What is so great about a rice cooker

[JulesMaximus]

Originally posted by: jiggahertz
This is better than an emacs vs. vi debate. I have never used a rice maker, or even knew they existed before having a Filipino roommate. I rarely eat rice, but will probably buy a $25 rice maker if I start eating more rice or to use as a vegetable steamer. I get it's a convenience thing, but some of the pro-rice maker people make it sound like cooking rice in a pot is such a difficult task. Pretty much any dish you are cooking to put on top of the rice requires more attention than cooking rice on the stove. If I had more counter space I'd probably already have one though.

This is what I use to steam veggies, $5.49 and all you do is stick it in a medium saucepan with a lid and put about 1/2" of water in the pan. Perfect every time. Most of the vegetables I make are steamed actually.

 

[RossMAN]

Originally posted by: JulesMaximus

Originally posted by: jiggahertz
This is better than an emacs vs. vi debate. I have never used a rice maker, or even knew they existed before having a Filipino roommate. I rarely eat rice, but will probably buy a $25 rice maker if I start eating more rice or to use as a vegetable steamer. I get it's a convenience thing, but some of the pro-rice maker people make it sound like cooking rice in a pot is such a difficult task. Pretty much any dish you are cooking to put on top of the rice requires more attention than cooking rice on the stove. If I had more counter space I'd probably already have one though.

This is what I use to steam veggies, $5.49 and all you do is stick it in a medium saucepan with a lid and put about 1/2" of water in the pan. Perfect every time. Most of the vegetables I make are steamed actually.

That's pretty awesome and cheap. I like how minimalist it is.

What veggies do you like to steam?

 

[Nitemare]

Originally posted by: JulesMaximus

Originally posted by: jiggahertz
This is better than an emacs vs. vi debate. I have never used a rice maker, or even knew they existed before having a Filipino roommate. I rarely eat rice, but will probably buy a $25 rice maker if I start eating more rice or to use as a vegetable steamer. I get it's a convenience thing, but some of the pro-rice maker people make it sound like cooking rice in a pot is such a difficult task. Pretty much any dish you are cooking to put on top of the rice requires more attention than cooking rice on the stove. If I had more counter space I'd probably already have one though.

This is what I use to steam veggies, $5.49 and all you do is stick it in a medium saucepan with a lid and put about 1/2" of water in the pan. Perfect every time. Most of the vegetables I make are steamed actually.

My mom had one of those and it worked pretty good from what I remember

amazon link

 

[Auric]

Originally posted by: JulesMaximus
This is what I use to steam veggies, $5.49 and all you do is stick it in a medium saucepan with a lid and put about 1/2" of water in the pan. Perfect every time. Most of the vegetables I make are steamed actually.

Ditto. Simple, cheap, and durable. The ungadget gadget.

 

[imported_Lothar]

Originally posted by: LS21

Originally posted by: RossMAN
WTF no one answered my second question:

"Is cooking brown rice different than cooking white (short grain) rice?"

you didnt real the whole thread

large grained (round) brown rice turned out terrible on my machine.. im sticking to jasmine

Ok, you guys have me confused here on this long/short grained and color stuff...

My rice is long grained and white.

 

[0roo0roo]

Originally posted by: Nitemare

Originally posted by: Jhill

Originally posted by: Nitemare

Originally posted by: shortylickens
I have found that boiling Minute Rice is a lot easier than a proper rice cooker.
I guess if I made a pound of rice everyday I would make an effort to use my special little rice pot.

Minute Rice is like referring to Mickey D's cheeseburgers when asking where to get a good cheeseburger.

Yes, but minute rice cooked in a 300.00 rice cooker tastes WAY better than regular rice cooked in a pot.

Who in their right mind would buy a 300 rice cooker and use shitty rice-wannabe in there?

Originally posted by: RossMAN


Why did you buy that particular model?

Is cooking brown rice different than cooking white (short grain) rice?

Yeah 90 bucks for a fuzzy logic cooker would be mighty tempting

yup real asians buy a big heavy sack of rice from the supermarket

 

[dighn]

Originally posted by: jiggahertz
This is better than an emacs vs. vi debate. I have never used a rice maker, or even knew they existed before having a Filipino roommate. I rarely eat rice, but will probably buy a $25 rice maker if I start eating more rice or to use as a vegetable steamer. I get it's a convenience thing, but some of the pro-rice maker people make it sound like cooking rice in a pot is such a difficult task. Pretty much any dish you are cooking to put on top of the rice requires more attention than cooking rice on the stove. If I had more counter space I'd probably already have one though.

It's not difficult, but if you have to cook rice every single day like most chinese households, having a rice cooker saves a huge amount of time and effort over time.

 

[Nitemare]

Originally posted by: 0roo0roo

Originally posted by: Nitemare

Originally posted by: Jhill

Originally posted by: Nitemare

Originally posted by: shortylickens
I have found that boiling Minute Rice is a lot easier than a proper rice cooker.
I guess if I made a pound of rice everyday I would make an effort to use my special little rice pot.

Minute Rice is like referring to Mickey D's cheeseburgers when asking where to get a good cheeseburger.

Yes, but minute rice cooked in a 300.00 rice cooker tastes WAY better than regular rice cooked in a pot.

Who in their right mind would buy a 300 rice cooker and use shitty rice-wannabe in there?

Originally posted by: RossMAN


Why did you buy that particular model?

Is cooking brown rice different than cooking white (short grain) rice?

Yeah 90 bucks for a fuzzy logic cooker would be mighty tempting

yup real asians buy a big heavy sack of rice from the supermarket

even some gaijins...

 

[dakels]

Originally posted by: Lothar
My rice is long grained and white.

There's a joke in here somewhere...

 

[LS21]

Originally posted by: Lothar

Ok, you guys have me confused here on this long/short grained and color stuff...

My rice is long grained and white.

i think standard rice as a slimmed down football shape (ie "long grained rice")
standard grain jasmine looks like that
theres short-grain jasmine that looks like standard grain broken in half
basmati is mega-slim...like fingery grains
theres some brown rice that i get that are more oval... looks almost bloated..and very large overall in size

 

[Scarpozzi]

Originally posted by: JulesMaximus

Originally posted by: KillerCharlie

Originally posted by: JulesMaximus
JulesMaximus in 3...2...1...

Oh wait, I'm me.

Why spend a couple hundred dollars on a device that basically does the exact same thing as a $5 pot with a lid on the stovetop?

The one I bought only cost $10, works fine, and you just turn it on and walk away. It goes into warm mode when it's done.

Trust me, it's only a matter of time before someone comes in here and defends the value of a $200+ rice cooker.

Edit-They'll argue benefits like keeping 20lbs of cooked rice at a perfect serving temperature for 10 hours...basically things that 99.9% of people who cook and eat rice on a daily basis find totally useless.

I'll argue that I can cook sauces in the $5 sauce pan I cook my rice in and it takes up that much less room.

Well, if you break that down per grain of rice that you're cooking over the life of the appliance, $200 isn't so expensive.

 

[lozina]

so i just ordered a rice cooker.

I didn't get a Zojirushi because they apparently use teflon coated pan inside

So I got Miracle's rice cooker instead. i hope this thing is good though, anyone here use them?

 

[JulesMaximus]

Originally posted by: RossMAN

Originally posted by: JulesMaximus

Originally posted by: jiggahertz
This is better than an emacs vs. vi debate. I have never used a rice maker, or even knew they existed before having a Filipino roommate. I rarely eat rice, but will probably buy a $25 rice maker if I start eating more rice or to use as a vegetable steamer. I get it's a convenience thing, but some of the pro-rice maker people make it sound like cooking rice in a pot is such a difficult task. Pretty much any dish you are cooking to put on top of the rice requires more attention than cooking rice on the stove. If I had more counter space I'd probably already have one though.

This is what I use to steam veggies, $5.49 and all you do is stick it in a medium saucepan with a lid and put about 1/2" of water in the pan. Perfect every time. Most of the vegetables I make are steamed actually.

That's pretty awesome and cheap. I like how minimalist it is.

What veggies do you like to steam?

Broccoli, carrots, and asparagus are some of my favorites.

 

[Chryso]

Yeah, we have one of those too. It gets used at least 3 times a week for broccoli.

 

[sdifox]

Originally posted by: zerocool1

Originally posted by: oiprocs
I can never get the right amount of water vs rice. Plus, it always seems to be sticky. I like sticky rice, but not all the time.

that just means you're putting too much water. Its generally 2 parts water to one part rice.

? I do maybe half cup over and that's it... 2 is a lot of water.

 

[sdifox]

Originally posted by: amoeba

Originally posted by: JulesMaximus

Originally posted by: jjones
Wow, apparently a lot of people need help with their rice. I've been cooking rice for more than 30 years and never had to use anything but a pot. Hell, I don't even use a lid any more. I get perfect, or near perfect rice every time.

But hey, if you like using a rice cooker, that's fine with me too. I just don't like having extra gadgets taking up space. Now a crock pot? That's an entirely different story. Crock pots rule!

Agreed. Crock pots are invaluable. A rice cooker is a needless gadget.

Again, a rice cooker is fine but it is not necessary to make decent rice every time. It is quite simple and easy to make great rice on the stove top.

Just stop it man. First of all, you start out with an unrealistic price of $200 for a rice cooker when nobody has one of those unless if its an industrial one used for restaurants. Secondly, in one of your later posts, the price climbs to $300.

The highest price I have seen in this thread as well as real life is $50 and many rice cookers cost much less than this. Rice cookers in the $50 range are family size ones and often you can find many very good rice cookers in the $20 range.

I can set my rice cooker and leave the house for hours and I don't have to worry about it whereas you can't. If I am cooking multiple things and I don't have the stove space, the rice cooker is invaluable.

We all know how to make rice on the stove top. The rice cooker offers convenience at very affordable prices.

paying 200 for a rice cooker is not that strange... It's fairly common for Chinese people to spend that much for a rice cooker that lasts years. I think we retired out 20 year old Zojirushi because the seal is gone. No seal= crappy rice.

 

[sdifox]

Originally posted by: slag

Originally posted by: shortylickens
I have found that boiling Minute Rice is a lot easier than a proper rice cooker.
I guess if I made a pound of rice everyday I would make an effort to use my special little rice pot.

JHC.

Don't boil minute rice!!!!!!!!!!!!

Boil the water, remove from heat, THEN put in the minute rice.

Read the directions.. sheesh

Its the _only_ way to make good rice.

wait, there is no such thing as good rice, its just generally accepted that it goes with oriental/asian food as filler.

Now a potato cooker.. there's something we should talk about!

err, actually, rice is the main food item. The other stuff you eat with rice are the complements.

 

[sdifox]

Originally posted by: zinfamous

Originally posted by: JulesMaximus

Originally posted by: KillerCharlie

Originally posted by: JulesMaximus
JulesMaximus in 3...2...1...

Oh wait, I'm me.

Why spend a couple hundred dollars on a device that basically does the exact same thing as a $5 pot with a lid on the stovetop?

The one I bought only cost $10, works fine, and you just turn it on and walk away. It goes into warm mode when it's done.

Trust me, it's only a matter of time before someone comes in here and defends the value of a $200+ rice cooker.

Edit-They'll argue benefits like keeping 20lbs of cooked rice at a perfect serving temperature for 10 hours...basically things that 99.9% of people who cook and eat rice on a daily basis find totally useless.

I'll argue that I can cook sauces in the $5 sauce pan I cook my rice in and it takes up that much less room.

So, how do you cook your bulk rice?

20lb of rice is definitely not bulk. That is just standard package size.

 

[gotsmack]

Originally posted by: LS21
i tried cooking brown rice in my cooking..turned out terrible

im sticking to thai jasmine with my machine...fragrant and dericious

The trick with brown rice is to add 50%+ extra water then you normally would. Otherwise it turns out hard.

Try it.

 

[sdifox]

Originally posted by: Chryso
I have never seen one where you put water on the outside.

that is the older style, essentially a steamer. The inner bowl holds water+rice, outer bowl for water, heat element turns water into steam. Rice gets cooked. Very useful thing to have. So I have that and the newer style rice cooker, I use the older one strictly as a steamer.

 

[Fingolfin269]

I went to PF Chang's and decided the rice was fantastic... relative to the typical chinese take out I have.

So, I decided I must get a rice cooker because surely this is something to do with the methodology and not the actual rice itself! I bought a ~$30-$40 one from Target, tried it a couple of times, and really screwed it up.

I'd love to get this worked out because I love rice. Is the problem in quality usually attributed to the source material (rice) or the cook (me )? Keep in mind I'm a sucker for brown rice and usually just buy Uncle Ben's. I don't mind paying more for good rice but I am not a fan of white rice at all. Any suggestions?

I'll fire up the cooker and give it a go again over the weekend armed with some new ammo...

 

[sdifox]

Originally posted by: Fingolfin269
I went to PF Chang's and decided the rice was fantastic... relative to the typical chinese take out I have.

So, I decided I must get a rice cooker because surely this is something to do with the methodology and not the actual rice itself! I bought a ~$30-$40 one from Target, tried it a couple of times, and really screwed it up.

I'd love to get this worked out because I love rice. Is the problem in quality usually attributed to the source material (rice) or the cook (me )? Keep in mind I'm a sucker for brown rice and usually just buy Uncle Ben's. I don't mind paying more for good rice but I am not a fan of white rice at all. Any suggestions?

I'll fire up the cooker and give it a go again over the weekend armed with some new ammo...

first of all, go to chinese grocer for rice. It would be fresher than non oriental ones since they move more rice. Second, brown rice requires more water, so try 1 extra cup of water on the inside.

 

[KeypoX]

Originally posted by: JulesMaximus
JulesMaximus in 3...2...1...

Oh wait, I'm me.

Why spend a couple hundred dollars on a device that basically does the exact same thing as a $5 pot with a lid on the stovetop?

because its not hundreds of dollars its pennies. And works differently then a pot. It heats very fast and cooks the rice perfectly then goes to a warm mode.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

Originally posted by: sdifox

Originally posted by: Chryso
I have never seen one where you put water on the outside.

that is the older style, essentially a steamer. The inner bowl holds water+rice, outer bowl for water, heat element turns water into steam. Rice gets cooked. Very useful thing to have. So I have that and the newer style rice cooker, I use the older one strictly as a steamer.

We had that since I was a kid up until high school. Then my mom finally bought a Zojirushi $100+ cooker. It was like night and day even though the old rice cooker was still decent. The steamer capabilities is awesome though cuz I can put steamed buns in and still cook. I keep it although all my rice is cooked in my zojirushi.

 

[SampSon]

Originally posted by: JulesMaximus

Originally posted by: SampSon

Originally posted by: JulesMaximus

Originally posted by: sniperruff
you need something at least like this if you cook rice every day:

http://www.amazon.com/Zojirush.../ref=pd_sbs_k_title_24

BS-I cook rice 2-3 times a week and all I use is a covered sauce pan.

Why do people buy expensive mixers when a bowl and wooden spoon works just as well?
What about automatic can openers, fancy wine bottle openers, crock pots, microwaves and any number of cooking devices?

Why bother having anything more than a spartan kitchen with all manual tools?
Because it's easier, takes less work and is commonly affordable. Of course a $200 rice cooker is rather silly for most people, but most rice cookers I see are less than $50.

My argument is that it takes almost the same amount of effort to cook rice on a stove top. Put rice in a pot, put water in, turn burner to low and set a timer for 20 minutes (this obviously varies a bit depending on the rice used).

A mixer replaces mixing by hand which is very labor intensive. That's a really poor comparison. A rice cooker doesn't make rice making that much easier, you are essentially doing the same thing as when you cook it on the stove with a covered saucepan.

But hey, if you want to spend $300 for a rice cooker be my guest.

Thousands of thoes working in the restaurant business would disagree with you.
Most mixing is done by hand.

I don't make a lot of rice, primarily because rice sucks. Though I wouldn't mind having a rice cooker when I do make rice.

On a side note, I can't believe you pay almost $6 for a stainless steel veggie steamer tray. That's like twice what you should be paying. Six bucks for a veggie steamer, what a fool!