Rice cookers fly under the radar of many people who either don’t get what all the fuss is about or simply have not heard about them. These folks are missing out on a lot of convenience. Good rice cookers make excellent rice with surprisingly little effort. Maybe not fancy-restaurant perfect, but far better than most of us can do most of the time. Measure the number of cups of uncooked rice you’d like into the cooking bowl, rinse it if that’s your thing, fill the bowl with water up to the line that corresponds with the number of cups you’re making, close the lid, and hit start. Do other things for a while and soon, it will play a song to let you know it’s done.
Slightly lesser known is how it will then hold your rice in that near-perfect state, warm and ready to eat. Make a batch in the afternoon and you’ll have enough for dinner in the evening and something to bolster an early meal tomorrow. (Zojirushi does not recommend storing rice in the rice cooker for longer than 12 hours, or 24 hours on the “Extended Keep Warm” feature.) It might not be as perfect the next day, but it’s still surprisingly good. For those of us who just lived through a couple years at home during a pandemic, it’s not difficult to envision the convenience. I like to say that mine has probably been on for about half of the 12 years that I’ve owned it, food at the ready for hungry bellies.
While I’ve used and reviewed other brands of rice cooker, Zojirushi is easily my favorite, almost always performing extremely well whether it’s a basic or fancy model. Opt for one with a start button (not the light-switch style), a sort of shorthand for which ones have the most even heating and stronger keep-warm qualities, but you’ll likely be happy with almost anything in Zojirushi’s lineup.
For more appliance advice, check out our other kitchen guides, including Best Food Steamers, Best Food Processors, Best Toasters, and Best Stand Mixers.
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