Rice Cooker - Any Reccomendations?

irock

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We're moving back to our house at the beginning of April, so we'll have much more space for stuff in our kitchen. I'm looking to buy a rice cooker so I can make delicious white rice instead of that undelicious bag boiled stuff, but I don't know anything about rice cookers. It's so overwhelming.

I know there are some (at least one) people familiar with delicious food, and I was wondering if they had any rice cooker recommendations.

Strasteo

  • Posts: 323
My family has had a rice cooker from the Tiger brand for years, and it still works fine. I dunno if certain rice cookers are better than others though. Sorry. @_@;

Quick Google search:
http://www.consumersearch.com/rice-cookers

Jon

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  • Posts: 17524
Zojirushi (the elephant brand) is the gold standard for rice cookers. It will last you for a lifetime (our rice cookers have lasted forever). The programmable ones can get very expensive but the basic models cook exactly as well as the good ones. For basic rice prep, you need nothing more than the on/off switch.


If you want to double-it up as a timed steamer or want to make porridge/congee, then you'll need to invest in a more expensive one.

« Last Edit: March 20, 2011, 12:26:42 am by Jon »

Alexin

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Now Irock has the recommendation he wanted I can say "There are specific machines to cook rice? :o".

What is the advantage over the traditional pots/pans (I'm not sure what you call it)?
"Find the fun"
alexin@stencyl.com

Jon

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  • Posts: 17524
Provided you add in a tolerable amount of water (between 1-2 cups per cup of raw rice - generally 1.5 is about right if you want to mimic restaurant style), it's dump in and forget. The texture and taste are perfect 100% of the time, without fail, never mushy or any of that. It's one of the few things you can start and forget, and it will be fine. You can't make risotto with it, but if you're preparing plain rice, there's no better way.

Alexin

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Thanks for the explanation.

I rarely cook plain rice, so it's barely useful in my case.
I usually add vegetables, mushrooms, bacon or other ingredients. I don't like plain rice, unless I can mix in some kind of homemade sauce.
"Find the fun"
alexin@stencyl.com

Jon

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In that case, what's equally as common is to cook it plain and then transfer to a pan (or you could do it in the same pot) to combine with other ingredients.