The Cuisinart CPC-600 electric pressure cooker has been on the market for a number of years and appears to be popular and affordable. How do you use the Cuisinart CPC-600? What accessories are included with this electric pressure cooker? Are you able to cook rice with it? How does it compare to an Instant Pot pressure cooker? Keep reading to learn the answers to these basic questions.

Cuisinart CPC-600: Overview

How do you cook meals faster, but still eat healthier?

You might achieve this paradoxical result with the Cuisinart CPC-600 electric pressure cooker. It reduces cooking time by up to 70%. The nutrients and juices are kept in the tightly sealed pot and does not evaporate away.

The Cuisinart CPC-600 is a 1000-watt kitchen gadget with a 6-quart capacity. Its cooking pot has a non-stick coating (PFOA free) which is dishwasher safe. However, the non-stick coating will not last as long as a stainless steel pot.

The CPC-600 loses points in our eyes because of its non-stick cooking pot. The only part of the CPC-600 that is made from stainless steel seems to be its housing. It has a brushed stainless steel exterior that is fingerprint-proof and easy to wipe clean. Of course, this might be a drawback if a thief ever steals the pressure cooker. There will be no fingerprints on the cooker housing to trace and catch the thief!

There are quite a few plastic components, but all the materials that might touch the food are BPA free.

Control Panel

The Cuisinart CPC-600 has a control panel with fewer buttons and settings than other electric pressure cookers. It has a simple LED display for counting down the cooking time, a few indicator lights and only three buttons.

There are no individual buttons for each preset. Instead, you press the MENU button to select the preset program. There are six menu programs to choose:

• Low Pressure
• High Pressure
• Browning (hot setting for searing food with lid off)
• Sauté (cook food without browning surfaces)
• Simmer (cooks at a lower temperature)
• Keep Warm (automatic, up to 12 hours maximum)

Does it have a delay timer?

No, the Cuisinart CPC-600 does not have a timer function for delayed start cooking. The TIME button allows you to set the total pressure-cooking time from 1 minute up to 99 minutes. The START/CANCEL button either starts or cancels the cooking process.

What is included?

The Cuisinart CPC-600 comes with a non-stick cooking pot and a metal trivet (wire rack). It also comes with an instruction booklet/recipe booklet. The recipes are printed on the reverse side of the instruction manual.

The recipe booklet contains pressure-cooking tips and hints. Most importantly, it also includes charts with suggested pressure-cooking times and pressure release methods for poultry, meat, vegetables, rice, grains and dried beans. The charts are important because the CPC-600 does not have preset programs for different food types.

The recipe booklet contains a few good recipes. It has recipes for cooking grains, beans, soups, side dishes and main course meals. It even has a handful of pressure cooker recipes for desserts, such as lemon cheesecake and creamy rice pudding. You can buy an electric pressure cooker recipe book if you want even more recipes.

The Cuisinart CPC-600 electric pressure cooker has a limited 3-year warranty.

Can it pressure cook rice?

The Cuisinart CPC-600 can cook rice. Its recipe booklet contains a chart with rice/grain types, cooking time, pressure setting and pressure release information. It also provides a table with rice amount, butter/oil amounts and yield amount.

Rice that is cooked in the CPC-600 tends to be softer and stickier than rice cooked on a stove. It is more like rice cooked in an electric rice cooker. Cooking rice under pressure probably makes it a little softer. The high pressure only reduces the total cooking time by a few minutes when compared to an electric rice cooker.

Cuisinart CPC-600 vs. Instant Pot Duo Plus

How does the Cuisinart CPC-600 compare to a newer 6-quart electric pressure cooker such as the Instant Pot Duo Plus?

Let us start with the retail prices. The Instant Pot Duo Plus costs about 25% to 30% more than the Cuisinart CPC-600. However, the Duo Plus offers you more preset programs and a delayed start function. It also has a blue LCD screen which is large and easy to read.

Next, let us consider the cooking pots. The Duo Plus has a stainless steel cooking pot which will last much longer and is safer to use for food preparation. The CPC-600 cooking pot has a non-stick coating which will inevitably flake off.  You have to buy a new pot when this eventually happens.

We would probably pay a little more to own the better features and stainless steel cooking pot of the Instant Pot Duo Plus.

Cuisinart CPC-600: Verdict

The biggest drawback of the Cuisinart CPC-600 is probably its non-stick cooking pot. The non-stick coating will eventually wear off. You will need to buy a new pot, which might turn out to be an expensive replacement.

The Cuisinart CPC-600 is recommended for people who do not want to struggle with a stove top pressure cooker. It makes pressure-cooking much easier and safer for people who are not familiar with this cooking method. However, if you like the idea of pressure-cooking various dishes by simply pressing a preset button, then the CPC-600 might not be the best option for you. It does not have presets for specific food types, only menu options for low/high pressure, browning, sauté, simmer and keep warm.

All in all, the Cuisinart CPC-600 seems to be an affordable introduction to electric pressure-cooking. Still, it would have been better if it did not have that non-stick cooking pot (check price on Amazon).