Also be sure to wash the inner lid, which is detachable on all three of our picks. Does the rice cooker have any useful additional features? A quick-cook function is great when you need to make rice in a pinch, though using it usually means compromising a bit on texture. Curious about what a $400 rice cooker could offer that a $200 one could not, we tested the Cuckoo CRP-HZ0683F, which offers a luxuriously overwhelming experience. If you're most often making one cup of uncooked (a. three cups cooked) rice at a time—perfect for two with some leftovers—it's the ideal rice cooker to own, particularly due to it's sub-$50 price tag. If you are someone who eats rice several times a week, consider it a fundamental component of your diet, and have exacting standards in regard to texture and quality, it is worth investing in an electric rice cooker with fuzzy logic and an array of precise settings. Tejal Rao, How to Make Rice, The New York Times. MULTI-FUNCTIONAL: Enjoy 23 operating modes in white and brown rice, porridge, steam, bread baking, and a versatile multi-cook function to easily make a variety of different side dishes and meals. Therefore, here are some cuckoo Rice cooker instructions along with some additional tips and warnings. Although the results weren't as tender or well separated as what we got from the Zojirushi or the Cuckoo, this model's rice was better than that of many other higher-end models we tested. Also empty remaining water from the dew tray after each use. No matter what, it's important to confirm whether a cooker manufacturer is referring to cooked or uncooked rice in order to buy the size you expect.
The rice quality is definitely a step down from the CR-0655F, but it's still solid and will do the job for people who eat rice only every once in a while. You should be able to use your spatula or paddle to scoop out rice without leaving residue or stubborn rice bits stuck on the bottom. It beat the Zojirushi by 15 minutes. How much you can expect to spend on a Cuckoo rice cooker. We also found that rice cookers from Japan and Korea (such as the Zojirushi and Cuckoo brands) are optimized for gelatinizing short-grain and sushi rice. If you're not much of a brown rice eater, this could be a good option for you. Thanks to a computer chip that can sense things like moisture and temperature and can adjust cooking parameters to account for human error, the Zojirushi Neuro Fuzzy NS-ZCC10 makes great rice, even in situations where other cookers (including those with similar technology) produce starchy, congealed messes.
We tested 18 rice cookers by cooking 2 cups of the Nishiki medium grain rice on the plain/white rice setting. The Hamilton Beach Rice and Hot Cereal Cooker makes good white rice very quickly—it's a marvel considering its low cost. Although labeled medium-grain, it is considered a sushi rice, and it cooks to plump and sticky short grains. We all know that electric cookers or kitchen appliances are always a more popular choice. Tips and Warnings While Using Cuckoo Rice Cooker. Second time, drain the water as much as possible without losing the rice grains. After several years of testing, we've found that Zojirushi rice cookers continue to be the best rice cookers available in the U. S. market. Best of Korea LLC is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program.
The cost of a Cuckoo rice cooker can vary widely depending on its size, construction and included features. Unless you're cooking for a large family and need the 10-cup capacity (the Hamilton Beach can cook 7 cups), we don't think this rice cooker is worth your money. Reasons to purchase a Cuckoo rice cooker. Further, the materials of the rice cooker are stainless steel, aluminum, and copper. Also, it took the longest of any of the mini models we tested to cook one uncooked cup of rice—a whopping 34 minutes. In the old days, around the time a child was to be born in Korea, prayers along with a bowl of carefully prepared rice and a bundle of seaweed were presented to a Samshin Halmoni (삼신할머니), a traditional deity who was believed to preside over the birth and health of the mother and the child. We spoke to representatives from major rice cooker brands Cuckoo and Zojirushi about their lineups and the range of features associated with their machines. Note that most manufacturers use uncooked-rice cup measurements to identify the maximum capacity of their machines, but some, such as Instant Pot and Hamilton Beach, use cooked-rice measurements to indicate their models' capacity. In our rice tests, the Cuckoo CR-0655F made far better rice than the budget options and other mid-tier cookers we tested. The Cuckoo CRP-P1009 offers real-time updates on your rice, playing different audio alerts when your rice has moved from pressure-cooking, to settling, and then playing a jingle when it's finished cooking (the cooker also offers optional voice navigation in Korean). For the white rice, use short grain rice (also known as sticky rice, Korean rice, Japanese rice or sushi rice).
And the Neuro Fuzzy comes with a one-year warranty, the same amount of coverage as our other picks. For more detail on how to preserve your nonstick coating, check out our tips. Please note the numbers on the screen reflect cooking time and warming time. There's little to take issue with regarding how this rice cooker performs, but it's worth noting that if you aren't accustomed to cooking rice in a precision rice cooker, you might be surprised at how long the cook times are.
The IH aka Induction Heating technology, ensures the rice cooker is heating up immediately without compromising time and quality. The Neuro Fuzzy's only downside is its relative slowness: Unless you use the quick-cook setting, it takes at least 40 minutes to make a batch of white rice and over 90 minutes to make brown rice. This will ensure there is no bacteria, grease, and dirt build-up in it. We then tasted and directly compared the flavor and consistency of the rice with other rice cookers.
Hanyoo Park is a content creator for Best of Korea. Because, for such a simple process, making rice can be finicky, and no home cook wants to put out an overdone or underdone batch. Either way, I love the fact that I can cook my rice in different ways, even toasted rice (nurungji) with just the push of one button! It was almost 10 minutes faster than the Zojirushi Neuro Fuzzy and three to five minutes faster than our Cuckoo pick, although that machine cooks sushi rice more quickly than jasmine. Alert or musical tone: Inexpensive rice cookers sometimes lack this feature, but it's a handy way to know when your rice is done. This pressure cooker from Cuckoo had similar results as the Instant Pot. This tiny, 2-cup rice cooker is cute, but it didn't cook very good rice. We eliminated cookers that took more than an hour to cook a batch of white rice.
Order items for Same-Day Delivery to your business or home, powered by Instacart. SMART TECHNOLOGY: Features an energy-saving smart algorithm that automatically detects the grain type and internal temperature and automatic keep-warm mode, effectively taking the guesswork out of perfectly cooked rice. The textural variation is largely due to differences in the ratio of amylose to amylopectin, the two molecules in starch (PDF). And we think the pressurized cooking caused our delicate long-grain rice to come out a bit mushy. We wanted to find a great rice cooker that excelled at all three types of rice we tested. Good rice cookers achieve the same texture throughout the entire batch—no waterlogged areas, uncooked centers, or browned crusts at the bottom of the pot. Whether we cooked sushi rice, brown rice or basmati rice, the rice came out fluffy and delicious every single time. Keep your hands and face away from the pressurized steam release mechanism during cooking and when opening the device. This might require a couple hours of pre-soaking but it will produce a deliciously fluffy bowl of rice. It can also prepare side dishes and steam vegetables. If you'd like a Zojirushi option that costs less than our pick: Try the Zojirushi NS-TSC10, a prior pick.
If you're looking for a good but not great rice cooker for less than $100, the Cuckoo CR-0655F is definitely the one to buy. If there's a one-task kitchen gadget that's worth finding the cabinet space for, this is it. We also wanted flavorful grains that were cooked through without being gummy and retained bite without being too firm. There's a steam-clean function and a quick-cook feature. While the primary cooking settings (white, brown) performed well, when exploring the other settings, we found that the porridge setting in particular fell short. Tammie Teclemariam is a freelance food and drinks writer who contributes to Wine Enthusiast, Eater, Taste, and other publications. In our tests, it made sushi and jasmine rice as delicious as what we got from some models costing three times as much. Rice cookers are sophisticated kitchen appliances that are especially attractive to those looking for convenience in the kitchen. Because this model is a Micom rice cooker (a. k. a. microcomputerized), it has the intelligence to tweak temperatures and cooking times according to feedback from the machine's sensors. The Hamilton Beach Rice Cooker was an exciting contender. The Professional Version is definitely a better option than this one for about $10 more, but we still recommend the Hamilton Beach over both Aroma machines. The rice is cooked with the push of a button but tastes just as good as the rice our ancestors cooked in traditional Korean cauldrons. It was easy to clean, made very fluffy rice, and emitted a loud beep to let us know when it was done cooking (then immediately moved to the Keep Warm setting).