Rice cookers - worth it?

[Woofage]

As per the title really. Who has one? Pros/cons?

[Kim]

<in-joke class="ukc.misc"> Marion Pitt's got one.  It seems they're quite hard to sell. </in-joke>

[hubner]

It depends if you use the boil and drain method or not.

If you don't, then rice cookers make it a case of just pressing a button then after 25 min or so, it's ready.

If you do it manually (using a saucepan and lid) you have to keep an eye on it for about 10-15min.


And also of course it depends on how often you cook rice.

[Wonky]

When I was single, and ate rice most days I found it invaluable. Wash the rice, add the water, and press the button.
The layer at the bottom always sticks, but just put some water in the pan and leave in the sink for a while and it softens up nicely.

Dont have it anymore, as the wife now makes rice in the microwave.

They're good for consistency (batch to batch), and if you eat a lot of rice then they are worth it. But if you only use it once or twice a week, then I think it takes up too much valuable kitchen space.

[hubner]

They usually have a non-stick pan now.

[Tewdric]

Wonderful bits of kit, although I prefer dead-reckoning in a normal pan personally.  If you can't (or can't be arsed to) cook good rice conventionally they are very useful.

[geraldc]

As with most Chinese, I can't live without one.

I was so chuffed when I got given my last one as a present, I even took a photo of it.



You get the run of the mill ones over here, but in Asia they have all the whistles and bells. On/off timers, turbo settings (3000 watts gets your rice cooked 5 mins faster), stay warm, fuzzy logic, congee and bread making modes.

Add rice, wash rice, have a finger widths of water over the rice, and just turn on.  Most decent ones are non stick, and have hinged lids, so they don't rattle while cooking.

[rafletcher]

I think frequency and quantity is the key. If you cook rice every or most days and for 4 or more people, and for most meals, it's the way to go. Otherwise it just takes u space and a saucepan can be used - basmati takes about 10 minutes after being dropped into boiling water, turned down and left to simmer with the lid on.

[Hot Flatus]

I think they are great. They cook the rice then keep it warm leaving you to faff over something else. I have a Tefal one that is also a timeable slow cooker.

[RJ]

Ken Hom's saucepan method works for me (on gas):  wash rice thoroughly; put in a pan with a firmly-fitting/heavy lid along with half as much again cold water by volume (2 rice: 3 water); bring to the boil and reduce the heat to a bare minimum for ~20 minutes. Do not remove the lid or stir during cooking.  You should get nice fluffy steamed rice, with next-to-nothing stuck on the bottom of the pan.

This is fine on gas, but a pain on a conventional electric hob when it comes to reducing the heat as soon as the water is boiling - in which case I imagine a rice-cooker would be invaluable.

[sas]

You can do it on an electric hob with a bit of practice- turn it down when it just starts to bubble (so before it actually boils).

[mike]

love ours too.

[Gareth Rees]

Well worth it if you eat lots of rice. There's no need to watch the pot, and no risk of leaving it on the heat for too long and burning it. All you have to do is fill it and turn it on before you start cooking the rest of the meal.

The layer at the bottom always sticks

A tip: after the rice cooker turns off, wait for fifteen minutes before serving the rice. You'll find that the layer at the bottom no longer sticks.

[Jakob]

We couldn't live without one...well, my Korean wife couldn't live without one!.
We got a fancy one, that polite speaks to you (in Korean, of course), but is also one of those fancy new high-pressure ones, so that you can 'turbo' cook regular rice, but also can do GABA rice, brown rice, etc...and it'll keep the rice reasonably fresh and warm for 2-3 days, depending on the rice. (We make our own mix of white + various brown rice and it'll start to struggle on day 3..white rice only, easily 4 days)

It also depends a lot on what type of rice you are cooking..if you're mainly cooking basmati rice, then it's not worth buying a Japanese/Korean one and you can probably get away with a 'regular' one. For Japanese/Korean style rice, I would get a Japanese/Korean rice cooker. They do cost a lot more, but you get what you pay for.

[andyoxon]

We've had our kenwood r-c for 15+ yrs.  Mainly used for Basmati, and brown rice (takes longer), 2-3 times/wk. Very easy to use and 'dries'/keeps the rice warm well afte cooking.  Once when we moved house, I packed bubble wrap under the bowl for transit - which I then forgot to remove it before next use.  It took a while to remove all the melted plastic.   

[Woofage]

Thanks for all the info .

We're quite big rice eaters: 2 or 3 times per week - usually Thai sticky rice but sometimes Basmati - for main meals plus small portions for lunch and the occasional sushi. It's therefore an appliance that would be used often so we feel justified in the expenditure.

Mrs W has done some research and has decided on this model. This one was a contender but isn't officially imported into the UK .

[Jakob]

5 cup might be a bit small? Enough for two people, but I'm not sure how many you meant with 'we'
Otherwise it got same feature set as ours.
http://kimchius.com/cuckoo-rice-cooker-crp-hd1010f-ivory-gold.html

[hubner]

Get this :

http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/4224765/Trail/searchtext%3ERICE+COOKER.htm

and you won't need to justify its cost!

[Domestique]

Been thinking of getting a cheapish rice cooker for a while. Cheap means the 30-40£ range I see in Argos.
But I also see some come able to cook risotto and pasta as well as rice. Is this a waste of time or is it worth the extra couple of pounds for this function?
Tia

[Woofage]

Update: bought the Zojirushi from a (slightly dodgy) UK website and it's been in almost daily use for almost 4 years now. If you eat a lot of rice, buy a good quality rice cooker. 'nuff said.

[geraldc]

I use mine for quinoa too 

[pcolbeck]

I use mine for quinoa too

A reason not to buy one, Mrs Pcolbeck would make more quinoa.