Rice cooker advice please
 

Would appreciate some advice from fellow FT'ers who own or have owned a rice cooker.

Does it produce better rice than simply using a pan? Were you pleased you bought one? Which is the best one to buy?

Thanks.

I resisted buying one for years, but now I have one I'll never go back to a pan - even though it was fine at the time. I generally use the cooker for japonica grains (koshihikari or Akita komachi) and the results are noticeably better than what I could get with the pan.
As to which is the best, it depends on where you are (and how much you're willing to pay). There are some amazing machines in japan, different technologies used including some that will wash your rice for you. The top of the range machines cost between 500 & 1,000usd and then there's the cost of the transformer and shipping.
I'm very happy with my EU Sanyo model,
Similar to this one http://www.japancentre.com/items/2674 which was under £90 about a year ago but with the exchange rates...
many people swear by their Zojirushi branded cookers. If budget is a concern, I'd recommend looking in to the Cuckoo brand as the Koreans are just as passionate about getting the best out of this style of rice.

Thanks for your advice. Cooking is my passion and fortunately my budget (within reason!) isn't a limiting factor.

I'd read about Zojirushi but unluckily I've only seen them on ebay and I think I'm prepared to compromise a bit to buy from within the UK as so much electrical stuff today seems to have faults....... a mini oven and humidifier this week both a few weeks old.

One thing I have read is that size is important! It seems that large capacity rice cookers cook small quantities less well than small ones. So I'm looking for a small reassuringly expensive one I think that has as many functions that helps cook and hold perfect rice.

Any feedback and advice appreciated.

I bought a cheap one in China (it would probably cost £50 in UK I guess) and it makes consistently good rice. These have largely replaced pans in China due to convenience, not due to better quality cooking. They don't burn the rice if you forget about them!

You are right about the size being important. The tendency is for the layer at the bottom of the metal container to become dry (some Chinese prefer this bit) and stuck together. A smaller one reduces the amount of rice that is wasted as a result of this

By all means buy an expensive one, I guess they will be more sophisticated that the cheap ones. But in my experience, the less expensive ones do a great job. Never seen one of the singing and dancing ones in a Chinese home, they regard them as a waste of money

nickyboy

Thanks .... you've made me think twice about "over spending" for the sake of it ...

What started the thinking about it was seeing so many Chinese families using these cookers when a pot would be cheaper .... and even older people who tend to be technology resistant seem to use them.

Thanks again.

I've just found Yum Asia who seem to be a couple who import the full range of Zojirushi.

Tempted!

Any opinions about them appreciated.

I bought this last week.
It was on offer then for €12.
It cookes the rice as good as any restaurant I've ever been in.
Spending a fortune on a rice cooker is a waste of money.

http://www.argos.ie/static/Product/p...ICE+COOKER.htm

We had a fancy one, gifted to us, damaged in a move. 5 years ago, I replaced it with a $9.99 minus $1.00 discount model at Walgreen's. Although about 1.5 cups of rice is "capacity", the results are as good, and with brown rice, better than the high dollar model.

The types/brands of rice you buy and how you treat them can have more to do with results than the pan or cooker. We eat rice often, far more than potatoes or even pasta, and keep several varieties around, most often using Texmati Brown (a Texas grown "Basmati") when cooking rice to stand alone, but in the pantry, there's Arborio, Italian "Black", Jasmine, conventional long grain, and some "sticky" dessert rice.

For those who have trouble preparing an attractive bowl of rice, I recall my grandmother's instructions to daughters and granddaughters: "The closest thing to 'Failsafe' is 'Uncle Ben's Converted'. Even an inept bride can serve up separate grains."

Don't forget - size matters. If you typically cook for just one or two people, look for a cooker in the 2.5-4 cup range. You may find http://ricecookerbest.com/ of some help. If you don't need bells & whistles, the Panasonic SRG06FG is a decent very inexpensive cooker.

I don't think I've ever paid more than $30 for a rice cooker. Usually from Costco. A larger version, but works great. Just don't leave cooked rice in it for 2 months while you're traveling. :)

I've been using a relatively inexpensive Sanyo 5.5 cup cooker for several years and it makes what I consider to be perfect Japanese rice every time. I almost always make two cups at a time and it works just fine for that. I wouldn't try to make a single cup in it, though.

I use a Zojirushi NS-ZAC18 (click here for the model page at the site linked above). It's spectacular, and I would never go back to a pot/pan.

Having gone through a few rice cookers before, I cannot emphasize enough current models "Made in Japan". I usually make 2 or 3 cups, but when you need more, it's great to have the opportunity, so size matters a bit.

A clock for setting up rice to cook at a later time, white/semi/brown/sushi rice settings, they are all features I would not want to miss. At the end of it though, it simply makes great rice. If you ever feel adventurous, add a bit of butter to the rice sitting in the water prior to cooking or cook the rice in broth. :D

Many thanks for all the feedback - greatly appreciated.

Here is my dilemna!

It seems to me that when I've researched this (on the web generally as well as in this thread), those people who have spent the cash and gone for an expensive model seem vehement that if you can afford it then it is a purchase that they do not regret. Many of the people have upgraded themselves from both simpler models and from relatively sophisticated models. Some sophisticated models have had a relatively short life but all Zojirushi owners say that these go on for years. Evidently some models are produced in China to Japanese standards but the top-end models are produced in Japan. Zojirushi is evidently almost a status symbol in Japan .....!

It also seems to me that those that have gone for a lower cost solution are equally happy with their choice. But many of these people only have as a point of comparison the previous pan methods they used and I can't recall any that have downgraded or compared their experience with a Zojirushi for example.

I haven't seen many .... any? .... that have said that their investment in a Zojirushi for example was wasted and they were equally happy with a less expensive solution. And, whereas I've seen a lot of posts from Zojirushi owners who think their machines are marvelous and was well worth the cash - I've not seen many posts from owners of these or equal machines who say that the extra cash spent was wasted.

I also sent a message to the people who own Yum Asia with a series of questions and they have answered them all very fully and enthusiastically and I must admit I'm swinging towards the big leap into Zojirushi NS-ZAQ10 country. The cost is almost unjustifiable .... but I've just spent a lot of cash in my sous vide explorations .... so I guess I should be phlegmatic!

Any further feedback or opinion about my flakey thought process genuinely welcomed.

Thanks again.

My wife has owned three different cookers in the past 8 years. Every time we move to a different country, she buys a new one.

According to her, there are pros and cons to each one.

Sanyo was inexpensive. Makes good rice however it did not keep the rice warm and tasty for long periods of time afterwards.

Zojirushi was more expensive. Makes good plain rice, brown rice (cooking time longer) sweet rice, congee and keeps rice tasty for a long period of time. (For example, I like rice occasionally in the morning, she makes rice for dinner and it stays very good in the morning.)

Currently we use Cookoo. By far the most expensive. Does everything the Zojirushi does AND is a pressure cooker. This adds new dimension to cooking with your rice cooker.

My wife says all rice cookers makes good rice. It's like cell phones, if you want a cell phone that just makes phone calls. It's cheap. If you want it to do more things, it gets more expensive.

She has mentioned to me that when we move back to Canada or Japan. She will purchase a Cookoo again so she really must be pleased with this one.

Very well put! I make rice quite often, but I use it all within an hour of cooking and do not make anything other than Japanese rice. The Sanyo is great for that, but if I were making anything else or keeping rice overnight, I'd probably get something else.

And I don't think I would consider a Zojirushi a status symbol. This was admittedly a long time ago, but I lived in a student dorm in Tokyo and probably about 1/3 of the students had a Zojirushi in their dorm rooms. It was more practical than anything else.