Rice Cooker Recommendations

[haplesshobo]

I'm thinking of getting my mom a new rice cooker for Mother's Day, and I'm looking for some recommendations. Since I've flaked out so many times before, I think I should get her a really nice one. I figure you might as well spend the most on the things you're going to use the most and what do asians eat more than rice. She mainly cooks brown rice so its important that the rice cooker works well with brown rice. I use a really cheap one myself so I don't really know how much of a difference a good rice cooker makes.

Before, it seems like Zojirushi Neuro Fuzzy rice cooker was considered the best. But, in Japan, it seems these induction heating systems have become the new standard. Has anybody tried one of these yet, and does it really make that much of a difference? From the popularity of the IH rice cookers, it seems the Japanese consider those to produce superior rice. But, would a Japanese and Chinese person share the same tastes when it comes to rice?

[kimpossible]

Zojirushi is sold in Taiwan so there are plenty of Chinese households with one. But if you specifically want a Chinese one Tatung is just fine. I think it's potentially preferred by parents generation. You can steam cook with it in a way you can't quite pull off with Zojirushis.

I have one of each for reference purposes. The Zojirushi is nice in that you have a lot of different modes to invoke and the ratios are inlaid on the inside of the pot. Though any mom pretty much can do the same thing with a Tatung. The Tatung has an elegant simplicity to it. Those'll last forever. The Zojirushis come with nice nonstick to them. I've actually run it through the dishwasher and it survived nicely. The Tatung pot is aluminum or something. I would only wash by hand. But overall a Tatung is easier to maintain than a Zojirushi, in my opinion.

It's probably going to depend on what you know of your mom. If she's just cooking brown rice then you might want a Zojirushi. It'll do shi fan as well. Though again, nothing you can't do with a Tatung.

[yoMAMA]

I would recommand national..

all the Japanese foreign exchange students use this brand when i was in college, and their rice tasted awesome at pot lucks :biggrin:

[haplesshobo]

After some more research, this is what I found:

Since the introduction of rice cookers, there's been two major breakthroughs: fuzzy logic and induction heaters.

With fuzzy logic, they started using microchips so that the rice cooker would be self-correcting to make better rice. So, if too much water was added or too little water was added, the rice cooker could adjust and correct for that. But, this process also takes longer to cook as well than the cheaper rice cooker.

And, a few years ago, there was another breakthrough with induction heaters that gives even better tasting rice. They also come with a GABA feature, which supposedly extracts more nutrients from brown rice. And, its also faster than rice cookers with fuzzy logic, which is important because cooking brown rice would otherwise take so long to cook. f you're cooking brown rice every day, it seems the IH is the one to pick.

And, I know I said that's what I was looking for, but the IH are ridicously expensive- almost double the price of a rice cooker with fuzzy logic. The Zojirushi IH rice cooker would have cost around $300 vs. a Zojirushi rice cooker with neuro fuzzy logic at about $170.

And, ultimately, I didn't get a Zojirushi. If you chose that brand, you'd be getting a top brand and have no qualms about the quality. Instead, I chose the sanyo. For one thing, the sanyo was a lot cheaper, especially on sale. And, it was also using the same fuzzy logic technology as Zojirushi. If money wasn't a factor, I might have gone with Zojirushi since it seems better designed in some respects- it has a attachment to hold the rice paddle and you don't need to clean out the steamer thing every time. But, those are minor quibbles.

I also ended up getting a rice cooker with 5 cup capacity even though my mom doesn't need that much. For a cheapie rice cooker, you want to try to match the size of the rice cooker to how much you'll usually need. In other words, if you only need to make 1 cup and are using a ten cup rice cooker, the rice won't be as good is it could have been. But, these rice cookers with fuzzy logic should be able to factor these things in and getting a larger rice cooker gives my mom that option when she's having a party and needs to cook more rice.

[AngryABCGirl]

Tatung ownz all.

[AliBabaIncorporated]

Am I the only one who thinks that giving Mom something cookery/household-chores related for Mother's Day is a bad idea?

[AngryABCGirl]

Am I the only one who thinks that giving Mom something cookery/household-chores related for Mother's Day is a bad idea?

You make a good point. I saw a lot of daughters taking their moms and grandmas out to local youth hangouts today and yesterday. It's cute cause you know most of those women would never go to places like these on their own, and it's a bit more fun and original to just taking mom out to a nice restaurant, or buying them chore-related things. I'm sent home from Chinese calligraphy related items, nice stationary, and high quality coffee beans and such I bought in Vietnam that I know my mom and Grandma won't pay for in America.

[michinsarang]

I have a zojirushi neurofuzzy induction heating cooker. It cost me about $240 if I remember correctly from an online sight.

It cooks short and medium grain rice very well, and even cooks long grain rice well (since it is similar to brown in terms of water absorbency). The only thing is that it takes anywhere from 25 to 40 minutes to cook the rice. I don't know if this is a standard amount of time, but I guess I am so use to pot cooked rice which is usually 12-20 minutes.

[haplesshobo]

I have a zojirushi neurofuzzy induction heating cooker. It cost me about $240 if I remember correctly from an online sight.

It cooks short and medium grain rice very well, and even cooks long grain rice well (since it is similar to brown in terms of water absorbency). The only thing is that it takes anywhere from 25 to 40 minutes to cook the rice. I don't know if this is a standard amount of time, but I guess I am so use to pot cooked rice which is usually 12-20 minutes.

That time is actually much shorter than the rice cookers using fuzzy logic- it takes them an hour to an hour and a half sometimes.

So, how well does the IH cook the brown rice? I've tried the fuzzy logic ones with brown rice, and I'm not completely happy with it.

[kimpossible]

Am I the only one who thinks that giving Mom something cookery/household-chores related for Mother's Day is a bad idea?

Oh leave him alone. It's mom's job to beam with delight even if you bring us sticks and bugs.

[michinsarang]

That time is actually much shorter than the rice cookers using fuzzy logic- it takes them an hour to an hour and a half sometimes.

So, how well does the IH cook the brown rice? I've tried the fuzzy logic ones with brown rice, and I'm not completely happy with it.

I haven't yet tried the brown rice, but I have read a number of reviews that say that it cooks it very well (as opposed to most rice cookers). It manages to cook long grain rice (basmati) very well even though it has a different absorbency type then short grain.

Something you can do supposedly in any cooker that can improve the brown rice is leave it overnight to soak (possibly inside the cooker itself).

[contra_diction]

I'm going to put in a vote for Zojirushi because it's what I grew up with, and I like the little elephant logo. When I moved off on my own, I bought a tiny Yan Can Cook cooker, then upgraded to a Tiger. Neither was the same as having a good old Zojirushi on the counter.

[haplesshobo]

Mastsuwa is having a sale on its Zoji rice cookers if anybody is interested. And, Costco also has a really good deal on a Zoji rice cooker but its for a 10 cup RC.

[CARDINAL009]

Used Zojirushi rice cooker, National and many others. Zojirushi is the best in terms of quality functionality.