Summary
The Cosori Pressure cooker was a revelation to me. Having come from the Instant Pot, I always assumed that it was the best offering out there given that it is the market leader. The control that the Cosori offered alongside the fantastic range of preset buttons made this simple, effective and accurate. The build quality was great and the accessories included make this a fantastic proposition. I recommend the Cosori Pressure cooker. Read the in-depth review below for more information.
Overall
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Cooking
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Build
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Design
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Value
Hello…welcome to my review of the Cosori Pressure cooker
Welcome to my review of the Cosori 6 qt premium 8-in-1 programmable multi-cooker. I will warn you now…this is a full and comprehensive review!!! So, make yourself a cup of tea and sit back. If you are short on time, use the table of contents above to go to the area that you are interested about learning more about.
I am going to run through the unboxing with you, showing you exactly how it arrives and what it comes with. The features will be run through and I will give you an idea of what it is capable of by walking you through the manual.
Finally, I will try a couple of simple recipes and foods to see how they turn out. My expectation is relatively high given what I have read and seen about the Cosori pressure cooker…definitely on par with my Instant Pot anyway. The proof is in the pudding as they say, so let’s continue.
Let’s get started with the unboxing
It arrived well packaged…and as usual, a box inside a box. Taking out the inner box, it is absolutely gorgeous. It definitely looks like a premium product. I know that this is important to some of you…the Cosori packaging does not disappoint.
So, what’s inside the box?
The first thing sat at the very top is the paperwork…which includes the manual…in English, recipe book and the warranty information. Registering the warranty covers you for a year.
One of the unexpected but very welcome benefits is the glass lid that Cosori give you. Expected you may think but when Instant Pot make you order and pay for it separately, you can see why Cosori wins here. It may only be around $15 but it’s the attention that matters. Well done Cosori.
Lifting out the Cosori out of the box, it is well packaged.
The lead is attached permanently to the base of the Cosori.
Opening the lid, I can see that it is a very similar design to the Instant Pot with the same kind of sealing ring. Underneath the lid, it has a cap on there that is removable so that it can easily be cleaned.
On the lid, it has a float valve that is pretty much identical to the Instant Pot version.
So, moving onto what they have tucked away inside the Cosori. You get a rice cup, a spoon and a ladle. Additionally, you will also find a condensation collector that fits snugly onto the back of the Cosori pressure cooker. It is worth attaching this straight away as it is not something that you want to misplace.
You will also find an extra sealing ring, another welcome touch from Cosori. The sealing rings are strong and will last but it always worth having the extras. It also helps in another way…the smell. You now have the option of switching the sealing rings depending on what you are cooking…sweet or savory. Doing this means the smell will not transfer.
Next comes the steaming tray or trivet. If you are coming from an Instant Pot, it looks a little different. The legs are a lot longer to start with which may cause you an issue if you are cooking a chicken for instance. It’s not such a big problem as you can pick up trivets for a couple of dollars…or you can use your imagination…rolled up balls of aluminium work perfectly.
It is a nice trivet though and it has an integrated ring to pull it out with. Overall, it is a very nice quality item.
Onto the actual pot itself, again very similar to the Instant Pot. It has a quality feel and weight to it and there are markings on the inside to help you measure contents. Rice measurements on one side, liter measurements on the other.
So, to summarize what you get in the box;
- Cosori 6 qt premium 8-in-1 programmable multi-cooker
- Glass lid
- Instruction manual
- Recipe book
- Rice cup
- Spoon and ladle
- Extra sealing ring
- Condensation container
- Trivet
Front control panel
Let’s take a closer look at the front of the panel. From the outset, I have to say that it looks very well designed and laid out. It looks modern without looking overly complicated. I think they have the balance just right. Coming from an Instant Pot, you can see that the Cosori is more style orientated.
It has lots of cooking preset functions on there…more than the Instant Pot offers. Just to run through a few…Meat stew, white rice and brown rice, slow cook, hot pot, sauté, yogurt, poultry, soup, pasta, bake, reheat, steam potatoes, steam vegetables and beans/chili.
I know people are keen to get started but I would always recommend that you read the manual to truly get the best out of your Cosori Pressure cooker. It only takes a few minutes of your time but it is time well invested…it could take your cooking to the next level.
Things I noted from the manual…do not pressure cook meat from frozen, you need to thaw it out before you cook meat. The manual also breaks down the preset levels and at what PSI they operate at and for how long.
The Cosori, comes with six pressure settings which is more than others offer. It means you can take a more refined approach to your pressure cooking…rather than the sledgehammer one size fits all approach. At level one, the pressure cooker works at 5.8 PSI while at level six, it operates at 10 PSI.
Adjusting the exact temperature
The Cosori 6 qt premium 8-in-1 programmable multi-cooker has a great advantage in that it allows you to set the exact temperature that you want to cook at. This is fantastic if you are cooking something that is asking you for a very specific temperature.
You need to use the hot pot setting to get to the lowest temperature. If you press the ‘hot pot’ setting, it gives you the preset setting of 130F. If you then press the temperature button, you can then press the minus button to go down…or up as you wish.
The lowest you can you is 86F and the highest is around 250F.
The default temperature is set at Fahrenheit but for those outside the US, you can change this default to Celsius.
The recipe book
The recipe is fantastic because it does something unusual…but obviously makes a lot of sense. They name the recipes by the preset setting…this makes sense, right? So, this allows you to test your pressure cooker based on the preset setting. It makes a lot of sense as you can see what it achieves.
Many recipe books just ask you to use the manual setting and the time. This method makes full use of the capability.
It also outlines some common ingredients that you can use, what setting to use and the amount of water you need. All this is very helpful stuff.
Let’s cook some food and see how the Cosori pressure cooker fares…
I’m going to cook three things that I think give a good initial indicator of the accuracy and the ability of the Cosori 6 qt premium 8-in-1 programmable multi-cooker. I will first boil some eggs, then steam some vegetables and finally I will select a recipe from the recipe book provided.
Boiling eggs in a pressure cooker
The first thing I am going to do is boil some eggs…to simple you say? Not really. It is always a good test in a pressure cooker. The recipe book tells me that 4 – 8 eggs need two cups of water and a cooking time of seven minutes on the ‘steam vegetables’ setting.
Setting up the machine and placing the trivet in the pot, I put in two cups of water. I place in the eggs and set the control panel. It takes time to build the pressure and you can see that happening on the front panel. When it comes to pressure and the cooking actually begins, the Cosori beeps which is quite helpful.
Seven minutes later, the cooking is done. I do the pressure release at the top…after I have unplugged it as directed by the manual.
The results…after sitting them in some ice water, the eggs are perfect. They are easy to peel and the coloring when sliced is gorgeous. No green or grey coloring…they are perfectly done.
Steaming broccoli in the Cosori pressure cooker
You may think this is a bit random but cooking vegetables in a pressure cooker can be a tricky task. The danger is that they end up in some kind of ‘mush’. We have all done that right? The trick here is to cook them at the lowest pressure setting and do them for a minute or so. I will then take them out to see what we have.
The result…I couldn’t be happier. The broccoli was soft and cooked but still retained some ‘crunch’…which is perfect for the dinner plate. No soggy vegetables here, they kept their shape perfectly.
This was cooked using the manual setting. I turned the pressure down to the lowest setting and set the cooking time to one minute. When cooked, I used the quick release valve on the lid.
Coconut scented quinoa…from the recipe book
Flicking through the recipe book was great. It is really well laid out and the language is simple to follow. I was drawn to the coconut scented quinoa.
So, this asked for two cups of quinoa cooked in two cups of coconut milk…and two cups of water.
It asked that I combined the ingredients in the pressure cooker and use the ‘Multigrain’ setting. It asks you to adjust the setting, the ‘less’ is 6 minutes, the ‘normal’ 10 minutes and the ‘more’ 20 minutes. I used the ‘less’ setting.
I did a natural pressure release at the end as for any grains or beans, this is the method to use to prevent any damage to them.
The outcome…perfectly cooked again. They kept their shape and the consistency was great as well as the taste. This will definitely be making it on to my hot breakfast list.
Final thoughts on the Cosori 6 qt premium 8-in-1 programmable multi-cooker
I was impressed.
Coming from a Instant Pot experience, I fully expected that they set the standard. I couldn’t have been more wrong. The ease of use and the accuracy to which the Cosori cooks at surprised me.
Being able to set the exact temperatures is a big deal for me because it means more accuracy in my cooking. As somebody who cooks for a living…when I come home, I want to eat at the same standard.
The main positive with this is that it has brought my enthusiasm to experiment back. I have owned my Instant Pot for a while now but it became just a standard tool in my cooking arsenal. The Cosori has changed all that. I want to create…I want to experiment…I want to try new things.
It is worth mentioning that the Instant Pot has been the industry leader for so long now and the sheer number of recipes available are geared towards them. The good news is that the level of accuracy the Cosori affords, you should have no problem using them. Therefore, as an upgrade or even a new user to electric pressure cooking, I see no reason why you wouldn’t choose the Cosori.
Things I don’t like about the Cosori 8-in-1 pressure cooker
The lid is not attached to the body of the unit which means that you need to find space on your counter top. This is not always a bad thing though since given the height, if you have cupboards above the counter, you may not have much room anyway.
The other thing that you should note is that Cosori currently do not sell spare parts. So, if you need to replace your sealing ring or need a new trivet, you will have to look elsewhere. As I understand, this situation should be changing quite soon. Luckily, the Cosori 6 qt premium 8-in-1 programmable multi-cooker is of a robust build and you do get a spare sealing ring anyway. It’s unlikely that you will run into any issues.
Having said all this, these are minor points to make and not something that should turn you away from this fantastic product.
Things I really like about the Cosori pressure cooker
On the optics alone, I really like the design. It is modern and fresh with very clean lines. It suits my kitchen perfectly. When compared to my Instant Pot, that looks so dated now.
In terms of the functionality, I really liked that preset controls…my tests that I conducted showed that they are accurate. I am expecting much more from them and I am confident that they will deliver great results.
I also liked the fact that there are so my pressure-cooking levels which means when cooking in manual, I can do so with a greater degree of accuracy.
The build quality was very good, accurate and robust, I fully expect this to last many years. I see no reason why this should fail in any way, but of course it is backed by the additional warranty.
In many pressure cookers, the lid is the weak spot…opening and closing…getting hit and slammed, the lid can take a beating over time and the hinge can fail. I can really see why Cosori have designed the pressure cooker with a separate hinged lid. It makes absolute sense to do so.
How much does the Cosori pressure cooker cost?
The price is incredibly competitive and as far as I am concerned, offers massive value over the Instant Pot. We are talking less than $100 for the largest model…the model I am reviewing here is much less.
When you factor in the glass lid that is included, as well as the implements and the extra seal, the Cosori 6 qt premium 8-in-1 programmable multi-cooker offers great value. I would not hesitate in recommending it.
Verdict
If you are looking for a pressure cooker with fantastic controls and ability, whilst being easy on the eye…look no further than the Cosori 6 qt premium 8-in-1 programmable multi-cooker.
It is wonderful.
Overall
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Cooking
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Build
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Design
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Value
If you enjoyed reading this review, it would be really helpful if you could share it with your friends on your social media…whether it is Facebook, Twitter or whichever one you use. It would really be appreciated.
Please also feel free to leave a comment below. Have I missed anything out, should I have mentioned something? If you have a Cosori pressure cooker, let me know your experience so far. Have you enjoyed using it and how does it compare to other models you have used? Let’s get the discussion started…remember, I reply back to every post so don’t be shy.
All the best, and I look forward to hearing from you soon…Jayne x
**Update** – New 3rd generation model released
There is an upgraded version that has just been released onto the market. You can find out more about it here…
Since you are here…can I ask a favor?
It would be really nice if you could share this image on your social media…it’s just a couple of clicks for you but it means the world to me.
Thank you so much…
FAQ
Where can i find out more about Cosori company?
You can find out more about them via their website www.cosori.com
Where can i find the Cosori 6 Qt pressure cooker manual?
You can download it here.
Where can i find the Cosori recipe book?
You can find it here.