Re: I Need a Rice Cooker Recommendation

[Guest guest]

See my comments below!

--- Melonie Katz wrote:

> Hello Yaks,

>

> I have been really busy lately with some other projects and

> haven't been making it to our SY message board as often as I

> usally do. I have been teaching some college courses that

> have been taking up more of my free time. (I also teach Adult

> Ed, an afterschool Science enrichment program for elementary

> school kids, and juggle some consulting work).

>

> We used to have a cheap rice steamer years ago and ended up

> tossing it after many uses... but it was in poor shape after

> being used for about 2 years.

>

> I am now noticing TONS of them in the stores and wanted to

> know if any of you use one.

>

> Which brand? Aroma

> Which model? the 14 cup one

> Cost? $19.99 at Target during December

> Is it easy to use? excessively easy to use

> Is it easy to clean? excessively easy to clean

> How much rice does it cook? It says 14 cups cooked..I've

never done more than 4 cups dry.

> Can you prepare other rices/sides with it? (brown rice,

> risotto, quinoa, etc) I made yummy wild rice with pecans once.

I also fry onions in it before making basmati rice. That's wheb

I like the quirk below!

> Does it do anything else? (steam foods, etc.) It comes with

a steamer but I've never used it. This one is an on/off model.

> Does it have any quirks? If you leave it on standby for too

long, it'll burn the bottom. Sometimes that's good sometimes

not!

> On a 1-10 scale (with 10 being the highest), what rating

> would you give your rice cooker/steamer? Probably a 9.

>

> I would appreciate any feedback you all may have on this

> one.

I decided to get the cheap one to see if I really like a rice

cooker. I do. The bigger fancier models are way bigger

and heavier than this one. That's my trade-off. I have every

appliance known to man and one more BIG unit just wasn't gonna

fly. Besides, I put it in the pantry when I'm not using it so

big and bulky I don't need. If it was a pain to move around, I

probably wouldn't use it. AND this one I won't mind when the

kids mess it up...and they will...eventually. : )

>

> Thanks,

> Melonie

>

>

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> ~Melonie, leader for ROCK NoVA/Metro DC & owner

> of SillyYaks, www.groups.yahoo.com/group/SillyYaks

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> ---------------------------------

> New Yahoo! Messenger with Voice. Call regular phones from your

> PC and save big.

[Guest guest]

Good morning Melonie and other yaks-

I have an Oster (have to get back to you on model). It was $29.95

at Target, I believe. And I know they still sell the same one

there. I bought it about a year ago and I LOVE it. We use it for a

lot of stuff actually. We do veggies in it all the time, and rice

of course. We have even tried seafood. It has a couple of extra

trays that you can do more than one thing at a time. It also has an

egg cooker that we just tried recently and it worked well. It

cleans very easily. We just put everything but the main part in the

dishwasher. The only bad thing that I can say about it is that it

takes a little longer than it says on the dial for everything. It

does come with a cookbook and some other stuff and you can make

whole meals with it...have not tried that yet. So, I would have to

give it a 8.5, only because of the time thing. Hope this helped a

little. Good luck steamer hunting.

Rhiannon

>

> Hello Yaks,

>

> I have been really busy lately with some other projects and

haven't been making it to our SY message board as often as I usally

do. I have been teaching some college courses that have been taking

up more of my free time. (I also teach Adult Ed, an afterschool

Science enrichment program for elementary school kids, and juggle

some consulting work).

>

> We used to have a cheap rice steamer years ago and ended up

tossing it after many uses... but it was in poor shape after being

used for about 2 years.

>

> I am now noticing TONS of them in the stores and wanted to know

if any of you use one.

>

> Which brand?

> Which model?

> Cost?

> Is it easy to use?

> Is it easy to clean?

> How much rice does it cook?

> Can you prepare other rices/sides with it? (brown rice, risotto,

quinoa, etc)

> Does it do anything else? (steam foods, etc.)

> Does it have any quirks?

> On a 1-10 scale (with 10 being the highest), what rating would

you give your rice cooker/steamer?

>

> I would appreciate any feedback you all may have on this one.

>

> Thanks,

> Melonie

>

>

>

~Melonie, leader for ROCK NoVA/Metro DC & owner of

SillyYaks, www.groups.yahoo.com/group/SillyYaks

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> ---------------------------------

> New Yahoo! Messenger with Voice. Call regular phones from your PC

and save big.

>

[Guest guest]

will keep you updated. my new rice cooker just arrived. I bought a

fancy zo? (can never get that name out).

have a look on Amazon. they have great reviews.

I also bought, " the Rice Cooker Cookbook " . the recipes look great it

also has a great section on how to choose a cooker.

my old rice cooker is at least 20 years old and has had heavy use.

it was a simple on/off cooker. I have just bought a fuzzy logic one

that had great reviews on Amazon. My old one was a 3 cup, this new

one is a 5 cup or bigger (can't quite remember now)

I use my rice cooker for all grains and legumes. you just have to get

to know your rice cooker. Brown rice needs more water and takes a lot

longer to cook than white rice.

Shez

[Guest guest]

I can cook really good rice on the stove top, but a rice cooker is nice because you can start the rice and then forget it. If you aren't there when it is done, it doesn't burn like it will on the stove top. The best thing about it is that it does good brown rice, which is harder to cook than white rice.

I bought an Aroma brand because it was what was available. It works just fine, but the cooking pan is very delicate and apparently it is very easy to scratch, dent, or damage and then the cooker won't work. I also bought an Aroma electric skillet and it is the worst appliance I ever bought. As soon as I remember to take it with me it is going to the thrift store. So I am not going to ever buy anything else by Aroma. (I assume that negative reviews also help with the decision about what to buy)

One thing I do with the rice cooker is to cook as much as it will hold. Then cool the rice and measure it out into individual 1/2 cup servings and put it into sandwich bags in the freezer. It really helps for easy meals when I don't feel like cooking.

best wishes

from Oregon

Re: I Need a Rice Cooker Recommendation

will keep you updated. my new rice cooker just arrived. I bought a fancy zo? (can never get that name out).have a look on Amazon. they have great reviews.I also bought, "the Rice Cooker Cookbook". the recipes look great it also has a great section on how to choose a cooker.my old rice cooker is at least 20 years old and has had heavy use. it was a simple on/off cooker. I have just bought a fuzzy logic one that had great reviews on Amazon. My old one was a 3 cup, this new one is a 5 cup or bigger (can't quite remember now)I use my rice cooker for all grains and legumes. you just have to get to know your rice cooker. Brown rice needs more water and takes a lot longer to cook than white rice.Shez

[Guest guest]

Hi Melonie,

I have an Oster rice cooker, nothing fancy, that we got as a wedding gift

15 years ago. We just make white rice but use it about 2x a week and have

since we got married. It is a trouper! I would highly recommend it but I

cannot comment on other rices in it. We just use it for plain old white

sticky rice.

[Guest guest]

In , on 03/24/06

at 08:57 AM, Sherene Silverberg typed:

>I use my rice cooker for all grains and legumes. you just have to get

>to know your rice cooker. Brown rice needs more water and takes a lot

>longer to cook than white rice.

Will a rice cooker do a good job with dried beans? I assume you would

soak them first.

We do brown basmati rice the same way we do white: bring plenty of water

to boil in a pan, dump in the rice, stir once, let boil gently for 10 min

(white)/ 25 min (brown). Remove from heat, drain, and put back in pan

with butter (or whatever) and seasoning. Keep warm if not using within

the near future.

--

n : jt@... http://jt-mj.net

In the beautiful Finger Lakes Wine Country of New York State!

Warpstock X - October 12-15 2006; Windsor, Ont. I'll be there - will you?

-- --

Press any key... no, no, no, NOT THAT ONE!

[Guest guest]

[[[[.....Will a rice cooker do a good job with dried beans?.....]]]]

Dried beans cook really well in a crock pot. I would guess that because of the length of time that beans need to cook, a rice cooker wouldn't be the first choice appliance, because the rice cooker uses a timer designed for cooking rice.

best wishes

from Oregon

----- Original Message -----

[Guest guest]

I've used cheap rice cookers and I've used super fancy rice cookers.

Nothing beats a pan on the stove. It's more versatile, takes up less

room, and is less likely to botch up whole grains.

I should note that we have *not* cooked refined rice in several

years. If you want white rice every single day, a rice cooker is

fine. If you actually want food with nutritive value, you'll get

better results with a saucepan.

I've burnt rice in a pan exactly once. I forgot I had food on the

stove. That was it. We cook whole grains (brown/red/black/wild

rice, quinoa, millet, buckwheat) on a daily basis. My revereware

works better than *any* rice cooker.

ygg

[Guest guest]

>

> Will a rice cooker do a good job with dried beans? I assume you would

> soak them first.

===========

I did chick peas this weekend.

you just have to be aware that the rice cooker will cook until the

water has evaporated. I just time it within the cooker and then

take it out when it is cooked. I don't like boiling stuff on the

stove, that's why I do it that way. it works very well for lentils -

I cook those the same way as I do rice in the rice cooker

Shez

[Guest guest]

ygg,

Thanks for your suggestion. I think you're right with talking

about other rices. We cook a variety of rices.. and I don't think

they would cook well in a rice cooker. That's why I was asking

everyone here (the experts) to share their experiences. Yeah, it is

relatively simple to cook regular white rice.

I've just been trying to determine if I want/need another

appliance. Probably not.... But, I was thinking that if any of the

rice cookers served well as steamers also, then maybe it would be a

good investment.

The jury is still out on my rice cooker purchase decision.

Melonie

>

> I've used cheap rice cookers and I've used super fancy rice

cookers.

>

> Nothing beats a pan on the stove. It's more versatile, takes up

less

> room, and is less likely to botch up whole grains.

>

> I should note that we have *not* cooked refined rice in several

> years. If you want white rice every single day, a rice cooker is

> fine. If you actually want food with nutritive value, you'll get

> better results with a saucepan.

>

> I've burnt rice in a pan exactly once. I forgot I had food on

the

> stove. That was it. We cook whole grains (brown/red/black/wild

> rice, quinoa, millet, buckwheat) on a daily basis. My revereware

> works better than *any* rice cooker.

>

> ygg

>

[Guest guest]

Sorry I took so long to respond, but we love our rice cooker.

Actually, we don't have a fancy one- we picked it up at our local

asian market. It's not fancy, just with an on and off button, but I

can still do a lot of the recipes from that Rice Cooker cookbook

that everyone was talking about a while back. (It cost $20-$25, they

had cheaper but we wanted something reliable- also has a pretty

flower on the side- it's a Sunpentown.) I had a really fancy, large

one in Colorado that could do brown rice and steam veggies too, but

I never really used it. Then when we lived in Japan, we had a really

cheap, small one that was loaned to us and DH learned the joys of

making one pot rice dishes in it. I would recommend going to an

asian market to get one- they will be cheaper, or, if it's a

japanese market, maybe not cheaper but they will have more variety

and some of the great japanese brands like Zo---. You can really get

a better white rice from a rice cooker, and if they have a brown

rice feature, you can get fine results for that as well. I hate

cooking rice on the stove! And I'm jealous of my burners anyway- I

like to make a lot of different side dishes and don't want to have

my rice hogging the burner! We probably use our rice cooker every

other day or every two days or so.

I like the idea about freezing rice- I've been freezing whole meals

with half yummy indian saute and half rice... Very satisfying, easy,

and cheaper than buying a prepared meal. I've bought the rice at

trader joe's but I can make better myself.