*UPDATE* Easier than Minute Rice! and still Perfect steel cut oatmeal cooker; breeze to clean up; does take 50-60 minutes. I bought this cooker specifically to cook steel cut oats for breakfast at least 5 times a week. When I work from home, I just don't want to delay starting work in order to pay attention to an oatmeal pot on the stove for 20-30 mins. Plus cleaning an oatmeal pot that has been sitting is a dreadful chore. I had tried using a 10 cup rice cooker with no porridge setting and though it worked, it was also bit of a mess inside the cooker.After reading reviews of thie Zojirushi 3 cup cooker, I decided to spend the bucks to try it. For me, it's worth every penny. I use the porridge setting and have determined 1/2 cup steel cut oats with 1-1/2 cups water ends up with the oatmeal consistency I prefer. Exact ratios may vary to taste. I start the cooker just before I grab my 1st cup of coffee and about an hour later, the cooker plays a little tune to let me know it's done cooking. Add brown sugar & dried fruit and my healthy, tastey breakfast is ready. The warm feature is fabulous - I depend on it when I can't break from work immediately.I was surprised to discover it takes an hour (plus or minus) to cook the oats - exactly what the user guide said in its recipe for porridge. Once I learned the timing, it has been no problem at all.Finally, clean up is truly a breeze. No matter how long I let things sit, a little soapy hot water is all that's needed. No soaking required.And one of these days I'll even try cooking rice with it :-)*UPDATE* April 7, 2013I still use this just as often for oatmeal AND we are now using it 2-3 times a week for rice, both brown and white. My husband went on a stir fry kick 6 months ago and for a while, refused to fix anything but Minute Rice. He kept saying: rice is too hard! I finally convinced him to try one batch of rice in this cooker ... and he was immediately hooked. Not only does the cooker produce wonderful rice every time, it is easy to use, easy to clean up AND is easier than "cooking" Minute Rice! Mind you, it isn't faster than minute rice ... but if speed isn't a concern, the simplicity and quality can not be beat.Sometimes small "specialty" appliances end up on a bottom shelf covered with dust. If you cook rice and/or oatmeal, it will quickly become a must-have appliance. I, for one, can't imagine living without this cooker.
Almost 11 years and one move later, I still have perfect rice.. This is my most used kitchen appliance. I usually make plain white rice, but occasionally I will make brown rice or add vegetables to the pot. I use this rice cooker at least 5x/week and it runs like a dream after almost 11 years.I appreciate the timer option so I can coordinate the rice cooker to have hot rice waiting for me after work or to finish when I am done roasting or slow cooking the main part of the meal. The “keep warm” function is also a fantastic function. The rice stays warm and keeps its texture just perfectly. The manual says to keep warm no more than 12 hours, but I have plenty of evening when I’ve fallen asleep and 18 hours later the rice is just fine. It also has maintained its temperature which is great from a food safety standpoint.The rice cooker is easy to clean, and the buttons are easy to operate and understand. I’m not a big fan of the loud “Twinkle, Twinkle” chime when I start the rice, but my kids like it and you can’t ever really get mad when you hear the tune. It’s just a quirk.This size rice cooker has been perfect for my family of 4. I sometimes have leftovers, but overall it makes the perfect amount for us. I think most people would also appreciate the small footprint and the retractable cord, so it really is unobtrusive on the kitchen counter.This appliance has been the biggest workhorse in my kitchen and shows no signs of stopping. If mine ever stops working, I would have no qualms about getting a new one.
Pricey? Worth it.. We were really hesitant to pay so much to 'cook rice' when we already had what we felt was a decent rice cooker.Our existing cooker was the inexpensive type with a simple push-down lever that pops up when cooking is complete. The unit seemed to cook rice okay, and was less hassle than stovetop. But the aluminum bowl in that unit would always scald the rice and we would be scraping the bottom out after every batch. This caused the bottom, crusty layer of rice to taste different and gave it a bad texture. Not to mention taking a scouring pad or brush to the bowl to clean it each and every use. And the 'spatter' created during cooking from the vent hole on the other cooker? Let's just say we always set it next to the sink so we had less counter to wipe up afterward.This Zojirushi cooker is better at what it does in every way, and only slightly larger than the previous cooker we used. I love how the cord retracts into the bottom (no manual wind-up needed) and the unit has a carry handle instead of side handles to keep it slim. It's attractive enough to keep out if you use it very regularly. There is a spatula holder on the side so you do not need to set it on a counter. The rice - oh, it's much better! No crusty or mushy parts of the bowl - rice seems to cook through-and-through. We have tried brown long grain, white long grain, sushi/sticky rice, and the results are fantastic. Better than some restaurants we visit. The bowl wipes out after cooking with a single wipe of a soapy cloth - no more scrubbing. There are some internal parts that are good to quickly wipe out after ever few uses, but not necessary for every run.Our only complaint is there is no way to configure 12-hour vs. 24-hour time/clock display - you only get 24-hour. The first time we setup the timer to have rice ready when we came home after work it wasn't ready because we'd set it for 6:00 which is 6AM not 6PM (which is 18:00 btw) but that's a mistake you only make once. There are even two timers you can pre-configure in case you have two different times you often need rice ready, so you do not have to re-set your timers each day.This is an excellent cooker!
My breakfast cooker. I daily use this device for about two months since November 3, 2014.To be honest I bought this rice-cooker not to cook rice but buckwheat and steel-cut oats. I have buckwheat or steel-cut oat porridge for breakfast every day, but before I bought this device my wife had to cook my porridge at evening and I had to preheat it next morning in microwave. Unfortunately porridge after being cooked looses half of its taste next day, on other hand loosing one hour of morning sleep just to have a freshly cooked porridge is also a bit too much.So, I've decided to take a chance and I bought this rice-cooker. I picked specifically that model because it is the smallest one and the only one that can take half cup of grains (rice, buckwheat, steel-cut oat ....); and it is exactly amount I eat for breakfast.It took just a couple of attempts to learn how to cook buckwheat and steel-cut oats in that rice-cooker. This device has 2 timers, but I use only one of them. Every evening at about 11 pm I fill it either with half cup of buckwheat or half cup of steel-cut oats, then I add water and salt. And I set the rice-cooker to be ready at 6:00 am. For about two last months I have freshly and perfectly cooked buckwheat or steel-cut oats every morning.Two months is too short period of time to tell something about this device's durability, but so far so good. Some reviewers complained about quality of inner Teflon pot. I use only plastic spatula provided with this device to take porridge out of the pot and I try to do it barely touching Teflon surface, I also avoid applying temperature stress on Teflon, namely when I remove porridge from the pot - the pot is still hot and I fill it with hot (not cold) water; later this makes washing the pot much easier. And also I use only soft sponge for washing the pot. So far I do not have any signs of Teflon wearing.Here is one usage advice: when food is ready and you open the lid keep it open until you put already washed pot back. Normally some water condensates inside the lid and if you close it this water will ends up on heating surface and heat sensors. But if the pot is in place this water will end up inside the pot.For those who interested here is the way how I cook buckwheat and steel-cut oats for breakfast. I use only plastic measurement cup provide with the device.For buckwheat: at about 11 pm I clean and wash half cup of buckwheat and I add exactly one cup water and two pinches of salt. I select "white rice mixed" mode and I usually set timer to 6 am. When buckwheat is ready I transfer it to the plate and I add either small piece of butter or small amount of preheated in microwave milk.For steel-cut oats: also at about 11 pm I wash half cup of steel-cut oat and I add one and one quoter cup of water and two pinches of salt. Again I select "white rice mixed" mode and I usually set timer to 6 am. It is also OK to set a "brown" mode but for me it ends up a bit too soft (I like to chew my food). When ready I transfer it to the plate and add some preheated in microwave milk and half teaspoon of sugar (or better whole teaspoon of brown sugar).About cooking rice: I actually cooked rice in that device only three times. It cooked white rice in absolutely perfect way. But brown rice was a bit harder that I would like it to be. I will try to add a bit more water next time when I'll cook brown rice again.
Great cooker. Good price. Wonderful rice.. This is precisely what I've been looking for. It's compact. Cooks a small amount. And gives me top quality rice. And at a reasonable price. This is a machine for those of us who know good rice, and expect nothing but the best. Without paying an arm and a leg.The instructions and the control panel are very clear and simple. So far, I have used this to cook 3 kinds of rice, and each was wonderful. I found that I was rewarded with good results by taking the time to go through the instruction manual before I started using this cooker. This machine is designed to carefully cook a number of varieties of rice and therefore the measurements of water and rice as well as the settings are different according to the kind of rice being cooked. And it does each one well, if I follow the instructions. Imagine!
+ 84 more reviews analyzed