Carrying Small Rice Cooker on Flight?
 

I eat rice quite a bit. We have a small tiny rice cooker that is pretty small. Is it allowed to bring it on an international flight? I checked online and apparently this is not a prohibited item which shocked me. Now does it depend on the airline i fly with such as whether its jetblue, delta or america etc? Or are all their policies the same? The other thing is what about the travel destination? Does that factor in or whether its canada, mexico, europe, its the same thing?


Also would it be better it in checked luggage as oppose to carry on? My carry on already is pretty big so no way i can bring it on carry on. Also what i confused is i know you get 1 carry on and 1 personal item. I always carry like a messenger bag which fit my laptop and electronics. The other one is like this small fanny pack and i had no issues with these items. Buf if i wanted to bring it as carry on, that means i cannot bring my messenger bag right? My fanny pack, i can always put it in my luggage.


So i assume best in checked bag? But if i do this, it has to be wrapped well right like in original box and taped? I had no idea rice cookers were not allowed and thought hey this mini rice cooker would be nice if i bring it since its pretty small. However, if i put this in my checked bag, would TSA most likely open it up since they could see its a rice cooker? Also i checked and pressure cooker looks a bit similar so would my bag be inspected most likely? The thing is i heard about TSA and them stealing from luggage or handling it aggressively. So that would be a concern of mine. But if you put a rice cooker, expect your luggage to be examined almost always? I don't believe i ever put any electronics in my checked in bag ever.

My goodness, this is quite a rambling question.

If I understand you , you want to know if you can take a small rice cooker with you on a plane. The answer is yes, either as a carry-on item or in your checked baggage, whichever suits you better. Why would you be shocked that it is not a prohibited item? Unless plugged in, a rice cooker is a pretty inert item. Anyway, it does not have to be in original packaging. If in a checked bag, your bag will likely be searched because of the electrical cord. In a checked bag, it will be subject to baggage handling roughness, so wrap it well. I wouldn't worry about TSA or baggage handlers stealing it - rice cookers are not a high-ticket item. If you have it in your carry-on, they may want to open your bag to see what it is - again because of the electrical cord and also because they are not used to seeing rice cookers on a regular basis.

If you are so concerned about theft, why bother with a rice cooker at all? Cook your rice in a saucepan with a cover (the old-fashioned way).

One thing to consider is if you are traveling form the US to an international location, you may need a transformer for your rice cooker due to a difference in voltage in most of the rest of the world.

Breathe. You are worrying yourself to no end. I sometimes travel with a small lightweight k-cup brewer in checked luggage and know others who pack their Nespresso units in their carry-ons. If you are concerned about theft, bring a cheapo model and leave the Zojirushi at home. As a typical Alaskan, I'll pack anything and everything allowed in my allotted 2 free bags to avoid astronomical shipping fees (empty bags outbound, crammed full inbound) :D

Depending on what kind of rice cooker device it is, it may or may not get additional scrutiny at airport security screening checkpoints. Some people who carry their own rice makers shifted to all-plastic, microwavable rice cooker devices to try to minimize carry-on and even checked-in bag checks for electric rice cookers.

I have traveled with various sorts of unusual things, but the one non-liquid/gel/aerosol/food item that gets my cabin baggage pulled for manual searches (by airport screeners) more than any other: electronic door locks. In checked luggage, the same items are way less likely to get pulled for manual searches by the TSA. Make or this what you want, but I would suggest checking in the rice cooker as checked luggage but don’t package it in luggage with food.

I had forgotten that such an item existed...great suggestion!

I carried on a rice cooker that my parents gave me when I was bringing it home. TSA was curious what it was so it took an extra minute or two at the security check point.

Why would you be surprised it's not prohibited? It's just a rice cooker. If you fill it with dynamite, then it's a different story...

Just buy one where you are going. Done deal.

Believe it or not, I have actually seen a rice cooker as a personal item before. This was in China, not surprisingly. She had a backpack and rice cooker. Saw her in the lounge later just chilling with her stuff, waiting on her flight.


But yeah, I totally agree with above. Are you sure this rice cooker will work where you are going?

A 30+ minute delay at LHR and a 10+ minute delay at ORD screening checkpoints over an electric rice cooker in cabin baggage was more than enough for me.

I brought it home through ORD! They took it out, looked at it, swabbed it with the Magic Explosives Detection Swabs, and sent me on my way.

ORD screening stations tend to be much quicker than LHR T5 screening stations when having a backup of passengers whose belongings are directed to be manually searched and/or ETD swabbed. LHR security screeners have seemed way more directed toward trying to punish people for not following cabin baggage screening rules and/or other expectations to make the screeners’ lives easier. Taking an electronic rice cooker as cabin baggage generally doesn’t fall afoul of US or UK airport screening rules, but things that look unusual on the bag scanner images and have cords attached to them tend to get more scrutiny than say a cabin bag full of just a bunch of socks.

So, carrying a rice-cooker through airport security isn't such a strange thing to see, but what about using a rice cooker in the terminal? Like, around a bank of electrical outlets there's a colony of people charging their cellphones and computers... and one guy/gal making rice. :cool:

At first I thought the OP was looking to use the rice cooker on the airplane :D. I know there are times when I wish I had a better choice of food while flying.

I've carried small rice cookers, tea kettles and travel cookpots through security multiple times. Just make sure that you leave plenty of time for extra security screening. I would carry-on if possible since I've found that TSA tends to just toss things back in your checked bag without a thought as to how it was packed in the first place. If your mini rice cooker is the type that has a lot of nesting bowls, lids and latches, chances are the TSA won't put it back together properly.

As mentioned above, there is always the microwavable rice cooker if you have access to a microwave.

If you're travelling internationally, make sure to check to bring both a voltage converter and a plug converter.

LOL! I heard a story about an Asian woman cooking rice and feeding her family while waiting at Paris airport. --