I’ve been cooking rice and various grains in a pot on the stove forever. Recently I had several surprisingly bad attempts at cooking white rice — for the life of me I don’t know what I did wrong. I ended up looking up pressure cookers even though I didn’t want one, and eventually stumbled into the world of rice cookers. I didn’t want one of those either. I would rather have less specialty appliances than more. But as I read and learned the history of rice cookers (GOOD ones, just not every 20 dollar attempt at one) I understood why people got them. Then I read about various models, what they did well, how they worked, and decided on this one. Then I tried to change my mind because it’s not cheap. Then I figured if I’m getting one, I need one we’ll actually use. There was a Warehouse deal on one; maybe like 35 percent off. It said it was in very good condition, so I took a gamble knowing I could return it. When it arrived it looked brand new; only it wasn’t in the original box. Still packed tightly with all the parts in a regular Amazon box. It turned on, sounded fine. The appliance itself is so cute, and so easy to move around, and has a retractable plug so it’s super tidy. I just love it. I immediately put in a cup of the same white rice I messed up twice recently, rinsed it 3 times, filled it with water to the white rice 1 cup water line, and pressed Start. It came out perfectly. Better than I’ve ever made it on my own. It’s been maybe 3 weeks now. I’ve had whatever white rice I first put in it, white basmati rice, jasmine rice and now brown basmati rice, even though I’ve never liked brown rice much. Now I’ve had brown rice at least 10 times, and I seriously love it. I made barley in it - filled to the brown rice water line - and that turned out great. Since it apparently is similar water-wise to brown rice, once it was done I put some cooked brown rice back in it, and left it on the warm setting mixed with the barley. It stayed perfectly cooked and warm til it was eaten a day or two later. I even actually made Rice a Roni Mexican Rice in it once - even melting butter in it first, and THAT turned out fine. If I make Rice a Roni again I think I’ll first sautée the rice in a pan with butter, because I think it should’ve been a little more al dente, but it was really fine. Regarding warming, it’s crazy how good the rice tastes even 2-3 days after it first cooked. It doesn’t use much electricity for this feature (I believe I read approx the amount of a 35W lightbulb, which means it’s quite low). The cooker is quiet, and when just in warm mode is not too hot to touch. When it’s cooking the rice, it’s also fine to touch anywhere except near the steam vent. It cleans very easily. It’s not very large, maybe a little smaller than the footprint of a standard coffee maker, but half the height. Because of how cute it is and the carry handle I will be bringing this to family functions in the future where rice is needed. Literally one of the best purchases I’ve ever made. My only “complaint”, but with a fix! The cooker comes with a sturdy steam basket, a very useful rice paddle for fluffing / serving (there’s an attachment that’ll hold the paddle when cooking rice, and a measuring cup. But the little rice cup and paddle don’t fit inside the cooker, with or without the steam basket. I know me, and I know I will lose these if I can’t tuck them inside. Well: 1. The included “cup” is actually 3/4 of a regular US measuring cup, or 6 ounces. I had several sets of measuring cups here, and one fit snugly inside, even with the steam basket inside. (The measuring cup height is about 1-5/8 inches or 4.2 cm tall and length is about 6-3/4 inches or 17.5 cm long). I think it’s Oxo brand. 2. The paddle issue was trickier. First I tried to find a tiny bamboo spoon to use, but rice really stuck to it. So I actually used a small saw and sawed off the end of the plastic white paddle. (I sanded the rough edges a bit with sandpaper but you could get by without doing that). Now the paddle is about 6-3/4 inches or 17.5 cm and the paddle, my measuring cup, and the included steam basket all fit inside. The cut paddle still sits comfortably in the little holder when I cook rice. Has my review been helpful to you? If so, would you consider hitting the "helpful" button below? I'd greatly appreciate it. Thank you!
