Midea 6L Multi Pressure Cooker Review: Affordable, versatile, and beginner-friendly

While the rest of Australia is settling into Spring, we’re still getting some cold temperatures down here in Canberra, and some nice hearty curries and more have been on the menu. Midea’s 6L Pressure cooker has found its way into my kitchen, and it’s been a blast – but not literally.

The pressure cooker is priced at $149 RRP, but often drops below making it a great bargain for anyone wanting to make their kitchen life faster, and easier.

To start with….what is a pressure cooker? It’s pretty simple, a sealed metal pot you can cook food under pressure. Food cooked under pressure cooks faster, making your time in the kitchen shorter. 

I’ll admit to being a little intimidated by a pressure cooker – any physcial volume under pressure can be a little scary and at 60kPA, it’s under a lot of pressure – which is also what makes this a great pressure cooker.

While I’ve been intimidated previously, that’s no longer the case. After a month using the Midea 6L Multi Pressure Cooker (MPC60010ADKH) I’m sold and you really should check it out.

Features and Design

The Midea 6L Multi Pressure Cooker  is a multi-function 8-in-1 cooker with  12 pre-programmed functions for ease of use including pre-sets to cook Meat, Poultry and Vegetables, or specify a Curry, Soup, Broth, Chilli and Rice, as well as options to Steam, Saute, Slow Cook and Roast.

It comes in a large box, with the removable inner pot already installed and enclosed by the lid which includes the exhaust for the pressure cooker. 

The inner pot is coated with a non-stick coating making it easy to clean and lessening the need for more oils. It also has a line on the side showing cup depths – handy for rice cooking.

At 5.7L capacity, the pot was large enough to cook for a three-person household with a couple of spare meals left over. Midea sells a smaller 5L, and larger 8L versions if you think you may need less, or more capacity. 

Inside the pot was a power cable and user manual as well as a handy scoop and water container – all of which (minus the manual) I just stored in the cooker between uses. 

The power cable separates from the base for convenience and storage. It’s a standard three-prong kettle cord you’ll likely have a few spares around the house, if you ever need one. 

The cooker itself comes with a large, easy to read LCD control panel that shows the time, with a well laid out control panel that lists off each of the 12 functions, as well as making additional buttons easy to access. 

On the lid, the handle across the top is sturdy and easy to gain leverage to twist the lid open. The pressure release is at the back, and it’s here I have my only piece of feedback on the physical machine – that valve should have highlighted positions. 

As it stands, the icons are simply black on black. Making it very hard to see – especially with my old eyes.  A little white highlighting here would go a long way.

The unit has a decent footprint, but not overly large and dominating the bench space. We tend to keep appliances off the bench when not in use, so that saves on some space. 

Cooking

Once you’ve cooked with a pressure cooker a few times, you’ll be excited by the speed at which you can get things done. 

The hardest part I found was learning to adjust recipes for a pressure cooker. 

It uses less liquid, and I found I just started looking up pressure cooker recipes. 

I was slightly disappointed to not receive a sample cookbook in the box. I’ve had several appliances from Breadmakers to the Ninja Creami, show up with how-to recipes which are a great way to learn to use the machine and try some delicious examples of what it can do. 

One of the best places I found was Aussie stalwart – Nagi Maehashi, otherwise known as RecipeTinEats. She has a range of one-pot recipes, with most showing a Pressure Cooker option to adjust ingredients. 

The Midea Pressure Cooker lets you seal meat, brown onion and garlic and more using the saute function – a handy addition, and saves on the washing up afterwards. 

I’ve made a few things. A nice ragu that I made into a lasagne, a few soups and a curry – even using it regularly for cooking simple basics like potatoes for mashing, and rice. 

The advantage here is the speed. Rice? 5 minutes. Potatoes? 10 minutes –  with a couple of minutes to cool down after with the pressure release valve open and you’re done. 

There is a little build up time, but it’s a lot faster than boiling potatoes in a pot. 

Cleanup

The clean up is easy. 

The inner pot comes out and you can clean it with detergent and a soft cloth, the non-stick coating makes everything slough off fairly easily.

The unit itself can be wiped down, and the seal ring, block proof cover, exhaust valve core and float valve from the lid can all be removed for easy cleaning.

Once it’s clean and dry it’s good to be stored. 

Final Thoughts

The initial hesitation over a pressure cooker has abated after just a few easy sessions with the Midea Pressure Cooker. 

It’s easy to use, and the only things I’d like would be clearer markings on the pressure release, and maybe a sample recipe book. But all that is easy to get past, and there are a ton of creators out there who can show you pressure cooker recipes. 

There’s obviously a choice between sizes, but for a 3-person family the 6L model worked really well – and gave us the option to cook for more people if we have guests over. 

It’s well made, easy to clean and cooks like a dream. Worth it if you’re looking for some easy one-pot meals without too much fuss. 

Check it out on the Midea website.