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Best Rice Cookers
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BOTTOM LINE
For making special dishes and unique meals, nothing beats this rice cooker. It has all the settings and features that you want and can both toast rice and keep foods warm.
This rice cooker features more settings than almost any other model on the market. Not only does it steam and cook rice, but it also has a scorch setting and a bright LCD screen.
Priced at more than $400, this model is really only best for serious cooks. Less experienced cooks may have a hard time using some of the settings.
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Capable of cooking up to eight cups of fluffy rice, this cooker can feed a crowd. It has various settings to help you save time such as a flash rice button that cuts your cooking time in half.
With push buttons on the front, this rice cooker is incredibly easy to use. You can make rice and steam foods inside and keep those dishes warm or use a built-in timer.
If you do not closely follow the instructions, your food may come out burnt or partially cooked. It uses some cheap plastic parts too.
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No matter what you like cooking, you’ll want to have an Instant Pot in your kitchen. This model holds up to three quarts and will let you make both sweet and savory dishes in less time.
With this Instant Pot, you can cook all your favorite dishes at home and save some time without using a traditional pressure cooker. Not only does it cook rice but also stews and hundreds of other dishes.
You may have problems snapping the lid in place or getting it off the pot. Some reviewers felt as though they needed to watch over the pot as it cooked.
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The basic design of this rice cooker makes it a good choice for any less experienced home cook. It works as both a food steamer and a rice cooker and keeps food warm for hours.
With a tempered glass lid that can stand up to high temperatures, this rice cooker lets you see your food as it cooks. Its basic design is suitable for college students and anyone with less cooking experience.
It can take a long time for the cooker to cool down after you shut it off. You may find some rice stuck or burnt to the bottom of the pot too.
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With just one button on the front, this rice cooker is easy to use. Hamilton Beach claims that you can cook any type of grains or rice inside and that you can use it as a food steamer.
The included basket lets you rinse your ingredients before cooking them and also functions as a steamer basket. It also comes with a measuring cup for adding rice and water to the pot.
Some reviews claimed that the interior pot boiled over, even with the lid tightly placed on top. Others found that their rice burned to the bottom.
The only thing that you need to cook rice at home is a simple pot. A rice cooker though can make the process much easier and reduce the risk that you might overcook or burn the rice. The best rice cooker for 2023 that meets all your needs might be one that you can set and forget while you do other things around the kitchen. Most of the top rice cookers for 2023 that we found will actually shut down after the rice cooks. This feature keeps the rice warm but stops it from burning or sticking to the pan.
As you look for the best rice cooker, you’ll want to consider factors such as how much it costs and what it can do. If you think that these appliances will only cook rice, you might find yourself surprised at some of the great dishes that you can make inside one.
Even the most basic of models will come with a steamer basket. Some of the more advanced machines will make soups and stews and both sweet and savory dishes. Our shopping guide to rice cookers will provide you with great information and solid resources that make choosing one easy.
Buying
Though you might think that cooking rice is easy, the chances are good that you’ll change your mind after one bad batch. If the rice comes out crunchy because you didn’t use enough water or you find some grains burned to the bottom of your pot, you might skip making rice in the future. The top rice cookers for 2023 help you avoid some of those common mistakes and make perfectly cooked rice each and every time.
We designed every section in this shopping guide to supply our readers with everything they need to know about rice cookers.
You can start with the product matrix above to see the top five rice cookers and move to the bottom of this page to see all the resources we read through. We even included links to each product on Amazon and links to helpful information that you can find online.
To find and rank the best rice cookers, we talked with experts and looked at which appliances they preferred. We then researched each one on Amazon to make sure that the rice cookers were still available and that shoppers liked those models. All the top rice cookers on our list have great reviews and high ratings.
Most manufacturers use stainless steel for the pots because rice won’t stick to this material.
Depending on the model that you buy, it may come with a steamer basket too. This basket will fit inside the machine and sit right on top of your rice. You can also fill the pot with a steaming liquid and steam foods without cooking rice. Many of the top models come with both a rice paddle and a measuring cup too. The paddle keeps the rice fluffy as you serve it, while the cup helps you measure the rice and cooking liquids.
Though you might assume that all rice cookers look the same and do the same things, you actually need to choose between a standard model or a multi-function appliance. A basic rice cooker is one that really does one thing well: cook rice. These models typically have just one button on the front and two lights that sit above that button. One light comes on when the rice cooker is on to let you know that it’s working. The second light stays on to tell you that the appliance is still warm. Standard rice cookers can also cook vegetables and steam ingredients.
Multi-function rice cookers do a great job of cooking rice but can also handle other types of cooking. Aroma Housewares makes our top choice for the best rice cooker, which is an example of a multi-function cooker. Instant Pot makes several of these models too. While you can use a rice button to cook any type of rice, you can also experiment with the other buttons and make a variety of different dishes. Instant Pots are good for those who want to save time because they let you cook everything in one pot. You can even cook meats inside one.
When you see the word size, you know that this tells you how much the rice cooker can accommodate. Not only do you need to look at the size in terms of how much food you want to make but also in terms of cooked vs. uncooked ingredients. Manufacturers may use this term to describe the amount of rice that you can put inside and cook or the amount of rice that comes out already cooked. It’s important that you know what the sizing refers to because it will help you buy the right size.
Take for example two rice cookers that each have a capacity for four cups. If one appliance only holds four cups of cooked rice, it actually has a capacity for just two cups. A rice cooker that can hold four cups of uncooked rice will make up to eight cups of cooked rice.
The capacity of a rice cooker can also help you see how much space you have for other types of dishes. If you have a large family or like making leftovers, you’ll want a rice cooker with a larger capacity. Manufacturers offer these appliances in sizes that can hold up to eight or even 10 cups of cooked rice.
A single serving rice cooker, also called a miniature rice cooker, is one that cooks just enough rice for a single person. Most models will hold just one cup of uncooked grains and make only two cups of cooked rice.
As rice cookers have a number of electronic components and chips inside, you cannot put the entire appliance into the sink and clean it. You can, however, remove the cooking pot from inside the appliance and toss it right into your sink or dishwasher. These pots will either use aluminum or stainless steel.
Some shoppers prefer aluminum because it features a nonstick coating around the inside. Even if you leave the rice cooker on for too long and the grains burn to the pan, those grains will slide right off the nonstick coating. The downside to aluminum is that it’s not quite as durable as stainless steel. You may find that the pot develops dents because you dropped it on the floor or it knocked into other pots and pans as you washed them.
Stainless steel typically does not have a nonstick coating but will allow rice and other ingredients to come off its surface. You won’t worry about that coating peeling off in the future either. Stainless steel often requires more cleaning than aluminum does and can develop scratches from the sponges and cleaning products that you use. You may find that stainless steel pots will last longer than aluminum ones do though.
Nearly every cuisine around the world uses rice. Though you already know about the different types such as jasmine and wild rice, you may not realize that some recipes and cuisines call for rice that has a different texture. When you make a quick side dish for your family, you might want to use white rice that comes out fluffy and perfectly soft in the center. If you want to make an authentic regional or national cuisine though, you may want rice that has a different type of texture.
A good example is the rice found in sushi. This rice has a slightly sticky texture that lets each grain cling to the wrapper and other ingredients. If you use rice with a smooth texture, it won’t stick to those ingredients. Thai dishes often call for sticky rice too. Other cuisines call for rice that has a firmer texture.
Basic and standard rice cookers have fewer settings and only let you make rice with one type of texture. To change that texture, you may need to cook the rice for more or less time and with more or less water. Some of the top rice cookers have different texture settings that let you cook the rice to the perfect consistency.
Instant Pots are incredibly hot right now, but the best model for those who want to cook rice is the Duo Mini. Though it holds just three quarts, it lets you make quick family dinners and some of your favorite desserts. A rice button right on the front of the machine lets you quickly cook rice after adding rice and a cooking liquid inside.
You can use the plus and minus push buttons to adjust that cook time based on whether you use white or brown rice. This pot also has a porridge setting that does a good job of cooking other types of grains, and even made it onto our list of best instant pots.
With an Instant Pot, you can do much more than just cook rice though. Some of the other buttons on the front of this machine let you cook chili and other types of stews and soups as well as yogurt and meats. You can also use those buttons and make this pot work as a steamer or a slow cooker. It also functions as a pressure cooker. Made from stainless steel, the interior pot lifts out easily for cleaning. The lid that seals the pot shut opens in both directions to accommodate both right handed and left handed users.
No matter how carefully you plan, anything unexpected might pop up and change those plans. Let’s say that you want to get dinner on the table in time for your kids to come from practice and your spouse to come home from work. At the last minute though, you get an important phone call and need to take a few minutes to talk to a loved one. If you made rice on the stove, you would need to shut off the heat and move the pot off the burner. The heat inside the pot can still burn the rice and make it stick to the metal though. If you have a rice cooker with a keep warm setting, you can enjoy perfectly cooked rice later in the night.
A cooker with a stay warm feature will shut off the heating element that cooked the rice but trap the heat inside the pot. That heat will keep the rice warm and also stop it from drying out. This feature will usually keep the rice warm for up to 30 minutes. If you use the cooker to steam fresh vegetables or any other side dish, the feature will keep those ingredients warm too.
Some of the higher end rice cookers available today have a reheat option in addition to a keep warm setting. You can keep the rice stored inside the pot and press the button while getting dinner ready. The cooker will slowly bring the rice up to the right temperature within 10 to 20 minutes or less. You may need to add some more water to the rice to keep it from drying out.
Buying appliances that are overly complicated and hard to use is a common mistake that many inexperienced cooks make. They assume that they need the best machines and the same appliances that professional chefs use without thinking about how those appliances will work for them. One of the most important things that you should consider is the look of the controls and buttons. You want to make sure that the rice cooker has an intuitive design and that you can easily use it. While you will want to consult the manual when you cook for the first time and when you try out new recipes, you don’t necessarily want to use the manual every time you cook. If you need to double check what each button does though, you’ll spend more time reading through that manual than you would like.
We really recommend basic models for those with less experience. As long as you know how to measure and pour, you can use these rice cookers because you press just one button on the front. Some of the higher end rice cookers have buttons that let you cook different dishes and change the texture of the rice or the total cook time.
Anyone who ever spent any time in a kitchen before probably has a few scars to show for it. You might have a small scar from where your arm touched the top of the stove when taking out a pizza or a small scar on your finger from where you cut yourself with a sharp knife. Some of the first rice cookers that came out featured metal handles and other parts that retained heat for a long time after users shut off the appliances. Though modern products will generally keep you safe, you really need to look for those with cool touch features. This refers to a design that keeps the heat on the inside of the pot to moving outside and burning users.
The top rice cookers have a metal case that surrounds the pot. Insulated areas inside retain the heat and trap it inside to make sure that the outside stays cool. Cheaper models may use plastic parts that can burn your skin and melt over time because of that heat. We highly recommend looking for models with handles that stay cool too. You may want to move the pot after serving the rice or as it cooks. If the handles stay cool, you won’t burn your hands.
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