Rice cooker recommendations?

[SteveC]

I'm also in the Instant Pot camp.

 

[Kuppenbender]

Tatung TAC-20S
All you’ll ever need.
https://www.tatung.com/en/Product/Consumer/606

 

[iconoclast]

I have a YumAsia Panda that works fine for me. Perfect results every time.

Fuzzy logic, ceramic bowl. Having a hard time seeing why you'd pay 2-3x more for a Zojirushi.

 

[Keith_W]

This sounds delicious, definitely something I want to try to do. What type of rice do you usually use for this?

Yam rice and Hainanese Chicken rice are Chinese dishes, so I use Jasmine rice. 95% of the rice I use is Jasmine rice.

 

[Tks]

Been using this for 10 years or so. I've babied it, and it's served me perfectly every time (meaning I cleaned it every time as instructed by the manual). The clock resets every time I unplug it though (seems the battery that controls the clock has ran out). Thankfully it doesn't matter with respect to the real-time-clock that controls the functionality once the cooker is plugged in. As long as you follow instructions with quantities, everything comes out great and does so super consistently.

I've liked it so much, I'd like to replace it with another. I've seen some on the Japanese market eons ago that costs and arm and a leg, but I can't find it for the life of me (if I recall, that thing was made for restaraunts or something, but since I don't know Japanese I can't quite remember how to even find it).

 

[mongobot]

I have a 30 year old National rice cooker (SR-GE10N) that's still going strong.
More recently, I bought a newer model for my mother a couple years ago - a made in Japan model from Tiger that seems to be doing well.

 

[restorer-john]

it's not far off to say Zojirushi is the Genelec of rice cooker.

The Zojirushi is much better looking than those hideous Genelecs.

 

[JSmith]

I just use one of these simple microwave rice cookers, but need to be cautious of water level vs rice type;

https://www.amazon.com/Sistema-Microwave-Collection-Rice-Cooker/dp/B00BTIVNT4?th=1

JSmith

 

[Jmudrick]

I haven't replaced the Zojirushi or the other fuzzy logic one I had living in Asia, I usually use my Instant Pot which is quite serviceable. It has adjustments, nobody said you have to just use the "Rice" button. I have beautiful Japanese Donabe clay pots but IRL I prefer not having to pay attention. I wouldn't advise buying an Instant Pot just for rice, but if you use a pressure cooker and are short on counter space it's fine.

 

[kongwee]

My home use one button press under $100 Teflon rice cooker. You don't need all those pre programme stuff even you wanna cook stuff over the rice. You cook most if not all Asian rice with one button.

 

[amirm]

Keith has given some superb guidance. I will add one thing though: the situation is very different if you want to make rice for Indian/Persian cooking. There, you want the crust and drier rice. Induction cooktops make basmati rice but it is just not proper. You can buy dedicated rice cookers from middle eastern grocery store but they are all cheap junk (years ago Panasonic made superb ones). We now just use the cooktop for this type of rice where you parboil the rice, drain and then steam which naturally the standard rice cookers can't do.

For Chinese, Thai and of course Japanese rice, we se the Zoji rice cooker.

 

[Keith_W]

I will add one thing though: the situation is very different if you want to make rice for Indian/Persian cooking. There, you want the crust and drier rice.

I think Persians cook the best rice in the world! A Persian friend cooked me a Tahchin. If I recall, he soaked his rice in salt water overnight then mixed eggs, yoghurt, saffron, and some meat and vegetables. He said it must be cooked in a saucepan on a stovetop first and then finished in the oven to get the crispy texture. I loved it, each grain was whole and al dente, and the crust was golden brown and amazing. You cook yours in a rice cooker?

 

[Bob from Florida]

You do not NEED a fancy rice cooker that I described in my post above. I am East Asian myself, rice is my staple, and I eat rice every day. I also sometimes cook for large dinner parties. So investing in a good rice cooker for me was a no-brainer. Your situation might be different.

You CAN of course cook rice the traditional way - wash your rice in cloth, place it on muslin cloth and set it atop a bamboo steamer, and steam it. I have tried wrapping rice in lotus leaves and steaming it and I can tell you that the results are to die for. NOT having the rice soaked in water as it cooks and infused with lotus leaf aroma produces really, really good rice. But it is also troublesome and I only do it on special occasions, like Chinese New Year. Incidentally, my CNY guests do not ask me for any of my traditional CNY dishes, all they want to know is whether I will be preparing steamed lotus rice This year I prepared an excess of rice, anticipating making fried rice with the leftovers. It was all polished off.

I recommend against an Instant Pot for cooking rice. In fact I recommend against buying an Instant Pot, or any electric pressure cooker in general for any type of cooking (the exception is a rice pressure cooker). Instant Pots are general cookers. While it does have a "rice" mode, it is not versatile and you are unable to input what type of rice you are using or the result that you want. Newer models might have rectified this, I don't know.

Why do I not recommend Instant Pots for general pressure cooking? Because conventional stovetop pressure cookers are so much better for two important reasons. (1) they reach higher pressure, and (2) you can cool them down in a sink to lower the pressure quickly without having to vent steam. They are also more compact for the same capacity making it easier to store, have fewer points of failure (important feature in a pressure cooker!), you can adjust the heat to your liking, and you can use the pressure cooking pot for other things, like deep frying. My Silit pressure cooker is narrow and tall which is ideal for deep fries because you get a higher oil level for the same volume of oil, and the higher sides prevent kitchen splatter. The downside is that stovetop pressure cookers are manual, meaning you have to lower the heat when it reaches full pressure, and then set a timer to turn it off when you are done. But these pressure cookers are simple and I do not like those automatic pre-programmed modes on electric pressure cookers. It's a bit like a microwave that gives you buttons for chicken, eggs, rice, defrost, but does not give you buttons to control time or power. Well, electric pressure cookers are like that. All I want is to control time, pressure, and heat ... and none of them let me do that.

We have 2 Instant Pots - 6 quart and 3 quart. Both have been used to make perfect rice. We do not use the rice setting. Instead, use either high or low pressure and change the time based on the pressure used and type of rice. A handy chart describes the variations. Very handy devices as you can cook almost anything in them. Originally purchased to make bone broth from chicken wing bones.

 

[ahofer]

I used to work at a Japanese restaurant. I became very fond of eating the burnt rice from the cooker bottom.

 

[amirm]

I think Persians cook the best rice in the world! A Persian friend cooked me a Tahchin. If I recall, he soaked his rice in salt water overnight then mixed eggs, yoghurt, saffron, and some meat and vegetables. He said it must be cooked in a saucepan on a stovetop first and then finished in the oven to get the crispy texture. I loved it, each grain was whole and al dente, and the crust was golden brown and amazing. You cook yours in a rice cooker?

Tahchin is a great dish and one of our favorites. We cook it in a non-stick pot on the stove. It requires skill to know when the crust is brown versus not, or burnt. Unfortunately you will only know when you turn it over a plate in front of guests no less! My mom used to be able to sniff the scent and know if it is right. And my (American) wife has learned how to do it the same way more or less.

 

[Huang Jerry]

I personally had good luck with Hitachi rice cookers, cheap enough and gets the job done well. No good for Indian long rice though.

But the best rice comes out of Grandma's 20 year old, deliciously yellowed rice cooker with pink tulips painted in dot-matrix, as well as a power cord that poses great danger to anybody within 14km radius.

 

[kongwee]

plain white rice for normal meals. I just add soup, broth, sauce from other dish. Will add belacan spice solely for plain white rice if available.

 

[JSmith]

plain white rice for normal meals. I just add soup, broth, sauce from other dish. Will add belacan spice solely for plain white rice if available.

This is ASR... evidence required.


JSmith

 

[pablolie]

Another vote for Zojirushi from me

I have had the Zojirushi NS-LAC05XT since 2015 and use it every other day. I am single household, but 3 "cups" (note Zojirushi uses some proprietary rice measure) is a ridiculous amount of rice even for two or three people. The twinkle-twinkle-little-star gets old but hey. Fantastic little machine. I'd get the pressure function if they made it smaller than 5 cups (I gave away my 5 cup rice cooker from married days - too big... for myself I make half a "cup" and it's plenty, and you can't measure that reliably with the bigger ones). I use Tamanishiki rice and wash it before cooking. My Asian GF says the rice is amazing, so there... :-D

 

[kongwee]

This is ASR... evidence required.


JSmith

This is my country meals caifan aka mixed rice. Basically many asian food are like this. Plain white rice surround with many dishes. We have nasi padang for halai food. Normally will be plain white but you can ask for padang leaf flavored rice. Serve like mixed rice.

Belacan can be easily found in Malay stall, chinese stall may have it. One type of chilli sauce.