
[110 - 112] you can in a round shape the third
[112 - 114] criteria was size we like six to seven
[114 - 117] quart models and that is also a capacity
[117 - 119] thing we've also tested mini and small
[119 - 121] slow cookers and those are great too but
[121 - 123] we think if you're just going to choose
[123 - 125] one a six to seven quart size gives you
[125 - 126] the most flexibility in what you can
[126 - 128] make with those parameters in mind we
[128 - 131] found eight models priced from 40 bucks
[131 - 133] all the way up to 140
[133 - 135] we cooked super delicate boneless
[135 - 137] skinless chicken breasts which is
[137 - 138] something you know they could take like
[138 - 140] an hour and a half and then we cooked
[140 - 142] bone whole turkey breasts which is sort
[142 - 144] of a mid-range thing something around
[144 - 146] four hours and then we also did big pot
[146 - 147] roasts you know which is something that
[147 - 149] can cook for seven to eight hours some
[149 - 151] of the models we tested were not good
[151 - 153] not at all you know some of them cooked
[153 - 155] really unevenly some of them had hot
[155 - 158] spots cold spots others really heated up
[158 - 161] too hot and boiled the food so our
[161 - 163] winter here got food within the safe
[163 - 165] temperature range within two hours which
[165 - 167] is great it heated it up quickly enough
[167 - 169] for safety but then it didn't go too far
[169 - 171] it didn't heat beyond that into boiling
[171 - 173] the food and a couple of the models did
[173 - 175] you know you can really get uh tough
[175 - 177] meats um when you overcook things like
[177 - 179] that our winner here
[179 - 182] kept things at a braze so well for two
[182 - 184] reasons one it had insulation inside you
[184 - 186] know some of these were just very thin
[186 - 189] walls but this one is relatively low
[189 - 192] powered with insulation so it was able
[192 - 194] to cook nice and gently and evenly that
[194 - 196] insulation helped keep the heat in and
[196 - 198] it didn't have to be super powerful to
[198 - 200] get that nice brace
[200 - 201] the second thing was an intelligent
[202 - 204] temperature sensor so this thing has
[204 - 206] basically a second layer of brains in
[206 - 207] there that keeps the temperature in
[207 - 209] check it keeps it from going too hot so
[209 - 211] you weren't we weren't boiling things if
[211 - 212] it gets too hot you know it'll shut it
[212 - 214] off and it'll keep it below a certain
[214 - 215] limit they had a couple other features
[215 - 217] that we really liked i mean if you look
[217 - 219] at this interface here it's so simple it
[220 - 222] is telling you exactly what it's doing
[222 - 224] you know i cook you know i can select
[224 - 227] low high start enter the time it's very
[227 - 230] clean very clear you know exactly what's
[230 - 232] going on slow cooking is an exercise in
[232 - 234] delayed gratification this has been
[234 - 236] cooking for like five hours but i've
[236 - 237] been off doing other things you know
[237 - 239] i've been cleaning my house i've been
[239 - 241] working and meanwhile grandma over here
[241 - 243] has been cooking away my house smells
[243 - 245] amazing this pork looks like it's about
[245 - 248] done but i really started this project
[248 - 251] hours ago i cut up pork into two inch
[251 - 254] chunks i had some orange peels more zest
[254 - 257] and some orange juice cut an onion in
[257 - 259] half and a bunch of herbs and spices
[260 - 262] tossed it all together and i really just
[262 - 265] started this which was so easy so turn
[265 - 267] it on power select the temperature low
[267 - 269] medium or high and then i set the amount
[269 - 270] of time you know and this took about
[270 - 272] it's about five hours now so
[273 - 275] very different than an instant pot and
[275 - 278] multi-cookers in general they often have
[278 - 280] literally 20 to 30 buttons and we're
[280 - 282] talking dials and arrows there's a lot
[282 - 284] going on they do a lot so there's a lot
[284 - 287] of controls this is a simple machine
[287 - 288] it's slow cooked
[288 - 290] i think it's ready so i'm gonna
[290 - 291] take a look at the pork there is a bit
[291 - 293] of variation in slow cooker so you
[293 - 294] always want to make sure you know try it
[294 - 296] first before you call it done
[296 - 302] um but here we go
[305 - 305] beautiful absolutely fork tender it's
[305 - 306] gonna make delicious tacos but i'm
[306 - 308] curious to see how lisa is doing over
[308 - 310] there with our winning instant pots
[310 - 314] let's check it out
[317 - 317] so instant pots or multi-cookers are
[317 - 319] basically electric pressure cookers
[319 - 320] there's two kinds of pressure cookers
[320 - 323] one that goes on your stove top and then
[323 - 324] there's this one which is a
[324 - 326] self-contained unit stovetop pressure
[326 - 328] cookers your grandmother used to be
[328 - 329] great grandmother used them
[329 - 332] but newer models are really safe they
[332 - 333] have lots of valves that release
[333 - 336] pressure if there's any kind of problem
[336 - 338] they will shut down basically because
[338 - 340] it's a tightly sealed pot when it's
[340 - 343] heated up the boiling point actually
[343 - 345] rises above 212 degrees fahrenheit so
[346 - 348] you can go up to 250 degrees for high
[348 - 351] pressure and that actually just makes
[351 - 353] the food cook faster
[353 - 356] and because it's a sealed pot you're not
[356 - 359] boiling an open stockpot or something
[359 - 361] there's much less evaporation so you use
[361 - 363] a little bit less liquid
[364 - 366] and it all stays in the pot flavors
[366 - 368] concentrate everything cooks very
[369 - 372] quickly meat tenderizes grains and beans cook
[372 - 375] meat tenderizes grains and beans cook very very fast and very evenly and
[375 - 377] really it's a great system for cooking
[377 - 379] because you get results much quicker we
[379 - 383] recently tested a bunch of new models of
[383 - 385] instant pot and all its many rivals we
[385 - 388] tested 13 models and they priced from
[388 - 392] about 77 to about 250 each we've looked
[392 - 395] at two sizes eight quart and six quart
[395 - 396] and we actually came to the conclusion
[396 - 398] that our favorite pot was this one by
[398 - 401] instant pot it's the duo evo plus
[401 - 403] i have the six quart size here in front
[403 - 405] of me we found that you can do most
[405 - 407] recipes in the six quart size as well as
[407 - 408] the eight quart size although we
[408 - 410] slightly prefer an eight quart six is
[410 - 413] fine so we've done several rounds of
[413 - 415] testing of multi cookers over the years
[415 - 417] i think i did the first one about 10
[417 - 421] years ago and we've updated ever since
[421 - 423] this one is our favorite and it really
[423 - 425] represents a step forward for
[425 - 427] the multi-cooker
[427 - 429] device because it has a few functions
[429 - 431] that we really love
[431 - 434] one is this one can actually slow cook a
[434 - 435] lot of the older ones were fine on
[435 - 437] pressure cooking they weren't that good
[437 - 439] at slow cooking this one does a great
[439 - 441] job at both slow cooking and pressure
[441 - 442] cooking so it's kind of an all-in-one
[442 - 444] you don't really need that slow cooker
[444 - 446] hannah the other thing it does really
[446 - 449] well is that it reaches its high
[449 - 451] pressure temperature a little faster
[451 - 453] than all the other ones this one came in
[453 - 456] at least five minutes faster than the
[456 - 458] second fastest multi-cooker which is
[458 - 460] great because it means it's going to get
[460 - 463] to the point of pressure cooking sooner
[463 - 465] we also found that the display was
[465 - 467] really easy to read and understand it
[467 - 469] was very clear and that's helpful
[469 - 470] because some of these have like a
[470 - 472] thousand buttons
[472 - 474] and it's not really clear what they want
[474 - 476] you to do or what they're doing and they
[476 - 478] weren't easy to customize for your own
[478 - 481] recipes so they had some presets but say
[481 - 483] you wanted to follow a recipe that you
[483 - 485] found that calls for specific time or
[485 - 487] temperature or pressure setting this
[487 - 490] lets you do that it also keeps the food
[490 - 492] warm afterward the other things that we
[492 - 494] really love about it is that it has this
[494 - 496] great switch on the top for releasing
[496 - 498] pressure in the past you always had to
[498 - 500] like push on the device where the steam
[500 - 503] is coming out either with your hand or a
[503 - 506] spoon or something this keeps the steam
[506 - 507] and your hand
[507 - 508] a little bit separate which is always a
[510 - 513] it has a stainless steel pot inside
[514 - 516] which we love because
[517 - 518] nonstick to worry about you don't have
[518 - 521] to worry about that wearing off or
[521 - 524] chipping or peeling away um it's not
[524 - 527] going to change and degrade over time so
[527 - 529] as the appliance lasts so does the pot
[529 - 531] this one as you could also see had
[531 - 534] handles that is a big deal most of these
[534 - 535] pots in the past are little thin
[535 - 538] aluminum pots with non-stick no handles
[538 - 540] they're set down in the cooker and when
[540 - 541] you go to take them out say you're going
[542 - 543] to take the food out
[544 - 545] there was almost nothing to grab with
[547 - 548] potholders and they would spin around while you're
[548 - 550] and they would spin around while you're stirring and sauteing in them these
[550 - 552] handles are locked in place they're
[552 - 554] sticking out of the pot they're covered
[554 - 556] with silicone and they're nice and cool
[556 - 558] even when the pot is hot
[558 - 560] so all of these things represent some
[560 - 564] nice steps forward in multi-cooker land
[564 - 567] and this is the instant pot duo evo plus
[567 - 569] so you want to look for those words duo
[571 - 574] there is a duo pot by instant pot it's
[574 - 576] not the same one it's not as good as
[576 - 577] this one the one thing that we were a
[577 - 579] little bit disappointed with this pot
[579 - 582] was that the sous-vide function was not
[582 - 585] very accurate it was off just enough so
[585 - 587] that we actually overcooked things a
[587 - 589] little bit and that was not satisfying
[590 - 592] so we think you still need a separate
[592 - 594] sous-vide advice but in in everything
[594 - 597] else we loved this cooker and it was
[597 - 599] really a step forward hannah and i both
[599 - 601] made our recipe for shredded pork soft
[602 - 604] tacos she did it in her slow cooker i did it
[604 - 607] she did it in her slow cooker i did it in the instant pot our winner um this is
[607 - 609] really quick in the instant pot i mean
[609 - 611] you're cubing up the pork and then
[611 - 613] you're just adding some flavorings like
[613 - 615] two halves of an onion orange juice an
[615 - 619] orange zest oregano a bay leaf it's very
[619 - 621] quick it's a dump and stir kind of
[621 - 623] recipe you put it all in there you turn
[623 - 625] it on you set it for high pressure for
[625 - 629] 25 minutes 25 minutes not four hours not
[629 - 633] six hours not 9 hours 25 minutes
[633 - 636] at the end of 25 minutes which goes by
[636 - 637] is pretty fast
[638 - 641] this basically will start out preheating
[641 - 642] and it indicates right here it'll say
[642 - 645] preheating in the front and then when it
[645 - 647] clicks over to
[647 - 649] press full pressure
[649 - 651] um you'll see a few things one the steam
[652 - 653] that's gently rising out of the steam
[654 - 656] valve here on top will disappear
[656 - 659] and the little red indicator valve that
[659 - 662] the high pressure is on will go up
[662 - 663] and it will switch over
[663 - 666] to cooking and the timer that you set
[667 - 669] whatever amount of time you need i had 25 minutes
[669 - 671] amount of time you need i had 25 minutes will start counting down
[672 - 674] and you basically will it will cook for
[674 - 676] the 25 minutes once it's hit full
[676 - 678] pressure and then it will stop
[678 - 681] and it will switch over to keep warm
[681 - 682] now you have two options with a pressure
[682 - 684] cooker at that point you can either
[684 - 686] quick release the pressure which just
[686 - 688] means letting out all the steam at that
[688 - 690] point and stopping the pressure in the
[690 - 692] pot or you could do what's called a
[692 - 694] natural release where you just leave it
[694 - 697] and it will over about 15 or 20 minutes
[697 - 700] gradually cool down and the pressure
[700 - 702] will release itself naturally so quick
[702 - 705] release you stop the cooking natural
[705 - 707] release you beat it this natural
[707 - 710] releases for 15 minutes and then you
[710 - 712] quick release any pressure that's left
[712 - 713] which just means you're flipping this
[713 - 715] little switch on the top
[715 - 717] the last little bit of steam will go out
[717 - 719] the indicator will drop down and that
[719 - 721] means you can open your pot and take out
[723 - 726] now at that point in this recipe you see
[726 - 729] chunks of pork they're very very tender
[729 - 731] they're very moist and they're simmering
[731 - 733] in a sauce that basically is created
[734 - 736] from a very small amount of liquid that
[736 - 738] a very small amount of liquid that you've added and the juices from the
[739 - 741] pork and you're going to let this cook down
[741 - 743] and you're going to let this cook down you see you switch over to the saute
[744 - 747] function and it will just simmer and reduce and
[747 - 750] and it will just simmer and reduce and concentrate that that liquid until it's
[750 - 752] coating the pork and it's all in there
[752 - 754] and it's really delicious and then
[754 - 755] you're just going to toss it around and
[755 - 757] saute it a little bit on the bottom of
[757 - 759] the pot just to brown up little edges
[759 - 761] and crisp it up at that point it's
[761 - 765] tender it's moist it's shreddable
[765 - 766] and you're done
[766 - 769] and it's all happened within you know 40
[769 - 771] minutes maybe stop start to finish
[771 - 774] you're not spending hours waiting for
[774 - 776] that meat to tenderize it's beautiful
[776 - 779] moist fall apart tender and just flakes
[779 - 781] it's amazing so
[781 - 783] right now it's it's sitting here on on
[784 - 789] warm and i'm going to open it up
[793 - 793] the little song kills me
[793 - 796] this is amazing and beautiful
[796 - 800] it's shredded apart into gorgeous
[801 - 804] meat that is just flavorful
[804 - 805] that is just flavorful and
[805 - 810] tender and wow
[810 - 814] and wow so i'm going to plate some tortillas
[814 - 816] i have them in
[816 - 819] our favorite tortilla warmer by emusa i
[819 - 821] made these from scratch
[821 - 823] and kept them warm
[824 - 826] it's great because it's insulated and
[826 - 831] keeps them just the right texture
[834 - 834] and there it is
[836 - 838] beautiful soft
[838 - 840] soft tacos with shredded pork
[840 - 843] from our book multi cooker perfection
[843 - 845] and the recipe is given both for slow
[845 - 847] cookers and also for multi-cookers so
[848 - 849] you can decide if you want to cook it
[851 - 853] i'm a big fan of these things i love
[853 - 856] this instant pot and i like the ability
[856 - 858] to cook things quickly and really
[858 - 861] flavorfully as we've shown
[861 - 863] our winning slow cooker made you know
[863 - 865] delicious pulled pork it does a really
[865 - 867] good job it's got that big heavy duty
[867 - 870] ceramic crock that heats very gently and
[870 - 873] evenly it's got a really clean interface
[873 - 875] it's super simple to operate it tells
[875 - 877] you exactly what it's doing all the time
[877 - 879] it's got nice audible alerts we love
[879 - 882] that about it but overall if you're in
[882 - 885] the market for a new piece of equipment
[885 - 887] we do think that you should get an
[887 - 889] instant pot you know we've tested
[889 - 892] multi-cookers or electric pressure
[892 - 895] cookers for a long time almost a decade
[895 - 896] and really in the past they never really
[896 - 898] could do the slow cooking it was always
[898 - 900] something that they just fell down on
[900 - 903] the pressure cooking aspect you know we
[903 - 906] love basically we love that it has uses
[906 - 907] very little liquid
[907 - 909] it seals the pot and it's very intensely
[910 - 914] flavored um and very easy and very fast
[914 - 915] you don't have to think six or seven
[915 - 917] hours ahead the way you do with the slow
[918 - 920] cooker you can really do a whole meal and
[920 - 922] you can really do a whole meal and something that would take many hours in
[922 - 925] just about an hour so that's always a
[925 - 928] great thing this latest model though
[928 - 930] really nailed the slow cooking and that
[930 - 933] really made it great because
[933 - 934] you know you don't need two separate
[934 - 936] appliances anymore yeah it's really the
[936 - 937] next generation of them and i have to
[938 - 940] say the ability to sear in the pot then
[940 - 942] seal it up and cook i mean it's amazing
[942 - 945] how many dishes that saves and you know
[945 - 947] i think you can really get burnt out on
[947 - 949] cooking especially right now and these
[949 - 952] times and this really um
[952 - 953] it's like a little sous chef for me in
[953 - 956] my kitchen i the fewer dishes that i
[956 - 958] have to do the better and i think
[958 - 959] a good multi-cooker like our winning
[960 - 962] instant pot really really helps there we
[962 - 964] both know slow cookers have a few things
[964 - 966] going for them they're great at parties
[966 - 967] you can put them out on a buffet with
[967 - 969] some meatballs or keep your mashed
[969 - 972] potatoes warm on the holidays
[974 - 977] for me i like the speed i like the
[978 - 981] convenience of the pressure cooker a little bit more
[981 - 984] of the pressure cooker a little bit more and now that they can also slow cook
[984 - 985] i'm moving on
[985 - 987] yeah i am too so for more information
[988 - 989] about all the equipment we talked about
[989 - 991] check out the links below and make sure
[991 - 993] to ask us all of your instant pot
[993 - 995] multi-cooker slow cooker questions in
[995 - 997] the comments and hit that subscribe
[999 - 1003] button [Music]