Rice cooker recommendations?

I'm getting a rice cooker and as always can potentially be swamped by online reviews/options etc. So decided I would ask here if anyone has recommendations as I remember some rice cooker fans from previous threads?

[Robin Garr]

I'm eager to see how this thread unfolds, Rahsaan. As a gadget geek, I'd love to have a high-tech rice cooker. And we do eat a lot of rice. But Mary says it's silly, we make great rice with the simple tools and techniques available to us (and the result of centuries of tradition), so why spend bucks on a high-tech device.

I'm eager to get some ammunition to fight back.

But Mary says it's silly, we make great rice with the simple tools and techniques available to us (and the result of centuries of tradition), so why spend bucks on a high-tech device

I first came across rice cookers during my year living in Japan when it seemed like everyone used them, and they were more than serious about rice. I had a few after my return to the States but it's been about ten years since I've used one and my skills with rice have been patchy at best the whole time. But bravo for you and Mary if you can do well without!

I'd love a rice cooker that could be reliable with 1/4 cup of dry rice. Haven't found one.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16896200189
I have only owned two. The first was a cheap one that was honestly not much better than the stovetop method of making rice. I did not really understand the need for one. But my wife had roomed with a friend back in school that had a good rice cooker and knew that there was a difference. We bought the one in the link above and now I don't know why I resisted for so long. Very easy and very good. While I think all rice taste better from the rice cooker the difference seems to be greater for brown rice than white.

[Jenise]

No help here, sorry. I'm kind of like Robin; have perfect success on the stove top so no need for a machine. I did buy a very basic Zujiroshi, or some name something like that, to use for the year we were kitchenless, and found it cooked rice well and was also handy for several other things (I could cook a single artichoke in it, or steam a tray of Chinese dumplings), but as soon as construction was over I donated it away and went back to my old ways.

We love rice cookers here. Besides being easy to use, it is a breeze to make pulao and even biriyanis. We ended up with an inexpensive Aroma rice cooker even though the pricier Zojirushis looked so tempting! It has served us well so far. I agree with Brian that it does taste better in the rice cooker..much more well cooked individual kernels and no more gummy pasty rice.
John, you could probably get by with a smaller rice cooker that might just do the 1/4 cup rice well, like this one for instance:
http://www.amazon.com/Panasonic-SR-3NA- ... +zojirushi

Thanks, Shaji. I'll have a look around.

Rahsaan, my advice would be to head to a Japanese food store and buy a rice cooker there. I have no idea what brand ours is, but it's still going strong after nearly 20 years of frequent use. The Teflon coating on the aluminum insert is getting a tad worn, but that's about the only problem we've encountered. Apropos of the sub-thread, we can't do less than 1/2 cup in ours, but that's fine for our needs.

Mark Lipton

I bought a Zojirushi, and found it rather complicated to operate. It has the fuzzy logic technology, lots of menu to go through. The rice I have made with it is OK but what I make in the pan is simple and better. I do like Jenise's suggestion of the artichoke, and may try that. To be fair, I have not given the cooker a fair trial. It is hard to determine when it is actually cooking. It may be my next item on Craig's list.

[Jenise]

I bought a Zojirushi, and found it rather complicated to operate. It has the fuzzy logic technology, lots of menu to go through. The rice I have made with it is OK but what I make in the pan is simple and better. I do like Jenise's suggestion of the artichoke, and may try that. To be fair, I have not given the cooker a fair trial. It is hard to determine when it is actually cooking. It may be my next item on Craig's list.

Rice cookers sure seem to be polarizing. If between you, your pans, your stove and your style of making rice you make great rice, you don't need one. Especially if you're only cooking for two. For those who haven't worked out a good manual method, and people with large families who cook rice real often, I can sure see where a 'set it and forget it' kind of approach to rice cooking would be a lifesaver. Btw, Karen, I don't think mine was a fuzzy logic fancy rice cooker, more the Zojirushi equivalent of the Panasonic Shaji provided a link for. Which is exactly why the artichoke worked so well in it--might not be the same in a larger, more sophisticated machine.

I had a rice cooker many years ago, but my wife persuaded me that we don't need one. I also had one of those perforated stainless steel rice things, a massive version of how you make tea in a pot. I never could do it.

We don't eat white rice and we have discovered a Basmati brown rice at our coop that cooks well. We fire up a small amount of vegetable oil in a stainless steel pot with one rice kernel in it until it pops a little, then we put the rest of the rice in, stir it with a wooden spoon to get the oil over every kernel, add the liquid slowly and whatever else we want in it that night, bring to a boil, cover and leave simmering. Perfect every time--unless I screw up the liquid volume, which I have been known to do on occasion.

Thanks again for this. Someone wants to order one online for me, but this has given me ideas. And I look forward to making perfect rice!

Just last night I cooked up some brown basmati on the stove and of course failed to get the perfect balance right between thoroughly-cooked yet still firm.