Main Reason behind Rice Cookers

When it comes to cooking rice there are certain problems that appear over and over again, for instance how many times have you heard from someone that they have difficulty cooking rice or they don’t cook rice because it ends up sticking to the pan and causing them more time cleaning up? There are several reasons why people don’t bother cooking rice as it just causes more trouble for them then what its worth. This is where rice cookers take their place.

Rice cookers were invented to reduce problems associated with cooking rice. Really, the main advantage of this is that they are focused on cooking rice, therefore over time they have become experts in producing perfect rice no matter the type of rice. As well as that they have now exceeded expertise in rice and moving on to other foods, which is why rice cookers are now able to produce perfect porridge or stewed vegetables.

Here is a short video on some of the different rice settings that some rice cooker models have to offer:

So Are Rice Cookers Worth It?

Before you can say whether they are worth it or not you have to ask yourself a few questions:

1) Do you frequently cook rice?
2) Do you struggle cooking rice if so what problems do you run into?
3) Do you require the rice to be kept warm after cooking?

These are a few important questions because, for instance if you do not really cook rice often but do struggle cooking rice you certainly do not want to invest in a pricey rice cooker for the odd use. The main factor to think about is the problems YOU have and/or any features YOU have thought about that would enhance your perception of cooking rice from the traditional way on a stove top. There are no doubt people who think they do not require the use of a rice cooker as they have never had any problems cooking rice, however do they know what advantages they could be missing out on… Here are a few items you may want from cooking rice with a rice cooker:

Speed – We sometimes just don’t have the time to cook but really crave for rice at the time.

Ease of cooking/Simplicity – We certainly do want to continuously monitor the rice when we don’t have time. Certainly emits the problem of forgetting the stove is on!

Perfect cooked rice – Burnt rice?!? No thank you.

Minimized effort to cook the rice – Measure rice to water, switch on, leave it, come back to perfectly cooked warm rice.

Safe to be left cooking unsupervised – we don’t want to have to worry about the rice cooking while not there.

Ability to cook any type of rice – Brown, white, red, black whatever type of rice we want to eat where going to want it to be as perfect as can be.

Keep warm setting – Leaving rice to cool down to room temperatures holds its own dangers because food poisoning is common from eating rice left out at dangerous temperatures for too long.

Conclusion

Rice cookers are focused on cooking rice, their primary goal is to cook perfect rice for your satisfaction. This alone makes rice cookers worth it really as they aim to get the final result you want without you having to do it. Rice cookers are there to get rid of the common problems with cooking rice such as burnt rice, rice sticking to the pan, cooking times of different types of rice.

Here are a few reasons why rice cookers can be worth it for you:

Simplicity – All you have to do is measure out the rice and water and switch it on…cant get easier than that.

No more burnt rice – Rice cookers are aimed to cook perfect rice and with Micom technology they will monitor temperatures of the rice throughout the cooking.

Easy to clean – You want to make sure the rice cooker is non stick in order to prevent any rice sticking to the pan. You should also note leaving rice on keep warm for too long MAY cause rice to stick to the pan. But in general more of the latest rice cookers will not finish with rice stuck to the pan.

No matter the rice type – Rice cookers have many settings and you will notice many have different options, for instance brown rice, white rice, GABA rice, mixed rice etc. All of these settings are aimed to perfect different types of rice.

Speed – Although it usually takes time to cook rice perfectly there are also added setting such as turbo which aims to reduce the time. Pressure rice cookers are the fastest at cooking rice however but also the most expensive. You can even get rice cooked in about 15 minutes with a pressure cooker.

Keeping Rice Warm – Don’t worry about forgetting about the rice cooker when its done it will automatically switch to keep warm to prevent the rice cooling down and causing bacteria to grow. Now you can cook rice through they ay will at work and come home to perfectly cooked warm rice.

The real question tends to be about the cost, how much should you spend for the rice cooker to be worth your purchase. Like stated earlier you do not want to be buying a high end model if it’s going to be used the odd time, but if you cook rice a lot and love it high end models are going to be more perfected to cooking the best rice. Just work out what you need from the rice cooker.

>>Conventional Rice Cookers
>>Micom Rice Cookers
>>Induction Heating Rice Cookers
>>Pressure Cooking Rice Cooker

Now let’s dive into each rice cooker type and discuss why you may want to go ahead and purchase the specific rice cooker type.

Conventional Rice Cookers – Most Basic & Simplistic of them All

These rice cookers are the most basic and simplest to use with really one switch to start cooking…and that’s it. Of course you will have to prepare the rice before hand, rinse, soak etc but really they have no features or settings there to distract you or confuse you.

Heating Technology

Basic heating plate located at the base, beneath the inner rice pan where the rice is placed and cooked in. The heating plate contains a Thermal sensing device that detects the temperature of the rice in the pan. Hence when the heating plate starts to cook the rice the thermal device will know the temperature of the rice and when to stop cooking. It knows when to stop cooking when the temperature of the rice starts to increase past boiling point…this will be when the rice has absorbed the water.

Why Choose a Conventional Rice Cooker?

Conventional rice cookers are the best rice cookers to learn and due to their simplicity they are often recommended to beginners who are starting out to cook. Apart from their simplicity they are the cheapest rice cookers available as they have no advanced features or settings. However they do tend to have the “keep rice warm” feature which is one of the most desired when it comes to rice cookers. Not to be deterred away because of the price or lack of advanced features though as they can still produce well cooked rice.

Micom Rice Cookers – Introducing Computer Chips

Upgrading from conventional rice cookers is the Micom or perhaps you may also know them as fuzzy logic rice cookers. The real difference with Micom compared to Conventional is that it has its own computer chip to enhance rice cooking.

Purpose of the Computer Chip

Micom Rice cookers are designed to have more control over the cooking rice, because with rice cookers you just want to switch it on and leave it to cook. Sometimes with conventional rice cookers you want to soak the rice before cooking plus leave it to soften up with the steam still contained in the cooker. But you really have to do this manually as it wont soak the rice and it wont time an extra 15 minutes to soften the rice after cooking. Which is where Micom rice cookers have a greater advantage, they will take all additional timings and processes into consideration and do it for you automatically.

Apart from that you want perfect rice at the end and this is where these rice cookers also Surpass conventional types. The computer chip within the rice cooker will monitor the rice throughout the whole cooking process and adjust temperatures to perfect the rice.

Even further with these types is that they will be programmed with various cooking times for different types of rice! So not only are the cooking rice they are perfecting the cooking of different rice types for example, you may want to cook brown rice instead of white rice and there is no setting for this with the conventional cookers compared to those with computer chips.

As you can see from the above there are various advantages of having the Micom rice cookers instead. You may be wondering about negatives? Is there any reason to buy conventional cookers instead…With higher technology comes more money, they are more expensive as well as you lose the simplicity of one switch which means little extra time in the handbook. Overall they contain more features and control but at a higher cost.

Induction Heating Rice Cookers – Advanced Heating Technology

Induction rice cookers enhance the heating technology for the cooker so that far greater control is managed when cooking the rice. They do tend to contain the computer chips as well so retain all previous technology that Micom rice cookers possess.

Heating Technology

Heating of the rice in an induction rice cooker brings out more control and accurate measurements due to a magnetic field. Current is passed through magnetic coils which allow heat to be spread around the cooking pan resulting in a constant temperature given to the rice from all around the rice pan. Previous heating technology sent heat upwards to the rice instead of a constant heat all around the rice pan.

Other advantages from induction heating are:

More control over the temperature. If the rice cooker detects that the rice is at a higher temperature than it should be, it can change the temperature in an instant by changing the strength of the alternating current passing through the magnetic coils.

More precise temperatures can be presented due to the evenly spread heat directed onto the rice.

Overall

Induction heating systems really add further control and temperature readings which can be adjusted in a second. This is perfect to maintain the rice at an ideal cooking setting and produce perfect rice every time. Of course further technology equals more money.

Pressure Induction Heating Rice Cookers – Addition of Pressure Cooking

Latest technology of rice cookers has brought pressure cooking into the mix. Pressure cooking is a fast way of cooking rice through the pressure of a liquid such as water. With this technology rice is cooked at greater temperatures which affects the starch in the rice and produces softer rice that is able to stay soft for longer periods of time. By consuming softer rice we are able to digest it more quickly.

That’s really about it for pressure rice cookers, they add that extra high temperatures that bring out even more softer and faster prepared rice. With no doubt they will be the most expensive types of rice cookers out their due to their extra functionality and technology.

Summary

There you have it, a explanation of the different types of rice cookers available today. This hopefully gave you more insight to the various types and what they have to offer.

What you will find in this article:

>>Introduction
>>How to Cook Rice in a Microwave Rice Cooker (with video)
>>Pros & Cons of Microwave Rice Cookers
>>Where Can I Purchase a Microwave Rice Cooker?

Introduction

When it comes to cooking rice many of us are familiar with stove cooking and the electrical rice cooker appliances. However, how many of us are familiar with microwave rice cookers? Microwave rice cookers are one of the newer methods of cooking rice. A vast number of us own a microwave oven for when we need something to cook fast which is the reason why these cookers are known as cheap. Rice is not really known for fast cooking, however it is possible to get cooked rice in a shorter period of time by using a microwave cooker rather than other methods (apart from pressure cookers). With so many microwave owners it makes sense to why this product is on the market today as it would be convenient for many of us…relying upon the outcome of the rice is good.

How to Cook Rice in a Microwave Rice Cooker

You may be wondering, what on earth does a microwave rice cooker look like? In essence it’s a rather simplistic, a plastic bowl designed with vents to let steam escape. Although the overall all appearance of the appliance may look basic it does manage to cook rice.

Cooking the rice is done in a few easy steps:

1) Wash the rice if required to remove all the starch (Remember to check Manufactures instructions)
2) Add the rice into the microwave rice cooker
3) Add water to the rice cooker (the water should roughly be 1 inch above the rice IF you are cooking white rice)
4) Screw or fix on place the lid containing air vents, ensure there are air vents!
5) Place into the microwave and switch it on to the specified timings
6) Leave to stand for around 5 minutes or until satisfied and serve the rice

As you can see from above it is rather simple to carry out the cooking of rice in a microwave. However there are a few items to point out before you start. Firstly are the timings…before you know how long to cook the rice you must check your microwaves overall power as it will affect the timing. For instance it takes less time to cook the rice in an 800W microwave than a 700W. Secondly the type of rice, brown rice takes longer to cook than white rice and affects the measurements of water to rice and takes longer to cook. As well as that you may consider soaking the rice depending on its type so that it cooks faster and better, experimenting is the key to perfect the rice.

Pros & Cons of Microwave Rice Cookers

When it comes to microwave rice cookers there are some stand out attributes of why you should choose them or not over other methods. Let’s look at the pros and cons:

Pros
Overall cheaper than electrical rice cookers
With the exception of pressure cooking they tend to cook rice much faster
Can be placed straight into the fridge after cooked
Very easy to carry out the cooking

Cons
Plastic cookers are not ideal as they do have the potential to melt in the microwave if you are unaware. This can produce toxins.
Requires more monitoring than electrical cookers
Rice may not always be produced at a high standard such as not being evenly cooked through
No keep warm function
No temperature control from what Micom Rice cookers can offer
Microwaves are not designed specifically for the cooking of rice
Requires a microwave…Can put the “cheap” factor to “expensive”
Less functions and settings

Main attributes of microwave rice cookers are that they are a cheap and a fast method of cooking rice. Like stated above this is only if you previously own a microwave and do not have to spend on getting one beforehand (which most households will). Overall if you want more out of rice you are best off with an electrical rice cooker although they will be more expensive.

Where Can I Purchase a Microwave Rice Cooker?

Finding something you want can sometimes be tricky but with the internet these days it can be simpler than ever. Today Amazon has to be one the most widely known and trusted online store to get an array of products. Many businesses trust Amazon and use their services to get their products visible to many of us without you having to search around locally. We are also one of those who trust Amazon and why we represent to you products on their site, there some of the cheapest prices that you will receive. Here are a few microwave rice cookers that we recommend: