One of the most useful small appliances that you will ever buy is a rice cooker. A rice cooker can do much more than cook rice and is useful in both the kitchen and the dorm room.
Of course rice cookers make perfect rice, but they can also be used for cooking hot cereals, deserts, stews and soups. They can also steam vegetables to perfection, even while cooking rice.
The best rice cookers are made in Japan. There are other models that may be less expensive from other countries, but you will enjoy using the Japanese rice cookers the most.
Rice cookers come in several sizes, some cooking over fourteen cups of rice at one time. You should choose the cooker that corresponds to the amount of rice you normally would cook. Large cookers can be used to cook smaller amounts, but they work best when three quarters to all the way full. Be careful not to overfill a rice cooker.
Additionally, you need to know that a Japanese cup is six ounces as compared to the American cup size of eight ounces. Be sure that you adjust recipes by remembering that the cups from the rice cooker are only three quarters of an American cup.
Most Japanese households favor the mid-sized rice cookers.
One feature that you will find very important for easy cleanup is the non-stick pan. This is a very high quality non-stick coating and rice literally slides out of the pan. A quick rinse and you are ready to cook the next batch.
When shopping for rice cookers, you will find that there are four basic choices in the type of cooker you choose.
On/off models cook the rice and then turn off automatically. There may not be an indicator light but these inexpensive models are very versatile and do a great job at cooking rice.
The next step up in rice cookers will keep the rice warm when cooking is finished. They do not have a true off position, so be sure that you unplug the cooker when finished. You will need to buy at this level or above to get a rice cooker with a non-stick pan.
Some of the rice cookers also offer fuzzy logic. This means that they have differing settings for soups or rice texture. Some even have a setting for sushi rice.
The most expensive (over two hundred dollars) rice cookers offer induction heating. These rice cookers make perfect rice every time. They can compensate for variations in measurements in rice or water.
If you like steamed vegetables, be sure that you buy a rice cooker that has the plastic steamer basket. You can even steam the vegetables as you cook your rice.
For a college student living in the dorms, a rice cooker is a perfect gift. Be sure that you get the smallest cooker so the student doesn't have to deal with leftovers. In addition to rice and vegetables, the student can always throw in a package of Top Ramen noodles for a quick lunch.
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