Any seasoned dwelling chef is aware of that the key to cooking an ideal batch of heat, fluffy rice is not meticulously standing over the range with a watchful eye, or including some secret, obscure ingredient—it is merely utilizing a rice cooker. Can you utilize a pot or microwave to cook dinner your favourite grains? Positive. However utilizing a rice cooker eliminates any likelihood of consumer error, which may end up in burnt or soggy grains. For those who’re seeking to save time and trouble, take into account investing in these greatest rice cookers.
The perfect rice cookers, at a look
- Finest general: Zojirushi, Micom Rice Cooker and Hotter, $199
- Finest funds: Oster, Diamondforce 6-Cup Electrical Rice Cooker, $20
- Finest mini: Sprint, Mini Rice Cooker Steamer, $22
- Finest multi-use: Prompt Pot, Professional Multi-Use Stress Cooker, $119
- Finest for greater crowds: Cosori, 10-Cup Rice Cooker, $100
What’s the function of a rice cooker?
Consider rice cookers as little sous cooks—they cook dinner your grains and take the guesswork out of cooking so that you could focus your whole consideration on different duties. “With a rice cooker, you may simply push a button and stroll away whereas the rice cooks. You don’t have to look at a pot on the range anymore,” says Namiko Chen, a Japanese recipe developer and founding father of the weblog, Simply One Cookbook. Oftentimes, cooking rice requires the precise water-to-rice ratio, a gentle stream of steam, and fixed stirring, in order that your rice doesn’t get caught to the underside. Rice cookers streamline all of those steps in only one cooking session, which is why they’re a beloved kitchen staple.
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How do rice cookers work
In a rice cooker, rice is cooked through a boil and steam methodology. Rice cookers are geared up with a steel plate. As soon as the machine is plugged in, the plate transfers warmth to a detachable pot, permitting the rice to boil. The warmth from the pot generates steam, which rises to the bowl. The results of this course of is fluffy and scrumptious grains.
What to search for in a rice cooker
In line with Chen, there are three most important issues to search for earlier than buying your rice cooker:
Measurement
First, take a look at how a lot rice your cooker can cook dinner. For those who’re cooking for your self and one different individual, search for rice cookers that may make between 1-3 cups of rice. “For a typical family measurement, I like to recommend a 5.5-cup rice cooker,” says Chen. “For those who make rice for giant crowds, then go for a 10-cup rice cooker.”
A timer
Whereas not needed, “a timer helps you intend forward so you may prep your rice and cook dinner it later, like for breakfast the following morning or for dinner after you’re away for a whole day,” says Chen. A set-it-and-forget-it perform makes cooking prep straightforward and infrequently consists of an computerized shut-off perform so you do not have to fret about your machine being left on.
Menu choices
Not all rice cookers have a menu, however for people who do, you may choose which sort of grain—white rice, brown rice, quinoa, oatmeal, and extra—you’re planning to cook dinner. For instance, Zojirushi rice cookers are constructed with menus, so that you could select between white rice, quinoa, and different preset choices.
There are a plethora of rice cooker choices available on the market, however in response to our staffers, these are the easiest ones your cash should buy.
Finest general:
Zojirushi, Micom Rice Cooker and Hotter — $199.00
Tester: Kayla Hui, commerce author (writer)
My household and I are large on rice. Every time I’d go to my cousin’s dwelling for dinner, she would all the time have her Zojirushi rice cooker available. After consuming fluffy grain after grain, I made a decision I’d get my very own Zojirushi, too. I made a decision on the Micom—which seems to be like a tiny area ship—and having examined the machine for 4 months now, all I can say is “wow.”
The Micom, which holds as much as 5.5 cups of rice, is the Dyson of rice cookers. It has a menu with eight preset cooking choices: white sushi, fast, blended, lengthy grain white, steel-cut oatmeal, quinoa, brown, and steam. Up to now, I’ve used the machine to cook dinner quinoa, jasmine rice, and pandan sticky rice (quick grain), and every batch comes out flawlessly all because of its sensible know-how, which correctly balances water and steam for a scrumptious meal each time.
The cutest characteristic of this rice cooker is the little tune that performs on the finish of every cooking cycle to point when the rice is finished. Made from clear-coated chrome steel, the rice cooker physique feels strong and is provided with a deal with that makes serving visitors simpler. Cleansing is a breeze, too. When utilizing cleaning soap and water, leftover rice comes off the detachable pot sans wrestle.
One caveat is that the rice takes between 45 and 50 minutes to cook dinner totally, however it does include a scheduling perform, so you may have the rice able to go everytime you need it. I really like that this rice cooker comes with a measuring cup and rice paddle. Irrespective of if I’m cooking for myself, household, or pals, I all the time have my Zojirushi on deck.
- Simple to make use of
- Performs a cute little tune when it’s performed cooking
- Good for small or bigger events
- Simple to scrub and wash
- Has deal with for transporting
- Comes with measuring cup and rice spatula
- LED show
- Has a holder for rice paddle
- Comes with steaming tray
- Costly
- Lengthy cook dinner time
Finest funds:
Oster, Diamondforce 6-Cup Electrical Rice Cooker — $20.00
Tester: Kayla Hui, commerce author (writer)
I purchased the Oster Diamondforce rice cooker once I was in graduate college in 2018, and 5 years later, this rice cooker remains to be going sturdy. For less than $20, the Diamondforce is a budget-friendly possibility that will get the job performed. It’s geared up with a cooking plate, a tempered glass lid, and a detachable 6-cup nonstick pot that boils and steams as much as three cups of raw grains, which comfortably feeds a celebration of as much as six folks.
What’s neat about this rice cooker is that it comes with a steaming tray, so I can reheat bread, dumplings, and nearly another smaller meals. One factor to notice concerning the Diamondforce is that it doesn’t have all of the bells and whistles like different rice cookers do. This one has only one button you push when you’ve loaded your rice. Afterward, the button will pop up and make a clicking noise to alert the rice has completed, which takes roughly 20 minutes to cook dinner.
Sadly, this rice cooker doesn’t characteristic sensible know-how, so I’ve to make sure that the machine is loaded with the correct water-to-rice ratio. The rice is fluffy and tastes good, but when I load an excessive amount of or too little water, the top end result might be soggy or dried. Nonetheless, this rice cooker has made cooking and meal prep straightforward for me and my roommates throughout my grad college days—it’s that straightforward to make use of. So, when you’re on the lookout for a no-frills and inexpensive rice cooker, then this one’s for you.
- Inexpensive
- Good measurement for events of as much as six folks
- Simple to scrub and clear
- Simple to retailer
- Tempered glass lid that’s sturdy
- Cooks rice inside 20 minutes
- Comes with steaming tray
- You need to measure the water
- No menu choices
Finest mini:
Sprint, Mini Rice Cooker Steamer — $22.00
Tester: Kara Jillian Brown, magnificence author
“The Sprint Rice Cooker is the proper rice cooker for one. I really like that I can use it to make 1/4 cup of rice with out it drying out or feeling foolish. It’s tremendous straightforward to make use of—simply add your rice and water and press the one and solely swap that turns the cooker from ‘heat’ to ‘cook dinner’ mode. It comes with just a little spatula and a measuring cup. The one draw back is that it’s not dishwasher-safe. I broke that rule and put it within the dishwasher, and the deal with broke off the lid, so please, when you get this rice cooker, do as I say, not as I do.”
If an excessive amount of water is added, the rice can flip into mushy child meals, and rice water bubbles out, spilling on the counter, says Brown. All in all, the rice tastes good and cooks fairly shortly.
- Inexpensive
- Easy to make use of
- Small
- Simple to retailer
- Nice for one to 2 folks
- Cute
- Not dishwasher secure
- Not large enough to make a whole lot of rice
- Typically makes a large number on the counter
Finest multi-use:
Prompt Pot, Professional Multi-Use Stress Cooker — $119.00
Tester: Jenny Heimlich, senior well being and health editor
This multi-use stress cooker isn’t a rice cooker per se, however it may well successfully steam up a pot of rice.
“I make rice about as soon as every week, however as a metropolis one that’s all the time had restricted kitchen area, I caught to the stovetop methodology for years. (And burned loads of pots of rice alongside the way in which.) This Christmas, my brother and sister-in-law obtained me an Prompt Pot Professional, and the characteristic I’ve ended up utilizing essentially the most is its rice cooker setting. I can select between a customized setting or a preset for white or brown rice.
As a jasmine lover, I exploit the white rice preset which takes beneath 20 minutes—a couple of minutes to preheat, three to cook dinner, then 10 for the sluggish launch. I don’t have to consider it or verify something throughout that point; the machine does all of it for me, and I find yourself with perfectly-cooked rice each time. It by no means burns or finally ends up too goopy. I exploit one cup of water to at least one cup of rice, which leaves it on the marginally drier facet. One factor I really like is that it by no means sticks to the pot after I cook dinner it.”
- Easy to make use of with out having to concentrate
- Cleans simply
- Multipurpose and cooks extra than simply rice
- Comparatively giant, and a tad heavy to maneuver round
- You want open area above the machine for the steam to return out
Finest for greater crowds:
Cosori, 10-Cup Rice Cooker — $100.00
Tester: Kayla Hui, commerce author (writer)
For entertaining, Cosori’s rice cooker by no means fails. It may well cook dinner a whopping 10 cups of rice, making it superb for dinner events and meals occasions. Moreover, the machine is provided with 18 features—it may well sluggish cook dinner, steam, and preserve white rice, oatmeal, brown rice, and grains heat. One distinctive characteristic of the Cosori is that you could select from three texture choices: comfortable, common, and exhausting rice (goodbye, raw rice), which you’ll select on the LED show.
The rice comes out scrumptious each time. It’s fluffy and steamed to perfection utilizing a seven-step course of that includes a preheating course of, water absorption, heating, boiling, steaming, quiet down, and a preserve heat section. I’ve solely used this machine for jasmine rice and located that it takes roughly 50 minutes to cook dinner, so I’d suggest making ready your rice first earlier than your protein or greens.
A rice cooker wouldn’t be full with out its equipment, and this one comes with a rice paddle, measuring cup, recipe guide, and a steam basket. All the equipment, except the recipe guide, are dishwasher secure, making cleansing straightforward. Belief me once I say, Cosori’s rice cooker received’t permit your visitors to go away hungry.
- Holds as much as 10 cups
- Comes with measuring cup and rice paddle
- Dishwasher secure equipment
- Has three texture settings
- Can cook dinner rice, oatmeal, brown rice, and different grains
- Simple to scrub
- Comes with steaming tray
- Costly
- Lengthy cook dinner time
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