Any brand you particularly like?
And can your really make rice at the start of a week and eat it all week? How does that work? Do you leave it in the rice cooker or put it in the fridge? How do you reheat it?
I've never used one, but unless something goes wrong I'll be going back to work this month, and am trying to make preparations do make dinners as easy as possible (bulking up slow cooker recipes, etc). It'd be nice if I could save the up to 40 minute (brown) rice cooking time!
blogger / eggplant / 11551 posts
Zojirushi's are the top of the line as far as rice cookers go!
pomegranate / 3244 posts
I have a hand-me-down zojirushi that's at least 10 years old (maybe 15?) and still works GREAT! I've also had a basic aroma rice cooker that worked fine until I burned off the power cord on the stove, and a fancier digital Aroma pot (had a timer, steam setting, and separate settings for white and brown rice). But I think the zojirushi is my favorite.
My husband eats rice like it's his job, and it always comes out perfectly in the rice cooker (when I made it on the stovetop, not so much). We leave it plugged in on the counter on the warm setting for two days or so....after that it gets eaten or is too dried out. But it's nice having it there, and warm, and ready to go. You could easily throw it in the pot in the morning before leaving for work and it would be ready when you came home.
I'm not prone to dramatics, but getting a rice cooker seriously changed my life.
blogger / eggplant / 11551 posts
@lovehoneybee: yes, you can make rice and just leave it in the rice cooker until you're done eating it. we usually cook a batch, and leave it in the rice cooker on the warm setting (it automatically switches to warm after it's done cooking) - zojirushi's play a song when it finishes cooking. no reheating needed because it just sits in the rice cooker on warm until the rice is all gone.
hostess / wonderful apple seed / 16729 posts
My aunt gave me hers so I personally would not know how to pick one.
We make about 3-4 cups of rice at one time and it will last upto 1-2 days. Depends on how much rice we eat.
Pretty easy. Take the rice (I like jasmine rice) and rinse it with water a few times. Then for every cup of rice you measured, put a cup of water. So 3 cups of rice needs 3 cups of water. Then put the pot in the rice cooker and push start. In about 45 minutes, rice will be done. My caucasian husband can do it. Although, he says I make it better.
The rice will get stale and turn yellow and hard after 2 days. We just toss and remake if we want rice. If you grab the leftover rice after a day and throw it in the fridge, it will make a great fried rice out of it. Now, I'm hungry for some fried rice.
ETA- I just made some coconut sweet sticky rice. It's in the rice cooker right now.
ETA part 2- Just looked I have a Tiger rice cooker. Similar to this one. http://www.amazon.com/Tiger-JBA-A10U-5-5-Cup-Uncooked-Functions/dp/B004S59E28/ref=sr_1_5?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1394428847&sr=1-5&keywords=tiger+rice+cooker
coconut / 8475 posts
@Mrs. High Heels: but...
You can't leave it in the rice cooker for the week because the rice cooker has a steam hole which will dry out the rice if not covered.
I usually put it in a Tupperware with a right lid. Sometimes when I warm it in the microwave, I have to actually lay a wet paper towel over the top to keep it from drying out.
blogger / eggplant / 11551 posts
@CupQuakeWalk: we never run into that problem because we eat our rice within 1-2 days! Ok if it was for an entire week I'd put it in tupperware.
GOLD / wonderful pea / 17697 posts
@Mrs. High Heels: @MediaNaranja: Oh man I wish a Zujirushi was in the budget! We used to work at a kitchenwares store and I always thought it was so neat!
@Mrs. High Heels: @CupQuakeWalk: @Mrs. High Heels: So if I needed to I could set it up in the morning when I'm setting up the slow cooker meal and it would all be warm when I got home, yeah?
coconut / 8475 posts
@lovehoneybee: yes, if you needed to, but I think it'd be dry? So I would put the rice in when I got home and let it cook while I changed out of my work clothes and set the table.
blogger / eggplant / 11551 posts
@lovehoneybee: we have an old version of this one - http://www.crateandbarrel.com/zojirushi-rice-cooker/s360646 - ours was a wedding gift so 5 years old. i think it's a good investment if you plan to eat rice a lot! if you use ebates you can get 3% cashback on top of it.
this one's pretty neat because if you look at the picture, you can easily choose which setting based on the type of rice you're using - sushi rice, brown rice, white rice, mixed rice, etc. you may not need all that though.
blogger / eggplant / 11551 posts
@CupQuakeWalk: we've never had a problem with our rice being dry cuz i usually cook it in the morning, and leave it on the warm setting all day long. we eat rice for lunch and dinner. this is with our zojirushi though... not sure how other rice cookers would handle it.
bananas / 9357 posts
We have a cheap Black and Decker rice cooker that my DH already had when we met almost 8 years ago. I don't trust leaving that thing on the counter on warm when we aren't home. When the rice is done cooking, my DH always just turns it off. That's just what he's always done so I do that too. We'll leave it out on the counter all day then put the rice in a Tupperware and put it in the fridge.
I've found I always have to microwave it longer than I think to get it back to a fluffier texture. I think you can add a little water to help with that too.
@Mrs. High Heels: wow so fancy looking! With how much rice we eat, maybe we need one of those!
blogger / eggplant / 11551 posts
@mrskc: should've mentioned, someone is always home because my in-laws live with us. i agree with adding water when microwaving to give it a bit more fluff!
nectarine / 2274 posts
We have a Zojirushi as well. They have a few lines, the cheaper ones are made in China and their more expensive ones are made in Japan. They really do make the best rice cookers. I'm lazy, I take the rice pot and lid and stick it in the fridge. I don't bother with the tupperware.
GOLD / wonderful pea / 17697 posts
@mamabear57: Hmm....maybe I can talk D into buying me one for my birthday next month 
coconut / 8430 posts
We have this Tiger one from Costco. Has worked well for the past few years:
http://www.costco.com/Tiger-5.5-cup-Rice-CookerWarmer.product.11646057.html
I like that it can be programmed. I will set it up in the morning and have it programmed so that the rice is ready when its dinner time.
bananas / 9973 posts
Ditto @Mrs. High Heels: comments.
We also have a Zojirushi and I can keep the rice in there for several days, longer of I made porridge (because I just keep adding some water, lol). My older rice cookers I couldn't do that because the rice would dry out really fast, but I think the Zojirushi has a keep warm option to stop the cooking.
bananas / 9227 posts
Zojirushi! It's what I've always used until I moved here. We couldn't find one so we use a cheap local brand. It's basic with only a cook and warm switch, but it works!
It's not as insulated and sealed as a Zojirushi so I need more precise measurements and if I let it stay on (on warm) after I cooked it, it dries out. But if I use it right away, then stick it in the fridge when it cools, it's fine. With the Zojirushi, you can have it in there for days!
bananas / 9227 posts
I almost forgot about the huge Samsung one I had in Korea. It worked really well and had a cute jingle/voice telling you it's ready to eat. 
blogger / pomegranate / 3044 posts
Wow, it's never occured to me to leave it on warm for an extended time! I always shut it off as soon as it's done, and stick the leftovers in the fridge, make fried rice a few days later with what's left. I don't have that fancy brand and prob won't try...
I experiment with making random stuff.. like "Mexican" rice by using salsa instead of water for cooking, dry frying the rice beforehand and not rinsing it, putting peas and grated carrots, etc.
persimmon / 1345 posts
I have a Korean fancy one (it's an investment) and have kept it in the warmer for several days. I think I went as long as 5 days once. It's kind of dry but still edible and fine.
hostess / wonderful persimmon / 25556 posts
I've always wondered this same thing. We have a rice cooker which I think has a warm setting (it has a latch you push down when you want to cook but when it's done, it pops back to the top and stays warm, I believe). I have never let it sit overnight...I may try this!
grapefruit / 4862 posts
We just got ours at Bed Bath Beyond for reasonably cheap and LOVE it. We don't let it sit in the rice cooker- DH is very anal about us cleaning the inside bowl part really well. But I do make a lot at once.... my dog currently gets a bunch with each meal so I make a cup or two at once and store it in the fridge. Seems to do just fine in a normal tupperware type of container.
honeydew / 7916 posts
We have one similar to the one @Mrs. High Heels: linked to except it's 10 cups. Couldn't live without it! We started with a 3 cup, then a 5 cup, and finally the 10 cup. You can definitely make however much you need and leave it on warm, although it's so easy to use that for the sake of having good/fresh rice we only make enough for a few days at a time but always keep something in there.
GOLD / wonderful pomegranate / 28905 posts
Zojirushi here as well. If I know I'm making for dinner I'll usually wash and prep the rice in the rice cooker in the morning. Then when I get home the first thing I do is turn it on.
My Zojirushi takes 45 for white rice and a little over an hour for brown rice.
wonderful pear / 26210 posts
I've never actually seen a rice cooker at anyone's house, lol.
I am looking for a small one, I don't like the idea of having rice hanging around for a long time, but the "dryness" of rice cooked this way appeals to me...is there another way to achieve it, other than a rice cooker?
wonderful kiwi / 23653 posts
I have the Zojirushi Micom 3-Cup Capacity Rice Cooker and we love it!
@looch: I think less water makes for dryer rice? I also open the lid as soon as it's done to air it out; I don't like the freshly cooked wetness of rice either! Now that I think about it, I feel like the grain matters too; I feel like the long grain jasmine rice comes out dryer.
honeydew / 7916 posts
@locavore_mama: Do you know if it has a "quick cook" setting? It changes the texture slightly but cuts down on the cooking time.
kiwi / 714 posts
We've had this one for four years, but it appears to be discontinued =( http://www.amazon.com/Sanyo-ECJ-HC55S-Uncooked-Micro-Computerized-Cooker/dp/B000X8VBWU/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top
It has a timer, so we set it for what time we want the rice done in the morning and when we come home, it's freshly done and ready to go. It has separate settings for white and brown rice, as well as porridge and oatmeal. It also has a separate bowl/settings for slow cooking , and if we are making a crockpot meal we don't need rice for, we use that, since the timer on this is better than the one on our crock.
It's one of my favorite appliances, easily. I would totally recommend something similar as a splurge item if you make a lot of rice/crock pot meals, you will definitely get a ton of use.
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