Does anyone know the minimum amount of rice that you can cook in this?
Is there a difference between this and a regular steamer?
A few tablespoons, probably. You might have to add a little more water than whatever ratio the instructions recommend, but these basic steamers are very forgiving.
I miss my simple rice maker. The only one I have access to now is my dad’s Zojirushi Super-Steamo-Deluxe-Ricer-9001 or some garbage like that. It apparently doesn’t know how to cook rice and asks me what it should do every time I use it (which is never). I just want to push a button, wait, and receive my rice.
I think I’m talking myself into this…
As someone who’s eaten and used rice cookers since I was a child, I’m gonna weigh in here.
This style of rice cooker is awful. Sure it cooks rice, but so does a pot. The T-Fal one should hold its non-stick coating better, but that’s not really the issue here. The problem is the placement of the heating element. In this case you usually get rice that is either more of a cake, or burned.
If you want something cheap that cooks rice, go buy a pot. It works okay. And you can make other stuff with it. If you want to steam stuff, buy a dedicated steamer or a steamer insert for your pot.
If you want good rice, buy an Aroma cooker that has the full jacket around the bowl, or (if you can afford it) a Zojirushi with Fuzzy Logic.
We use our old Panasonic Rice cooker regularly and it steams fine. Same design, has been for all rice cookers in my rice loving family.
Might be time for a new one.
I can’t find this model listed on the t-fal website (http://www.t-falusa.com/) but most rice cookers this size will do as little as two cups of cooked rice.
The price on this one is great compared to Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Simply-Delicioso-RK102853-Nonstick-Automatic/dp/B0065GGD40/! 
So, what I’m reading is this really doesn’t compete at all with a Tiger rice cooker then? Been looking for a while, I have some Hawaiian friends who have told me nothing beats a Tiger. Rice is nearly an everyday staple for them. Just wasn’t wanting to drop 60-80.
I have a rice cooker that looks exactly like this one (different brand).
Pros:
- Very easy to use. Just be sure to read the directions about water quantities for white versus brown rice.
- It has never burned the rice - just stir it once during the last few minutes of cooking.
- It keeps rice warm after cooking.
- Nice for small combo meals (1 or 2 people, rice + steamed veggies).
- You can use it for cooking soup/stew - though I haven’t actually tried it for that yet.
- Great for an office or dorm room. (I have one at the office, as well as home.)
Cons:
- When you use the plastic basket for steaming, you won’t be able to cook the max quantity of rice.
- The plastic basket will stain.
- It will bubble out the lid’s vent hole (messy) if you don’t add butter or oil. And it helps to rinse the rice before cooking.
I add serrano peppers and cilantro to my rice while it’s cooking. That’s why mine will sometimes bubble out the vent hole if I don’t add a bit of oil. I’m usually steaming carrots (stains the basket) and brocolli at the same time, too. Yummy.
You have to go to any Chinese grocery store and they usually carry the Tiger rice cookers.
I agree with this. I have used rice cookers for many years and this style is a waste of money even if the bowl is good quality.
I had a Zojirushi and lost it in a move, so I bought a similar style Aroma and it has performed well for many years.
Since I cook with it so much, for me it’s worth the extra cost, but the Aroma was a great compromise and I’m very happy.
Having lived in Japan for nearly a decade and love love love rice I would not even look at this for cooking rice.
I have a National/Panasonic cooker and though it was a bit more expensive it has been going strong for nearly two decades without one missed grain!
Just started steaming in it and WoW. Since this type of cooker is nearly a closed system steaming is super fast but also keeps the flavor (and hopefully the vitamins, etc) inside and so yummy!
The one I have is a small size and the minimum is two dry cups of rice which makes a lot of cooked rice actually… but when you eat rice made right it is just sooooo yummy - especially the first cup right from hot steaming cooker…
btw, Amazon sells some pretty good Japanese rice for very decent prices!
Is this 8 cups cooked or 8 cups dry? That is a huge difference
I don’t aspire to be the Next Iron Chef. I have a nearly identical cheapo model - never had a problem. The minimum amount I do is one of the included measuring cups - which looks to be 3/4 cup dry. Is it easier than a stovetop pot because I don’t have to babysit it while it cooks? Yep. Does it provide me cooked rice that is perfectly acceptable to my palate? Yep. If you don’t have a rice cooker, these inexpensive ones are fine. If you are a quasi-chef amazing person in the kitchen, you want to go top of the line instead.
If your eating the rice cookeryouprobably didn’t follow the instuctions or the warning on the box. " Remove rive from cooker prior to ingestion"
I’m not sure what the beef is with this design. It looks nearly identical to the model I’ve been using for nearly a decade without any issue at all. Ours gets used at least 2-3 times a week with everything from basmati to sushi rice and grain mixes.
I guess I don’t get it. What’s so difficult about cooking rice that people need a specialized pot for it? Two parts water…boil… one part rice…bring to boil then turn down to low and cover. Set timer for 15 minutes. Done. C’mon, really?
As someone who tends to have a bit of ADD when it comes to cooking rice (and tomato soup) I like using this cooker. I don’t want to have an experience with my rice, I just want it cooked without boiling over on my stove. It took a couple of times to figure out the water to rice ratio exactly to what I like but now I don’t have to spend 20 minutes trying to scrape the burned rice aftermath off the burner.
Agree 100% I found a Sanyo model at Goodwill for about $8 (sells for around $200 new) and there is NO COMPARISON to these models with the thin aluminum pots and lids that do not seal. My unit has a thick titanium-coated bowl and a gasket sealed hinged lid, NEVER sticks or burns.
I’ve owned a half-dozen thin models over the years and they all ended up burning, boiling over or just being messy.
You’re better off just doing rice in a microwave.
I wooted a very small rice personal cooker and I like it very much but it cannot compare the way my wife and her family from the Dominican Republic cook rice. If you think rice is rice “one part rice and two parts water” and you just cook it, you are really missing out.
However, the advantage of a rice cooker is that you’ll never burn it. A true rice cooker will detect when the water has been absorbed by monitorng the rise in temperature at that point. Then it automatically turns to keep-warm mode.