Could This Multi-Cooker Be the Next Instant Pot?

It’s official, the multi-cooker market has a new contender. What with the recent commotion around Instant Pots and their numerous uses, Crock-Pot, the company that brought us the famous electric slow cooker, is entering the ring.

A slow cooker, like a Crock-Pot, cooks food over a long period of time. People love their easy-to-control electric operating systems that render food tender and tasty over the course of several hours. Meanwhile, a multi-cooker, like the Instant Pot, is a slow cooker that is also a pressure cooker and a rice cooker and a steamer, yogurt maker, and warming dish—a jack-of-all trades for your kitchen counter.

Understandably, multi-cookers are popping up in kitchens everywhere. This year alone, a slew of cookbooks dedicated to Instant Pot recipes flew off of shelves (including one just released by Melissa Clark). And Crock-Pot, the company behind everyone’s favorite slow cooker, has taken notice. They released a new product to rival the Instant Pot called the "Crock-Pot Express Crock Multi-Cooker."

Priced at $79.99, Crock-Pot’s multi-cooker is available for purchase at Crock-Pot.com, Target, Amazon.com, Best Buy, along with other national retailers. Instant Pot’s multi-cooker comes in at $84.95 on Amazon. While Crock-Pot’s multi-cooker definitely wins as far as price goes, does it match up in quality? For that, we will have to wait and see.

Is Crock-Pot too late to the game or just in time? Let us know where you stand in the comments.