Goodbye air fryer: this new kitchen gadget goes far beyond frying, offering nine versatile cooking methods in one device

The first time I heard someone say “I don’t use my air fryer anymore,” I nearly dropped my coffee. This was the friend who roasted everything from frozen fries to cauliflower in that humming little box on her counter. Yet there she was, sliding a new stainless-steel gadget into place, the air fryer pushed to the back like an old smartphone in a drawer.
She tapped a button, and the machine quietly shifted from roasting to steaming, then to slow cooking, as if it were changing playlists. The kitchen didn’t overheat, nothing splattered, and twenty minutes later, dinner looked like it had taken all afternoon.
There’s a new kind of multi-cooker on the block, and it doesn’t just fry. It replaces about nine other things you own.

From one-trick fryer to nine-in-one game changer

Walk into any kitchen lately and you’ll see it: countertops cluttered with gadgets that promised to “change your life.” The toaster oven that never really toasted evenly, the slow cooker used twice a year, the air fryer that roared like a jet engine and dried out half your meals.
Now a new wave of multi-cookers is quietly stealing the spotlight. These devices don’t want to be just an air fryer. They want to bake, steam, grill, sauté, dehydrate, slow cook, roast, reheat and yes, still give you those crispy potatoes.
One box, nine cooking methods. One plug, half your cupboard back.

Take Emma, 34, who lives in a tiny city apartment with a kitchen the size of a wardrobe. For years, her air fryer shared space with a rice cooker, a mini-oven and a bulky slow cooker she barely used. She cooked dinner between piles of appliances, stacking things on top of the fridge like Tetris gone wrong.
Then she bought a nine-in-one multi-cooker to “try it for a week.” Two months later, the air fryer was on Facebook Marketplace, the rice cooker was gone, and the oven had been demoted to plate storage.
She now pressure-cooks chickpeas, steams dumplings, crisps chicken skin and bakes banana bread in the same device. The only thing she complains about is having to choose which function to use.

The logic behind this shift is simple: the air fryer solved one problem—crispy food with less oil—but ignored the rest of daily cooking. People still needed to simmer a stew, reheat pasta without drying it out, or bake a lasagna on a Tuesday night.
Nine-in-one gadgets step into that gap, giving you heat that’s not just hot, but smart. They combine convection air for crisping, precise temperature control for slow cooking, steam for tenderness and gentle reheating that doesn’t murder leftovers.
*The real revolution isn’t frying; it’s replacing five or six separate decisions with a single button press.*

How to actually live with a nine-in-one cooker (and not feel overwhelmed)

The smartest way to tame a nine-function machine is to start with just two or three modes. For most people, that’s air fry, steam and slow cook. Use it like an upgraded air fryer for a week, then sneak in a steam session for veggies or dumplings one evening.
Once you trust it, add baking or roasting to the mix. Suddenly your sheet-pan dinners are happening inside a box that preheats in minutes and doesn’t turn your whole kitchen into a sauna.
Treat it like you’d treat a new friend: don’t ask it to do everything on day one. Let it prove itself on one easy, weeknight recipe at a time.

The big trap with these all-in-one gadgets is wanting to “use every function right away.” That’s how people end up trying to dehydrate strawberries, bake a cheesecake and slow cook a curry in the same Sunday, then swear the device is “too complicated.”
Be kind to yourself. Use it first for what you already cook weekly: roast chicken, veggies, frozen snacks, rice, oatmeal. Then replace one classic pan-cooked meal with its slow cook or pressure cook version.
Let’s be honest: nobody really does this every single day. The ones who keep using their gadget long-term are the ones who allow themselves to be lazy with it.

The users who stick with their nine-in-one cooker tend to say the same thing.

“I stopped thinking of it as a gadget and started thinking of it as my main stove that just happens to live on the counter,” says Marc, a dad of two who batch-cooks on Sundays. “Once I knew where the buttons were, I basically stopped using my oven except at Christmas.”

To stay sane, many people keep a tiny mental cheat sheet of go-to uses:

• Weeknights: Air-fry veggies and protein together, or steam rice while the main dish roasts.
• Weekends: Slow cook a big pot of sauce, then finish portions with a quick crisping blast.
• Busy mornings: Use the reheat and steam modes for soft, not-sad leftovers.
• Heat waves: Cook full meals without turning on the big oven or sweating through dinner prep.
• Small households: Bake, roast and grill in smaller, more efficient batches without wasting energy.

A quieter kitchen revolution hiding in plain sight

Walk through your own kitchen in your head for a second. How many things are plugged in, gathering dust, waiting for “when I have time”? The bread maker that saw one heroic weekend. The blender you swore you’d use for green smoothies. The loyal but very loud air fryer in the corner.
These nine-in-one cookers represent something bigger than just a new shiny box. They’re a push toward fewer decisions, fewer cords, fewer “I should really use this more” guilt trips sitting on the counter.
They’re not perfect. Sometimes they beep at awkward moments, take up a chunky square of space or intimidate new cooks. Yet they quietly unlock something powerful: the chance to cook real food with less mental load.

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Key point	Detail	Value for the reader
Replaces multiple appliances	Combines air fry, bake, roast, steam, grill, sauté, slow cook, reheat and dehydrate	Frees counter space and reduces clutter in small or busy kitchens
Faster, smarter everyday cooking	Preheats quickly, uses focused heat and steam, and cooks in single, contained space	Cuts weeknight cooking time and lowers energy use compared to big ovens
Supports different lifestyles	Works for batch cooking, tiny households, families and “lazy but hungry” nights	Helps build a flexible, realistic routine around home-cooked meals

FAQ:

• Is a nine-in-one cooker really better than an air fryer?For most people, yes, because it can still air fry while also steaming, slow cooking and baking, so it replaces more of your daily cooking, not just the crispy snacks.
• Does it use more electricity than a classic oven?It usually uses less, as the cooking chamber is smaller, heats faster and doesn’t waste as much energy warming the whole kitchen.
• Can it actually replace my oven?For large holiday meals, probably not, but for daily cooking—roasting vegetables, baking small cakes, reheating pizza—it can easily take over.
• Is cleaning more of a hassle than with an air fryer?The basket or inner pot still needs washing, yet many models have dishwasher-safe parts and fewer greasy splashes on nearby walls.
• What should I cook first to get comfortable with it?Start with something familiar like roasted potatoes or chicken thighs in air-fry mode, then try a simple steamed veggie dish and one slow-cooked soup the same week.