This 10-in-1 Multi-Cooker Is Only $60 and Won’t Ruin Your Kitchen’s Aesthetic | Reviews by Wirecutter

By Maki Yazawa

Maki Yazawa is a writer focused on making cooking fun. She once cooked for Natalie Portman, and her friends won't let her forget it.

I consider Drew Barrymore iconic for many reasons, from her legendary role as Gertie in E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial at the ripe age of 7 to her action-packed stunts in Charlie’s Angels (though I was more of a Lucy Liu girl for obvious reasons).

Beyond Hollywood, she’s further established herself as a household mainstay with Beautiful By Drew, an affordable line of kitchen equipment, cookware, and tools. Since the brand launched in 2021, Drew fans have shown up on TikTok with hundreds of videos singing the praises of the stylish cookware. And if one thing is true, as the name suggests, it is very beautiful.

Though the entire collection—which includes electric gooseneck kettles and two-compartment air fryers—is pretty, the new 10-in-1 6qt Electric Multi-Cooker, which launched in August, really caught my eye. It claims to replace 10 cooking essentials, including a skillet, steamer, braiser, rice cooker, and sauté pan, to name a few. But as someone who tests kitchen gear for a living, I couldn’t help but feel a little skeptical about this bold statement, especially considering the appliance’s suspiciously affordable $59 price point. (Other multi-cookers with that level of functionality cost upwards of $100.)

Yet, after testing all seven of Beautiful By Drew’s multi-cooker presets—Sear/Sauté, Slow Cook, Braise, Simmer, Steam, Rice, and Warm—I found that it isn’t just pretty privilege that makes this appliance appealing. Its settings work well, and you can switch between them easily, so although it won’t replace all of your cookware, it could replace some.

It has some drawbacks: it doesn't have the durability or versatility of something like an Instant Pot, which includes pressure cooking and has a sturdy stainless steel pot (based on our testing, the ceramic nonstick coating on the Beautiful By Drew post will likely wear out quickly). But for the price, it's a pretty, lightweight, and functional option for someone outfitting a first kitchen on a budget.

A 10-in-1 multi-cooker built for various cooking methods with the added bonus of a beautiful design. It's affordable compared with similar appliances available, though it may not be as durable.

Although I typically gravitate toward appliances based on their functionality and durability—not their good looks—I often long for the sleek finishes that the Beautiful By Drew multi-cooker offers. Its stylish gold hardware and aesthetically pleasing matte finish might earn its permanent keep on a minimalist’s kitchen countertops, and the color selection—ranging from muted pastels to classic black—is impeccable. I went with the Starry Night shade, a deep, navy blue likely inspired by the van Gogh painting.

From the moment I unboxed the multi-cooker, I couldn’t help but nod in approval. It’s even prettier in person, and I was shocked by how lightweight it is. For context, the Instant Pot Rio 6-quart, our top-pick electric pressure cooker, weighs more than an average three-month-old baby (12 pounds), while the Beautiful By Drew multi-cooker is more like a large head of cabbage (about 4 pounds). As you can imagine, the latter is much easier to move around the kitchen.

Setting it up was also a total breeze. In the box, you’ll find a 6-quart, oven-safe (up to 400 ºF), nonstick cooking vessel built from aluminum with a shiny finish and its matching lid, both of which are affixed with sturdy, stainless steel handles. There’s also a removable metal steam tray with small feet to prop itself up, and, finally, the base unit (the heat source) equipped with a touchscreen to access the presets and to toggle between the timer and temperature settings. The base also has a soft, matte coating that feels luxurious as far as cookware is concerned.

But the design isn’t flawless. My main frustration was with the short power cord, which is just shy of 3 feet. Considering the instructions advise against connecting it to an extension cord, it was limiting to have to use the machine in such close proximity to an outlet. Although, a short cord isn’t uncommon for multi-cookers, as my go-to Ninja Foodi offers the same length (it's a safety feature, meant to prevent you from tripping on a long cord and knocking a boiling pot off the counter).

Before you use it for the first time, you must run it for a few minutes on the Sear/Sauté setting (set to 400 ºF) filled with a few cups of water. This causes the machine to emit a slightly alarming burnt plastic smell, although the instructions state it’s “normal and should quickly disappear,” which it did. Fortunately, this is only a one-time deal.

Once I got past the setup, I tested all seven presets to get a good feel for this machine’s cooking capabilities by making a few dishes: braised chicken with lemon and olives, shrimp scampi with orzo, steamed red potatoes, and white rice.

I started with the braised chicken dish and found that the multi-cooker took less than five minutes to reach 350 ºF on its Sear/Sauté mode and retained and distributed heat well. But to achieve the super-crispy chicken skins I was looking for, I needed to raise the temperature to 380 ºF, which caused oil to splatter over the top of the vessel due to its shallower height from base to rim, and it was very visible on the base’s matte surface. It also wasn’t as easy to wipe clean as the rest of the appliance and left oily, smudged traces behind.

After browning the chicken thigh skins, I switched the cooking mode to Braise to commence the next portion of my testing. Once I added a cup or so of chicken broth to submerge the chicken thighs and covered the pot with the lid, it took merely three minutes to come to temperature and not long for the chicken to reach the appropriate internal temperature and cook evenly.

But although the results were tasty, I found the trapped steam from the braising ruined some of the hard work I had put into crisping the chicken skin the first time around. So I decided to remove all the contents from the cooking vessel, quickly wipe it clean, and add a bit more oil, to re-crisp the skins on Sear/Sauté on the device’s highest temperature. It worked swimmingly.

The shrimp scampi dish was even easier to prepare. For this recipe, I used the Simmer setting to lightly brown garlic, a few spices, and the uncooked orzo in a mixture of butter and olive oil before deglazing the pan with a splash of white wine and adding chicken stock to cover the ingredients.

Once the pot was lightly simmering, I switched the settings to Slow Cook on the highest temperature for an hour. After the timer was done—I was alerted by a loud beeping sound—I nestled uncooked shrimp on top of the orzo and continued cooking the ingredients for another 30 minutes or so.

By the end, the pasta was super tender, and the shrimp had turned opaque and bright pink. I enjoyed how hands-off the recipe and cooking process was, and I used the Warm setting to give myself some extra time as I set the table and finished answering a few emails without the dish getting too cold.

The final two settings—steam and rice—were as simple as they sound. I steamed a few baby potatoes using the perforated metal tray and a few cups of water in the basin, which took only minutes to yield fork-tender results. Meanwhile, the rice preset—which can make white or brown rice—automatically detects the appropriate cooking duration, resulting in a perfect batch of fluffy white rice on the first try. This equipment could replace a bulky rice cooker because it works nearly as well as any I’ve tried before.

I made all of these dishes in back-to-back succession (yes, it was a lot of work), and switching between tasks and cleaning up after each wasn’t a headache at all despite having to hand-wash all the pieces every time.

With the pot's nonstick coating and glossy finish, residue rinsed off easily, though we know from experience that ceramic nonstick coatings like this one will lose their nonstick properties quickly (especially when used at temperatures high enough for searing). All the removable parts (not including the base) are dishwasher-safe, if that’s what you prefer, though that will also degrade the nonstick faster.

The matte base, which shouldn’t be submerged under water, did require a bit more effort to wipe thoroughly with a towel, but overall, the cleaning process is far easier than with my Ninja Foodi, which has tons of nooks and crannies that food constantly gets trapped in.

I enjoyed cooking with this multi-cooker. It excelled at accomplishing the work of all seven presets and was mostly user-friendly, even if the buttons and presets were a bit finicky to master. I often had to reset the modes because I’d accidentally increase the time when I actually meant to raise the temperature.

The handles also got very hot when cooking, and handling them with caution—and with the protection of a kitchen towel or oven mitts—was a must. Also, the small hole on the lid and gaps between the lid and the pot emitted powerful streams of hot air when steaming or simmering, which caused condensation to build up on nearby surfaces.

All in all, I didn’t experience any major issues when using the Beautiful By Drew multi-cooker from the jump, but I also can’t speak to whether or not it’s built to last after just a few tries. The pot almost certainly isn't: I saw a few minor knicks and scratches on the nonstick surface right out of the box (that might be a reflection of the lower price point), and we know from experience that its ceramic nonstick will start to be less nonstick very quickly.

Even though my initial hunch is that multi-cooker doesn’t have the power or durability to replace 10 of your go-to cookware appliances, it may be adequate for someone just dipping their toes into cooking or looking for a more affordable multi-cooker with appealing aesthetics, rather than contemplating the potential longevity of the appliance. I’d personally miss the pressure-cooking and air-frying capabilities of other multi-cookers, like the Ninja Foodi or Instant Pot.

However, if you’re going away to college or just moved into your first real adulting space, Beautiful By Drew’s multi-cooker could be a great companion to get you by.

This article was edited by Megan Beauchamp and Maxine Builder.

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Maki Yazawa

I’m a writer covering kitchen topics.

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