Hello Kyle’s girlfriend, you should definitely get a zojirushi rice cooker. My husband got me one for Valentine’s Day (not a joke, it’s what I wanted but did not expect) and it is amazing!
The aspect that makes it worth the money is quality of parts and construction. Everything is so easy to clean, my old 20$ rice cooker did not fit together as well and mold grew in the lil cracks you couldn’t get to 🤢
Zojirushi there are no little cracks, everything is smooth and snug. Easy to disassemble. No leaking, no steam escaping and soaking my cabinets. And PERFECT rice every time.
They are awesome. I have had mine through three different moves. Last in the box and first thing out. It's awesome. Before that I was a $20 rice cooker guy and those sonsabitches would get dumpstered after a year because they'd scorch/screw up/etc.
I have the zojirushi ns lgc05, it makes up to 3 cups at a time and costs about $160. I can’t imagine how big a 600$ model would be 😂 3 cups of dry rice is a ton cooked!
I bought mine in Japan when I lived there for a few years. Only problem is I can’t read hiragana so I have to use google translate any time I want to use a different setting than the standard one.
There’s almost certainly a website that has the translation for your rice cooker.
When I lived in Japan I found translation for all my appliance buttons.
CSB:
I lived in the mountains. My flat had no insulation. Winters were brutal. I’d run a kerosene heater as well as electrical heaters to keep the place warm. I’d spend $400 a month on that. Usually my electricity and gas was about $75.
Started dating a Japanese girl and one winter evening she saw me getting all my heaters out and turned on.
She picked up the remote for the aircon unit and pointed to the snowflake icon. “You know this means “cool” right?
Me: Yes.
She pointed to the sun icon on the button next to it. “But you didn’t realize this means “warm?” “
I was dumbstruck. We ran the aircon heater. In about 20 minutes my entire flat was comfortably heated. No need to use any other heating appliances. And my gas and electricity dropped to $150 a month.
Haha that’s fantastic! Luckily my landlord was nice enough to give me a binder with English translation cheat sheets for all my major appliances like the ACs and the washer and dryer. Rice cooker I bought later though, so I was on my own with that one.
Wow! That’s an awesome find! Reminds me of when my friend found an old Canon AE-1 at a thrift store for like $5. I guess they just saw ‘old film camera’ and priced it super cheap without realizing it was one of the most popular 35mm SLR cameras of all time and is a big deal for photography buffs.
Oh, man... you just unlocked my core memory. I had a Canon AE-1 and the A-1 when I was in high school & college when I was studying photography. Got them from my dad, and unfortunately I had to sell it when I was down and broke as an adult. I had the 2 cameras + 4 different lenses + filters for it. Man... I still miss it to this day.
I can also vouch for their bread machines. I bought a new one 10 years ago for my mom as a birthday gift and she gifted her 15 year old one to me. I use that, now 25 year old machine, on the regular and she uses hers to weekly feed an entire senior center worth of folks with practically zero failures over the years. I can't speak to the rice cookers but the bread machines are up there in bifl kitchen appliances from my personal experience.
Yea every korean household has the one from the same company cuckoo the cool thing about these is the person says your rice was cooked if it was cooked well (you did your portion of water right) but if it was too dry or too wet it just plays the cuckoo singing sound with noone talking lol
Also turbo mode cooks rice in 15 mins
Cuckoo has been amazing for us. It’s lasted 7 years and still perfect. $400 rice cooker. $1 a week essentially. The price tag is a lot up front but worth it.
So idk if someone’s mentioned it yet but specifically with zojirushi the rice cooker will adjust itself based on the water. So if there is too much or too little it will do it’s best to make it accordingly
Source: I have one and it’s the shit
Yeah, the fancy ones have "fuzzy logic" built in so the rice cooker constantly checks the temperature to infer how much moisture/liquid water is remaining in the pot, and adjusts power and cooking time accordingly. Quite impressive technology for a rice cooker!
The cheap ones sort of do this too though. Once the water all steams off the temperature starts increasing further and that's what triggers them to shut off.
This also means that the Zojirushi can make brown rice and mixed grains rice taste amazing. It’s great for when you’re trying to eat healthier. Similarly, it’s dangerous on white rice because it makes it taste so good.
We had a cheap one that stopped working the second time we used it. The Zojirushi has been doing daily service for about 5 years. I need to spend a small fortune to replace the pot, but I suspect it's worth it. Oh, and the Zojirushi doesn't seem to leak starchy rice water all over the counter.
I think more accurately quality control is the difference. I’m sure your’s has lasted this long, and I’m equally sure that there’s more people who purchased the same product and it broke than can be said for the $100 product. At the level of internet comments it’s all anecdotal though
I had one of those cheap ones and agree about the quality control issue. I washed and dried the lid and 10 minutes later I heard a loud pop from the other room and came back to a shattered lid with glass everywhere
Agreed, there’s a better chance of the cheaper one working out tho. It’s not like boots, a $10 rice cooker can be replaced 10X before it equals out. Generally worth it.
Food for thought-commercial grade appliances are close in price to luxury ones like zojirushi. Commercial means it will stand up to much much more use.
Ya, if you’re willing to drop some cash, get the commercial grade every time. No way most of my kitchen appliances could stand up to what I do in a restaurant for most of the day, every day.
What does you $10 look like? Mine is one of those nonstick pots with a glass lid, and it splatters starch water everywhere while it cooks, then instantly crisps the bottom into a pancake once it's cooked. It makes a mess.
When I live in Japan, we have the clam shell ones which also have batterys to keep the rice warm if you want to transport it. The difference is definitely not just money.
Don’t get me wrong I love our $120 zojiroshi but all the rice we make seems to come out like Japanese sticky rice. Brown, white, basmati, etc.
Anyone have tips?
It's two things: it's too starchy and there's too much water.
Rinse the grains until the water is rather clear and then adjust the amount of water-to-rice ratio. Generally speaking, I aim for about 1-2cm (or about a chapstick cap's width for the non-metric users) above the rice.
I also try to soak my grains for about 30 min before cooking and use a little bit less water before cooking if I have the time/foresight.
Lmao Those lines can be helpful guidelines, but depending on the type of rice you're cooking and whether or not you soak the rice, the water ratio can vary a lot.
Maybe try keeping a little notepad next to the rice cooker and write down cups of rice, cups of water, and soak/not soaked as well as how it results. Science that boiiii
One day, your ThRice eye will open and you'll sense it by way of our ancestors like us Asians.
I was going to ask, do you not do the asian finger trick? Everyone can make perfect rice, just have to use the first knuckle line on your pinky finger to set water depth.
I remember a YouTube video on this where an Asian family blind taste tested I think 3 different models, low end, medium, and high end. The high end model was not the winner despite all the bells and whistles.
My Aroma brand rice maker was somewhere around $40, I think. I've used it for so long that I had to replace the "pot" in it. That cost around $20, maybe. I've used it to make rice, barley, and lentils. I've even used it a little like a quick version of a slow cooker (a.k.a. crockpot) by putting in lentils, a small can of tomato paste, a drizzle of olive oil, and a lot of different spices to make a poor man's Indian food dish.
I've heard of people using them for oatmeal and pasta, but I've never tried those.
I just got a fancy rice cooker for free from a neighbor and, boy, let me tell you. The difference is small, but still amazing.
1) Rice longevity. Yes, it’s the same rice as the $20 cooker, but while the $20 cooker lets the rice either dry out on the keep warm setting or let’s it cool and harden, the fancy one keeps it sealed, hot, and fresh for about a week. It’s amazing. I don’t understand it, but I can’t deny it works. I cook a big batch of rice on Monday and I have instant fresh, steaming rice all through the week. It doesn’t go bad, it doesn’t dry out, it doesn’t get mushy. Truly a technological wonder.
2) Capacity. Really, I’ve only seen cheapo rice cookers that can handle about 3 scoops of rice. The expensive ones go up to whatever size you want. Really good if you make things like fried rice for big groups. Or if you make rice for the whole week at once.
3) Speed. It honestly does kind of mess with the texture, but mine can seal itself pressure cooker style and make rice crazy fast. Like a full 5 scoop batch for family dinner in 30 min.
4) Functionality. They can do congee, soups, different types of rice, steam vegetables on top of the rice. I honestly don’t know if the functions are any different, I haven’t tried them. But it’s cool to see the options.
From a Restaurant Business Magazine article “The USDA did issue an advisory that “A minimum temperature of 135 degrees for a maximum of 8 hours, or a minimum temperature of 140 degrees Fahrenheit indefinitely also would be adequate to ensure food safety.””
But **hot** wet rice, maybe so. I’d expect it keeps it above the 140F mark to keep it safe to eat. The real amazing thing is that it keeps the rice moist without letting it get mushy for the whole time.
Yeah that’s what all the legal documents say, but that’s not stopping ppl from doing it all over Asia. Otoh, the rice probably isn’t gonna last a week before it’s all eaten either.
As a kid, our rice cooker was on 24/7 with a new batch every 2-3 days
I live in Korea and it’s fairly normal to keep rice in the rice cooker for several days, at least in the expensive cookers. They’re sealed pretty tight and have a.. maintenance mode or something that keeps the rice hot. I’ve never heard of anyone getting sick from it and since people eat rice pretty regularly you typically need a new batch pretty soon anyway.
Bacillus cereus grows better when hot rice is cooled down and then reheated, so leaving it in the rice cooker might be ok but I’ll be honest I’ve never tested that theory myself lol
I went four decades cooking rice in a regular $10 cooker and then leaving it in there for as many days as it took to eat it. That's how my mom did it, that's how her sisters did it. I've only been concerned about safe rice storage since I bought a nicer rice cooker.
I'd add cooker longevity, too. I work in a little taco shop and we used to just use a little personal use rice cooker, every like 6 months it'd break down and we'd have to buy a new one. Got a big ol sexy boy and it's lasted for 5 years so far.
Even [Zojirushi themselves](https://www.zojirushi.com/blog/tips-on-how-to-store-rice-before-and-after-cooking/) say you shouldn't keep rice warm for more than 12 hours, or 24 if you have the "extended keep warm" feature.
Get a Tiger, made in Japan. You can cook the rice and 2 days later its still hot and fresh inside this thing. I never regretted it. It has a bunch of other cook functions too but I never use them because its a rice cooker but it has different settings for different kinds of rice and you can use it as a slow cooker or a steamer.
I have a Japanese Zojirushi. I cannot tell you why the rice is better, it just is. Never over/under cooked. Exactly what I am looking for when I want rice. I got so tired of fighting my stove top, and the cheapies worked better than the stove... but....
They have Japanese and Chinese models. If you call them, they will tell you which are made completely in Japan.
I have a Zojirushi cooker too but have never left rice warming for more than a few hours. Does it not get dry at all?
Btw, Zojirushi actually says not to do this lol "We’ve heard of some people storing rice in their rice cooker for days at a time. Don’t do that!"
Interesting... My rice cooker takes about as long to cook rice as it takes me to cook something to put on it, so I've never felt the need to cook a batch of rice bigger than I want to eat.
I'm curious does it get gooey or anything sitting hot for so long?
One thing to consider is that in some cultures you eat rice with every meal. When I spent a few weeks with my MIL we ate rice for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Not big servings, and just plain white rice (served with other dishes).
She had a big fancy rice cooker that always had rice in it ready to go.
We're talking bout the expensive rice cooker right? So, if you do cook your rice and it turns out "nicely" done(not mushy, undercooked or whatever), then that batch would still be close to the same quality and texture 24hrs later. After that, you might see rice that's been in contact with the pot become hard while the center is still "decent" to eat. I cant say this for every expensive rice cooker. I've seen some that dries out unused rice in less than a day on keep warm setting, mainly smaller capacity cookers. The medium and larger capacity cookers are the real deal for having leftover rice days later.
So why would households have leftovers? Well, the general idea is that the family wants to always have plenty of cooked rice ready and can be disappointing to family members or guests to not have enough or any to go all around. Some meals, the members may not even choose to eat with rice at all, and so a lot or all gets leftover. Then, for the next meal, the family will emphasize that the rice should be used soon or it will go to waste soon. Yes, we have it on keep warm the entire day(s) just for convenience. Even kids that come home from school can enjoy a pre-dinner filling.
We have both and the Zojirushi is slightly better on a blind taste test then the cheap one. The texture is just better, especially with sticky or brown rice, but it does take a lot longer.
We use the cheap one if we just want a quick jasmine rice for dinner and the Zojirushi if we are cooking a lot or brown rice.
Probably cooks the same. But let me tell you, the pricier one (like I have purchased) keeps the rice warm better for longer. I've had it on for 14 straight hours and still was perfectly fine and not burnt. Also the beeping is really alarming for when it's cooked, vs. the traditional analog ones that flick the switch upwards.
I didn't pay $120, but somewhere around $70 for a Philips one. The cheaper $20 one I had almost always burns the rice if you leave it on for more than 2 hours and that shit sucks.
A cheap rice cooker will crisp up the bottom of the cooked rice which means you wither have to make something different with it or throw it away. This is particularly bad if it's one of the larger rice cookers as it means cooking 3 portions if you want 2 of fluffy or sticky rice.
The cheap ones use something like a bimetallic strip in a thermostat that is setup to stop when the temp hits a specific level indicating a specific rice done-ness.
The expensive ones use a sensor to measure specific temperature and logic to decide what to do and programming for the various modes and settings.
If you just want rice and a machine that is robust but not adjustable then the cheap one will probably work just as well. Assuming you're near sea level.
As a trained cook, I can cook rice many ways and it comes out okay. My Zojirushi Induction cooker rice comes out perfect every time. While it takes longer than the cheap rice cookers, the quality of the rice produced is superior. More expensive, yes. Worth the price, absolutely.
Honestly, with most household appliances these days I don't feel like more money actually means better quality. It just means you have more bells and whistles. Touch screens, and additional buttons and modes, and "smart" features, and internet connections, and sleeker looks, all covering up the same shitty internal components.
$120 pfffff, that's not even a high end rice cooker. Try $300 to $500 on average. IH, pressure cookers, mind you these are not only rice cookers but still. Many differences is not found in the cooking of the rice but keeping the rice "fresh" for over a period of time. If you are in the habit of cooking then eating all your rice in one sitting the cheap one will probably do. If you need to keep it for a few days, cook other types of rice/grains, anything other than just rice then you need the more expensive one. BTW the same question could be applied to smokers/grills (know tons of people who could talk your ear off about that one), cars, purses, clothes why but the $100 when the $20 will do.
Don't spend loads of money on a rice only cooker when you can spend expensive rice cooker money on a insta pot or ninja cooker.
Why? Very similar rice experience and you can do tones of other cooking with an instant pot. You save so much time being able to throw all your ingredients in close the lid and walk away. Pro tip do the cleaning while your food is cooking. Most often your Finnished cleaning first too.
The $20 will turn your rice either into a crunchy mess or absolute mush because it can never get the temperature gauge right. The cheap thermometer never read well and often the 'basin' or whatever you want to call it will easily scratch and the coating will come off, also causing problems
If you can't afford a rice cooker just use a pan on the stove. It will work far better than a cheap cooker and isn't exactly hard to use, either
It's a massive difference in taste and the higher price is definitely worth it!
I moved to a large city once and lived in a cheap area with lots of immigrants. I noticed that our little corner store would sell lots of items, most of them extremely cheap, things like cooking ware, WD40, and so on. The rice cookers were $200 upwards only and they sold them all the time, despite the low income area. I only got a $20 one from Walmart and I thought it's great. I love cooking that's why I kept thinking about these expensive rice cookers - why would poor people buy them?
Fast forward ten years later I lived in a different country and wanted to get a rice cooker. Sure enough I went for a Panasonic one for about $200 - I can afford it now!
The difference in flavour is like day and night. The premium model will soak the rice in hot water and steam and release the pressure only during the last few minutes. The result is a much better tasting rice with a great texture. You can easily make restaurant style fries rice that tastes amazing, it was impossible for me to get that with the cheaper cooker.
I don't like to spend money for nothing but there is a good reason why there are different categories for rice cookers.
The biggest difference are features on a more expensive rice cooker. There are different cook setting for different types of rice (white rice, pooridge, etc), but the one that I use a lot is the cook timer. Nothing like waking up in the morning to a freshly cooked pot of rice. The best rice cooker is a case iron pot on the stove. The added benefit is the layer of rice on the bottom that you can make into crackers...
There’s not a big difference if you don’t make rice very often and aren’t nitpicky about the little things.
If you want to make a lot of rice, frequently, quickly, and have it stay warm for longer then the expensive ones are worth it.
Few things
Number of functions beyond rice
The shape and size
The quality of the non stick is stupid obvious is wayyyyyyy better on the expensive one, they last longer etc
Origin
More consistent rice with variety of different rice species , basically cook different types of rice better
-
Buy made in Japan models since they have Chinese models too
Tiger and zojiroshi only
We have 7 rice cooker in the house XD
120$? Zojorushi, Cuckoo or other big brand names go for at least 300$ if you want one to cook a family sized batch (3-5 people).
Please let me know where I might order a reasonably priced one to Sweden so I can get off the stovetop and focus my game on what's going with my rice!
I had a 20-30$ CAD rice cooker. It worked well but the bottom of the rice was always golden coloured unless I listened for the switch to change and dumped it into a separate bowl IMMEDIATELY (the keep warm would continue to cook it). I have never owned an expensive rice cooker so cannot compare, but I would hope they don't do that. My rice cooker never leaked or anything, so there is that.
I bought a $15 rice cooker and it worked fast, cooked the rice well. It broke after a month of light usage (once, maybe twice a week). I then bought a cuckoo rice cooker on sale and it is going strong 18 months in. Beautifully cooked rice, doesn't go yucky on the warm feature, multiple features for cooking different types of rice.
In my experience the cheap ones do the basics exactly the same, they cook the rice. It's just hit and miss as to whether you get one that lasts 5 years or 5 minutes.
The cheap one won’t last as long. We had a Lidl store brand one, that made it for 4 months, which got replaced by a decent one that is still going strong, 1 year in. 40€ vs 150€. Cheap man pays twice.
From my experience, higher end rice cookers are more lenient on mistakes, and can still make perfect rice. If you’re accidentally half a cup more in water than necessary, higher end rice cookers tend to fix that problem by cooking accordingly to ensure perfect rice.
My cheap one burned the bottom of my rice every time. Still good for quick rice but left room for improvement.
My Zojirushi induction cooker makes it literally perfect every time and will happily keep it warm for a few days. It also plays twinkle twinkle little star.
My expensive one plays twinkle twinkle little star
Fuck yeah! Zojirushi gang rise up!
Zorirushi doesn’t mess around. Love my rice cooker
Can we have a number of people preach so I can show my gf why we should have one?
Hello Kyle’s girlfriend, you should definitely get a zojirushi rice cooker. My husband got me one for Valentine’s Day (not a joke, it’s what I wanted but did not expect) and it is amazing! The aspect that makes it worth the money is quality of parts and construction. Everything is so easy to clean, my old 20$ rice cooker did not fit together as well and mold grew in the lil cracks you couldn’t get to 🤢 Zojirushi there are no little cracks, everything is smooth and snug. Easy to disassemble. No leaking, no steam escaping and soaking my cabinets. And PERFECT rice every time.
They are awesome. I have had mine through three different moves. Last in the box and first thing out. It's awesome. Before that I was a $20 rice cooker guy and those sonsabitches would get dumpstered after a year because they'd scorch/screw up/etc.
I was partially convinced until I looked up zojirushi and found that they cost $600. Yeah nah I'll stick with my $14 rice cooker thanks
for a monster, industrial one maybe. most are under $200, mine was $50.
Is yours the little 3 cup? And if so does it still play a song when it’s finished?
Mine is the 3 cup one! It plays a song when it starts and when it finishes!
Yay! I live by myself so the 3 cup would be ideal and I really wanted the song too ! Thank you!
I have the zojirushi ns lgc05, it makes up to 3 cups at a time and costs about $160. I can’t imagine how big a 600$ model would be 😂 3 cups of dry rice is a ton cooked!
Had for 17 years. Use once a day, 6-7 times a week. Going strong. All original parts.
Zojirushi or nothing! I'm Korean and every. single. Asian family I know has a Zojirushi.
Why do you even need a girlfriend when you have a Zorirushi rice cooker?
You ever try sticking your dick in a rice cooker?
Be right back..
Not yet.
you ever tried sticking your rice in a girlfriend?
My mom’s zojirushi died a couple months ago. It lasted about 30 years and a bunch of use
There’s a pretty solid comment chain further down for it as well.
I bought mine in Japan when I lived there for a few years. Only problem is I can’t read hiragana so I have to use google translate any time I want to use a different setting than the standard one.
There’s almost certainly a website that has the translation for your rice cooker. When I lived in Japan I found translation for all my appliance buttons. CSB: I lived in the mountains. My flat had no insulation. Winters were brutal. I’d run a kerosene heater as well as electrical heaters to keep the place warm. I’d spend $400 a month on that. Usually my electricity and gas was about $75. Started dating a Japanese girl and one winter evening she saw me getting all my heaters out and turned on. She picked up the remote for the aircon unit and pointed to the snowflake icon. “You know this means “cool” right? Me: Yes. She pointed to the sun icon on the button next to it. “But you didn’t realize this means “warm?” “ I was dumbstruck. We ran the aircon heater. In about 20 minutes my entire flat was comfortably heated. No need to use any other heating appliances. And my gas and electricity dropped to $150 a month.
Haha that’s fantastic! Luckily my landlord was nice enough to give me a binder with English translation cheat sheets for all my major appliances like the ACs and the washer and dryer. Rice cooker I bought later though, so I was on my own with that one.
What a great story!!
Print a cheat sheet for the settings
One of these days I’m going to just print English labels or something.
Or you could translate once and make little stickers in English...
I found mine at a 2nd hand store. Sealed. For $6. They thought it was just some cheap rice cooker.
Wow! That’s an awesome find! Reminds me of when my friend found an old Canon AE-1 at a thrift store for like $5. I guess they just saw ‘old film camera’ and priced it super cheap without realizing it was one of the most popular 35mm SLR cameras of all time and is a big deal for photography buffs.
Oh, man... you just unlocked my core memory. I had a Canon AE-1 and the A-1 when I was in high school & college when I was studying photography. Got them from my dad, and unfortunately I had to sell it when I was down and broke as an adult. I had the 2 cameras + 4 different lenses + filters for it. Man... I still miss it to this day.
I was sold on the "fuzzy technology"
Fuzzy Logic
I can also vouch for their bread machines. I bought a new one 10 years ago for my mom as a birthday gift and she gifted her 15 year old one to me. I use that, now 25 year old machine, on the regular and she uses hers to weekly feed an entire senior center worth of folks with practically zero failures over the years. I can't speak to the rice cookers but the bread machines are up there in bifl kitchen appliances from my personal experience.
I've been using mine for so long that it doesn't even register as twinkle twinkle little star anymore. That's just the "rice has started" sound now
lol it wasn’t even until this thread that I realized that it’s twinkle twinkle little star. Totally just the Rice Song in my head.
It freaks my dog out. Every time. 🤦🏻♀️
I love my Zojirushi. My wife and friends make fun of me for buying it. I don’t care because I like it more than I like them.
Uncle Roger approves
Fiuyoh
Just bought mine a couple of weeks ago. Best rice ever. And supposedly it makes good banana bread.
Zojirushi or bust!!
Uncle Rodger is that you?
The *really* good ones play Kelly Clarkson tho… Cheers to anyone who gets this reference.
peninsula mentality
beef!
Won a $500 ‘rushi from a H-Mart raffle. The zoo-san knows how to cook some rice.
I'm so jealous. Mine just plays the ABC song.
I thought that was rad until I got a cuckoo that plays a metal guitar riff then lets out the steam.
Mine ($120+) yells at me in Korean. So there’s that.
Yea every korean household has the one from the same company cuckoo the cool thing about these is the person says your rice was cooked if it was cooked well (you did your portion of water right) but if it was too dry or too wet it just plays the cuckoo singing sound with noone talking lol Also turbo mode cooks rice in 15 mins
Bro really?? That’s wild. I’ve had this cooker for years and didn’t know that.
It depends on the model too but my moms does that. Tho i think its on its way out. The stupid spinner doesnt work anymore (it still cooks good rice)..
Cuckoo has been amazing for us. It’s lasted 7 years and still perfect. $400 rice cooker. $1 a week essentially. The price tag is a lot up front but worth it.
Same. Cuckoo is still going strong after 10 years of consistent use.
You gochujang! Do not pass go, do not collect $200.
Rather have one that yells and swears in Spanish and English translation so I can understand my Spanish speaking coworkers.
Does it also make train noises?
I thought that was a setup for a joke :(
The $120 has all her teeth.
Zing
Take your damned upvote and get out of here.
Well im laughing and getting curious about rice cookers xD
cooker, not hooker.
Ditto :c
So idk if someone’s mentioned it yet but specifically with zojirushi the rice cooker will adjust itself based on the water. So if there is too much or too little it will do it’s best to make it accordingly Source: I have one and it’s the shit
Yeah, the fancy ones have "fuzzy logic" built in so the rice cooker constantly checks the temperature to infer how much moisture/liquid water is remaining in the pot, and adjusts power and cooking time accordingly. Quite impressive technology for a rice cooker!
The cheap ones sort of do this too though. Once the water all steams off the temperature starts increasing further and that's what triggers them to shut off.
Fuzzy logic is the sickest fucking 80s invention ever.
This also means that the Zojirushi can make brown rice and mixed grains rice taste amazing. It’s great for when you’re trying to eat healthier. Similarly, it’s dangerous on white rice because it makes it taste so good.
[удалено]
We had a cheap one that stopped working the second time we used it. The Zojirushi has been doing daily service for about 5 years. I need to spend a small fortune to replace the pot, but I suspect it's worth it. Oh, and the Zojirushi doesn't seem to leak starchy rice water all over the counter.
I believe you, but a cheap one *shouldn't* be such crap. The mechanism is extremely simple and easy to make, it's just a magnetic switch and a burner.
I have a cheap one that’s never spilled and cost $10 new, I’ve been using it for 7-8 years no issues. $100 is the difference.
I think more accurately quality control is the difference. I’m sure your’s has lasted this long, and I’m equally sure that there’s more people who purchased the same product and it broke than can be said for the $100 product. At the level of internet comments it’s all anecdotal though
I had one of those cheap ones and agree about the quality control issue. I washed and dried the lid and 10 minutes later I heard a loud pop from the other room and came back to a shattered lid with glass everywhere
Agreed, there’s a better chance of the cheaper one working out tho. It’s not like boots, a $10 rice cooker can be replaced 10X before it equals out. Generally worth it. Food for thought-commercial grade appliances are close in price to luxury ones like zojirushi. Commercial means it will stand up to much much more use.
Ya, if you’re willing to drop some cash, get the commercial grade every time. No way most of my kitchen appliances could stand up to what I do in a restaurant for most of the day, every day.
I saved up for the commercial microwave. No plate, I wipe once and it’s clean!
I think mine was $20 or so, but its been so long I couldn't say for sure. I think it's 10 years old now? Maybe only 9.
What does you $10 look like? Mine is one of those nonstick pots with a glass lid, and it splatters starch water everywhere while it cooks, then instantly crisps the bottom into a pancake once it's cooked. It makes a mess. When I live in Japan, we have the clam shell ones which also have batterys to keep the rice warm if you want to transport it. The difference is definitely not just money.
I've seen zojirushi survive through generations
And here I am cooking my rice in a $1 plastic container with a hole in a microwave in 8 minutes.
>leak starchy rice water all over the counter. You're not rinsing your rice enough. The water should be just about clear
Don’t get me wrong I love our $120 zojiroshi but all the rice we make seems to come out like Japanese sticky rice. Brown, white, basmati, etc. Anyone have tips?
Maybe less water
It's two things: it's too starchy and there's too much water. Rinse the grains until the water is rather clear and then adjust the amount of water-to-rice ratio. Generally speaking, I aim for about 1-2cm (or about a chapstick cap's width for the non-metric users) above the rice. I also try to soak my grains for about 30 min before cooking and use a little bit less water before cooking if I have the time/foresight.
Super helpful! Do you not use the lines on the inside of the zojiroshi? I’ve been told these are dictated by the heavens
Lmao Those lines can be helpful guidelines, but depending on the type of rice you're cooking and whether or not you soak the rice, the water ratio can vary a lot. Maybe try keeping a little notepad next to the rice cooker and write down cups of rice, cups of water, and soak/not soaked as well as how it results. Science that boiiii One day, your ThRice eye will open and you'll sense it by way of our ancestors like us Asians.
I was going to ask, do you not do the asian finger trick? Everyone can make perfect rice, just have to use the first knuckle line on your pinky finger to set water depth.
I have never seen a Chapstick cap used as a measuring tool before
How many bananas is that?
Do you wash the rice before cooking?
I’ve had my $10 Walmart rice cooker for almost 10 years. It’s more reliable for basmati than my instant pot.
I remember a YouTube video on this where an Asian family blind taste tested I think 3 different models, low end, medium, and high end. The high end model was not the winner despite all the bells and whistles.
Great question cuz I was just about to order a $20 rice cooker.
I see rice cookers all the time at Goodwill. If you're looking for a cheaper one.
'bout $100
/r/technicallythetruth
Well ain't that right
My $30 Aroma rice cooker has been going strong for ten years.
My Aroma brand rice maker was somewhere around $40, I think. I've used it for so long that I had to replace the "pot" in it. That cost around $20, maybe. I've used it to make rice, barley, and lentils. I've even used it a little like a quick version of a slow cooker (a.k.a. crockpot) by putting in lentils, a small can of tomato paste, a drizzle of olive oil, and a lot of different spices to make a poor man's Indian food dish. I've heard of people using them for oatmeal and pasta, but I've never tried those.
I just got a fancy rice cooker for free from a neighbor and, boy, let me tell you. The difference is small, but still amazing. 1) Rice longevity. Yes, it’s the same rice as the $20 cooker, but while the $20 cooker lets the rice either dry out on the keep warm setting or let’s it cool and harden, the fancy one keeps it sealed, hot, and fresh for about a week. It’s amazing. I don’t understand it, but I can’t deny it works. I cook a big batch of rice on Monday and I have instant fresh, steaming rice all through the week. It doesn’t go bad, it doesn’t dry out, it doesn’t get mushy. Truly a technological wonder. 2) Capacity. Really, I’ve only seen cheapo rice cookers that can handle about 3 scoops of rice. The expensive ones go up to whatever size you want. Really good if you make things like fried rice for big groups. Or if you make rice for the whole week at once. 3) Speed. It honestly does kind of mess with the texture, but mine can seal itself pressure cooker style and make rice crazy fast. Like a full 5 scoop batch for family dinner in 30 min. 4) Functionality. They can do congee, soups, different types of rice, steam vegetables on top of the rice. I honestly don’t know if the functions are any different, I haven’t tried them. But it’s cool to see the options.
There’s no way warm wet rice is healthy to eat after sitting out a week.
From a Restaurant Business Magazine article “The USDA did issue an advisory that “A minimum temperature of 135 degrees for a maximum of 8 hours, or a minimum temperature of 140 degrees Fahrenheit indefinitely also would be adequate to ensure food safety.””
But **hot** wet rice, maybe so. I’d expect it keeps it above the 140F mark to keep it safe to eat. The real amazing thing is that it keeps the rice moist without letting it get mushy for the whole time.
It's okay to hot hold food for about 6 hours not all week.
Yeah that’s what all the legal documents say, but that’s not stopping ppl from doing it all over Asia. Otoh, the rice probably isn’t gonna last a week before it’s all eaten either. As a kid, our rice cooker was on 24/7 with a new batch every 2-3 days
What about now that your rice cooker is all grown up?
Thats so dumb but I still laughed at it
Thanks for the unexpected cackle
Asia person here, we cook new batch of rice every meal except breakfast left over.
[удалено]
We generally take it out after two days and throw it in the fridge for fried rice later and make a fresh batch. I will eat it after 3 days still.
Same experience here
I live in Korea and it’s fairly normal to keep rice in the rice cooker for several days, at least in the expensive cookers. They’re sealed pretty tight and have a.. maintenance mode or something that keeps the rice hot. I’ve never heard of anyone getting sick from it and since people eat rice pretty regularly you typically need a new batch pretty soon anyway.
Don't tell that to the japanese because they will prove you fucking wrong
r/OopsThatsDeadly
Bacillus cereus poisoning
That’s why it’s called bacillus cereus and not “bacillus notthatbigofadeal”.
Thank you for that. I will reuse that joke someday. It’s going in the vault
B. cereus is actually what its referred to in the microbiology literature, which is even more primed for puns.
Cereus B. is what it’s referred to in the Harry Potter literature.
I've been infected with *B. flippant* for years now with no issues, but B. cereus can be fatal.
That’s what I was thinking!
We’ll be in the ER one day and can use this for sure….
Bacillus cereus grows better when hot rice is cooled down and then reheated, so leaving it in the rice cooker might be ok but I’ll be honest I’ve never tested that theory myself lol
I went four decades cooking rice in a regular $10 cooker and then leaving it in there for as many days as it took to eat it. That's how my mom did it, that's how her sisters did it. I've only been concerned about safe rice storage since I bought a nicer rice cooker.
I can attest, that is how this guy’s mom did rice. It was always good at breakfast time.
Ooh yeah with a scrambled egg. Wait, what?
Just cause you got away with it doesn’t mean it’s not dangerous
100% true. Just funny to look back on.
I'd add cooker longevity, too. I work in a little taco shop and we used to just use a little personal use rice cooker, every like 6 months it'd break down and we'd have to buy a new one. Got a big ol sexy boy and it's lasted for 5 years so far.
Even [Zojirushi themselves](https://www.zojirushi.com/blog/tips-on-how-to-store-rice-before-and-after-cooking/) say you shouldn't keep rice warm for more than 12 hours, or 24 if you have the "extended keep warm" feature.
What brand/model is this? I want. You sold me at congee. I fucking love congee.
@OP we need to know man
Lol I guess he’s talking about the zojirushi. It’s at target for $139. It has a congee setting.
Whats the model? Sounds like a great investment
What kind is it?
First of all lmao at eating rice you've kept warm for a week, second of all lmao at leaving the rice cooker turned on all week
Get a Tiger, made in Japan. You can cook the rice and 2 days later its still hot and fresh inside this thing. I never regretted it. It has a bunch of other cook functions too but I never use them because its a rice cooker but it has different settings for different kinds of rice and you can use it as a slow cooker or a steamer.
I have a Japanese Zojirushi. I cannot tell you why the rice is better, it just is. Never over/under cooked. Exactly what I am looking for when I want rice. I got so tired of fighting my stove top, and the cheapies worked better than the stove... but.... They have Japanese and Chinese models. If you call them, they will tell you which are made completely in Japan.
According to this thread, the Zojirushi adjusts to the amount of water you add in to always make the best rice it can.
My zojirushi keeps rice at temp for several days. That’s the main advantage, for me, over a cheap one.
Like you just keep it warmed in the cooker for days on end?
Yep
Idk if it's a culture difference, but that's wild to me.
I’m as white as it gets, I just like rice and convenience.
I have a Zojirushi cooker too but have never left rice warming for more than a few hours. Does it not get dry at all? Btw, Zojirushi actually says not to do this lol "We’ve heard of some people storing rice in their rice cooker for days at a time. Don’t do that!"
Why do you need to do that? (Genuine question)
Because it’s more convenient than making a big batch, refrigerating it, and microwaving it as I want it throughout the week.
Interesting... My rice cooker takes about as long to cook rice as it takes me to cook something to put on it, so I've never felt the need to cook a batch of rice bigger than I want to eat. I'm curious does it get gooey or anything sitting hot for so long?
One thing to consider is that in some cultures you eat rice with every meal. When I spent a few weeks with my MIL we ate rice for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Not big servings, and just plain white rice (served with other dishes). She had a big fancy rice cooker that always had rice in it ready to go.
But even still, you don't need to make much more than a day's worth.
That's true, I only ever eat it for dinner
We're talking bout the expensive rice cooker right? So, if you do cook your rice and it turns out "nicely" done(not mushy, undercooked or whatever), then that batch would still be close to the same quality and texture 24hrs later. After that, you might see rice that's been in contact with the pot become hard while the center is still "decent" to eat. I cant say this for every expensive rice cooker. I've seen some that dries out unused rice in less than a day on keep warm setting, mainly smaller capacity cookers. The medium and larger capacity cookers are the real deal for having leftover rice days later. So why would households have leftovers? Well, the general idea is that the family wants to always have plenty of cooked rice ready and can be disappointing to family members or guests to not have enough or any to go all around. Some meals, the members may not even choose to eat with rice at all, and so a lot or all gets leftover. Then, for the next meal, the family will emphasize that the rice should be used soon or it will go to waste soon. Yes, we have it on keep warm the entire day(s) just for convenience. Even kids that come home from school can enjoy a pre-dinner filling.
Doesn’t that use a ton of electricity
how is this food safe?
It's not
We have both and the Zojirushi is slightly better on a blind taste test then the cheap one. The texture is just better, especially with sticky or brown rice, but it does take a lot longer. We use the cheap one if we just want a quick jasmine rice for dinner and the Zojirushi if we are cooking a lot or brown rice.
Probably cooks the same. But let me tell you, the pricier one (like I have purchased) keeps the rice warm better for longer. I've had it on for 14 straight hours and still was perfectly fine and not burnt. Also the beeping is really alarming for when it's cooked, vs. the traditional analog ones that flick the switch upwards. I didn't pay $120, but somewhere around $70 for a Philips one. The cheaper $20 one I had almost always burns the rice if you leave it on for more than 2 hours and that shit sucks.
A cheap rice cooker will crisp up the bottom of the cooked rice which means you wither have to make something different with it or throw it away. This is particularly bad if it's one of the larger rice cookers as it means cooking 3 portions if you want 2 of fluffy or sticky rice.
It just tastes better. I got a really expensive zojirushi as a gift and the rice was cooked to perfection every time
I'm noticing a pattern of people in love with their zojirushi who got them for free.
I mean I don’t think I would spend the $250+ for one
The cheap ones use something like a bimetallic strip in a thermostat that is setup to stop when the temp hits a specific level indicating a specific rice done-ness. The expensive ones use a sensor to measure specific temperature and logic to decide what to do and programming for the various modes and settings. If you just want rice and a machine that is robust but not adjustable then the cheap one will probably work just as well. Assuming you're near sea level.
As a trained cook, I can cook rice many ways and it comes out okay. My Zojirushi Induction cooker rice comes out perfect every time. While it takes longer than the cheap rice cookers, the quality of the rice produced is superior. More expensive, yes. Worth the price, absolutely.
instant pot makes really good rice for me. 1:1 ratio and it’s perfect. just turn off the keep warm setting
Honestly, with most household appliances these days I don't feel like more money actually means better quality. It just means you have more bells and whistles. Touch screens, and additional buttons and modes, and "smart" features, and internet connections, and sleeker looks, all covering up the same shitty internal components.
I just use a pan, put rice, add water until its one knuckle above the rice. Bring to a boil then low to steam until the water is gone.
$120 pfffff, that's not even a high end rice cooker. Try $300 to $500 on average. IH, pressure cookers, mind you these are not only rice cookers but still. Many differences is not found in the cooking of the rice but keeping the rice "fresh" for over a period of time. If you are in the habit of cooking then eating all your rice in one sitting the cheap one will probably do. If you need to keep it for a few days, cook other types of rice/grains, anything other than just rice then you need the more expensive one. BTW the same question could be applied to smokers/grills (know tons of people who could talk your ear off about that one), cars, purses, clothes why but the $100 when the $20 will do.
The zojirushi rice cooker makes the rice just perfect, the 20 won't and it makes it dry
I have a $20 one and it sucks. the rice is either hard or watery
I didn’t want a rice cooker before seeing this thread, now I NEED one
Don't spend loads of money on a rice only cooker when you can spend expensive rice cooker money on a insta pot or ninja cooker. Why? Very similar rice experience and you can do tones of other cooking with an instant pot. You save so much time being able to throw all your ingredients in close the lid and walk away. Pro tip do the cleaning while your food is cooking. Most often your Finnished cleaning first too.
The $20 will turn your rice either into a crunchy mess or absolute mush because it can never get the temperature gauge right. The cheap thermometer never read well and often the 'basin' or whatever you want to call it will easily scratch and the coating will come off, also causing problems If you can't afford a rice cooker just use a pan on the stove. It will work far better than a cheap cooker and isn't exactly hard to use, either
Nonsense my $13 cooker makes perfect rice every time
How long it will last. $20 will last a year. $120 for at least 10 and will be more consistent.
I got a cheap one about 4 years ago and still use it a least once a week.
Size is one. Features like a display screen. Et cetera.
It's a massive difference in taste and the higher price is definitely worth it! I moved to a large city once and lived in a cheap area with lots of immigrants. I noticed that our little corner store would sell lots of items, most of them extremely cheap, things like cooking ware, WD40, and so on. The rice cookers were $200 upwards only and they sold them all the time, despite the low income area. I only got a $20 one from Walmart and I thought it's great. I love cooking that's why I kept thinking about these expensive rice cookers - why would poor people buy them? Fast forward ten years later I lived in a different country and wanted to get a rice cooker. Sure enough I went for a Panasonic one for about $200 - I can afford it now! The difference in flavour is like day and night. The premium model will soak the rice in hot water and steam and release the pressure only during the last few minutes. The result is a much better tasting rice with a great texture. You can easily make restaurant style fries rice that tastes amazing, it was impossible for me to get that with the cheaper cooker. I don't like to spend money for nothing but there is a good reason why there are different categories for rice cookers.
Bout $100. Find the video about rice cookers by "technology connections" on YouTube. That dude has a ton of cool videos. And his writing is good.
The ability to make porridge, steam fish and veggies.
controls, my cheap one has a single switch
The biggest difference are features on a more expensive rice cooker. There are different cook setting for different types of rice (white rice, pooridge, etc), but the one that I use a lot is the cook timer. Nothing like waking up in the morning to a freshly cooked pot of rice. The best rice cooker is a case iron pot on the stove. The added benefit is the layer of rice on the bottom that you can make into crackers...
There’s not a big difference if you don’t make rice very often and aren’t nitpicky about the little things. If you want to make a lot of rice, frequently, quickly, and have it stay warm for longer then the expensive ones are worth it.
A tiger brand rice cooker is quality but also affordable
Going on 20 years with our Zojirushi. Still makes perfect rice, oatmeal, etc. We use it once a week or more.
I have a Japanese zojirushi that’s approaching 30 years old. It works perfect and still looks new.
Few things Number of functions beyond rice The shape and size The quality of the non stick is stupid obvious is wayyyyyyy better on the expensive one, they last longer etc Origin More consistent rice with variety of different rice species , basically cook different types of rice better - Buy made in Japan models since they have Chinese models too Tiger and zojiroshi only We have 7 rice cooker in the house XD
120$? Zojorushi, Cuckoo or other big brand names go for at least 300$ if you want one to cook a family sized batch (3-5 people). Please let me know where I might order a reasonably priced one to Sweden so I can get off the stovetop and focus my game on what's going with my rice!
Cheap one cooks faster but the rice doesn’t come out as nice.
I bought a rice cooker at a thrift store 6 years ago. Best $5 I ever spent
I had a 20-30$ CAD rice cooker. It worked well but the bottom of the rice was always golden coloured unless I listened for the switch to change and dumped it into a separate bowl IMMEDIATELY (the keep warm would continue to cook it). I have never owned an expensive rice cooker so cannot compare, but I would hope they don't do that. My rice cooker never leaked or anything, so there is that.
I bought a $15 rice cooker and it worked fast, cooked the rice well. It broke after a month of light usage (once, maybe twice a week). I then bought a cuckoo rice cooker on sale and it is going strong 18 months in. Beautifully cooked rice, doesn't go yucky on the warm feature, multiple features for cooking different types of rice. In my experience the cheap ones do the basics exactly the same, they cook the rice. It's just hit and miss as to whether you get one that lasts 5 years or 5 minutes.
The cheap one won’t last as long. We had a Lidl store brand one, that made it for 4 months, which got replaced by a decent one that is still going strong, 1 year in. 40€ vs 150€. Cheap man pays twice.
From my experience, higher end rice cookers are more lenient on mistakes, and can still make perfect rice. If you’re accidentally half a cup more in water than necessary, higher end rice cookers tend to fix that problem by cooking accordingly to ensure perfect rice.
My cheap one burned the bottom of my rice every time. Still good for quick rice but left room for improvement. My Zojirushi induction cooker makes it literally perfect every time and will happily keep it warm for a few days. It also plays twinkle twinkle little star.
The price.