REVIEW – Pressure cookers are not new technology, but it has been interesting to watch how the cooking scene has changed since the Insta-Pot came out. An all-in-one cooking solution that does more than just pressure cooking, the concept has become widely popular. The Midea WideMax 12-in-1 pressure cooker is built on that concept and has quite a few different functions built in. Read on to see how their take on a pressure cooker does in testing!

What is it?

The Midea WideMax 12-in-1 multi-cooker is an 6.5 quart Insta-Pot style cooker with a number of different built-in functions to aid in cooking a wide variety of meals.

What’s included?

• Midea WideMax 12-in-1 multi-cooker
• Steamer
• Rice Scoop
• Small Ladle
• Measuring Cup
• Condensation cup
• 2 Recipe booklets
• User Guide
• Power cable

Tech specs

• Capacity: 6.5 quart
• Rated Power: 1500W
• Working Pressure: 80 kPa

Design and features

This pressure cooker is a squarish body with a circular pot in the middle. It initially threw me off a little, but once I figured out how to open it up it was fine. Included in the package is a rice scoop, small ladle, small trivet, a couple of recipe books, and a user manual.

Assembly, Installation, Setup

Out of the box, this pressure cooker only requires a quick wash before it’s ready to go. There is a large rubber seal that sits on the inside of the lid that you have to remove, wash, dry and replace after washing and drying the lid itself.

Performance

The Midea WideMax 12-in-1 multi-cooker is a great pressure cooker. One of my favorite features is visible right on top. It is a pressure release switch that allows you to release pressure without having to put your hand anywhere near the pressure valve. The pressure valve is also housed in a little chamber that you can see below that directs the steam back and away from the front of the pressure cooker.

You can see below the direction of the steam towards the back of the pressure cooker. This is another one of my favorite features. It both directs the steam and also prevents a lot of the liquid from splattering all over. 

We’ve used the pressure cooker to make a number of different dishes over the past weeks. We have a great macaroni and cheese recipe that my kids love and it worked great. If you have a favorite Insta-Pot recipe, it will work equally well if not better in this.

One of my biggest issues with this whole setup is that the User Guide is not great. Some of the features took some trial and error to figure out. The durations/settings are all very handy, but you have to kind of figure it out on your own. 

You can make a lot of rice in a 6.5 quart pressure cooker. I didn’t max it out, because there’s no way I can go through that much rice in a reasonable amount of time. I did make 4 cups and it performed well, once I figure out what the right water/rice ratio in the cooker should be.

I love cooking black beans in pressure cookers because it’s so easy to do and you can start from dry beans and have finished black beans within an hour or so. This is the one cook I missed catching a picture on, but they cooked up great.

The Midea WideMax 12-in-1 multi-cooker’s slow cooker function works very well. It’s very much a set it and forget it function. We made a zuppa copycat recipe and once it was ready to finish we used the sauce thicken feature to add the final ingredients. This was one of those trial and error moments. The High level is very, very high. If you want a very hard boil very quickly, this will do the job. If you want a mild simmer, you have to use the Level button to dial it down to Low. At that level it’s perfect.

The Keep Warm function is great and keeps the heat at an even and consistent temperature.

The heat retention on this pressure cooker is great. We closed up the pressure cooker and took it to a meal with friends and it held the heat very well and was ready to go once we got there.

What I like about the Midea WideMax 12-in-1 Pressure Cooker

• The number of functions is great and fairly intuitive to use (which is good because the User Guide doesn’t help much)
• A pressure release switch that doesn’t require potentially burning your fingers!
• Great heat retention during travel
• Steam vent backwards

What needs to be improved?

• Better user guide. Basic instructions for cooking rice, beans, and other items would be very useful

Final thoughts

I have been very impressed by the Midea WideMax pressure cooker. So much so, it is going to replace our Insta-Pot. It’s just easier to use, is a little larger, and has better features. You may have to go through a bit of trial and error, but it didn’t take long to figure things out. I still definitely recommend and think it’s a great addition to the kitchen.

Price: $129
Where to buy: Amazon, Midea
Source: The sample of this product was provided for free by Midea. Midea did not have a final say on the review and did not preview the review before it was published.