Good Question: What's the Deal with Rice Cookers?

Dear The Kitchen,

What's the deal with rice cookers? I realize I rarely make rice at home because it often burns or takes longer to cook than I expected.

I went searching on Amazon for rice cookers this morning and I see they come at a variety of prices. There's even one that doubles as a crock pot that might be good for my small kitchen.

I also saw cook books for cooking a whole dinner right in the rice cooker. Is that for real?

Best,
Chris

(To All Good Questions)

Dear Chris,

I'm sorry you're burning your rice. Are you following the directions on the package correctly? Usually if you stick to the instructions, including the part about covering the rice and not peeking, and keeping the flame very low, you should get fluffy, not-burned rice every time. My first advice is try again. It's always best to do things simply, without having to purchase another gadget.

It's true that a rice cooker is a versatile appliance and you can do more with it than cook rice. However, the same can be said for a good pot, such as this Le Creuset 2-quart Dutch Oven on sale for $49.98 at Broadway Panhandler.

If you do have that extra shelf and counter space in your kitchen (lucky you!) and you want to try out a rice cooker, here is a very handy guide to selecting a rice cooker from Gourmet Sleuth.

Sniffing around some of the major kitchen supply retailers, it seems the Zojirushi Neuro-Fuzzy Logic rice cookers are very popular. At a lower price-point, the Krups 10-cup Automatic rice cooker and the Cuisinart 4-cup rice cooker might be a more attractive (brushed stainless), and less complicated appliance for you.

Finally, for kicks check out Sally's Kitchen for an account of one woman's love-affair with her rice cooker. She cooked all of the following:
&bull Strawberry Pie Glaze
&bull Stir Fry
&bull Scrambled Eggs
&bull New Potatoes with Onions
&bull Spaghetti
&bull Mexican Beef for Tacos or Burritos
&bull Corn on the Cob
&bull Tuna Noodles
&bull Macaroni and Cheese
&bull Rice
&bull Oatmeal
&bull Hot Dogs
&bull Chicken Soup
&bull Stew
&bull Spare Ribs

Let us know what you end up doing! But promise you'll go easy on the Tuna Noodles and Strawberry Pie Glaze.

Comments (9)

I don't have a rice cooker, but if I bought one, it would be a no frills, old school Tatung rice cooker like the one I grew up with:

http://www.tatung.com/appliance/english/cooker/ricecooker2_en0412.htm

They're stainless steel, and built like tanks.

I use a microwave rice cooker due to lack of counter space.
It works great and I never have to worry about my rice burning over the kitchen stove...

http://www.cayneshousewares.com/cgi-bin/detail.cgi?which=345870

My Aroma rice cooker works well. Although I do wish that the bowl was stainless steel. I usually cook jasmine basmati rice & use the steamer insert for veggies like broccoli, edamame, etc. Perfect rice it's less troublesome than trying to achieve the same results on the stove But, I don't use it enough; so, I'm on the fence abt whether to keep it.

This Yahoo group may inspire us all to use rice cooker more often & outside the box in more ways than one:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ricecookerrecipes/

This group is a great resource ... I just forget they exist. Subscribe to receive emails, use their daily digest option (to avoid tons of emails) or just become a member & search (or submit) recipes at your leisure.

There are tons of Yahoo groups offering recipes, tips, etc. Just go to groups.yahoo.com and search with keywords like cook, slow cooker, soul food, crockpot, vegetarian, etc.

I have a cheapy rice cooker. $14 at target and it has a steamer tray. I LOVE it!!! Make lots of quinoa and beans, steamed acorn squash and kale. I can turn it on in the a.m. before my shower and make myself a hot and healthy lunch to take to work. Rice cooks up perfectly all on its own. Best $14 I ever spent!

Why would people buy a rice cooker just to make rice! It can be so easily cooked in a microwave. Add twice as much water as the rice you have and microwave it for 15 mins. Remove to check if the rice still has a little extra water - if yes, then microwave for 4-5 more mins. Makes perfect rice everytime and never burns.
I even add spices and veggies in the rice to make pilaf in the microwave. no stirring and no pans to wash!

My mom also washes & soaks her rice. However, it has the side effect of removing all of the vitamins that the rice has been fortified with, so I don't wash my own rice.

I use a rice cooker every night: garlic, onion, pinch salt, drop oil, cilantro at the very end. The rice cooker does a great reliable job, and I paid $20 for it. It spits a little but I don't care -- I wipe up my counters anyway after cooking, right?

IMO rice in a rice cooker comes out better than in a microwave and slightly worse than rice on the stove (assuming you are good at cooking it on the stove). On the stove, I like slightly burning the bottom of the rice so that it's crunchy and brown (but not smoked or stuck to the pan), and then snacking on the toasted rice. You can't do that in a rice cooker!

Nix my previous post about deciding whether or not to keep my Aroma rice cooker that I hardly ever use ... the on-switch just died!

Good news is ... yum!
* Rice turned out perfect in a pot (added shake of lemon juice & chopped lemon zest & cilantro to jasmine rice towards the end).
* Roasted the broccoli with coconut oil & drizzled honey, lemon juice & a dash of cayenne pepper towards the end
* Costco took it back with no receipt & I bought something that I needed ... love that place!

Why did I buy a rice cooker (it's not like me to buy a specialty one-use appliance)? I love to cook ... but, I used to hate cooking some of my favorite simple dishes like rice, cream of wheat & oatmeal because they can boil over if you are multi-tasking. A dear friend served use rice from her rice cooker a few years ago & I was hooked. Costco had just the right rice cooker for me ...

But, my rice cooker purchase always seemed like such a waste. Since then, I've learned what my favorite rices are, how best to cook them on the stove & that I must use a timer.

Down-sizing was a blessing ... both revelation & clarification for us in so many ways ... as we left intangible clutter behind, tangible clutter became crystal clear in our new home. Location, location, location ... my most loved/used kitchen items (cast iron, stainless steel cookware, KitchenAid mixer, Cuisinart food processor, crockpot, great knives, quality utensils, etc.) get the best seats. That rice cooker just got in the way & then it stopped working! Ironic how that clutter cleared itself ... wouldn't it be great if all clutter cleared itself?! ;-)