The first time I saw it, it was humming quietly on a friend’s countertop, somewhere between a discreet robot and a tiny spaceship. No basket to shake, no oil spray in sight, no “preheat for 15 minutes” alert flashing at me. Just a single, square appliance, calmly roasting vegetables on one side, steaming salmon on the other, while a pot of rice finished underneath.
She laughed when I leaned in like it was some kind of art installation. “You’re still using your air fryer every day?” she asked, genuinely surprised. I suddenly felt like someone still clinging to DVDs in a world of streaming.
That’s when she dropped the bomb: this new multi‑cooker could handle 9 different cooking methods. And frying was almost the least interesting one.
From air fryer craze to quiet kitchen revolution
If you own an air fryer, you probably remember the honeymoon phase. Everything went in there. Frozen fries, chicken wings, leftover pizza that came out somehow better than when it was fresh. Then slowly, the magic faded a bit. The basket started feeling small, the fan got noisy, and the recipes all tasted vaguely the same.
On the other side of the counter, the new kid doesn’t shout. It doesn’t promise “crispy in 8 minutes” with a screaming LED. Instead, it quietly claims something far more ambitious: one box that can air fry, roast, bake, grill, steam, slow-cook, sauté, dehydrate and even reheat without drying food out. For a small, overworked kitchen, that’s not a gadget. That’s urban planning.
Think about a weeknight that looks familiar. You’re juggling a pan on the hob, a pot that’s almost boiling over, the oven that takes 20 minutes just to hit temperature, and the air fryer you want to use but can’t, because the basket still smells like yesterday’s garlic chicken. By the end, the sink is full and the food is… fine. Meal made, energy gone.
With a 9‑in‑1 multi‑cooker, the whole choreography shifts. Vegetables steam on a top tray while the bottom bowl gently simmers a curry. A grill plate marks your halloumi while rice finishes in a separate insert. Same surface area on the countertop, totally different outcome. The air fryer starts to look less like a solution, and more like a first draft.
There’s a simple reason this kind of appliance feels like such a leap: it’s built around heat control, not just hot air and a fan. Air fryers are essentially compact convection ovens with marketing muscle. They blow very hot air over food, fast, and that’s great for crunch, but quite limiting for tender or delicate dishes.
The new generation of multi‑cookers uses layered heating zones, steam injection, low‑temperature control and smart sensors that adjust power as food cooks. So instead of blasting everything at 200°C and hoping for the best, you get nuanced heat: gentle for fish, searing for meat, slow and steady for stews. *Suddenly, that one box doesn’t just replace your fryer – it quietly undermines half your stove.*
Nine cooking methods, one countertop: how to actually use it
The beauty of a 9‑in‑1 gadget is not the spec sheet, it’s the routine you can build around it. Start with a realistic test: pick one weeknight dish you already cook all the time, and rebuild it entirely inside the machine. For many people, that’s roast chicken and potatoes.
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Use the roasting mode for the bird in the main compartment, slide potatoes into a separate tray beneath to catch the juices, and finish with a quick air‑crisp blast on top for the skin. Same recipe, same ingredients, totally different workflow. You’re not chained to the oven door, and you’re not juggling four timers on your phone. Just one appliance doing the job of two or three.
Where a lot of people get frustrated is by treating a 9‑in‑1 like a super‑charged air fryer, then wondering why the results feel underwhelming. We’ve all been there, that moment when your “one‑pot miracle” turns into overcooked broccoli and chicken that’s brown on the outside and anxious in the middle.
The shift comes when you use each mode for what it does best. Steam for vegetables and fish. Slow‑cook or sauté for sauces and stews. Grill for quick, high‑heat hits that don’t smoke the whole living room. The air‑fry setting becomes just one tool among many, not the default button you hammer every night. Let’s be honest: nobody really explores all 9 modes in the first week.
That’s why people who actually stick with these gadgets tend to talk about them in a different way. Less hype, more relief.
“Once I realised I could steam dumplings, cook rice and keep everything warm in one go,” a reader told me, “I stopped thinking of it as a toy and started seeing it as my actual stove.”
To get there, it helps to have a simple mental map of what this kind of appliance can usually do:
- Air fry for fries, nuggets, crisping leftovers
- Roast for meats, veg trays, whole fish
- Bake for cakes, breads, small gratins
- Grill for searing, char lines, quick veg
- Steam for fish, dumplings, buns, greens
- Slow‑cook for stews, pulled meats, soups
- Sauté for onions, sauces, quick stir‑fries
- Dehydrate for fruit chips, herbs, crunchy toppings
- Reheat for yesterday’s meal, without that sad microwave texture
One box, nine moods. You won’t use them all every week, and that’s fine. The value is knowing they’re there when your cooking life shifts a little.
The emotional upgrade nobody talks about
Once the novelty fades, what stays is surprisingly simple: less friction between you and the idea of cooking something decent. For some, that means freeing up mental space. For others, it’s about not heating up a tiny apartment with a roaring oven in July, or not scrubbing five pans after a 10‑minute dinner.
A 9‑in‑1 gadget doesn’t magically turn you into a chef. What it can do is lower the threshold between “I can’t face the kitchen tonight” and “I can throw something in and it will come out pretty good”. That gap is where a lot of processed food and random delivery orders live.
There’s also a quiet ecological and financial side to this shift. A smaller, well‑insulated appliance often heats faster and uses less energy than a full‑size oven running half‑empty. Steaming and slow‑cooking tend to rely on cheaper cuts and more vegetables. Batch‑cooking becomes easier when you can sauté, simmer and then keep warm without moving pots around.
The old air fryer promise was about crunchy food with less oil. This new wave of machines makes a different pitch: **more ways to cook, with fewer excuses not to**. That doesn’t trend on social media as well as cheese‑pull videos, yet it might change your evenings far more over time.
| Key point | Detail | Value for the reader |
|---|---|---|
| 9‑in‑1 versatility | Combines air fry, roast, bake, grill, steam, slow‑cook, sauté, dehydrate and reheat | Replaces several appliances and reduces kitchen clutter |
| Better heat control | Multiple zones and modes instead of one powerful fan | More tender, precise cooking, from fish to stews |
| Everyday usability | One‑pot workflows, faster preheating, easier cleanup | Less stress on busy nights, more home‑cooked meals |
FAQ:
- Is a 9‑in‑1 gadget really better than an air fryer?For pure crunch on frozen snacks, both perform similarly. The 9‑in‑1 wins because it also steams, slow‑cooks, sautés and bakes, so you can cook full meals, not just sides.
- Does food still get crispy like in a classic air fryer?Yes, as long as you use the air‑fry or grill modes, don’t overcrowd the tray, and pat ingredients dry. The fan and high heat are still there; you just have more options around them.
- Will it replace my oven completely?Not for everyone. Big roasts, huge trays of cookies or big family batches still suit a full oven, but many people end up using their main oven far less.
- Is it complicated to learn all 9 functions?Most people start with 2 or 3 modes and grow from there. The interface is usually preset‑based, so you can lean on built‑in programs at first and adjust as you get comfortable.
- Is it worth upgrading if I already love my air fryer?If you mainly use your air fryer for snacks and the occasional leftover, you might be fine. If you’re wishing you could do rice, stews, fish or proper steaming in the same space, that’s where the upgrade makes real sense.