Instant Pot might be the name that comes to mind when you think of multi-cookers, but it’s far from your only option for making short ribs, yogurt, or rice and beans in a flash. The $200 Multifunctional Smart Pressure Cooker from Kickstarter-backed Chef iQ gives the Wi-Fi-enabled Instant Pot ($150) serious competition with a more beginner-friendly app, a sleeker design, and a built-in scale so you don’t have to dirty any measuring cups. Like its main rival and other products in this category, the Chef iQ Smart Cooker is a versatile kitchen appliance that can pressure cook (which reduces cooking times by up to 70% and uses less energy than traditional methods), slow cook, steam, sear/sauté, and ferment. It offers a number of useful smart features, including the ability to create custom presets for your favorite foods, as well as a cooking calculator and guided recipes that take much of the guesswork out of pressure cooking, making this a good option if you’re new to the technique.
Getting to Know the Chef iQ Smart Cooker
For a small kitchen appliance, the Smart Cooker is quite bulky at 13.0 by 13.0 inches (HW) and 10.4 pounds. It features a 6-quart nonstick pot with cup and liter measurements inscribed inside. The large pot gives you enough room to double many recipes, making the machine practical for families (Instant Pot sells an 8-quart model for even bigger batches).
That said, its large size makes it less than ideal for small kitchens such as mine. Given the amount of counter space it takes up, you probably won’t want to leave it out all the time, so be sure you have enough storage space to stow it away when not in use.
The Smart Cooker features a rotating dial and a 2.8-inch color touch screen with buttons for various cooking modes and features. Just tap the button for the mode or feature you want, turn the dial to move the cursor on the screen, and press the dial to make your selections. The color display and on-screen buttons give the machine a sleeker look than the Instant Pot. When plugged in but idle, the display shows the time.
The machine features more than 300 presets for everything from chicken and beef to pasta and vegetables. In the chicken section alone, there are options for (fresh or frozen) bone-in breast, thick breast, thin breast, drumsticks, legs, bone-in thighs, boneless thighs, wings, and whole.
For added convenience, four integrated sensors on the bottom of the pot measure the weight of your ingredients as you add them, a feature not available on the Instant Pot. Chef iQ says most professional chefs use weight instead of volume to measure ingredients, as it’s more accurate. From a practical standpoint, it also means you won’t have to dirty your measuring cups.
There are three automatic pressure release methods: quick (to rapidly release all steam, the most common method), pulse (which releases steam in small bursts; the recommended method for starchy foods like rice or grains), and natural (which slowly releases steam; the recommended method for soups and stews). Inside the machine’s lid is a removable silicone gasket (basically a sealing ring), which keeps steam inside the machine when pressure cooking. The Smart Cooker conveniently comes with an extra gasket so you can use one for savory ingredients like garlic and onions and the other for milder foods like rice and cheesecake. The gaskets are different colors so you can easily differentiate them.
On the top of the lid is a red floating valve that indicates whether the Smart Cooker is pressurized or not, and a removable regulator knob through which pressure is controlled and released. Before pressure cooking, turn the knob to the Sealed position. For non-pressure functions like steaming and slow cooking, turn the knob to the Venting position.
As a nice bonus, the Smart Cooker comes with a steam basket and rack so you won’t need to purchase these accessories separately. You can place the basket on top of the rack with water underneath to steam vegetables and shellfish, and use the rack alone to steam large pieces of food such as fish, chicken, and whole vegetables.
Pressure Cooking
Tapping the Pressure Cook button on the machine brings up the following presets: manual, chicken, beef, lamb, pork, seafood, eggs, legumes, grains, pasta, and vegetables. Within each of these presets, there are numerous options.
When you tap on legumes, for instance, you get options for black beans, cannellini beans, chickpeas, great northern beans, navy beans, red kidney beans, pink beans, pinto beans, brown/green lentils, and split peas. When you click one of these options, it will ask you to select whether your beans are soaked or unsoaked, and the amount you want to cook. At this point, you have the option of measuring your ingredients using the built-in scale. If using the scale, simply dump in your beans and it will measure them, showing the weight on screen.
Once you manually select or use the scale to measure your beans, the machine calculates the recommended cook time, pressure level, and pressure release method, though you can manually adjust these settings if you prefer. Based on the amount of beans you’ve added to the pot, the pressure cooker will tell you how much water to add. At this point, it zeros the scale, so you can measure your liquids right in the pot with your beans.
After doing this, you can opt to cook your food right away, or delay the start time for up to 24 hours. You also have the option of enabling a Keep Warm setting, which ensures your food stays at 165 degrees for up to 72 hours after it’s done cooking.
When you’re done setting the machine, make sure the rubber gasket is in place and the pressure regulator is in the sealed position, then place the lid on the Smart Cooker and turn it clockwise until you hear it lock into place, and press the Start button. When properly in place, two wings on the lid will align with the Smart Cooker’s handles, and an arrow on the lid will point to a lock icon on the machine.
When the machine is pressurizing, the red floating valve will rise as hot steam builds. When fully pressurized, the valve sticks up, and the lid automatically locks. It will then only unlock after pressure is released. You’ll know it’s done when the valve drops so it’s flush with the lid. You’ll also get a notification in the app and on the cooker’s screen.
It’s important that you keep your hands, face, and other body parts away from the regulator knob when pressure cooking, or you can be burned by hot steam. Also be sure to take care when handling the lid after cooking as the regulator knob is removable and may accidentally come off.
The Chef iQ App
The Chef iQ app for Android and iOS is well designed and useful, letting you browse recipes with color photos and/or videos for each step, set your machine, and monitor its cooking progress. My only gripe is that it doesn’t let you start cooking remotely, a feature that is available on the Wi-Fi-connected Instant Pot. With the Smart Cooker, you actually have to press the start button on your machine for it to begin. Chef iQ says it’s an intentional decision for your safety, but it means you can’t start the machine on your way home from work so your food is ready when you walk through the door.
Connecting the Smart Cooker to its companion app is simple. Just plug in the machine, download the Chef iQ app, create an account, and follow the instructions in the app to pair it with your device. You’ll need to enter a code on the machine’s screen in the app, then press Pair. Next, select your Wi-Fi network and enter your password, download any firmware updates, and you should be good to go.
If you need some cooking inspiration, there are plenty of recipes in the app. You can filter them by skill level (easy, medium, advanced), convenience level (one hour or less, 30 minutes or less, etc.), diet (vegan, gluten free, sugar free, etc.), dish (noodles/pasta, grains, beef, etc.), course (appetizers, dinner, sides, etc.), cuisines (American, Greek Mexican, etc.), and occasion (budget-friendly, comfort food, weeknight dinner, etc.).
When you find a recipe you like, press the Start Guided Cooking button, and the app will walk you through the process and automatically set your machine to the appropriate mode, cooking time, and heat level. The guided cooking feature is extremely helpful if you’re new to pressure cooking, as it takes all the guesswork out of using the machine, and eliminates the step of manually inputting your cooking parameters.
When you’re not following a guided recipe, the app’s calculator feature is helpful. You simply select the type of food you want to prepare, along with the amount (you can manually select the weight or use the built-in scale) and cooking method, and the app will calculate the best parameters (including the cooking time, pressure level, pressure release type, and/or temperature). You can then run these settings on your Smart Cooker with a tap (though you still have to press the Start button on the machine for it to begin). The app also lets you save these custom presets to your list of favorites for quick access.
As a vegan, I appreciate that there’s a plant-based category within the calculator for things like tofu, tempeh, and vegan sausage. When you click into tofu, for instance, the app asks you to select the type (firm, extra firm, or baked), prep style, amount, and cooking method. Based on your selections, it then calculates the best cooking parameters and offers detailed instructions. For seared tofu, it says to add a minimum of one tablespoon of oil, butter, or margarine to the pot while the Smart Cooker is preheating, then add the tofu, and flip halfway through cooking.
If you’re not into tofu or other plant-based options, there are calculator categories for chili, eggs, fruit, grains, legumes, meat, pasta, poultry, seafood, soup, stew, stock, and vegetables.
Under Pressure
Before using your pressure cooker for the first time, you’ll want to take the time to read through the user manual, especially if you’re new to this type of device. I also recommend following a few of the guided recipes at first, as they do an excellent job of teaching you how to use the machine. Oddly, my unit didn’t come with a physical user manual, so I kind of winged it my first few times with varying success. I eventually found the manual online here, and wish I had seen it sooner.
The first thing I made in the Smart Cooker was a sweet potato red lentil curry, using a recipe from Sweet Potato Soul. The recipe offers instructions for an Instant Pot, but I was able to follow the same steps using the Chef iQ (any Instant Pot recipe you find online can be made using the Chef iQ model instead). I like that you can sauté ingredients like onions, garlic, and ginger in the same pot you use to pressure cook. The sweet potato red lentil curry only took around 20 minutes to cook, and turned out delicious.
I didn’t have as much luck with an aloo gobi recipe from Spice Cravings I found on Pinterest, but I believe this culinary mishap was my own fault. The machine took a really long time pressurizing, likely because the regulator knob wasn’t set to the Sealed position (I was still using it without a manual at this point), and the cauliflower ended up totally overcooked. I learned my lesson, and will certainly check the regulator knob before cooking from now on.
After reading the manual and discovering the guided recipes in the app, I decided to give the Greek quinoa salad a try. The guided recipe was easy to follow and helpful: It automatically set the machine for me, reminded me to set the regulator knob to Sealed, and let me remotely monitor the cooking progress. The finished dish was healthy and flavorful; I will definitely make it again.
Better Than the Instant Pot?
Learning how to pressure cook usually involves a good deal of trial and error. If you’re new to this culinary technique, the $200 Chef iQ Smart Cooker can help set you up for success and make your foray into pressure cooking less intimidating. The app offers guided recipes that automatically set the machine and walk you through every step of the cooking process. It also features a handy calculator that tells you the optimal cook time, mode, and temperature for what you want to make, and it lets you save custom presets for easy access on your machine.
Whether it’s worth the $50 premium over the Wi-Fi connected Instant Pot depends on your needs and preferences. The main advantage of the Instant Pot is that it lets you remotely start cooking, while the Smart Cooker requires a button press on the unit to begin. If you want to be able to start cooking while you’re on your way home from work, the Instant Pot is the better option. The Instant Pot also offers Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant support, so you can monitor the progress of your meals with your voice.
But the Chef iQ Smart Cooker stands out for its sleeker design, built-in scale, and a more beginner-friendly app that takes the guesswork out of pressure cooking. That makes it one of the smarter multi-cookers we’ve tested, and a worthy alternative to the Instant Pot.
