--- description: Find out why CHEF iQ Smart Cooker is one of the best inventions of 2020. title: CHEF iQ Smart Cooker: The 100 Best Inventions of 2020 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt35bd5e82aaa35511/698a144c656a3f9540bdab5a/best-inventions-of-2020-CHEF-iQ-Smart-Cooker-4.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Nov 19, 2020 # Meals Made Easy CHEF iQ Smart Cooker by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close  Courtesy The multicooking renaissance continues: after the Instant Pot brought food-prep machines to the masses, the Chef iQ breaks ground by upping the tech factor and making it dummy-proof. The wi-fi-enabled cooker features sensors, software and a screen to guide you through some 200 recipes, with more added every day. But the Chef iQ ($200) isn’t just for newbies: an internal scale, variable pressure and release, and a “ferment” mode make the machine highly tweakable for gastro geeks. “We’re still missing restaurants,” says [Chef iQ](https://chefiq.com/ "undefined") CEO Ralph Newhouse, “but people have been able to use this to get some seriously good results.” _—Jesse Will_ **Buy now:** [CHEF iQ Smart Cooker](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0863JB424/ref=as%5Fli%5Fqf%5Fasin%5Fil%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=time-books-20&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=B0863JB424&linkId=eb04bb7f2161c29a1fc1ecc0cda9b3d8 "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/best-inventions-2020/5911384/chef-iq-smart-cooker/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/best-inventions-2020/5911384/chef-iq-smart-cooker/"},"headline":"Meals Made Easy","datePublished":"2020-11-19T13:51:47.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-02T23:46:03.479Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/best-inventions-2020/5911384/chef-iq-smart-cooker/","keywords":["list","franchise","best inventions","Best Inventions 2020"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt35bd5e82aaa35511/698a144c656a3f9540bdab5a/best-inventions-of-2020-CHEF-iQ-Smart-Cooker-4.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"creator":"TIME Staff","articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt35bd5e82aaa35511/698a144c656a3f9540bdab5a/best-inventions-of-2020-CHEF-iQ-Smart-Cooker-4.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/best-inventions-2020/5911384/chef-iq-smart-cooker/","name":"Meals Made Easy"}}]}] ```