Discussion
We eat quite a lot of rice as a family, and i'm beginning to feel like i can justify a "proper" rice cooker.
Zojirushi appears to be the mother of all rice cookers and the industry standard for home use.. but it's £300+! I'm not quite sure i can justify that. I've seen good reviews for the Bamboo UMAI (https://yum-asia.com/eu/product/bamboo-umai-induction-heating-ih-ceramic-rice-cooker/).
Does anyone have one?
Zojirushi appears to be the mother of all rice cookers and the industry standard for home use.. but it's £300+! I'm not quite sure i can justify that. I've seen good reviews for the Bamboo UMAI (https://yum-asia.com/eu/product/bamboo-umai-induction-heating-ih-ceramic-rice-cooker/).
Does anyone have one?
The more expensive ones have more capacity and functions for timing, variable warming temps etc.
We have this one
https://www.cheerfullinks.com/product/cuckoo-rice-...
We only use it for Japanese style rice but it does the job.
We have this one
https://www.cheerfullinks.com/product/cuckoo-rice-...
We only use it for Japanese style rice but it does the job.
Just get a simple one with the capacity to suit your needs. You don't need fancy ones with timings and touch screens or beeps or blue LEDs. The simplest ones are the ones with one push down button that turns it on when it's down and keeps it warm when it's up. That's the basic rice cooker design that chinese families have been using for decades.
Chucklehead said:
We eat quite a lot of rice as a family, and i'm beginning to feel like i can justify a "proper" rice cooker.
...
Perhaps an alternative way to look at it is that you need to eat less rice and eat all the other Grains and legumes ...
Also if you eat a lot of rice, rather than getting a rice cooker to make boring boiled rice, you could start making yellow pilau and other Indian rice styles where you fry some onions/spices first. Along with the sticky and fried Asian rice's.
So to summarise get a cheap one with good reviews but also do other stuff.
Edited by hyphen on Tuesday 1st March 14:01
I have a Bamboo UMAI, works great. Is it worth £180 when a cheap one costs £30? Probably not but it is definitely nicer.
The old ones never seemed to last that long before they were chucked in the bin and replaced. They also seemed to seep steam and water around the worktop and occasionally burned the bottom of the rice. The Bamboo does none of that, you can carry the bowl without gloves and it just works well and the rice comes out great. I am not enough of a rice connoisseur to judge whether it cooks as well as they say it does but there are no complaints. If you can afford the extra then I would go for it, no regrets here.
The old ones never seemed to last that long before they were chucked in the bin and replaced. They also seemed to seep steam and water around the worktop and occasionally burned the bottom of the rice. The Bamboo does none of that, you can carry the bowl without gloves and it just works well and the rice comes out great. I am not enough of a rice connoisseur to judge whether it cooks as well as they say it does but there are no complaints. If you can afford the extra then I would go for it, no regrets here.
Aunty Pasty said:
Just get a simple one with the capacity to suit your needs. You don't need fancy ones with timings and touch screens or beeps or blue LEDs. The simplest ones are the ones with one push down button that turns it on when it's down and keeps it warm when it's up. That's the basic rice cooker design that chinese families have been using for decades.
This.Our current one was £37 from Amazon, it's no longer available but you get the general idea.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07D35K1GL
cb31 said:
I have a Bamboo UMAI, works great. Is it worth £180 when a cheap one costs £30? Probably not but it is definitely nicer.
The old ones never seemed to last that long before they were chucked in the bin and replaced. They also seemed to seep steam and water around the worktop and occasionally burned the bottom of the rice. The Bamboo does none of that, you can carry the bowl without gloves and it just works well and the rice comes out great. I am not enough of a rice connoisseur to judge whether it cooks as well as they say it does but there are no complaints. If you can afford the extra then I would go for it, no regrets here.
This is probably all the justification i need... The old ones never seemed to last that long before they were chucked in the bin and replaced. They also seemed to seep steam and water around the worktop and occasionally burned the bottom of the rice. The Bamboo does none of that, you can carry the bowl without gloves and it just works well and the rice comes out great. I am not enough of a rice connoisseur to judge whether it cooks as well as they say it does but there are no complaints. If you can afford the extra then I would go for it, no regrets here.
I had a Zojirushi for the last 3 or 4 years, sold it recently as it didn’t quite make the perfect rice I wanted, and after I found out how to get perfect rice from a pan.
I wash the rice until water runs clear, boil it constantly in loads of water for about 7 minutes or until the outer of the grains has softened slightly but is still too hard to eat, drain the water away quickly, throw back into the pan whilst it’s still hot, and cover with a towel and leave it for 10 mins. Comes out perfect for me that way.
I wash the rice until water runs clear, boil it constantly in loads of water for about 7 minutes or until the outer of the grains has softened slightly but is still too hard to eat, drain the water away quickly, throw back into the pan whilst it’s still hot, and cover with a towel and leave it for 10 mins. Comes out perfect for me that way.
I'm sure what i'm looking for can be done properly in a pan, but there are many ways I enjoy rice, and i'm convinced that each of them will be better with one of these. I don't know who i'm kidding, I clearly only wanted opinions that aligned with my own 
To be fair, you are the first person i've heard of that's bought one and decided it wasn't a good idea.
To be fair, you are the first person i've heard of that's bought one and decided it wasn't a good idea.
Chucklehead said:
I'm sure what i'm looking for can be done properly in a pan, but there are many ways I enjoy rice, and i'm convinced that each of them will be better with one of these. I don't know who i'm kidding, I clearly only wanted opinions that aligned with my own
To be fair, you are the first person i've heard of that's bought one and decided it wasn't a good idea.
I did like it whilst I had it, but then one day I was told of the method above and realised that was better than the Zojirushi. The rice was coming out just a but too stuck together, instead of individual grains. I sold it on Facebook to a Chines/Japanese woman for £70. The Chinese/Japanese do seem to absolutely love them. To be fair, you are the first person i've heard of that's bought one and decided it wasn't a good idea.
I used it as per the instructions, putting in the rice using the supplied cup and then adding water to the required markings Maybe I should have experimented more, perhaps using less water, or turning it off and opening the lid a bit earlier than the 'bleep' it emits when finished?
In any case, the method I posted makes rice absolutely perfectly for me. I do need the grains to seperate and not clump together as I then let it cool and make Chinese fried rice.
LeadFarmer said:
I had a Zojirushi for the last 3 or 4 years, sold it recently as it didn’t quite make the perfect rice I wanted, and after I found out how to get perfect rice from a pan.
I wash the rice until water runs clear, boil it constantly in loads of water for about 7 minutes or until the outer of the grains has softened slightly but is still too hard to eat, drain the water away quickly, throw back into the pan whilst it’s still hot, and cover with a towel and leave it for 10 mins. Comes out perfect for me that way.
I struggle massively with cooking rice, I've tried so many different methods, sometimes they work, sometimes they don't I've used the same one a few times and had good rice, done exactly the same again and had crap rice, I just cannot cook decent rice consistently.I wash the rice until water runs clear, boil it constantly in loads of water for about 7 minutes or until the outer of the grains has softened slightly but is still too hard to eat, drain the water away quickly, throw back into the pan whilst it’s still hot, and cover with a towel and leave it for 10 mins. Comes out perfect for me that way.
I don't want a dedicated rice cooker as A) I feel we don't eat enough to justify one and B) it will be another kitchen gadget to try and find space for when not in use.
I'll give your method a go next time.
Edited by HTP99 on Wednesday 2nd March 15:21
HTP99 said:
I struggle massively with cooking rice, I've tried so many different methods, sometimes they work, sometimes they don't I've used the same one a few times and had good rice, done exactly the same again and had crap rice, I just cannot cook decent rice consistently.
I was in the same boat, never getting constant results, usually over cooked, stuck together and clumpy. That's why I bought the Zojirushi as they have amazing reviews. I was pleased with it, but still didn't give me the rice I wanted.I can honestly say using the method I've posted has worked perfectly 100% of the time. Cook with plenty of boiling water, kept on the boil. At about 7 mins try a bit, you're looking for the outer grain to have softened just slightly, but still hard inside. That's when you turn off the heat, drain quickly and tip back into the pan whilst the pan is still hot, and cover with a towel. You can leave it like that for ages, and just shove in the microwave to heat back up if it's cooled too much.
My method also gives me perfect rice every time . . . sounds a bit of a faff seeing it written down. This method keeps the grains loose & not sticky.
- Rinse rice thoroughly in a pan several times till water is nearly clear
- Cook as if cooking pasta ie lots of water . . . cook until it is how you like it
- Immediately drain through a sieve & run under the cold tap to stop cooking
- Leave rice in the sieve or the pan if you prefer
- Prep rest of the meal
- Lastly pour kettle full of boiling water through rice in sieve to heat up again, drain & serve
- Rinse rice thoroughly in a pan several times till water is nearly clear
- Cook as if cooking pasta ie lots of water . . . cook until it is how you like it
- Immediately drain through a sieve & run under the cold tap to stop cooking
- Leave rice in the sieve or the pan if you prefer
- Prep rest of the meal
- Lastly pour kettle full of boiling water through rice in sieve to heat up again, drain & serve
Digger said:
My method also gives me perfect rice every time . . . sounds a bit of a faff seeing it written down. This method keeps the grains loose & not sticky.
- Rinse rice thoroughly in a pan several times till water is nearly clear
- Cook as if cooking pasta ie lots of water . . . cook until it is how you like it
- Immediately drain & run under the cold tap to stop cooking
- Leave rice in the sieve or the pan if you prefer
- Prep rest of the meal
- Lastly pour kettle full of boiling water through rice in sieve to heat up again, drain & serve
- Rinse rice thoroughly in a pan several times till water is nearly clear
- Cook as if cooking pasta ie lots of water . . . cook until it is how you like it
- Immediately drain & run under the cold tap to stop cooking
- Leave rice in the sieve or the pan if you prefer
- Prep rest of the meal
- Lastly pour kettle full of boiling water through rice in sieve to heat up again, drain & serve
Rice in a pan is easy.
Soak
Drain
boil 1.5x water to rice weight
add drained rice
put hob on 50% with lid on
10 mins
turn off, fluff rice
serve
Edited by illmonkey on Wednesday 2nd March 16:08
As said by 'Uncle' illmonkey, that is the most used method. I also prior to putting water in, often put in a bit of oil and fry to golden a small onion with spices, adds flavour. A bit of turmeric into the water prior to boil will get it a nice yellow shade too.
But ultimately, once you have a technique that works then no need to change, so if it works for Digger.
But ultimately, once you have a technique that works then no need to change, so if it works for Digger.
illmonkey said:
Rice in a pan is easy.
Soak
Drain
boil 1.5x water to rice weight
add drained rice
put hob on 50% with lid on
10 mins
turn off, fluff rice
serve
Pretty much what I'm doing.Soak
Drain
boil 1.5x water to rice weight
add drained rice
put hob on 50% with lid on
10 mins
turn off, fluff rice
serve
The Thais don't understand why we don't just buy rice cookers. I feel that's rich coming from a people who don't have ovens, toasters or microwaves
In my house there's finite kitchen space for appliances and gadgets so a saucepan will do for me.
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