Author Topic: Rice cooker  (Read 2490 times)

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Offline phinix

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Rice cooker
« on: Thu, 02 January 2025, 10:29:48 »
After 15 years of manual cooking rice for my sushi I decided to get a rice cooker. I love traditional cooking, but I'm tired of getting irregular results in cooking rice, so I think it is time to invest :)
Zojirushi - apparently this would be the best brand, not sure what model would be good and won't cost arm and leg. Fuzzy.. induction.. I have no idea what those functions mean.

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Offline tp4tissue

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Re: Rice cooker
« Reply #1 on: Thu, 02 January 2025, 10:53:31 »
Zoji works great, and they usually provide ample replacement parts in the market that they're in.

Cuckoo, korean brand, hit or miss, as long as there's replacement parts, it should be fine.

You're mostly interested in replacement silicone seal caps that go under the lid, the silicone wears out over time. If you can't find the right caps, the cooker won't work well.

Induction heats more evenly, but it does not cook significantly better unless the coils are spread taller surrounding the inner pot. The lower end models don't go up as high, they're mostly near the bottom.  Induction is coils that cause the inner pot to heat up instead of resistively heating the base.

Smaller rice cookers cook better than large ones, Unless the large one is a premium model with very high 1200-1500 wattage.

Larger 10 cup 800-1000 watt models may not cook as well as smaller 5.5 ones of the same power.


The latest NEW HOTNESS, is Zojirushi's Flame Dance Induction models.  These have an alternating algorithm and new base coil geometry which stirs the heat inside the pot.  This will produce more evenly cooked rice if you DO NOT Pre-soak,  If you Pre-soak, the function is effectively useless.

The flame dance is a time saving feature depending on how you organize your rice cooking.  But you'd have to be very high lvl, like 60+, to eat enough rice to warrant buying this. And to be clear, it does NOT produce superior results if the rice is presoaked.

There are pressure cooking functions, but it's mostly a gimmick, because rice cookers are not very good pressure cookers.


The Chinese brands have caught up, but they might not offer parts in your market, so don't buy unless you see they sell the silicone caps.


Zoji and Cuckoo are expensive, but they make the cheaper lower end models, these are often much worse than the China off-brands.

Toshiba is just made by Midea, so if you're gonna buy toshiba, just get Midea.


Tp4 recommends whatever induction model that's 1000+ watts that your local costco sells.  Easier to exchange or get warranty replacement.



Make sure to level the rice cooker before cooking, place the level on the inner pot, you have to level both axis.

You have to be careful with the pots. The coating is teflon based, so wash with something soft, take care not to scratch it with anything.

The keep warm function will wear out the silicone lid faster. This matters if you don't eat all the rice right away.

Offline tp4tissue

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Re: Rice cooker
« Reply #2 on: Thu, 02 January 2025, 10:56:05 »
Now, YES, zoji works great, but  Tp4 avoids zoji as his stance on Japan's ongoing radioactive hot particles contamination makes their cookware unsuitable for use.

Keep in mind, when they determine radio-sensitivity, it's based on OUTSIDE exposure on a 170lb man. Studies have shown a female child is ~20x more sensitive.   And these studies do nothing for if the Hot-Particles are Ingested (no protection from skin/clothing).

Offline noisyturtle

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Re: Rice cooker
« Reply #3 on: Thu, 02 January 2025, 17:02:40 »
Cute elephant make rice go brrr

Offline Wheat

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Re: Rice cooker
« Reply #4 on: Fri, 03 January 2025, 10:56:40 »
If you don't want to spend a bunch on the higher end models I had a basic one I think it was the NHS-18 or something that worked great for years. There was no real bells or whistles just a rice cooking machine and it did its job well. Very simple

Offline Belfong

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Re: Rice cooker
« Reply #5 on: Sat, 04 January 2025, 03:22:21 »
My made in Asia rice cooker never breaks and I have not heard of any rice cooker that requires replacement parts. As Asian, I cook rice every day x 365 days for a family of 4-5 people (sometimes 2 meals a day). So, buy Asian brands!
 

Offline tp4tissue

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Re: Rice cooker
« Reply #6 on: Sat, 04 January 2025, 04:47:14 »
The silicone ring around the inner seal lid goes bad over time, especially if you use the keep warm function which keeps it hot-ted up.


Offline tp4tissue

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Re: Rice cooker
« Reply #7 on: Sat, 04 January 2025, 05:04:48 »
If you don't want to spend a bunch on the higher end models I had a basic one I think it was the NHS-18 or something that worked great for years. There was no real bells or whistles just a rice cooking machine and it did its job well. Very simple

These are the most traditional cookers, on off, warm. They don't cook as evenly, so you get some softness fluctuation within the pot.

It works FINE.

Comes down to what texture you're after.

If you want a semi-sticky sushi / rice ball texture, where each grain has the consistency of a springy soft jelly-bean,  this is very hard to achieve in the on-off cookers, you have to be Xpert-lvl at control and matching your evaporation rate to the cooker's heating dynamics.

In induction rice cookers, semi-sticky is the default algorithm, so less guessing for the novice.

In general, the best way to control consistency is to presoak at least 1-2 hours, overnight if possible.

After pre-soak, without shaking the pot,  the water level should be approximately 4 - 7 mm above the rice surface.

It's important you don't shake it, because shook rice will form a lattice structure that's taller than resting rice, giving you a false sense of how much water is in there.  Secondary to this, the 4-7mm might not cover the rice after shaking, whereas at rest, that amount of water will just cover it.

WHY is this important. The minimum amount of water produces the most jelly-bean like rice.  If you're off by 5 or more mm, for example, 9-12mm of water above the rice.  It will come out soggy.

If you don't eat the rice right away, and you use keep warm,  you might want sogg-ier rice, because it dries out during keep warm.

But in general, Tp4 is against Keep warm, waste of electricity, and it TRANSPORTS water from the middle of the rice to the edges/top.

This makes the outer cylinder and top of the rice extra soggy, while the bottom and middle dries out.

Offline tp4tissue

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Re: Rice cooker
« Reply #8 on: Sat, 04 January 2025, 05:12:43 »
If you make enough rice for 2 meals. Tp4 prefers the microwave re-steam method.

Take the cold rice, Without breaking its existing structure, put it into a bowl. Use a spray bottle of clean water and spritz 1x lightly, the top and INNER geometry, DO NOT spritz the outward faces, these faces hold more water by default.

You should not see even a shallow pool of water in the bowl beneath the rice, if so, too much spritzing.

Now, Cover top with a plate. Heat for 2mins in a 1500watt microwave.  DO NOT OPEN the microwave, Leave it in to even out for an additional 3 minutes.

 

Offline tp4tissue

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Re: Rice cooker
« Reply #9 on: Sat, 04 January 2025, 05:17:15 »
After the rice is first complete from the rice cooker, wait exactly 10 minutes. Then open the pot slowly, then wipe the inner top lid and side of bowl of condensation.

If you don't do this step, the condensate will make the top and sides soggy.

Offline phinix

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Re: Rice cooker
« Reply #10 on: Mon, 06 January 2025, 17:26:38 »
After the rice is first complete from the rice cooker, wait exactly 10 minutes. Then open the pot slowly, then wipe the inner top lid and side of bowl of condensation.

If you don't do this step, the condensate will make the top and sides soggy.


Sounds right :)
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