Rice cookers - opinions please

[Caneel]

Cooking rice on the stove top is not one of my strengths or preferred methods. It just never seem to turn out as good as when I do it in my steamer.

My steamer has a small bowl for rice but it only holds one cup, which is not enough for meals and leftovers.

I am considering a rice cooker and looking for opinions and recommendations.

[Pinoikoi]

We have gone through several rice cookers at this point. We make rice every day. I can't recall brands off the top of my head, but I can give a couple of pointers to look for.. Our biggest issue has been feet and lids.. One rice cooker had a foot pop off and it sat with a measuring cup under it for some time before it finally died. Another rice cooker had a plastic handle on the lid that melted and then broke off.. (the lid itself was glass, and it was fine, I just had to pull the hot lid off with a fork which was annoying).. we are on our third rice cooker now, and it has no steam hole in the lid, so when it is making rice the lid is getting jostled around as the steam tries to escape on the edge.. makes kind of a racket..

So those are some things NOT to look for- plastic feet and lid handles are bad. Get a cooker with a steam vent.

[tinuviel_k]

Its on the expensive side, but I LOVE my Zojirushi rice cooker: http://www.amazon.com/Zojirushi-NS-Z...3934007&sr=8-1

I really prefer the "fuzzy logic" (computerized) rice cookers over the "on/off" rice cookers. I cook all kinds of rice in mine: white of various varieties, brown, mixed with veggies, congee... I also cook beans in it, oatmeal, quinoa, and lots of other goodies. My favorite feature is the timer: I can load up the rice cooker at noon (or whenever), set it to finish cooking at 5:45pm, and then walk away from it. I use this feature often in the evening for oatmeal, so that I can put the oats, butter, salt, and syrup in the cooker and then wake up to hot oatmeal in the morning.

If you go with a rice cooker like mine I'd recommend checking out the Ultimate Rice Cooker Cookbook: http://www.amazon.com/Ultimate-Rice-...3934307&sr=8-1
It has tons of neat recipes for all sorts of foods that you can make in the rice cooker. It also gives specific water-to-rice ratios for many of the different kinds of rice out there: short grain, jasmine, basmatti, and lots more.

[Ola_]

We had an inexpensive rice cooked from a grocery store and it was awful, when the rice was cooking the lid would jump around and spray starchy rice water all over the counter. Yuck! It looked kind of like this: http://dualelectronics.com/shop/imag...ker%202210.jpg

Now we have a Zojirushi and it's fabulous! It looks similar to the one posted by the PP though I think it's a slightly different model. It's nice and light (I store it in a cabinet under the counter and it's easy to pull out), cooks rice very well, no sputtering, easy to clean. It also has options to time the rice so it will be done when you get home, etc. It does take longer than the previous rice cooker (say maybe 45 min for white rice and an hour 15 min for brown?) but it has a "quick" option you can use which is much faster. It's really a great appliance, I recommend it.

[ollyoxenfree]

For years I've resisted getting a rice cooker on the grounds that it's not something I really need. I can cook rice in a pot on the stovetop without any problems. I realized though that it would be great to use a rice cooker and free up another element, especially if I'm cooking for guests, which is exactly when I would be making a big pot of rice. So I recently decided to get one, and I've done a fair amount of research. Everything I've read recommends the Zojirushi, and that's what I've decided on.

[Drummer's Wife]

LOVE, love, love my rice cooker (and it's one of the cheapie ones). I'd love to get a fancier, bigger one b/c we eat a lot of rice and are a family of six. I use it 3-4 times per week, mostly brown rice, but occasionally white. Easy-peasy and always perfect rice.

[luv-my-boys]

We love rice in our house and it was always a chore to cook it because frankly I burned it quite frequently and with buying organic rice it was $$ issues that drove me to get a rice cooker.


I LOVE it. We have an Aroma 7 cup rice cooker. we have had it about a yr now and we use it at least 1-2x a week. It can make a lot of rice and has a glass lid w/steam vent. It also can hold your rice after cooking and keep it warm without continuing to cook it. the internal pot is removable and easily cleaned. the rice is moist and tender, not hard or dried out. LOVE LOVE LOVE it, it was a gift from DH and honestly it was a good choice. Plus it can be used with the alternate insert fro steaming food if you wish.

http://www.amazon.com/Aroma-ARC-717-...3943316&sr=8-4

[LianneM]

I've never actually cooked rice without a rice cooker...

My parents had one when I was growing up (they got it when we lived in Japan and ate a ton of rice) so I got one when I got married. It's an Oster with a glass lid (that sprays starchy water sometimes) and I hate it but I've had it almost 10 years and it works great I'm ready to get a better one now, though - definitely one with a hinged lid like the Zojirushi.

[katelove]

We don't have one yet but something I leaarned recently was that they use much less power than cooking rice on an electric stove top, so more environmentally friendly. Just thought I'd throw that in there.

[Sol_y_Paz]

I love my rice cooker. We use it often.
Mine looks a lot like this and it is great for us.http://www.yoursmartkitchen.com/stor..._41756126.html

[StephandOwen]

Originally Posted by Sol_y_Paz

I love my rice cooker. We use it often.
Mine looks a lot like this and it is great for us.http://www.yoursmartkitchen.com/stor..._41756126.html

I think that's the same one I just emailed dp hinting for my b-day Glad it got good reviews from you!

[oiseau]

I have this one: http://www.quickspice.com/cgi-bin/So...html?E+scstore

and I love it. I inherited it when my Japanese roommate moved back to Japan. It's not very big, but it's just my boyfriend and me, so it works for us. It probably makes about 6 cups of rice if I fill it completely full (ok, I just looked at the page I linked to and it says 3 cups. It seems like more than that!).
I'd highly recommend going for one with all the fancy settings (like a timer so you can set it up in the morning and have cooked, warm rice when you get home).

[Irishmommy]

A poster mentioned cooking oatmeal in it. What about rice pudding?

[allnaturalmom]

We don't really eat enough rice to justify the purchase of a cooker. If we did, though, I would get the one without the non-stick coating inside. It's just stainless steel. In the past I have made it in the pressure cooker... fast and very easy!

gl
hth

[ScarletBegonias]

source for non-aliminum/teflon rice cooker?

i have found a rice cooker indispensable, but does anyone know of a reliable rice cooker with a pot that is not aluminum or teflon coated? we are a cast-iron/stainless steel/glass/wood kind of kitchen, we don't use plastic or other non-natural types of cookware/serveware. i would love to hear a good recommendation!

eta: also one that doesn't cost $100 or something crazy!

[allnaturalmom]

Originally Posted by ScarletBegonias

i have found a rice cooker indispensable, but does anyone know of a reliable rice cooker with a pot that is not aluminum or teflon coated? we are a cast-iron/stainless steel/glass/wood kind of kitchen, we don't use plastic or other non-natural types of cookware/serveware. i would love to hear a good recommendation!

eta: also one that doesn't cost $100 or something crazy!

This is the one I was looking at:
http://www.simply-natural.biz/Miracl...ice-Cooker.php

hth

[ScarletBegonias]

thanks mama! i saw some when i searched, but it's always nicer to have someone's else's research to help too! the price is good too. thanks!

[Caneel]

Thanks so much for all the recommendations!