The air fryer sat there, humming smugly on the counter, while the oven sulked in the corner like an old TV nobody watches anymore. On a Tuesday night, between a half-frozen bag of vegetables and a too-dry chicken breast, I caught myself thinking: is this really the peak of “smart” cooking we were promised?
Friends kept sending me recipes: “You HAVE to try this in the air fryer.” Fries, nuggets, reheated pizza. Always the same tan, crispy surface. Always the same slightly dusty taste of convenience.
Then someone rolled into my kitchen with a new, not-very-sexy-looking appliance that claimed nine cooking methods in one. Roast, steam, slow cook, sauté, air fry, bake, grill, reheat, even proof dough.
One machine, nine ways to actually cook again.
Why the air fryer suddenly feels… old
Stand in any modern kitchen and you’ll notice the same thing: counter space filled with “miracle” gadgets that mostly do one trick. The air fryer is king of that crowd, blasting hot air at high speed to fake deep-fried crunch. It’s fun for a while. Then reality shows up as another cramped shelf, another plug fighting for a socket.
The new multi-function cookers creeping into homes work differently. They’re quietly replacing three, sometimes four appliances in one go. They don’t scream about “guilt-free fries”, they whisper about slow stews, one-pot pasta, Sunday roast, fluffy rice, even overnight yogurt.
The promise shifts from “snack faster” to “cook smarter”.
A friend of mine, who swore by her air fryer for two years, finally cracked on a busy Wednesday. She had to brown meat in a pan, boil pasta in a pot, steam vegetables separately, then reheat garlic bread in the air fryer. Four things going at once, one tiny kitchen, two kids asking for Wi-Fi passwords.
Fed up, she bought a 9-in-1 multicooker: pressure cook, steam, sauté, air fry, roast, bake, grill, slow cook, reheat. The following week, she sent me a photo of a full meal done in 35 minutes: chicken thighs, potatoes, carrots, and a tray of garlicky green beans, all from the same machine, one after the other.
She didn’t gush about “crispiness”. She just wrote: “My stove is… clean.”
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The reason this shift stings the air fryer’s ego is simple. High-speed hot air is great for texture, but it’s only one chapter in the cooking story. You still need steam for fluffy rice and dumplings, gentle heat for stews, dry heat for baking, and a strong sear for meat. A 9-in-1 appliance starts ticking those boxes, one by one.
It changes how people plan meals. Instead of thinking, “What can I throw in the air fryer?”, they ask, “What meal can I build in one device tonight?” That little mental flip is powerful. Suddenly the gadget isn’t just a snack cannon.
It becomes the main stage.
How to actually use a 9-in-1 so it doesn’t become clutter
The magic isn’t in owning a multi-cooker. The magic is in building small rituals around it. Start with one night a week where the 9-in-1 is in charge. No oven, no extra pots. Just you, one cutting board, and the machine.
Begin simple: a tray of vegetables on roast mode, then flip to grill for halloumi or salmon. Another day, try sauté for onions and spices, then switch to slow cook for a curry that hums in the background while you work. Keep the manual nearby, dog-ear a couple of pages, and say yes to the presets at first.
Let the appliance teach you its rhythm before you teach it yours.
The biggest trap is using a 9-in-1 like a fancy reheater. Just leftovers, frozen snacks, maybe the occasional chicken wing. It’s understandable. We’re tired, screens are shouting at us, and nobody dreams of washing more dishes. Still, that’s like buying a bike and only using it to lean against a café wall.
Let’s be honest: nobody really does this every single day. Nobody cooks from scratch, nine modes blazing. The trick is aiming for “three good uses a week” instead of perfection. Batch-cook beans once, a tray of roasted vegetables another day, and one full family meal on the weekend.
Those three moves alone can transform your fridge.
The people who actually fall in love with these gadgets are rarely the ones chasing viral recipes. They’re the ones chasing time, less chaos, and food that tastes like someone cared, even if it was a machine doing half the work.
“I stopped seeing it as a gadget and started seeing it as a tiny, loyal sous-chef,” laughs Clara, a nurse who does four night shifts a week. “I throw in steel-cut oats on ‘slow cook’ at midnight, and at 7 a.m. breakfast is ready when I drag myself home.”
- Use one mode at a time for a week (roast, then steam, then slow cook) to avoid feeling overwhelmed.
- Keep a small notebook or phone note with three “go-to” recipes that always work.
- Reserve a specific shelf or basket for all its accessories so they don’t vanish in random drawers.
- Test reheating yesterday’s pizza in the air-fry mode: it’s the quickest way to convert skeptics.
- Once a month, try a new function on something low-stakes like vegetables or frozen bread.
Beyond frying: what this says about how we want to cook now
There’s a quiet revolt going on in our kitchens. We’re tired of being told to “cook from scratch” while juggling three jobs and a WhatsApp group that never sleeps. At the same time, we’re equally tired of beige ultra-processed everything. Multi-function cookers land right in the middle of that tension, like a compromise we can actually live with.
The air fryer rode the wave of quick wins: fries without the oil, crisp wings on a Tuesday, crunchy tofu that feels almost like takeout. This new 9-in-1 wave goes deeper. It targets the boring backbone of everyday life: the beans, the soups, the braised meats, the reheated lunches that don’t taste like cardboard. *That’s where it quietly outgrows the “just an air fryer” label.*
Once you’ve pressure-cooked chickpeas in 35 minutes or baked banana bread right after roasting vegetables in the same pot, it’s very hard to go back.
| Key point | Detail | Value for the reader |
|---|---|---|
| 9 cooking methods in one | Roast, steam, slow cook, sauté, air fry, bake, grill, pressure cook, reheat/proof | Replaces several single-use appliances and frees precious counter space |
| One-pot meal potential | Layered cooking: sauté, then slow cook or pressure cook in the same bowl | Fewer dishes, faster cleanup, more realistic weeknight cooking |
| Flexible lifestyle fit | From batch-cooking beans to overnight oats and quick roasting | Supports busy schedules without relying only on ultra-processed foods |
FAQ:
- Is a 9-in-1 really better than a simple air fryer?For snacks only, an air fryer is fine. For full meals, stews, rice, bread, and batch-cooking, a 9-in-1 is far more versatile and can replace several devices at once.
- Does food still get crispy with all those functions?Yes. Most 9-in-1 models have a dedicated air-fry or grill mode with a strong fan. You can roast potatoes, crisp chicken skin, and reheat pizza with a better texture than a microwave.
- Will it take up more space on my counter?Physically, it’s often similar or slightly larger than a big air fryer, but it replaces the need for a slow cooker, rice cooker, steamer, and sometimes even a small oven, so total clutter usually drops.
- Is it complicated to learn all nine modes?The first days can feel like learning a new phone, yet most people settle into three or four favorite modes quickly. Presets and simple buttons help, and you can add functions gradually.
- Can it really save money on energy bills?Cooking in a smaller, well-insulated chamber is often faster than using a full-sized oven, which can cut electricity or gas use, especially for small to medium meals.