I'm hesitating in-between those 2 models:

- CUCKOO (Korean) CRP-FA0610F
http://www.keycompanyusa.com/files/produ...49bc645363
http://www.dtvcenter.com/product/applian...RP-FA0610F
It is said to be the quicker cooker since it cooks at very high temperature with steam. It has a recipe manual coming with it but it's all in Korean and I found not a single translation on the net. The pictures on the manual told me that it can steam-cook a cheese-cake, meat, fish, tofu...

- ZOJIRUSHI (Japanese) NS-TGC10 http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000MAE...d_i=507846
It has, among other things, preset cooking programs for sweet rice, porridge and cakes.

CONCLUSION
- Both brands are among the top 2 brands in their respective countries.
- There are very few reviews I on the net about the CUCKOO, and I fear the only very positive one I found are those from disguised CUCKOO marketing people?
- There plenty of reviews on the ZOJIRUSHI on amazon.com : the bad ones gives me the chill seeing the investment required to buy one of those "kitchen pets".
- I'm inclined to choose the ZOJIRUSHI for its preset programs for sweet rice (I like sweet rice so much) and cakes
- I'm inclined to choose the CUCKOO for the steam way of cooking food, which seems to favor a quicker cooking time and a better taste. I'm just afraid I will never been able to set it correctly so as to cook porridge (I don't even know if you can do that with steam?), sweet rice (won't it be too mushy to cook milk with steam?) and cakes.

Please advise. This will be my very first rice-cooker, and I can get them for about the same (EXPENSIVE) price since I'm in France: about 200€ for the CUCKOO and 215€ for the ZOJIRUSHI.
Thanks.

I used a very Simple Zojirushi rice cooker all throughout college.
Highly recommended. They make quality rice cookers for sure.

I'm never made anything other than rice though.

For steaming food (Especially vegetables), I'd recommend:
http://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/...lti%2Dpots

Yeah $150 is expensive, but all All-Clad cookware comes with a lifetime warranty(and they last a lifetime). Quite literally, my kitchen is just All-Clad steamer, rice cooker, single induction cooktop. Depressing, but it gets me by.....

I'm a big fan of Zojirushi; never had experience with the model you link to, but I've been very happy with my NS-ZCC18.

安倍吉俊 recently got a Mitubishi NJ-KE18-S and seems very happy with it.

Edit: I should also say, if you plan on eating rice a lot, don't even consider what else you can do with your rice cooker—the quality of the rice produced is the big thing, everything else is just a bonus. Would you choose your waffle iron based on how well you could grill salmon on it?

If you don't plan on eating rice a lot, a rice cooker may not be the thing for you.

~J

If you're going to be making a lot of sticky rice, I make it all the time with my Zojirushi, always comes out perfect. Still have to soak it in water for a few hours first, but then you just drain it and put it, and I think like 45 min later it's done. Not sure what your milk reference was to--I usually mix the (warmed coconut milk) in after the rice is done cooking. As for adding other food to the Zojirushi, not sure it qualifies as steamed, but you can cook food in it in different ways. They have a few recipes floating around. I tried Okowa with it, turned out decent.

If you plan on eating brown rice, really check out whether that model will properly make it.
Most rice cookers suck at making brown rice. We were forced to use a partly-milled brown rice (Sukoyaka Genmai) as a substitute, just to get some fibre.

if you plan on eating white rice, as the other posters said, that's the main thing. The other stuff is just a bonus.

LaLoche Wrote:If you plan on eating brown rice, really check out whether that model will properly make it.
Most rice cookers suck at making brown rice. We were forced to use a partly-milled brown rice (Sukoyaka Genmai) as a substitute, just to get some fibre.

if you plan on eating white rice, as the other posters said, that's the main thing. The other stuff is just a bonus.

My Zojirushi makes great brown rice. ;p

Thanks for your replies, which tend to confirm my initial thought of going for the Zojirushi. At thta price, it can't be completely bad
I plan on changing my eating habit into eating white rice for breakfast every morning or so, just as I did it in July for my first time in Japan. I also plan to cook brown rice once or twice a week, and "sugar milky rice" once a month...
Then, I plan to buy a steam cooker for vegetables and fish.

Why would brown rice be a problem? You just have to take it to a polishing station like you'd have to anyway.



~J

Actually, has anyone here that's used a Zojirushi to make sticky rice done so without soaking it first? The instruction manual just says to wash and let it drain for 30 minutes, but I always soak it for 2-3 hours. It's funny because ordinarily I'm too lazy to pre-wash rice, I usually buy musenmai or I don't bother washing otherwise. What's the kanji/kana for 'musenmai', anyway? (n/m should've gone with common sense: 無洗米)

A friend of mine from Taiwan got me a Zojirushi, and it's the best rice cooker I've ever owned. While in the Jap, I had a Panasonic and a Toshiba, which did the gig. The Zojirushi cooks more consistently, and aside from singing little songs when it's started or the rice is cooked, has given me no trouble at all. I also found that it manages to stay cleaner than the other cookers, which consistenly had a layer of rice crud to clean off the inside top and the outside plastic top. Sure, you still have to clean the cooker, just not as often.

ruiner Wrote:Actually, has anyone here that's used a Zojirushi to make sticky rice done so without soaking it first? The instruction manual just says to wash and let it drain for 30 minutes, but I always soak it for 2-3 hours. It's funny because ordinarily I'm too lazy to pre-wash rice, I usually buy musenmai or I don't bother washing otherwise. What's the kanji/kana for 'musenmai', anyway? (n/m should've gone with common sense: 無洗米)

You don't need to soak rice. ...not even if you want really good rice. I think it's more superstition than anything and I eat enough rice to be able to easily distinguish between brands.

When I worked as a sushi chef the only rice we EVER soaked was brown rice (yes, that refuse is popular in Canada for use with sushi). You don't even need to wash rice unless it was milled with talc, since talc is poisonous. Not washing does affect the result (it's more starchy), but some people like that.

The best rice (imo) is the kind they serve at (good) katsu restaurants, that has wheat in with the rice. Kind of hard to buy as an individual so I've never cooked it myself though.

I'm living in america, but want to eat good rice
I bought a (cheap) rice cooker, but I'm having a problem with it. The rice along the bottom of the bowl sticks together and is totally gross. When I say it sticks together, I don't mean that its sticky, but rather there is a film of gunk connecting it all together.
Does anyone know what could be causing it?
I haven't had much luck finding different kinds of rice either. The only thing I can find in my area is long-grain enriched rice

Zarxrax Wrote:I'm living in america, but want to eat good rice
I bought a (cheap) rice cooker, but I'm having a problem with it. The rice along the bottom of the bowl sticks together and is totally gross. When I say it sticks together, I don't mean that its sticky, but rather there is a film of gunk connecting it all together.
Does anyone know what could be causing it?
I haven't had much luck finding different kinds of rice either. The only thing I can find in my area is long-grain enriched rice

Do you wash the rice before cooking it? That gunk could be the starches or whatnot.

I'm a big fan of Basmati rice (made from India), even though I'm not Indian
or have any interest in Indian culture.

My favorite brand is called Royal. I've actually gone to
my supermarket and tried EVERY kind of basmati rice
they sell.

Royal (which coincidentally is the most expensive basmati
rice they sell) is hands down the best. Unlike many brands,
It has that rich nutty aroma that basmati rice is famous for.

Of course, $6.29 USD for a 2-pound bag is really expensive.

But if you buy the big 20-pound burlap bag, you can get it online
at Spice Place for $28 + shipping.

Link:
http://www.spiceplace.com/royal_basmati_rice.php

If you have a local indian grocery that sells it, even better(since
you'll save on shipping).

The rice is all-natural and doesn't have any chemicals, starches, or enriched nutrients
sprayed onto the rice.

1.5 cups water. 1 cup rice (or 0.75 cups water and 0.5 cups rice for 1 person).
That's the ratio I use.

Awesome rice. I can't say enough good things about it.... :-)

chamcham Wrote:I'm a big fan of Basmati rice (made from India), even though I'm not Indian
or have any interest in Indian culture.
(...)
Awesome rice. I can't say enough good things about it.... :-)

+1
Not to mention how awesome it is in Pilaf and Paellas.

ruiner Wrote:Do you wash the rice before cooking it? That gunk could be the starches or whatnot.

Washing it helped a lot. Made it much easier to clean too. I had avoided washing though because the package said not to.

does anyone have any suggestions for good rice cookers other than zojirushi? i really wanted to get one of the cheaper zojirushis, but i can't find anywhere that stocks them in the UK, and the delivery costs on ebay are insane, so...

unless anyone knows if i can get them somewhere offline in the UK for cheap? (i haven't looked in the Japanese supermarkets & shops in London yet, for e.g.)

any information appreciated!!!

http://www.yumasia.co.uk/ is the only place I've found that sells them online in Europe. Don't know about retail stores; importing is expensive so I think it'll be hard to find an actual reseller, but maybe you can get a hold of a used one?

If you try to buy one from outside of europe, make sure that it's 海外用 (220v/50hz)

I got mine in Osaka which was a lot cheaper, but it was a bitch carrying it to the airport. :p
Works like a treat, though.

Probably not the answer you want, but all the persons I know who have rice-cookers (me included) have Chinese rice-cookers (Jinbao brand). They're laughable compared to the Japanese ones, but they do their thing, are cheap, and you could find them everywhere.

Also, amazon.com seems to have some Zojirushi, they probably don't send to the UK, but if you know someone on the East Coast...

ruiner Wrote:Actually, has anyone here that's used a Zojirushi to make sticky rice done so without soaking it first?

If you want sticky rice just use Japanese short-grain. Longer grains like jasmine and basmati don't get as sticky and are harder to eat with chopsticks.

http://sushisushi.co.uk/tableware-cookware/rice-cookers

quincy Wrote:

ruiner Wrote:Actually, has anyone here that's used a Zojirushi to make sticky rice done so without soaking it first?

If you want sticky rice just use Japanese short-grain. Longer grains like jasmine and basmati don't get as sticky and are harder to eat with chopsticks.

You're still supposed to wash and soak Japanese short-grain rice before you cook it. Admittedly though, I often skip the soak, and don't notice any major problems with my rice.

thanks guys!!!

arghhh, soooooo expensive!!! But it seems like they are worth it? hahah i'm such a sucker for this kinda thing...

i checked the USA Amazon, but it seems like getting a transformer for that many Watts is more expensive than just buying it with the 3 pin plug to begin with. So that YumAsia site looks like being the best option... thanks

i think i'll go shopping in London and try and check out what else is there, but i may have sold myself on a zojirushi already, the reviews are just too unanimously 1st class...