The Crock-Pot Express is perfect for anyone wanting a cheaper pressure cooker option. It doesn’t cook foods as nicely as higher rated pressure cookers in our comparison, but it can still provide you with decent meals quickly. Since it only comes in a 6-quart size, it is best when used for a family of four or less.
Unfortunately, the company doesn’t make any larger or smaller sizes, so 6 quarts is all you can get. In our testing, this machine was able to handle the rice test with ease, cooking thoroughly and leaving the grains only slightly sticky. From start to finish, overall rice cooking took about 28 minutes and 28 seconds, which is on the longer side of our comparison. The pot roast recipe turned out decent, but our testers noted that it was somewhat dryer than preferred.
This pressure cooker features eight cooking presets, including meat/stew, beans/chili, rice/risotto, yogurt, poultry, dessert, soup and multigrain. You can also use the slow cook, steam or brown/sauté setting to get your food cooked just the way you want it. The simple interface allows you to change the amount of pressure and cook time applied to your food so you can get just the right consistency. If you like to schedule your meals in advance, this might not be the best device for you since the delay start feature can only be set for a maximum of four hours. Many pressure cookers let you program the device 24 hours in advance.
While the outer shell of this device is made of stainless steel, the inner pot is a metal blend with a non-stick coating. Many users have reported that the pot’s non-stick coating easily gets tarnished or dinged after its first few uses. The pot is machine washable but the company recommends that you hand wash it to maintain the inner coating. If you’d prefer a pressure cooker with a stainless steel pot, you might be interested in Instant Pot. The Crock-Pot Express wasn’t the easiest to clean, taking a few minutes longer to scrub off grime and food from the inner walls.
Crock-Pot covers this device with a one-year warranty, which is neither the best nor the worst coverage we’ve seen. It features plenty of safety precautions, like an airtight locking lid that only opens when the pressure has been released so you can feel safe using it. This machine is large for a 6-quart cooker, which might make it difficult to store in a cabinet, countertop or shelf.
