An Electric Dutch Oven Is My New Favorite Slow Cooker | Epicurious

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Old-school marketing theory dictates that humans need to see something new on three separate occasions before it sticks, but I only had to see an electric Dutch oven twice to notice a new trend in slow-cooking. The first device to catch my eye was the Vermicular Musui-Kamado, a gorgeous Japanese cast-iron induction cooker—designed to mimic the traditional Japanese wood-burning stove, but also to steam rice and “steam roast”—released in the U.S. in February of 2019 (December 2016 in Japan). The second was the Instant Precision Dutch Oven, the latest offering from the maker of that nearly ubiquitous multi-cooker. (All-Clad also makes an electric Dutch oven, and I expect to see more brands launch similar devices over the next few years.)

The Vermicular Musui-Kamado and Instant Precision Dutch Oven both have two main components: an enameled cast-iron Dutch oven that’s set inside a base with a recessed electric heating element (much like in a slow cooker). Both have digital control panels with precise temperature control for searing, braising, slow-cooking, and even proofing dough. And both Dutch ovens can be removed from the base unit and used on gas and induction cooktops as well as in the oven. These are small appliances that have most of the versatility of an Instant Pot and then some—minus the the ability to cook under pressure. But the Vermicular Musui-Kamado and Instant Precision Dutch Oven are not interchangeable.

Many Americans likely associate the word kamado with hefty ceramic grills like the Kamado Joe and the Big Green Egg, but those outdoor cookers are actually modeled on a traditional Japanese method of cooking in a ceramic pot over fire. The Vermicular Musui-Kamado is inspired by Japanese hearth cooking too, but it’s modified for the modern kitchen with a four-quart enameled cast-iron pot (Musui) and a high-end induction heating element (Kamado).

Mostly marketed as a rice cooker in Japan and billed as “the first cast-iron induction cooker” in the U.S., this multi-cooker can do everything the best rice cooker does and everything a slow cooker does, but better. Think perfectly cooked poultry, fork-tender root vegetables, fall-apart braises, creamy custards, and more. You can even bake cakes and bread in the Vermicular, but I rarely bake in my real oven, so I haven’t gone there yet.

The big promise of the Vermicular is precision, and it more than delivers in that department thanks to variable temperature control and a meticulously designed pot and lid. You can set the Musi to an exact degree between 90ºF and 200ºF and keep it there for up to 12 hours, so it can be used for some (but not all) sous vide–style cooking. Temperatures are preset for the higher-temp cooking modes: 230ºF for Extra Low, 300ºF for Low, and 445ºF for Medium. To use this machine for slow-cooking, you can manually set a temperature of 190ºF–200ºF for a safe low setting, or set it to Low (300ºF) for a typical slow-cooker high heat. (So, like I said, there’s a bit of a learning curve with this thing.)

Even with the somewhat confusing temperature controls, the rice cooking feature is reason enough to love the Musui-Kamado. It comes with two measuring cups: one for measuring rice and another for measuring water. The markings make measurements foolproof and once you’ve properly rinsed the rice, the machine takes care of everything else, no timers or fork-fluffing required. There is a little bit of a learning curve with the control panel, but the instructions are clear and the panel has automatic settings for four different kinds of rice, though you still have to select which type of rice and how much you’re cooking. The Vermicular even takes rice cooking one step further than traditional rice cookers with an automatic setting for making crispy-browned rice like you’d get with bibimbap served in a hot stone pot.

In addition to the induction base and Dutch oven, the Vermicular Musui-Kamado comes with a compact but super sturdy cast-iron lid rest, a comprehensive hardbound cookbook that’s nicer than any product-specific cookbook I’ve ever seen, and the aforementioned wet and dry measuring cups for rice.

Vermicular Musui–Kamado

Vermicular

Williams Sonoma

Food52

When Instant Brands discontinued its Aura slow cooker, it replaced it with this six-quart electric Dutch oven. The Instant Precision Dutch Oven has an electric (but not induction) heating element that can be dialed into any temperature between 77ºF and 400ºF, which means it can be used for almost anything you’d do on the stove, including frying an egg, caramelizing onions, and searing meat. If I were going to be without a cooktop, even for an extended period of time, I’d be happy to use this in its place. That said, you don’t want to deep-fry in this thing (the brand explicitly advises against it) and a tea kettle is still a more practical way to boil water, though I guess you could use the Instant Precision Dutch Oven for that purpose in a pinch. I haven’t attempted to cook rice in it, either, but it’s not marketed as a rice cooker and I couldn’t find any instructions for cooking rice in the included recipe booklet or online. The recipe book does have a few recipes for baked goods, but most require transferring the Dutch oven to a regular oven as a final step.

My biggest issue with the Instant Precision Dutch Oven is the slow-cooking settings, or lack thereof. For a machine with variable temperature control—especially one meant to replace a slow cooker—it’s odd that the slow-cook function only has one slow-cook setting (203ºF, which I confirmed within two degrees many times using an instant-read thermometer). There are, however, two manual modes, and Manual Mode #2 can be used as a workaround for a traditional “high” slow cooker setting by setting the temperature to 300ºF (the standard temperature for most slow cooker high settings) but only for three hours at at a time, which is kind of weird. When a cook in either mode is complete, the Instant Precision Dutch Oven automatically goes into Keep Warm mode and will stay there for three hours, unless canceled sooner.

Even with its quirks and limitations, I really like this multi-cooker, but wanted to get a second opinion, so I sent it home with my mother-in-law—who is equally enamored with her slow cooker and her Instant Pot—hoping it would get a little slow-cooking action. She said it cooked her hambone beautifully, but she did have a little trouble figuring out the control panel at first, and like many reviewers, she was annoyed by the single slow-cook setting. Her biggest complaint, though, was that it’s heavy—pretty much the weight of a big Le Creuset plus a slow-cooker base—so this isn’t necessarily something you’ll want to tote around to potlucks.

Overall, the Instant Precision Dutch Oven has a sleek look, even for something so big, and little details—like included silicone handles and trivet—are a nice touch. I also appreciate that the pot and lid are dishwasher-safe, and that the control panel has a very clear status indicator so you always know whether the machine is preheating, cooking, etc.

Instant Precision Dutch Oven

Amazon

Target

Williams Sonoma

Both the Vermicular Musui-Kamado and Instant Precision Dutch Oven boast sous vide cooking capabilities, so to test each, I attempted the quintessential sous vide recipe: a 63-degree egg. I filled each Dutch oven with enough cool tap water to fully submerge an egg and create a true water bath, then preheated each machine to 145ºF (63ºC). When each machine indicated that preheating was complete, I added one room-temperature egg and left them for two hours with the lids on. At the end of two hours, both eggs were on par with what I’d get with an immersion circulator—perfectly jammy yolks and barely set whites—confirming that both devices can reach and maintain precise temperatures suitable for sous vide (for up to 12 hours if necessary).

My husband likes to remind me that I have a very skewed definition of the word need, so I guess if you have a stove and a pot to cook in, no, you don’t technically need an electric Dutch oven. But there are certainly people who might benefit from replacing a small appliance or two with one of these devices, especially if you cook a lot of rice or want to start experimenting with sous vide cooking. Both machines are capable of slow-cooking, basic sous vide cooking, and just about anything you’d do on a stovetop (save for deep-frying). If you want to replace your slow cooker and your rice cooker, you won’t be disappointed with the Vermicular Musui-Kamado, but it’s an investment at around $700. If you mainly sear and slow-cook and you’re interested in exploring sous vide cooking, the Instant Precision Dutch oven gives you two more quarts of cooking space at less than a third of the price.

Vermicular Musui–Kamado

Vermicular

Williams Sonoma

Food52

Instant Precision Dutch Oven

Amazon

Target

Williams Sonoma