The Best Multi Cooker in Australia

Dinner needs to happen, but you don’t want another appliance that earns its place in the cupboard rather than on the bench. If you’re looking for the best multi cooker, we’d buy the Instant 5.7 Litre Duo first: its useful mix of cooking functions, reasonable price and 4.8 out of 5 from 74 owners make it our strongest all-round recommendation.

Spend less if you mainly want a versatile cooking pot. Pay more only when there’s a particular feature you’ll use, such as hands-free steam release or extra capacity for batch cooking.

The short answer

The best multi cookers in Australia

• Best overall: Instant 5.7 Litre Duo
• Best budget pick for frying and everyday cooking: Sunbeam 5L Multicooker Deep Fryer
• Lower-priced pick with a strong owner rating: Tefal Home Chef Smart
• Best for hands-free steam release: Breville the Fast Slow Pro
• Best for rice-first households: Panasonic Premium 10 Cup Rice Cooker and Multi-Cooker
• Best for big-batch cooking on a budget: Sunbeam Express Pressure Multicooker XL
• Best for meal prep with sous vide: Instant 8 Litre Duo Plus

Product		Price
	Instant 5.7 Litre Duo Multi Cooker (112-0181-01-AU)	from $143.20 at Amazon · 4 shops	$143.20 at Amazon
	Sunbeam 5L Multicooker Deep Fryer (DF4500)	from $71.96 at Amazon · 2 shops	$71.96 at Amazon
	Tefal Home Chef Smart Multicooker	from $163.00 at Amazon · 4 shops	$163.00 at Amazon
	Breville The Fast Slow Pro Multi Cooker	from $383.20 at Amazon · 2 shops	$383.20 at Amazon
	Panasonic Premium 10 Cup Rice Cooker And Multi-Cooker (SR-DL184WST)	from $198.00 at Amazon · 3 shops	$198.00 at Amazon
	Sunbeam 7.6 Litre Express Pressure Multi Cooker XL (PEM3000SS)	from $199.00 at Amazon · 3 shops	$199.00 at Amazon
	Instant 8 Litre Duo Plus Multi Cooker (113-0063-01-AU)	from $229.95 at Amazon · 3 shops	$229.95 at Amazon

1. Best overall: Instant 5.7 Litre Duo

When dinner changes from rice to stew to something you’ve remembered at the last minute, you need flexibility more than a fancy model name. The Instant 5.7 Litre Duo is where we’d start.

Instant says its 5.7-litre pot suits up to six servings. That makes it a sensible starting size if you want family meals without automatically choosing an extra-large cooker. Its 13 one-touch programs also give you a starting point for familiar dishes rather than asking you to set everything yourself.

Our take: this is the sensible middle purchase. It’s cheaper than the larger Instant here and considerably cheaper than the Breville, while its owner score gives us a good reason to recommend it. You don’t need to spend more just because another cooker has a longer list of modes.

The catch is steam release. You turn a handle yourself; if hands-free release is the feature you want, the Breville deserves a look.

Our verdict: Buy the Duo if you want a broadly useful multi cooker without paying for specialist extras. It’s our first recommendation for most buyers.

2. Best budget pick for frying and everyday cooking: Sunbeam 5L Multicooker Deep Fryer

If you want to fry food as well as cook everyday meals, the Sunbeam 5L Multicooker Deep Fryer makes more sense than buying a pressure cooker and hoping it does the same job. It’s the cheapest pick in this guide.

Sunbeam’s sliding temperature dial suits someone who’d rather adjust the heat than select a meal program. The frying basket’s draining lever lets it rest inside the vessel’s rim, so you don’t have to hold the basket while food drains.

Its 4.5 out of 5 at The Good Guys comes from 257 reviews—the largest owner-review count among these seven picks. That’s a useful record for an inexpensive purchase, even though the score sits below several others here.

Don’t confuse versatility with automatic pressure cooking. The supplied functions don’t include that, so skip this one if pressure cooking is the main reason you’re shopping.

Our verdict: Buy it for affordable frying and flexible everyday cooking. Choose the Instant Duo instead if you want pressure cooking and preset meal programs.

3. Lower-priced pick with a strong owner rating: Tefal Home Chef Smart

Keeping the purchase price down matters, but so does avoiding a cooker that can’t do the meals you have in mind. The Tefal Home Chef Smart has a convincing owner score; its supplied feature information is much less helpful.

We like the price and the number of ratings behind it. But the current data doesn’t specify its capacity, cooking programs or cleaning arrangements. Those are details you should settle before buying, particularly if you’re planning family-sized batches or need a particular cooking mode.

Our take: it’s worth considering when cost comes first, but the small saving over the Duo doesn’t justify guessing about the features you need.

Our verdict: Consider the Tefal if its current listing confirms your required size and functions. If those details remain unclear, we’d spend more on the better-documented Instant Duo.

4. Best for hands-free steam release: Breville the Fast Slow Pro

If manually releasing steam is the part of pressure cooking you’d rather avoid, the Breville Fast Slow Pro gives you a clear reason to spend more. Breville lists hands-free release with Quick, Pulse and Natural settings.

It also tells you whether it’s building pressure, cooking or releasing steam. That should make the process easier to follow, rather than leaving you wondering which stage dinner has reached.

The owner rating is 4.6 out of 5 from 70 reviews at The Good Guys. That’s a solid score, but it doesn’t make this an automatic upgrade over our top pick.

This is the most expensive cooker in the guide. We’d pay the difference for the release controls and clearer cooking-stage information, not simply for the word “Pro”.

Our verdict: Buy the Breville if its hands-free release solves a particular concern for you. For general cooking flexibility at a lower price, the Duo is our better buy.

5. Best for rice-first households: Panasonic Premium 10 Cup Rice Cooker and Multi-Cooker

When rice is part of dinner several nights a week, start with a cooker built around that job. The Panasonic Premium Rice and Multi-Cooker adds other meal settings without making rice feel like an afterthought.

Panasonic says its fuzzy logic and heating from the bottom, sides and lid help deliver consistent cooking. Its 24-hour delay timer is useful when you want to plan the cooking time ahead.

It scores 4.8 out of 5 from 33 reviews at The Good Guys. That’s encouraging, though the review count is smaller than those behind the first four picks.

Our take: choose it because rice is your priority. It costs more than the Instant Duo, and its supplied menu list doesn’t include pressure cooking. If quick pressure-cooked dinners are what you want, the Panasonic’s extra spend won’t solve that problem.

Our verdict: Buy the Panasonic if you mainly cook rice but also want soup and slow-cooking settings. Skip it if pressure cooking is your main goal.

6. Best for big-batch cooking on a budget: Sunbeam Express Pressure Multicooker XL

Cooking enough for a crowd shouldn’t require buying the dearest appliance. The Sunbeam Express Pressure Multicooker XL gives you a 7.6-litre bowl for only a little more than the smaller Instant Duo at our price check.

The dishwasher-safe, non-stick bowl is a useful pairing with that capacity: making more food needn’t mean hand-washing the cooking pot afterwards.

The owner score is a perfect 5 out of 5 at The Good Guys. There are 14 reviews behind it. That’s a promising start, but we’d give the score less weight than the larger review counts above.

Our take: the capacity and price earn its place. Don’t buy extra capacity just because it’s inexpensive, though; if you won’t cook big batches, the smaller Duo already covers plenty of everyday jobs.

Our verdict: Buy the Sunbeam XL when batch size matters more than a long owner-review record. It’s our value recommendation if you cook large batches.

7. Best for meal prep with sous vide: Instant 8 Litre Duo Plus

If your meal prep includes sous vide as well as family-sized batches, the Instant 8 Litre Duo Plus gives you a specific reason to step up from the standard Duo. Instant says its 8-litre capacity serves up to eight portions.

The cooking pot and lid are dishwasher-safe, which should help when you’ve finished a batch and don’t want another cleaning job.

It has a 4.8 out of 5 owner rating at The Good Guys, but that comes from just 13 reviews. We wouldn’t treat it as equally well supported as the smaller Duo’s score.

You also pay more than for the Sunbeam XL. That makes sense if sous vide is part of your plan; it’s harder to justify if you simply want a large pot for pressure and slow cooking.

Our verdict: Buy the Duo Plus if you’ll use sous vide alongside larger-batch cooking. For capacity at a lower price, we’d choose the Sunbeam XL.

How we chose

These reviews are based on owner ratings at The Good Guys, maker specifications, and price and stock checks at Amazon Australia, JB Hi-Fi and The Good Guys where listed. We weigh review counts alongside scores, then judge cooking functions and price against the needs each pick serves. All seven were in stock at Amazon Australia when checked.

Multi cooker buying guide

If dinner takes too long, check the cooking method

The best multipurpose cooker is the one that handles the meals you actually make. Pressure cooking, slow cooking and deep frying aren’t interchangeable, even when the appliance carries the same broad “multi cooker” label.

Choose a listed pressure-cooking model if that’s the method you want. Choose the Sunbeam DF4500 if deep frying is part of the reason you’re buying. Don’t assume a cooker has a function just because another model does.

If you cook for a crowd, check portions as well as litres

Use capacity to narrow the list, then check the maker’s stated portions and the recipe’s fill requirements. A pot’s litre figure isn’t a promise that every recipe can use that entire volume.

For regular family meals, start with the size you’ll use most often. Extra capacity is worth paying for when you batch cook or entertain, rather than because it looks better on the box.

If washing up puts you off, check the exact parts

“Non-stick” and “dishwasher-safe” answer different questions. The first concerns the cooking surface; the second tells you how a particular part can be washed.

Check the manual for the pot, lid and accessories individually. Don’t assume permission to put one part in the dishwasher applies to the whole appliance.

If you’re nervous about pressure cooking, look at release controls

Steam release is worth checking before purchase. A manual handle and hands-free release involve different levels of attention, and cooking-stage information can help you follow what’s happening.

Read the operating instructions before using a pressure cooker. Convenience features don’t replace following the specified release procedure.

If the budget is tight, pay for jobs rather than program counts

A long menu isn’t useful if you only make rice and stew. Write down the cooking methods you need, then compare the models that explicitly provide them.

A lower price is appealing, but missing specifications deserve attention too. Confirm capacity, required modes and cleaning instructions before clicking through to buy.

If you want dinner ready later, check scheduling limits

Delay start and keep warm do different jobs: one postpones cooking, while the other holds food after cooking. Follow the manual and food-storage instructions for the ingredients you’re using.

Treat both as scheduling tools, rather than assuming every recipe can safely sit waiting for hours.

You may also be interested in:

• The Best Slow Cookers for Hearty Home-cooked Meals
• The Best Stand Mixers in Australia
• The Best Health Grills for Cooking Low-fat Meals
• The Best Air Fryers for Cooking Healthier, Tastier Meals
• The Best Rice Cookers for Easy-to-Cook Fluffy Rice
• The Best Deep Fryers for Deep-Fried Food