Rice is a staple in many families’ diets, and such a staple should always be cooked well. If you’re still resorting to cooking rice on the stove, we’re here to say that a rice cooker will make your rice much, much better than you could ever cook in a pot.
Rice cookers are not all created equal. The simplest rice cookers will have a cooking setting and a keep warm setting, while the fanciest options will be able to cook basically every kind of rice and grain under the sun. Basic rice cookers merely bring water to a boil and shut off when the water is completely evaporated, but the more comprehensive cookers simulate soaking, boiling, and steaming the rice, leading to perfect, fluffy grains.
Why are Japanese and Korean rice cookers so expensive?
You really get what you pay for with a rice cooker — oftentimes the more expensive models will cook rice far better than their cheaper counterparts. Japanese and Korean brands are often pricey because they contain advanced rice cooking tech. Many high end rice cookers from brands like Zojirushi, Cuckoo, and Tiger contain Micom (short for microcomputer) technology. Micom tech essentially turns the rice cooker into a smart cooker, allowing it to adjust cooking time, temperature, and more to create the perfect batch of grains. This reduces room for human error by a lot, and makes these kinds of rice cookers virtually foolproof.
Japanese and Korean rice cookers normally have far more settings for different types of rice than other models too, and these dedicated settings ensure the proper cooking time and temperature for each kind of grain, from sushi rice to germinated brown rice.
Do I need to rinse my rice before cooking it?
In most cases, not even a rice cooker can make un-rinsed rice appetizing. Most rice varieties need to be rinsed before cooking to remove any impurities, as well as reduce the amount of starch that’s stuck on the grains. Removing starch through rinsing ensures that you don’t end up with overly sticky or gummy rice and helps the grains cook more evenly.
There are few exceptions to this rule, one of them being enriched white rice. If you’re working with enriched rice that has added vitamins and minerals, rinsing will remove those extra nutrients.
Which rice cooker is the best?
Our top pick is the Zojirushi Neuro Fuzzy rice cooker. It’s a bit pricey, but the variety of functions and the perfect rice it churns out make it worth it. For a multi-purpose pick, we love the classic Instant Pot Duo, and as a mid-priced option, the Cuckoo CR-0631F model makes fantastic rice (but is a bit difficult to clean).
Read on to discover more about our top nine rice cookers, and find the best one for your household — at every price point.
