Rice Cooker Review

One of my most-used kitchen appliances is my rice cooker, a Zojirushi model that's eight years old now. It has a 5-cup capacity - but that's in smaller Japanese cups, not full-size American cups. The measuring cup came with the rice cooker, so it's not a problem. It's a nice, basic rice cooker that's still going strong. The one below is very similar to the one I have:



The Los Angeles Times recently reviewed several rice cookers, and I'm not surprised that their staff concluded that the two Zojirushi models they tested were the best. I think my mother and grandmothers have always had Zojirushi, too. If I were in the market for a rice cooker right now, I think I would get this one:


Link updated 9/3/07

I admit it's not cheap, but I cook rice regularly, and it's important to me that my rice is really good. (I go out of my way to buy rice at the Japanese market in Little Tokyo - I look for packages that say "koshihikari," which is a type of rice, and "first crop.") The cost is also worth it because I would most likely keep a new rice cooker for 10 to 15 years, if it held up as well as the ones my family and I have owned. I like the options for porridge (I assume this is Japanese okayu), brown rice, sushi rice, and mixed rice. I also like the look (I guess I'm tired of the round ones), it's gotten good reviews on Amazon, and it's similar to the one that got good reviews from the LA Times.