#297242 - 19/04/2007 03:54
Rice cooker opinions
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 23/09/2000
Posts: 3608
Loc: Minnetonka, MN
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Anyone have an opinion about rice cookers ?
I was just going to get a simple on/off type one but now after looking around the net I keep reading about fuzzy logic ones being much better.
I just wanted to see if anyone has tried either style and can offer an opinion.
I really want one that can do brown rice well.
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Matt
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#297243 - 19/04/2007 04:37
Re: Rice cooker opinions
[Re: msaeger]
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old hand
Registered: 23/07/2003
Posts: 869
Loc: Colorado
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One word: ZojirushiJust hit "Buy" and never look back. They're the best. Period. Of course, this is one guy's opinion. But then again, that one guy eats rice every day. 
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Dave
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#297244 - 19/04/2007 06:18
Re: Rice cooker opinions
[Re: msaeger]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 13/07/2000
Posts: 4180
Loc: Cambridge, England
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I can't find it on their site now, but there was an Onion headline once "$175 Gadget Makes One Type Of Food".
What's up with a normal saucepan, doesn't have to be non-stick, small slosh of sunflower oil, sprinkle of salt, 1/2-mug of rice per person, skoosh it round and round in the oil, 1 mug of boiling water per person, bring back to boil, simmer for 10min or until all water has disappeared, job done? (That's for basmati - use a bit more water and time for brown rice, lots more for wild rice.)
Actually, while we're on, the rice recipes in Paul Prudhomme call for rice "preferably converted". I had a quick go at converting my rice, but it remained stubbornly secular despite my preaching. What, in US English, is "converted" rice?
Peter
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#297245 - 19/04/2007 07:11
Re: Rice cooker opinions
[Re: peter]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 24/12/2001
Posts: 5528
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Rice cooker method:
1. Plug in rice cooker
2. Add desired amount of rice
3. Pour in correct amount of water
4. Press button
5. Go do something else as its all automatic
You don't have to watch it at all. The rice always comes out cooked and not soggy.
I just use a on/off National rice cooker and it works well. Actually, I think it has a setting for congee if you push the switch up instead of down.
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#297246 - 19/04/2007 07:58
Re: Rice cooker opinions
[Re: tman]
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pooh-bah
Registered: 27/02/2004
Posts: 1919
Loc: London
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Agree with Peter on this, damn simple once you know how, this is my recipe for Pilau Rice if anyone's interested: http://www.learningindustries.com/nrk/recipes/index.asp?rid=130You can leave on a gentle heat on the hob rather than transfer to the oven, you'll just get a bit of a crust forming on the bottom of the pan, some people love the crusty bits.
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#297247 - 19/04/2007 08:12
Re: Rice cooker opinions
[Re: tman]
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old hand
Registered: 14/08/2001
Posts: 886
Loc: London, UK
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 2 minutes in a microwave.
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#297248 - 19/04/2007 08:30
Re: Rice cooker opinions
[Re: furtive]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 24/12/2001
Posts: 5528
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Rice cooker is cheaper if you eat a lot of rice like I do 
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#297249 - 19/04/2007 08:33
Re: Rice cooker opinions
[Re: furtive]
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pooh-bah
Registered: 27/02/2004
Posts: 1919
Loc: London
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Quote:
2 minutes in a microwave.
Yeah, but we're talking REAL rice here....
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#297250 - 19/04/2007 08:48
Re: Rice cooker opinions
[Re: tahir]
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old hand
Registered: 14/08/2001
Posts: 886
Loc: London, UK
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?? 
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#297251 - 19/04/2007 09:57
Re: Rice cooker opinions
[Re: webroach]
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addict
Registered: 02/08/2004
Posts: 434
Loc: Helsinki, Finland
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Quote:
One word: Zojirushi
Just hit "Buy" and never look back. They're the best. Period.
Of course, this is one guy's opinion. But then again, that one guy eats rice every day.
ditto.
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#297252 - 19/04/2007 11:14
Re: Rice cooker opinions
[Re: petteri]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 23/09/2000
Posts: 3608
Loc: Minnetonka, MN
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Do you guys have the micom style ones from Zojirushi and do you make brown rice ? I read some unfavorable reviews about Zojirushi when making brown rice.
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Matt
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#297253 - 19/04/2007 11:44
Re: Rice cooker opinions
[Re: msaeger]
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addict
Registered: 02/08/2004
Posts: 434
Loc: Helsinki, Finland
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Quote:
Do you guys have the micom style ones from Zojirushi and do you make brown rice ? I read some unfavorable reviews about Zojirushi when making brown rice.
I don't have the micom. I have the 'Neuro Fuzzy' type with which I've used to make mostly white rice, but the brown has turned out well for me.
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#297254 - 19/04/2007 12:33
Re: Rice cooker opinions
[Re: peter]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 25/12/2000
Posts: 16706
Loc: Raleigh, NC US
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Quote:
What, in US English, is "converted" rice?
Basically, packaged par-cooked white rice. I think "converted" may be a genericized trademark of the Uncle Ben's brand. It's par-cooked before the bran is removed, which actually makes it slightly more nutritious than regular white rice. But not by much.
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Bitt Faulk
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#297255 - 19/04/2007 12:36
Re: Rice cooker opinions
[Re: msaeger]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 25/12/2000
Posts: 16706
Loc: Raleigh, NC US
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Quote:
Anyone have an opinion about rice cookers ?
I do. You can't make risotto in a rice cooker, therefore, what's the point?
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Bitt Faulk
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#297256 - 19/04/2007 13:14
Re: Rice cooker opinions
[Re: wfaulk]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 12/11/2001
Posts: 7738
Loc: Toronto, CANADA
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You don't make Risotto with long grain rice. You don't fry risotto either. There are too many ways of having rice and a good rice cooker is of an enormous benefit to many of them. Including cooking your rice for sushi. I'll probably just pick up a Panasonic (formerly "National" in Japan and in the import market). I can't seem to make loose rice to save my life any other way. Risotto I can handle. Bruno
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#297257 - 19/04/2007 13:23
Re: Rice cooker opinions
[Re: webroach]
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new poster
Registered: 04/02/2007
Posts: 21
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Quote:
One word: Zojirushi
Just hit "Buy" and never look back. They're the best. Period.
Sure about that? Most Zojirushi need battery replaced after 3-5 years. No rice while UPS has your cooker.
Quote:
Of course, this is one guy's opinion. But then again, that one guy eats rice every day.
Up here we prefer Hitachi RZST10Y fuzzy logic cooker. But we only let one place in NYC sell.
Less bling, but less money. No battery. Capacitor.
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#297258 - 19/04/2007 14:26
Re: Rice cooker opinions
[Re: Jehovah]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 30/04/2000
Posts: 3810
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We have the generic, $35 rice cooker from Costco. It's big. It works fine. I agree that the fire-and-forget aspect makes these things worth owning, even if they aren't exactly kitchen multitaskers. Risotto is a much more labor intensive process, but definitely worth the effort. Yum.
(Side note: Alton Brown, on his Good Eats show, always likes to point out the the only unitasker you should have in the kitchen is a fire extinguisher. He recently did a show on espresso, which was largely about exactly which machinery you should buy. If an espresso machine isn't an overpriced kitchen unitasker, I don't know what is. Back in my coffee-addiction years, I became handy with a press pot, which I now use for the occasional cup of tea.)
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#297259 - 19/04/2007 14:36
Re: Rice cooker opinions
[Re: wfaulk]
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pooh-bah
Registered: 06/04/2005
Posts: 2026
Loc: Seattle transplant
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Quote:
Quote:
What, in US English, is "converted" rice?
Basically, packaged par-cooked white rice. I think "converted" may be a genericized trademark of the Uncle Ben's brand. It's par-cooked before the bran is removed, which actually makes it slightly more nutritious than regular white rice. But not by much.
Google came up with several hits for 'converted rice' and one was 'Uncle Ben's' at Wikipedia. That article led me to 'parboiled rice'.
Paul Prudhomme *is* American, btw. I remember seeing him cruising on an electric personal scooter at a big food show in San Francisco years ago. The size of him made me fear for his health, but he seems to still be around.
Thanks for the lesson on rice, guys!
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#297260 - 19/04/2007 14:54
Re: Rice cooker opinions
[Re: peter]
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old hand
Registered: 20/07/1999
Posts: 1102
Loc: UK
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Quote:
I had a quick go at converting my rice, but it remained stubbornly secular despite my preaching.
I'm not sure just why, but this line had me howling with laughter. Thank you
pca
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Experience is what you get just after it would have helped...
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#297261 - 19/04/2007 17:15
Re: Rice cooker opinions
[Re: Robotic]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 13/07/2000
Posts: 4180
Loc: Cambridge, England
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Quote:
Google came up with several hits for 'converted rice' and one was 'Uncle Ben's' at Wikipedia. That article led me to 'parboiled rice'.
"Curiosity... satisfied!" Thanks!
Quote:
Paul Prudhomme *is* American, btw.
Glad to hear it, otherwise that Paul Prudhomme's Louisiana Kitchen book I bought in New Orleans a few years ago would seem a terrible sham. A less ambiguous thing for me to have said would have been "What is the UK English for the US English term 'converted rice'?" But fortunately that's the question people answered anyway.
Peter
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#297262 - 19/04/2007 19:53
Re: Rice cooker opinions
[Re: peter]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 30/04/2000
Posts: 3810
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Quote:
otherwise that Paul Prudhomme's Louisiana Kitchen book I bought in New Orleans a few years ago would seem a terrible sham
Dunno about that, but I'm thrilled with the Commander's Kitchen book from Commander's Palace, easily my favorite restaurant, anywhere in the world.
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#297263 - 19/04/2007 21:13
Re: Rice cooker opinions
[Re: petteri]
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old hand
Registered: 23/07/2003
Posts: 869
Loc: Colorado
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Quote:
Quote:
Do you guys have the micom style ones from Zojirushi and do you make brown rice ? I read some unfavorable reviews about Zojirushi when making brown rice.
I don't have the micom. I have the 'Neuro Fuzzy' type with which I've used to make mostly white rice, but the brown has turned out well for me.
ditto.
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Dave
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#297264 - 19/04/2007 23:42
Re: Rice cooker opinions
[Re: msaeger]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 23/09/2000
Posts: 3608
Loc: Minnetonka, MN
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I looked around town today and found some stores selling Zojirushi but they wanted about 100 more than the internet prices so I decided to try a 25 dollar cheapie first. I did find a really cool Asian supermarket in my searching though.
It seems to work ok I think the problem will be figuring out how much water to put in there. They recommend 2 cups rice 3.5 cups water. When it said it was done rice was still crunchy so I dumped another cup of water in there and started it again this time when it finished the rice was about perfect.
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Matt
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#297265 - 20/04/2007 00:11
Re: Rice cooker opinions
[Re: peter]
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pooh-bah
Registered: 20/01/2002
Posts: 2085
Loc: New Orleans, LA
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I once went to a wedding that Paul Prudhome catered. The man can make an incredible feast. My favorites were the oyster shooters and most of all the chocolate chip pralines. It took a LONG time to figure out how he did pralines with whole chocolate chips in them. I asked him at the reception if he'd mind sharing the secret with me about the choc. chips, and he took my address. Three days later, a hand-written Chocolate Chip Praline recipe arrived in the mail with a dozen or so pre-printed ones. Very nice guy. I'll not forget that. He's also lost QUITE a lot of weight. He's still puttering around on his scooter though. Hanging in my kitchen: Never trust a skinny cook.Makes sense to me. Oh, and the trick with the chocolate chips is a really simple one. Once you figure it out. (His directions didn't exactly say) I also have to say, Food is one of the main reasons I could never leave New Orleans. I've eaten all over the place, and it's just... so... boring. I still need to do friday lunch at Gallatoire's. At least once. It's the kind of thing where you have to stand in line for 2 or so hours beforehand to get in, and once you do, you don't leave for 4-5 hours. The weirdest thing is, people pay for someone to stand in line for them. I had never seen anything like that before. Ah. here we go.
Edited by lectric (20/04/2007 00:23)
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#297266 - 20/04/2007 00:27
Re: Rice cooker opinions
[Re: msaeger]
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old hand
Registered: 15/02/2002
Posts: 1049
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Rice cookers are awesome, and not very expensive. You don't need a "fuzzy logic" rice cooker. They all work the same way. There is a steam vent on the cover that is calibrated. The cooker heats until the water begins boiling, during which time the temperature is constant. There is a temperature sensor which senses when the temperature begins to rise above boiling (which means there is no more liquid water), and then shuts off the heating element.
These work with all different kinds of rice because it cooks until (and exactly until) there is no more liquid.
The result is absolutely perfect rice every single time. I love my rice cooker. I've got the Japanese one that others have mentioned. Suggesting instant rice or microwaved rice as an alternative is an abomination.
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#297267 - 20/04/2007 01:44
Re: Rice cooker opinions
[Re: lectric]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 08/03/2000
Posts: 12341
Loc: Sterling, VA
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Quote:
Hanging in my kitchen:
Never trust a skinny cook.
Makes sense to me.
Good advice, though I certainly don't mind watching Giada. My family calls her show "Cooking with Cleavage."
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Matt
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#297268 - 21/04/2007 16:07
Re: Rice cooker opinions
[Re: DWallach]
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new poster
Registered: 04/02/2007
Posts: 21
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Quote:
We have the generic, $35 rice cooker from Costco. It's big. It works fine. I agree that the fire-and-forget aspect makes these things worth owning, even if they aren't exactly kitchen multitaskers. ....
Rice deserves its own shrine (I am very proud of rice). Generic rice cooker OK, but fuzzy cooker cuts you slack. More water? No problem. For $89, Hitachi gives peace of mind. You watch Giada while you measure water? No problem.
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