The air fryer on Marta’s counter had become the unofficial roommate in her small apartment. It hummed every evening, glowing like a tiny spaceship, spitting out crisp potatoes and re-heated pizza. Then one day a bulky cardboard box arrived, heavier than it looked, with a slick photo of something that didn’t quite resemble any one appliance she knew. She sliced the tape, pulled back the cardboard, and found a stainless-steel cube promising nine cooking methods in one.
By the end of the week, the air fryer had been pushed to the back of the cupboard, its power cord wrapped like a forgotten phone charger. The new machine was pressure cooking beans in under an hour, steaming salmon, slow-cooking pulled pork, and yes, air-frying too — but as just one option among many.
The age of the single-function star might be ending.
From trendy gadget to background extra on your own countertop
Walk into any kitchen from 2020 onwards and you’ll see the same silent witness on the counter: the trusty air fryer. It became a symbol of busy lives and “I’m trying to be healthier” cooking. Frozen fries, breaded chicken, leftover takeout — all went into that little basket like a modern confession booth.
Now a new category of device is quietly rewriting that scene. These all-in-one cookers, often shaped like squat mini-ovens or pressure cookers with digital brains, don’t just blow hot air around food. They pressure cook, steam, sauté, slow cook, grill, roast, bake, dehydrate, and yes, air fry. That’s nine ways of cooking where you used to have one.
The first time Marta used hers “properly”, it wasn’t for fries at all. She tossed onions and garlic straight into the pot on sauté mode, let them brown, then tapped a button to switch to pressure cook. Dried lentils, some stock, a splash of tomato puree — 20 minutes later she had thick, rich dal that tasted like it had simmered half the afternoon.
The next day she placed a wire rack in the same pot, laid marinated chicken on top, and turned on the grill function. The skin blistered and charred while the sauce at the bottom turned into something glossy and spoonable. The air fryer had never done that. It had one trick and did it well, but this new cube felt like a whole kitchen squeezed into one metal shell.
Once you look at it with clear eyes, the air fryer is basically a tiny convection oven with a catchy name. Hot air, fast circulation, a basket that feels fun to shake. Great for crunch, limited for everything else.
The nine-in-one machines lean on a different logic. They try to merge the jobs of pressure cooker, slow cooker, steamer, griddle, oven, dehydrator, and fryer into a single hub. That means stacked inserts, layered racks, and digital programs that line up cooking times so rice finishes just as vegetables steam. It’s not that frying suddenly became bad. It’s that frying alone stopped being enough of a selling point.
How the nine-in-one really changes the way you cook on a Tuesday
The real magic comes on those weeknights when you’re hungry, tired, and already hovering near the fridge with one eye on your phone. This is where the all-in-one device earns its footprint. You tap sauté to brown the base — onions, garlic, spices, whatever your dinner needs — right there in the main pot. No extra pan, no oily splatter on the stove.
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Then, you shift to pressure cook or slow cook with a single button. Rice pilaf, chickpea curry, beef stew, or a quick pasta dish where the pasta, sauce, and veg cook in the same bowl. You can finish on grill or air fry to get a crisp top without moving the dish to the oven. One pot, three textures, minimal dishes in the sink.
This is also where old-school Sunday recipes quietly move into weeknight territory. A chunky bolognese that used to claim three hours can be done under pressure in 35–40 minutes. A whole chicken, rubbed with spices, can steam under pressure then flip to roast mode for crackling skin without drying out the meat. You end up cooking “proper” meals on a Wednesday, not just sad freezer survival food.
We’ve all been there, that moment when you end up ordering food not because you wanted to, but because the cooking process felt too long and scattered. An all-in-one puts the entire workflow into a straight line instead of a messy triangle between stove, oven, and sink. Less clutter, fewer decisions, more chance you’ll actually cook what you planned.
There’s also the quiet economic side. Running a single, well-insulated cooker that pressure cooks then crisps uses less energy than preheating a full-size oven just to brown four chicken thighs. Planning one-pot meals means fewer pots and pans to buy, less oil used, and a bit less food waste because you can throw in that last carrot, the softening bell pepper, the small handful of mushrooms.
Let’s be honest: nobody really does this every single day. Some nights you’ll still microwave leftovers or eat toast over the sink. Yet the nine-in-one reduces the gap between “I don’t feel like cooking” and “I can handle pressing two buttons.” It nudges home cooking from a weekend project toward something that feels compatible with long workdays and short evenings. *That’s where a gadget stops being trendy and starts becoming quietly essential.*
Nine methods, one device: using it without turning your kitchen into a lab
The simplest way to approach this new appliance is by thinking in layers. Start with sauté: this is your flavor base. Onions, garlic, spices, a bit of oil, maybe some chopped bacon or vegetables. Let them color in the main pot, just like you would in a regular pan. When that smells right, this is your cue to switch modes.
Next comes the “heart” method: pressure cook for speed, slow cook for tenderness, steam for lightness. This is where beans soften, grains swell, and stews melt down. Once the main cooking is done, you can jump to a “finish” method — grill, roast, or air fry — to get crunch, color, and that restaurant-style look. Think of it as three acts in one pot: brown, soften, crisp.
Some people plug in a nine-in-one and try to replicate a full Christmas menu the first weekend. That’s a shortcut to frustration. The smarter path is to pick one weak spot in your cooking life and fix only that at first. Maybe you never manage to cook beans from dry. Or your roasts are always dry. Or you live on reheated takeaway.
Start with one dinner you already love — chili, roast chicken, veggie curry — and learn just that workflow in the new device. Once that feels almost boring, add a second use case like yogurt making or steaming fish. The mistake most of us make with these machines is treating them like a new phone to “hack” instead of a simple pot that happens to have a brain.
A home cook I spoke to, Julien, told me: “The day I stopped reading the entire manual and just treated it like a heavy pot that could magically change heat levels on its own, everything clicked. Suddenly, I wasn’t ‘testing features’, I was just cooking dinner.”
- Start with one program
Pick pressure cook or air fry and master that before touching the others. Familiarity kills intimidation. - Use the right inserts
Racks, baskets, and trays exist to avoid soggy bottoms and steamed-to-death veg. One small rack can change everything. - Think in stages
Sauté → cook (pressure/slow/steam) → finish (grill/air fry). One recipe, three simple steps. - Clean as you go
Rinse the inner pot as soon as it cools slightly. Dried-on sauces are what turn any gadget into a dust collector. - Keep your old habits, just compress them
Your favorite traybake? Same ingredients, same flavors, shorter time, and less energy used.
What this shift really says about the way we live and eat now
When a whole generation buys the same gadget, it usually tells a story. The air fryer trend was about speed, crunch, and a half-step away from deep frying without the guilt. This next wave of all-in-one cookers says something slightly different: we want real food again, but we’re not getting more time or a bigger kitchen.
These nine-method cubes aren’t about Instagrammable recipes or perfect food styling. They’re about moving the boundary between “I’ll just order in” and “I can actually cook something decent” a few centimeters closer to reality. They shrink cooking down to a smaller physical and mental space: one pot, one interface, one clean-up. You still need to chop an onion, stir a sauce, taste the salt. The human part doesn’t vanish.
What changes is the feeling that your kitchen is on your side instead of working against you. The air fryer was a first draft of that idea. The all-in-one, with its nine quiet methods, feels like version two. Where you place it on your counter — front and center or buried under the waffle maker — might say more about your life right now than any cookbook on your shelf. And that’s a conversation many people are just beginning to have with themselves, every time they open the cupboard and wonder which appliance gets to stay plugged in.
| Key point | Detail | Value for the reader |
|---|---|---|
| Multi-method freedom | One device that sautés, pressure cooks, steams, slow cooks, grills, roasts, bakes, dehydrates and air fries | Replaces several gadgets, saves space and expands what you can cook on weeknights |
| Layered cooking workflow | Brown in sauté mode, cook under pressure or slow mode, finish with grill or air fry | Restaurant-style flavor and texture with fewer pans and less effort |
| Real-life energy and time savings | Shorter cooking times, targeted heat, and one-pot meals from pantry staples | Cuts bills, reduces food waste, and makes home cooking feel realistic after work |
FAQ:
- Is this nine-in-one device really better than a regular air fryer?It depends on what you cook. If you mostly reheat fries and nuggets, a basic air fryer is enough. If you want stews, beans, whole chicken, bread, yogurt, and crisp finishes in one machine, the multi-method device will outgrow the air fryer quickly.
- Does food actually taste different with all these cooking modes?Yes, because you can combine moist heat and dry heat. Pressure cooking keeps things juicy and fast, then grill or air-fry mode adds browning and crunch. You end up with deeper flavors and better textures than with hot air alone.
- Can this really replace my oven and slow cooker?For many households, it can replace a slow cooker entirely and a big chunk of everyday oven use. You might still want a full oven for big baking projects or huge roasts, but daily dinners can easily live in the all-in-one.
- Is it complicated to learn all nine cooking methods?Not if you take it step by step. Start with two or three modes you’ll actually use — sauté, pressure cook, air fry — then add others as you feel more confident. You don’t need to use every feature to get real value.
- What should I cook first to get comfortable with it?A simple one-pot meal like chicken and rice, chili, or a vegetable curry is ideal. You’ll learn sautéing, main cooking mode, and a quick crisp finish in one go, without juggling multiple timers or pans.