So, I need to look back into some basic appliances now that I'm getting shit back together. My shit eating habits have always been out of convenience, and I actually ate halfway decent when I had a steamer...lost a lot of weight, actually...and then gained it all back.

I did have a small 4 cup rice cooker with a tray, only problem was, while it was plenty for the single servings of rice, I could only fit a small piece of salmon/chicken and maybe 4 asparagus spears, or broccoli, in the steaming tray...leaving me hungry 2 hours later... and making poor eating decisions. When I had a stand-alone steamer, I'd kill a lb of broccoli with no issues...

I then got an 8 cup cooker which had great space for more veggies... but you couldn't only put a cup of rice in there, because it'd burn the rice...or, turn it into a sticky clump no matter what type of rice used or how much water you used. I think it heated it too high/too quick.





So, designed as a rice cooker but also steams...




Then I looked at steamers, that happen to cook rice.... since veggies and salmon are probably gonna be more than rice, but none I could find are decent quality.. some people saying it's taking 45 mins and rice still isn't cooked..or plastic breaks after 2 months...


So, then I started looking at multi-function steamer/cooker/fryer/coat rack/banana hammock units... and again... it's like they focus on one thing, then just add a bunch of random shit that they kinda sorta do, but not really..

I was looking at stuff like this... https://www.amazon.com/OHHO-12-Multi-Co ... B093TLB5PK ...

But doesn't really seem to do what I want...


I want something that can steam/cook rice, veggies, and meat all at once... If I can push it over to a bake/fry cycle for a minute or 2 to crisp the meat/veggies that would be great, but not required.


Thoughts? Suggestions?

So we cook rice on the stove top 100% of the time, so I'm no help there. However, I know its a lot of money, but I'd look into either a Ninja Foodi or the Instapot. They will do rice, steam etc. On top of that you get the pressure cooker, which is amazing for one pot cooking. Once you use the air fryer, your life will never be the same. To top it all off, its only 1 appliance taking up counter space.

Is there a basket you can put above the pot so it can cook rice and steam veggies at the same time?

My BFF, Quang (only saying his name to help sway bias), bought us a REAL rice cooker / steamer a couple years ago. This thing is amazing We can cook up to 5-cups of rice, steam or stew. We can make rice in the AM and it stays hot and moist at dinner.
https://tiger-corporation-us.com/product/jbv-s-series/

Not positive on that. Like I said, we only ever cook rice on a stove top. Would be worth a quick google. It does come with a basket and steamer trays, dehydrator racks, etc.

Fancy?

Get a Zojirushi.

Kyle beat me to it. After reading your list of wants, my vote is an Instant Pot. I'm not so sure about whether you need the air fry function . . . if you do, great. I'm not sure what your living situation is right now, but if space is at a premium then note that the air fry adds a space element in the form of an extra lid.

I'll speak mainly about the Instant Pot. I have two of them, so that's what I'm familiar with.

Yes, you can steam in them. They come with a simple trivet that will keep your food above the bottom, and you put a cup of water in the pot. Or, even better, I bought this basket and this is what I use when steaming:
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B0789M3LDW/

You can steam, including making hard-boiled (hard-steamed?) eggs. You can saute. You can pressure cook, which is their main gig. You can do sous vide, depending on the model. You can cook rice, though I haven't done that myself. You can make yogurt in it, with some models.

Speaking of which, I have 1 gallon of yogurt that just finished, the Instant Pot just beeped in the other room....

It comes in a few sizes . . . 3, 6, 8 and 10 quart. Both of mine are 8-quart, which I like because they are large enough to make that gallon of yogurt, or enough soup/stew/whatever to last for a week.

Nothing wrong with an Instant Pot that's for sure. We have both. Start the rice in the Zojirushi and get the beans going in the Instant Pot. Then get everything else going.

Get both! Hahahhahah

Nothing against Instapot, but I think if you did some research, you'd come to the conclusion that we did. The Foodi is a bit better of a piece of equipment. Either will work. I'm partial to the Foodi though.

same here ninja foodie. only function Ive not yet used is the dehydrator, rather use my smoker for larger batch.




OP if im grilling something I'll put out my instant rice cooker. you can steam you veg they have a basket you can put them in and a metal rack for air frying. As for rice it usually goes with whatever im cooking with the right amount of liquid and pressure cook it, no clumping or burn.

I use my foodie at least 4 times a week. One thing I like about the pressure cooker is a frozen meal thrown in and done in 1/2 hr. no need to thaw out just google what you want and many recipes will tell you what you need and time.

Update....

Because rice was important to me, and air frying wasn't a huge concern....


I went with the InstantPot Duo Crisp.

Ended up having WalMart (which I hate) price match down from their $140 price to $100....

Nice. Now you can do all kinds of things, including sous vide.

So, the air fryer function on this is leaps and bounds above the previous piece of shit. It actually works!

A few small varieties of food I've tested that have air fryer instructions on them, are coming out perfect.

Even high water content items that are usually soggy and require a lot of higher cook times like potato wedges are coming out crispy. I did have to increase the temp by a couple degrees and cook 2 minutes longer on some onion rings, but I have a feeling that's because there's variance in some appliances and the instructions are general guides.

I'm thinking I need to return the 6qt model and get a 12qt....


I think my first experiment is going to be pressure cooking rice, with asparagus on top, then using their little stand simultaneously inside with some salmon on it, then once it's done steaming, run the crisper for like 2 mins to put a good crust on the salmon.

Excellent idea. Bought it.

Yeah, I've been pretty happy with the air fryer function on mine (mine's an 8-quart); my only real complaint is that the little rack at the top is simply too small for what I want, for air frying. Thus, I've pretty much stopped using it for that, and I use my Ninja flip air fryer instead.

However, where the Instant Pot does shine (air frying-wise) is using the basket for things like tortilla chips (oiled/seasoned cut-up corn tortillas). You can get a good quantity of those in there.