The Sage Multi cooker is championed by none other than Heston Blumenthal. It is a pressure cooker and slow cooker in one. It is something that could change meal times forever. It can make speedy stews and slow cooked meals. It also has preset programmes that include everything from Bolognese and lamb shanks to steamed puddings, rice, veg and risotto.
Pros
- Adjustable and preset programmes
- Two-hour keep warm mode
- Also sears and steams
Cons
- Pricy
- Could be a bit too bulky to store away in some kitchens
Verdict
The Sage Multi cooker makes it really easy to make fantastic food, saving you time and money in the process. If you have room in your kitchen, you should get one of these.
Sage Multi Cooker Design and Features
The Sage Multi cooker has a few features that set it apart from other one-pot cookers. These features include good strong side handles that make it easy to move around. This might seem trivial, but it is very important and is often overlooked.
The Sage Multi Cooker also has an interactive LCD panel, that lets you monitor progress. It has 12 smart menus and eight pressure levels ranging from low (10 kpa) for delicate foods to high (80 kpa) for extra fast cooking, making it very versatile.
Its 8 smart programs and three heat settings allow slow cooking from 2-10 hours. It then automatically switches to keep the food warm at the end of cooking
The Sage Multi Cooker has a removable lid with a pressure release valve and a safety valve. It also has a removable silicone seal which makes it easier to clean.
If you are cooking something that produces condensation, the Sage Multi Cooker has a channel catches any moisture leaking out on to your kitchen work top.
Inside the Sage Multi Cooker, you will find a ceramic-coated bowl that sits on top of a sensor. It uses this sensor along with another at the top to make sure your food cooks at the correct pressure and temperature.
The Sage Multi Cooker has a 6 Litre capacity, this allows you to pressure cook, slow cook, steam, reduce, sauté and sear with the press of a button for a whole family.
Using the Sage Multi Cooker
The controls on the Sage Multi Cooker are very intuitive. It has three dials for setting time, temperature or pressure and selecting the preset programmes. It also has three buttons for keeping food warm, releasing excess pressure and stopping a function.
The Sage Multi cooker is pretty straightforward to use, however the instructions are quite exhaustive, but it shouldn’t take you too long to get to grips with it.
There are some advanced settings on the Sage Multi cooker, for when you really want to get the cooking results perfected. For example, you can tell it the altitude of your location, to make sure the pressure cooker is perfectly calibrated. It comes with a nice recipe book too. This is very straight forward and helps you get the most out of your Sage Multi Cooker.
If you wanted to make a beef stew our bourguignon in your Sage Multi Cooker, you can start off by browning the meat and onions with the sear setting. It takes about 5 minutes to get to the correct temperature, and then keeps a consistently hot temperature. It doesn’t tell you when it reaches the ideal temperature for searing, nor can you turn it down to stop it spitting. But, this isn’t the end of the world.
Once you have added the rest of the ingredients and closed the lid to lock, you can select the next mode, such as the pressure-cooking setting. This usually takes about 10 minutes to reach the required pressure to start cooking.
Occasionally, you may need to use the pressure release button when you have finished cooking, so you can take the lid off. Meat cooked in the Sage Multi cooker is incredibly tender and falls apart, which is really satisfying.
The Sage Multi cooker also has a reduction setting, this is to simmer the sauce as pressure cooking doesn’t allow for evaporation.
The Sage Multi cooker is very versatile and can even be used to cook a whole chicken.
To do this, use the Sear setting, to brown the chicken, before selecting the slow cook Pot Roast programme. Four and half hours later, you get a juicy, moist chicken, where the meat comes off the bone with ease.
All parts of the Sage Multi cooker can be cleaned in the dishwasher, but even if washing by hand, everything is easy to clean.
Should You Buy a Sage Multi Cooker?
One of the best things about the Sage Multi Cooker, is that it is good for people new to pressure or slow cooking and for those more experienced cooks. It has simple controls, but you can play with the more advanced features as you get comfortable with using it.
It is cleaner and safer to use than many other one pot cookers on the market. This makes it suitable for families and foodies.
It is a bit big, therefore, if you have a small kitchen, you may have trouble storing it. However, considering the variety of dishes it can cook, you could use it every day and not really want to put it at the back of a cupboard.
Please leave your thoughts and questions in the comments section below.
