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Rice cookers are, in my opinion, just about the most useful device anybody could have in their kitchen.  However, there are still many people who have never used a rice cooker, nor do they see why they should ever start.  But on the opposite side of that coin there are many others who have used rice cookers and swear that they will never go back to the pot-on-the-stove technique. Or, if you like rice but don’t know how to make it, all you need to do is pick up a rice cooker and you’ll never need to think about learning how to cook rice.

Due to many varying reasons, rice is becoming ever more popular in the west, but cooking rice can be time consuming and if you mess up you can easily ruin an entire meal.  Using a rice cooker is incredibly simple and makes cooking rice all but foolproof.

In addition to their simplicity, rice cookers make near-perfect rice, every single time, all you have to do is put in the correct amount of water.  For those individuals and families that make rice a regular part of their meals, buying a rice cooker will save you an incredible amount of time and hassle.

What to look for when looking for your perfect rice cooker:

1) The rice cooker’s cost is the big factor for many people

Rice cookers vary in price from as little as $15 to as much as $200 or more.  And generally speaking, the more you pay, they more you get.  For many people, a simple rice cooker that turns on, cooks the rice and turns off is sufficient.  And for them the most basic of rice cookers is all they neeed.  The basic cookers tend to have a glass lid and an inner pot, usually non-stick.  You have to properly measure out the amount of water depending on the type of rice you’ll be cooking, however, since most rice cookers are made for standard white rice, if you use other types such as brown you may not get the quality you’re looking for.

Cheaper rice cookers can’t always cook brown rice with the quality that many would like, nor do they have options such as a warmer that will keep the rice warm for hours after it’s finished without drying it out.  Another option that’s very nice but not usually available on the cheap rice cookers is the timer.  The timer will allow you to have your rice perfectly cooked right when you get home from work or when you wake up in the morning, allowing you to enjoy rice with your meals no matter how busy your schedule is.

2) Size of the desired rice cooker

Rice cookers come in many different sizes, from 1 cup to well over 10 cups.  Anything smaller than 3 cups isn’t recommended as you shouldn’t ever want to cook less than two cups at a time.  Cooking only one cup can make the rice come out a little dry or even slightly burned.

For a single person I normally recommend a rice cooker that holds 3-5 cups, 5 cups is great in case of company or if you want to make a lot extra for  fried rice or other dishes that call for day-old rice.  Small families shouldn’t go smaller than 5 cups and the 10 cup sizes are great for larger families.

3) Other options

Rice cookers some with many different options, here is a list of things to pay attention to:
Make sure the bowl is non-stick
For flip-top lids, having a removable inner lid makes clean-up much easier
If you cook different types of rice make sure the rice cooker supports them for better results
Measuring lines on the inside of the bowl allow for more precise measuring of water.

If you enjoy rice, cook rice or plan on cooking rice regularly, then I would not recommend going without a rice cooker, it will rapidly become the centerpiece of your kitchen.