Which Saves More Time? AROMA 20-Cup Rice Cooker vs Instant Pot 6QT Duo
It’s not as easy as it sounds to decide between a dedicated rice cooker and a multi-purpose pressure cooker, both of which cook rice, both of which save effort. However, this isn’t only a question of rice. It has to do with the way you cook, how much time you wish to devote to having a machine to cook, and what else you want the machine to do. The AROMA 20-Cup Rice Cooker sells for about $49-$59 and is designed to perform one thing, with virtually no effort required: cook rice just right, every time, simply by pressing a button. The Instant Pot 6QT Duo is priced at approximately $99 – $109 and is capable of cooking a host of foods, such as rice, pressure cooking, slow cooking, sauteing, steaming, and much more, except not as easily.
The answer is: If you cook rice every day in your household and want a no-fuss cooking device, the AROMA is the one that’s easier to use and more difficult to get wrong. The Instant Pot can save you time in meal prep, not just on one dish, if you’re willing to invest a bit of time and are willing to learn how to use it to replace a few pots and pans.
Quick Comparison Table
Feature
AROMA 20-Cup Rice Cooker
Instant Pot 6QT Duo
Price
$49–$59
$99–$109
Type
Dedicated rice cooker
Multi-use pressure cooker
Capacity
20-Cup (cooked)
6 Quarts
Cook Time (White Rice)
25–30 min
12–15 min (pressure)
Keep Warm
Yes (up to 24 hrs)
Yes (up to 10 hrs)
Cooking Functions
1 (Rice only)
7 (Sauté, Steam, Slow Cook, etc.)
Pressure Cooking
No
Yes (High & Low)
Delay Timer
Yes
No
Ease of Use
One-button simplicity
Multiple settings & modes
Footprint
Compact, vertical
Larger, round
Best For
Families, frequent rice lovers
Meal preppers, versatile cooks
Pros
- One-button operation: Fill, press cook, walk away. No settings, no pressure valves, no modes to select.
- Perfect rice every single time. Engineered for rice and rice alone, delivering consistent, fluffy results across white, brown, and steam rice.
- Massive 20-cup capacity Cooks up to 20 cups of cooked rice, making it ideal for large families, meal prep, or gatherings.
- 24-hour keep warm: Keeps rice warm and ready for up to 24 hours without overcooking or drying out.
- Delay timer: Set it to have rice ready exactly when you walk in the door.
- Easy cleanup Non-stick inner pot washes quickly; fewer parts than a multi-cooker.
- Affordable at $49–$59. Exceptional value for a dedicated, reliable kitchen workhorse.
Cons
- Rice cannot pressure cook, sauté, slow cook, or prepare soups, beans, or stews.
- Slower than Instant Pot for rice. Takes 25–30 minutes versus 12–15 under pressure.
- No pressure cooking. Ingredients that benefit from pressure (tough meats, dried beans) must be prepared separately.
- Basic features: No app connectivity, no smart programs, no recipe guidance built in.
- A single-purpose item takes up counter space. A dedicated appliance adds to your kitchen footprint without the versatility to justify it for some.
AROMA 20-Cup Rice Cooker Review
The AROMA 20-Cup Rice Cooker is a no-nonsense, no-frills, and no-fuss machine. No confusing controls, no pressure valves, no sealing rings to check. You rinse your rice, water up to the line, press cook and you’re back to a warm, perfectly made pot of rice! This is why rice is a staple food in Asian-American homes, and the AROMA has treated it as such for decades.
It is a 20-cup capacity (cooked) and is one of the larger consumer rice cookers available. Rice is really useful for families that eat it every meal, for meal-preppers who cook a bunch of rice at the beginning of the week, and for dinner hosts. The delay timer is another extra convenience: Put it on before you leave for work and then return home to warm rice when you get there.
Key Features
The AROMA is really worth its keep warm setting. The maximum cooking time is 24 hours, which is a longer duration than the Instant Pot’s 10-hour maximum, and it keeps the rice at an optimum temperature for serving for a longer period. Also, it can maintain an optimum temperature for serving the rice for up to 24 hours, while the Instant Pot can only do so for 10 hours. This is a good benefit for people who have different eating schedules. The non-stick inner pot also makes wiping up much easier; usually, a quick rinse or short soak is enough.
The downside to AROMA is that it lacks versatility. It cooks rice. It does not sauté aromatics before cooking, it does not pressure cook dried beans in 30 minutes, it doesn’t make yogurt. If your kitchen already has appliances that do most of the things that the AROMA does, its simplicity can also be a benefit.
Bottom Line
If you’re always using rice and want no hassle, the AROMA 20-Cup Rice Cooker is the perfect option for you. It is so easy to operate, has a huge capacity and offers a 24-hour keep-warm feature, making it the fastest and most reliable way to have rice ready, on demand and without a second thought.
Pros
- 7-in-1 functionality Replaces a pressure cooker, slow cooker, rice cooker, steamer, sauté pan, yogurt maker, and food warmer.
- Faster rice under pressure Cooks white rice in 12–15 minutes using high-pressure mode.
- Pressure cooking unlocks speed, cuts cooking time for tough ingredients (beans, meats, grains) by up to 70%.
- Large, versatile capacity 6-quart pot handles full roasts, soups, and one-pot family meals.
- 10+ safety mechanisms. Pressure lid with multiple sensors makes pressure cooking beginner-safe.
- Excellent for batch meal prep. One-pot recipes reduce total cooking and cleanup time significantly.
Cons
- Steeper learning curve: Modes, sealing valves, and pressure release options take time to understand.
- Rice quality varies. Without a dedicated rice setting calibrated like AROMA’s, rice texture can be inconsistent until you dial in the ratio.
- No delay timer. You cannot schedule it to start cooking while you’re away.
- More parts to clean: the lid, sealing ring, float valve, and pot all require separate cleaning.
- More expensive. At $99–$109, it costs roughly twice the AROMA.
- Keep warm, limited to 10 hours. Less useful for households that eat at unpredictable times.
Instant Pot 6QT Duo Review
There’s a reason why the Instant Pot 6QT Duo is one of the top-selling kitchen appliances of the past ten years: it truly brings several appliances together into one pot. Cooked dried chickpeas in a pressure cooker for less than 40 minutes. Sauté onions and garlic directly in the insert, then slow-cook a braise on top without transferring. Cook vegetables in minutes with steam. Make yogurt overnight. Cook rice under pressure for 12–15 minutes. The Instant Pot is a big time-saver for those who cook a diverse array of meals and don’t want to spend as much time cleaning up.
This contains 7 cooking programs and a straightforward dial and button interface; the Duo is the most popular model, with a cooktop that can reach a maximum temperature of 500 degrees. The most prominent feature is pressure cooking, which is how it gets its name: ingredients cook quickly under high pressure compared to normal cooking times. A 3-hour pot roast is done in less than an hour. This is the total time for a dried bean dish that needs to be soaked overnight and simmered for 2 hours.
Key Features
The Instant Pot yields good results when it comes to rice pressure, with a 1:1 water ratio taking about 12 to 15 minutes for white rice. But it does need mindful attention to the sealing valve and pressure release timing. Quick release and natural release have an effect on texture; usually, a few trial runs are necessary before the results become consistent. After dialing in, it’s quick. However, the AROMA does not have to be calibrated.
It has 10 safety features in the pressure lid, which render it much safer to use than older stovetop pressure cookers. The float valve, lid-lock detection and automatic pressure regulation are all linked to prevent accidents. It’s easy to use, but there is a learning curve compared to a simple rice cooker.
Bottom Line
If you’re looking to have one cooker serve you as many purposes as you possibly can, you need a product like the Instant Pot 6QT Duo. It saves not only more time for various recipes, but fewer pots and pans and allows for cooking methods that the AROMA can’t compete! The easier road may not be the right one if you are mainly looking for a quick and easy recipe that will be spot on.
Performance Comparison
Category
AROMA 20-Cup
Instant Pot 6QT
Winner
Rice Cooking Speed
Moderate (25–30 min)
Fast (12–15 min)
Instant Pot
Rice Texture Quality
Consistently fluffy
Good with adjustment
AROMA
Ease of Use
One-button simplicity
Multiple modes to learn
AROMA
Versatility
Rice only
7-in-1 functions
Instant Pot
Keep Warm Duration
Up to 24 hours
Up to 10 hours
AROMA
Cleanup
Non-stick, easy wash
More parts to clean
AROMA
Safety
Basic thermal
10+ safety mechanisms
Instant Pot
Value for Rice
Excellent
Good
AROMA
Family Meal Prep
Large batch rice
Full-meal cooking
Instant Pot
AROMA vs Instant Pot Key Matchups
Cooking Speed
On pure cooking time, the Instant Pot wins for rice under pressure: 12–15 minutes versus the AROMA’s 25–30 minutes. But this comparison is misleading in practice. The Instant Pot requires time to come up to pressure (typically 8–12 additional minutes) and then a pressure release period after cooking. Factor those in, and the total elapsed time is closer to 30–40 minutes, not significantly faster than the AROMA. For other dishes, the Instant Pot’s pressure cooking genuinely saves substantial time: beans from dried take 40 minutes instead of 2+ hours; tough meats are fork-tender in a fraction of the usual time.
Cooking Speed Winner: Instant Pot (for diverse meals); AROMA (for rice simplicity)
Ease of Use
The AROMA wins this matchup without question. A single button press handles everything. There is no valve to set, no pressure mode to select, no steam release to manage, and no timing for the natural release. You press Cook. You walk away. You come back to finished rice. The Instant Pot’s interface is straightforward by multi-cooker standards, but it asks the user to understand concepts like pressure release methods, sealing versus venting, and the difference between high and low pressure settings. For rice specifically, getting a consistent texture takes a few attempts.
Ease of Use Winner: AROMA (by a wide margin for rice)
Versatility
The Instant Pot isn’t close to the AROMA here; it wins by design. It can pressure cook, slow cook, sauté, steam, make yogurt, and keep warm. The AROMA cooks rice. If you’re evaluating these appliances purely on what they can do, the Instant Pot replaces more tools and handles more recipes. For households that cook a variety of dishes, the Instant Pot’s versatility saves more total time over the course of a week.
Versatility Winner: Instant Pot
Keep Warm & Timing
The AROMA’s 24-hour keep-warm period is a genuine advantage for busy households. Set the delay timer before work, come home to warm rice, eat whenever the schedule allows. The Instant Pot’s keep-warm maxes out at 10 hours and has no delay start feature at all. For anyone who values having cooked food ready on their schedule rather than theirs, the AROMA’s timing features are meaningfully better.
Keep Warm & Timing Winner: AROMA
Rice Quality
For rice, the AROMA produces more consistently perfect results with no effort. It was built for this one task and optimized accordingly. The Instant Pot can produce excellent rice, but it requires the right water ratio, the right pressure setting, and the right release method and results can vary until those are calibrated. Long-term, an experienced Instant Pot user will get great rice. Out of the box, the AROMA wins.
Rice Quality Winner: AROMA
Cleanup
The AROMA has one inner pot, a glass lid, and a measuring cup. All clean easily. The Instant Pot has an inner pot, a lid with multiple gaskets and valves, a sealing ring that absorbs odors over time, and a float valve that needs occasional attention. The AROMA wins on cleanup convenience, particularly for daily use.
Cleanup Winner: AROMA
Best Appliance by Use Case
Use Case | AROMA | Instant Pot | Winner |
Daily rice for the family | ✅ | ✅ | AROMA (simpler, set-and-forget) |
Meal prep with variety | ⚠️ | ✅ | Instant Pot |
Large batch cooking (parties) | ✅ | ⚠️ | AROMA (20-cup capacity) |
Quick weeknight dinners | ⚠️ | ✅ | Instant Pot |
Budget-conscious households | ✅ | ⚠️ | AROMA |
Soups, stews, beans | ❌ | ✅ | Instant Pot |
Delayed/timed cooking | ✅ | ❌ | AROMA |
Kitchen with limited space | ✅ | ⚠️ | AROMA |
Beginner cooks | ✅ | ⚠️ | AROMA |
Experienced meal preppers | ⚠️ | ✅ | Instant Pot |
Which Should You Buy?
Choose the AROMA 20-Cup Rice Cooker if:
- Rice is a daily staple, and you want it ready without any effort or decision-making.
- You cook for a large family and need 20 cups of cooked rice at a time.
- You want to set it before work and return to warm rice via the delay timer.
- Simplicity is your priority: one button, no pressure valves, no modes.
- You are on a tighter budget and don’t need multi-cooking functions.
- Cleanup time matters fewer parts, faster washing.
Choose the Instant Pot 6QT Duo if:
- You want one appliance to replace many: a pressure cooker, a slow cooker, a steamer, and a sauté pan.
- You meal prep diverse dishes and need more than just rice from a single appliance.
- You cook proteins, soups, or dried beans that benefit from pressure cooking.
- Speed across all meal types matters, not just rice, but full one-pot meals.
- You don’t mind a short learning curve to unlock the appliance’s full potential.
- The budget allows for the higher upfront cost of a more versatile appliance.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does the AROMA 20-Cup Rice Cooker only cook white rice?
No. While white rice is its primary use, the AROMA also cooks brown rice, steamed rice, and in some models, supports a steaming tray for vegetables or fish cooked simultaneously. However, it does not pressure cook, sauté, or slow cook; those functions require a different appliance.
Is the Instant Pot faster than the AROMA for cooking rice?
On paper, yes, 12–15 minutes of cooking time versus 25–30. In practice, the Instant Pot also needs 8–12 minutes to reach pressure and several minutes for pressure release, making total elapsed time roughly comparable. For rice alone, the time savings are minimal. For other dishes that benefit from pressure cooking, the Instant Pot is dramatically faster.
Can the Instant Pot replace a dedicated rice cooker?
For most households, yes, particularly after the user learns the right water ratio and pressure release method for their preferred rice type. However, dedicated rice cookers like the AROMA consistently produce more foolproof results because they are calibrated exclusively for rice. If rice texture matters deeply to you and you eat rice daily, a dedicated cooker is still worth having.
Which is better for large families?
The AROMA’s 20-cup capacity gives it a clear edge for volume cooking. The Instant Pot’s 6-quart pot holds a substantial amount, but for households eating rice at every meal with 6 or more people, the AROMA’s capacity is more practical. For full-meal cooking (proteins, grains, and vegetables together), the Instant Pot’s versatility wins.
Does the Instant Pot have a delay timer?
No. The Instant Pot 6QT Duo does not include a delay start or timer feature. You must be present to start it manually. The AROMA’s delay timer is a genuine advantage if you want food ready on a schedule without being in the kitchen.
Which is easier to clean?
The AROMA is easier. One non-stick pot, a glass lid, and a rice paddle are all that need cleaning. The Instant Pot requires cleaning the inner pot, a lid with gaskets and valves, a sealing ring that retains odors over time, and a float valve. For daily use, this difference adds up over weeks and months.
Is the Instant Pot worth the extra $50?
It depends entirely on how you use it. If you only want to cook rice, the extra $50 is hard to justify. The AROMA does rice better with less effort for less money. If you will genuinely use the pressure cooking, slow cooking, and sauté functions on a regular basis, the Instant Pot repays that investment quickly by replacing multiple appliances and reducing overall cooking and cleanup time.
Final Verdict
AROMA 20-Cup Rice Cooker: The Rice-First Household’s Choice
With rice as a staple food item, and the quickest, most reliable and easiest way to get a perfect pot, AROMA 20-Cup Rice Cooker has the edge. Its user-friendliness, the ability to keep warm for 24 hours, and the delay timer, along with its generous capacity, are tailored to make rice a no-brainer in your kitchen. It costs $49–$59 and offers great value for the performance it offers, and then some, as no other multi-cooker in the market can offer.
If you want an appliance that can actually change your weekly cooking methods, cook your beans and grains significantly faster, and reduce the need for a ton of appliances, the Instant Pot 6QT Duo is the better long-term bet. It can save you more time over a wide range of culinary weeks, although it will take a little time to master and may cost more initially.
The Bottom Line
The answers to these two questions are provided by these two appliances. Is speed and simplicity what you’re looking for with rice or efficiency in the kitchen overall? Every day, the AROMA 20-Cup saves the most time on rice, with ease. The Instant Pot 6QT Duo can save the most time in your entire meal plan. Both of these are not bad options, just they save time in different locations.
Ready to decide?
Check current prices and availability on Amazon for both appliances.