Rice Cookers - worth the money and which one.

[Frontier Mom]

I would love to get one for brown rice but not sure if they even work. Can someone give me suggestions?

[melissel]

I say no. I've never been sure what exactly they do differently from a pot with a lid, besides free up a spot on your stovetop. I never use one--IMO, it's just an extra appliance. Maybe others can enlighten me!

[Tracey in TX]

Rice makers make wonderful rice, but really isn't worth the effort IMO. I use it occasionally for jasmine rice, but would prefer using only 1-2 pots for the entire meal.

[j.griff]

I love using mine- every time I cooked rice on the stove it would end up burnt :o
I love that I can just measure out the rice and water (I use brown rice too), turn it on and walk away from
it wothout worrying about it burning. I believe the measurements are 1 extra cup of water for white rice (so 1 cup rice, 2 cups water or 2 cups rice, 3 cups water and so on) and 1 1/2 extra cup of water for brown rice, but I found that using 2 extra cups of water worked better (Dh and Dc like their rice softer). So for brown rice I usually cook 3 cups rice with 5 cups of water in my Aroma rice cooker.

ETA: mine is an electric cooker.

[Diann]

I love mine. It cooks the rice and keeps it warm until we are ready to eat. The rice is perfect every time. Mine is an Aroma brand that I paid $30 for at Costco.

Diann

[finding_sanctuary]

Oh, oh!! I'll jump in on this one. I love love LOVE my rice cooker. It also has an insert for steaming vegetables, though, so it does double duty sometimes. DH works away from home, coming back on weekends if we're lucky, so I'm going it alone most nights and having the rice cooker (with its automatic shutoff) sometimes makes the difference between healthy, from-scratch meals and "Yes, I'd like to place a delivery order..." :D

I forgot to add, it's a Zojirushi, but we've had it so long I don't remember how much it cost or where DH bought it.

[Jennifer in MI]

I LOVE mine!! I was always burning mine in the pot. Even when I didn't burn it, the pot was hard to clean. Mine is just a cheapo brand and it cooks my brown rice to perfection each time!

I have room for mine in a pantry, so it doesn't take up the extra space. If I had to store it on my countertop, I may feel differently!

[JenneinAZ]

It does work for brown rice. I use ours at least a couple times a week. I treat it like the crock pot for rice.

I like that I can add rice, add water, plug it in and not worry about burned rice or forgetting to turn down the heat or anything. I can start the rice cooker at 5:00 and then not worry about it until people are ready to eat, at 5:30 or at 7:30.

For forgetful, stressed at dinner time me, it helps.

[PrairieAir]

I was given a rice cooker a while back and have had a chance to use it quite a few times now. Honestly, it doesn't do any better job than cooking rice in the microwave. The microwave may have even been better. It does free up the microwave or a burner on the stove. If I didn't have such a huge amount of cabinet space, it would be out the door.

[jmgconner]

I have a steamer/rice cooker combo. Love it for steaming veggies, but I prefer cooking the rice on the stovetop. I don't think I'd like a dedicated rice cooker at all.

[WTMindy]

I say no. I've never been sure what exactly they do differently from a pot with a lid, besides free up a spot on your stovetop. I never use one--IMO, it's just an extra appliance. Maybe others can enlighten me!I totally agree. We had one, and I didn't find it any easier or different than a pot.

[Jean in Newcastle]

I use my rice cooker almost every day. But my dh is Filipino (and used to rice everyday) and I grew up in Japan - so I can't imagine not having one!

[Mrs. H.]

If anyone has a link to the rice cooker that also steams vegetables, I would greatly appreciate it! That sounds sooo wonderful.

[Jenny in Atl]

I have a cheap one (Black and Decker?) and I love it. If the $ was ever there, I would get one of those amazing ones I see at Super H Mart (a Koran food G-Store that has ton of goodies). I think most are at least $100. But they do rice at least a 1000 different ways.

[Jean in IN]

you can just put it in there and forget about it. Once it's done it stays warm until you turn it off. (or maybe after a couple hours?)
I just have a small one so it's not to hard to take out and put away. It's a Crofton. I have no idea how much they cost, my bil gave us this one.
oh, and I make brown rice in it. 1 part rice to 2 parts water and it turns out perfect every time. Mine has a vegetable steamer too, but I haven't used it very often.

HTH

[nmoira]

The first chapter of The Ultimate Rice Cooker Cookbook (http://www.amazon.com/Ultimate-Rice-Cooker-Cookbook-Porridges/dp/1558322035/) can be read at Amazon. It tells all about the different kinds of rice cookers and can help you decide which, if any, would suit you. I have a 10 cup capacity Zojirushi and wouldn't trade it for the world. It is versatile enough that I can use it daily for our family or for parties.

[Julie in CA]

While I think the rice cooker cooks both white and brown rice really well, what I like about it most is that I no longer have to worry about timing my rice to be done at the same time as the rest of dinner. The rice cooker cooks the rice and then automatically switches to warm setting and holds the rice for a really long time, if needed, with no deterioration in the quality of the rice. I think most rice cookers can be used as veggie steamers (?), you just need to add a steamer basket, and water in the bottom of the rice cooker. I also make spaghetti and meatballs (or meat sauce) in my rice cooker. I like not having to use several pans for that, and I like that I don't have to drain the water from the noodles, and I like that the rice cooker will just keep the spaghetti warm until we're ready for it. Just in case you're interested, here's how I do that.
I usually do a meat sauce rather than meatballs, but the method would be the same.
Crumble ground beef (I use super-lean, so no draining) into the rice cooker bowl, add some chopped onions (if I feel like it), and set the rice cooker to cook. I stir the meat occasionally, until I like how brown it is, then I add 26oz. of canned spaghetti sauce, a cup or so of water, and whatever spices I want that day. I wait a minute or two until the sauce is boiling, and then I add broken spaghetti noodles. Then I close the lid and walk away, coming back occasionally to stir the pot. When the spaghetti is done, the rice cooker switches to warm, and the spaghetti stays there until we're ready to eat. I love not having to dirty a pot for sauce and a pot for pasta, and I love not having to dirty a collander to drain the noodles!

[Ellie]

Someone gave me an inexpensive one over 25 years ago; I'll never live without a rice cooker again:thumbup:

Rice isn't difficult to make on the stovetop, to be sure, but with my rice cooker, I put in the ingredients and walk away. Not "walk away and be sure to get back to turn the heat off when the timer goes off," but walk away. When the rice is finished (BTW, sitting way over yonder, not taking up a burner on the stove, or even anywhere on the counter where I might be preparing other stuff) it "dings" and turns itself to warm, keeping the rice nice and hot until I get around to serving it. I don't have to think about it for an instant.

Nope, I'll never live without a rice cooker again.

[Mekanamom]

I love mine. It cooks the rice and keeps it warm until we are ready to eat. The rice is perfect every time. Mine is an Aroma brand that I paid $30 for at Costco.

Diann

I have the same one, I think. The BEST feature on it is the timer. I can throw a meal into the crock pot, set the timer on that, and then throw the rice into the rice cooker and set the timer on that too.

Then I can leave the house and dinner is all done cooking at the same time. :)

The other thing that makes it worthwhile for me, is my stove. LOL. The burners are set annoyingly close together. If I'm cooking anything in a big pan, there is really no room to start a big pot of rice at the same time.

I have not used the veggie steamer (though it came with the insert and directions to use it that way)... because I'm lazy and just steam my veggies in the microwave.

[StacyWithFourRugrats]

We are hosting a Korean foreign exchange student and she was sorely missing her "sticky" rice. I *can* cook it on the stove or in the microwave, but it wouldn't really cook it correctly, especially considering many Asians can be picky (not in a bad way, but in an "eat it all the time" way) with their rice. As for brown rice, couldn't do it! Always came out wrong.

Her parents sent over a wonderful, and expensive, 6 cup rice cooker (small by her standards really!). I LOVE it. As others have said, you put the rice in and walk away. The timer is excellent. We put the rice in at night and in the morning, wonderful rice for breakfast.

And what is best is the "mixed rice" setting. We almost exclusively cook brown and sticky rice together, getting a better nutritional rice mixture.

If you don't cook rice every day or so like we do, an inexpensive one from Target or something should do you fine and give you great rice without so much worry.

I couldn't live without my new rice cooker!

[Jenny in Atl]

Actually, I have made sticky rice with a bamboo basket and this odd vase looking thing in a Thai cooking class. It was easy; you fill the vase with water and bring to a boil on the stove. They put the rice in the bamboo basket and put that on top of the vase and cover. In about 30-40 mins you have the best sticky rice. I need to go and get the set (not expensive) from a local Thai store, just have not found the time. Here are better directions than mine.:tongue_smilie:

http://www.importfood.com/stickyrice.html

[finding_sanctuary]

If anyone has a link to the rice cooker that also steams vegetables, I would greatly appreciate it! That sounds sooo wonderful.

Here you go...this looks to be the same exact model we have, except ours is OLD: http://www.cooking.com/products/shprodde.asp?SKU=197462 You could probably find a deal on it elsewhere, but I'm not sure. That's just the first place I pulled up.

[Quiver0f10]

I bought a black and decker one from WM for 19$ and it works great. I have my eye on one that has a stainless steel interior, but it's pricey. One day I will splurge. http://www.amazon.com/Stainless-Steel-Cooker-ME81-Formerly/dp/B000I5UEQM/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1205442503&sr=8-1

[Suzanne in ABQ]

I never made rice until I got my rice cooker (about 10 years ago). Now, I use it at least once a week. The rice always comes out perfect. It stays warm and moist for hours. And, it's easy to clean and use. It's a Zirojoshi (?) brand (not sure of spelling, but I'll go check if you're interested).

[Frontier Mom]

I love rice but always forget to start the rice until it is too late to serve. Since I love my crock pot, thought this would be great too.

[Ellie]

I have a steamer/rice cooker combo. Love it for steaming veggies, but I prefer cooking the rice on the stovetop. I don't think I'd like a dedicated rice cooker at all.

I also have one that steams veggies and rice, but it takes much longer to steam rice than it takes to cook it in my rice cooker, and I can't cook as much in the steamer, either.

I wouldn't have bought my rice cooker myself, probably, but since it was given to me as a gift I started using it and will never go back to the stove :-)

[jmgconner]

If anyone has a link to the rice cooker that also steams vegetables, I would greatly appreciate it! That sounds sooo wonderful.

Here's the one we have: http://www.bdappliancestore.com/product_detail.asp?T1=APP+HS900&.

[Valerie(TX)]

last spring and summer, when I was house hunting, I noticed that in a number of the houses that had rice cookers--obviously the ones which were frequently used--the rice cooking process had ruined the finish on the wall-mounted kitchen cabinets above the rice cooker. :scared: Apparently, the steaming process tends to destroy cabinet finishes. So, fwiw, if you get one, bear that in mind when you choose *where* to cook the rice.

HTH

[finding_sanctuary]

last spring and summer, when I was house hunting, I noticed that in a number of the houses that had rice cookers--obviously the ones which were frequently used--the rice cooking process had ruined the finish on the wall-mounted kitchen cabinets above the rice cooker. :scared: Apparently, the steaming process tends to detroy cabinet finishes. So, fwiw, if you get one, bear that in mind when you choose *where* to cook the rice.

HTH

Oooh...good point! I always use mine on my island for this reason.

[Frontier Mom]

I'll put on center portion where my sink is, without cabinets.

[Ellie]

last spring and summer, when I was house hunting, I noticed that in a number of the houses that had rice cookers--obviously the ones which were frequently used--the rice cooking process had ruined the finish on the wall-mounted kitchen cabinets above the rice cooker. :scared: Apparently, the steaming process tends to destroy cabinet finishes. So, fwiw, if you get one, bear that in mind when you choose *where* to cook the rice.

HTH

Mine doesn't steam. I've never had any problems with the upper cabinets being harmed.

[Frontier Mom]

I'm looking forward to using it. Is there a particular type of rice that makes the "sticky" rice or is the method of cooking?

In Indonesia we loved this but I don't know much about it.

[Jean in Newcastle]

Use short grain rice (either white or brown or if you are adventurous, mix the two!). Sometimes they are sold in the store with the brand "Calrose" but I'm sure there are other designations also.

[Frontier Mom]

I'll try it as soon as I get to the store.

[kalanamak]

I'm looking forward to using it. Is there a particular type of rice that makes the "sticky" rice or is the method of cooking?

In Indonesia we loved this but I don't know much about it.

Both. See this nice entry on glutinous rice. It is often cooked in a way to make it stickier.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sticky_rice

[Robin in Tx]

I used to know a woman who claimed she made enough rice for several meals in her rice cooker, and she would keep it plugged in and turned on, keeping the rice warm and moist, for **DAYS**. She would literally cook the rice once, keep it warm, and they'd eat off it for days. I could hardly believe it. "For DAYS?" I would ask, over and over again, and she insisted that yes, she kept rice warm in it all throughout the week.

I'm still not sure I believe her :).

[Rachel]

If you had a family of 5 (3 teenagers) what size cooker would you get?

I'm like someone else who really never cooked rice because I would forget until it was too late. My daughter and I especially like rice and when I do finally cook it I like to make enough to last for a few days.

I'm curious too about what all you use your rice for. My husband will buy packaged rice (Rice a Roni) but do you cook plain rice and then spice it up different ways? I'm looking for some new ways to use rice during the week.

[Osmosis Mom]

;)We are not even Asians (who live off rice!!!), but life without rice???? We eat rice with almost every dinner (unless it is a pasta). Rice with stews, rice with chicken, meats, fish (unless I made potatoes which never happen), rice as a dish with chicken or meat etc. The list is endless. It's probably a cultural thing.

When we lived in Japan -where nobody does not own a rice-cooker- it is true that some leave the machine on with rice in it. I have never really done that.

I hate being without a ricecooker. We brought two with us when we left Japan and after they died 7-8 years later I did not get a new one for a year or so. It was a hassle to get the rice right (since Ihad been married with a ricecooker as my silverspoon!) plus it was just one more hassle to think about. Now I can make certain rice-meals in my cooker or just plain rice. I can use my timer or my heat-function; main point is that the rice is there, steaming hot and fresh when we need to eat it. So no, *my* kichen is not complete without a great ricecooker... I have it on my counter and it is part of the interior design for my kitchen ;):smilielol5:

[Claire]

I'd get a 5 or 5-1/2 cup rice cooker for that many people. If you want to make a large batch for the week, then maybe a 10-cup one. It's best to size the rice cooker for the amount of rice you want to make. A half-batch of rice may not turn out as well as a full batch.

I have a Zojirushi that I really like. We are only 3 people and I prefer fresh rice, so I got the smallest size for us. My dh prefers to make rice on the stove. He usually makes a big batch and then freezes the rice in smallish packets to thaw for dinners during the week. I used to make rice on the stove, but I personally prefer the rice cooker because I can start it way in advance of my other preparations for dinner and still have perfect, warm rice ready when everything else is.

[Frontier Mom]

:D We have had Basmati brown, long grain brown and a mix of short grain white and brown last night. Perfect every time!

All I can say is why didn't I buy this thing earlier? I ended up getting the Black & Decker they had at Walmart. It is big enough, easy and does a great job.

[strider]

HOWEVER when it broke we started cooking rice in a pot and found that that works just as well!

My mil bought us some wonderful, high-quality pots with very thick bottoms that heat evenly. We have never had a bad pot of rice.