Top Quality Japanese Rice Cooker Reviews & Buying Guide With update Products
Still, look no further, If you’re the type of person who wants the simplest possible appliance for white rice only. But if you need further versatility for the type of rice you’ll be cooking or want further control over how it gets done, the Panasonic simply won’t be the stylish Japanese rice cooker for your kitchen.
Aroma Houseware 4-Cup Rice Cooker
The Aroma rice cooker is another affordable option and isn’t packed with a bunch of bells and hisses. But, unlike the Panasonic, it does have settings for both white and brown rice, as well as a detention timekeeper.
This may be a step up from the drive-button rice cookers of yore, but it’s another case where you’ll be missing out on several ultramodern features by choosing this option over my top picks.
Buyers Guide Choosing The Stylish Japanese Rice Cooker
Picking the right size rice cooker can be a little tricky. Some manufacturers label their sizes by mugs of cooked rice and some go by mugs of raw rice. And to make effects indeed more confusing, the mug size doesn’t relate to an 8-oz mug as you might anticipate.
Rather, utmost manufacturers use the traditional Japanese rice mug dimension. That’s 180mL or roughly ¾ of aU.S. mug. To make effects simple you can suppose each raw rice mug as one large portion.
So a5.5- mug capacity ( raw) rice cooker would be a good size for groups of over to around 6 people. If you’re feeding further than that on a regular base you might want to jump up to a 10- mug ( raw) model.
From my picks, the Zojirushi and Tiger are available in both5.5- Mug and 10- Mug capacity. The Coffee rice cooker is sized to 10- Mugs, only.
If you didn’t have anyone to pass down their secret rice technique, you’re in luck! Rice cookers have come a long way since then and the Japanese models are the cream of the crop. Through hours of research and my ingrained love of rice (no pun intended), I’ve chosen three of the best Japanese rice cookers that will suit any home cook.
The Coffee 10-cup Japanese rice cooker has the features and looks of a high-end model but at a much more approachable price. Plus, the 10-cup capacity makes it big enough to feed large groups.
This cooker has a setting for any kind of rice that you might want to make as well as modes to slow cook, saute, bake, steam, or make yogurt. That makes this a multitasker that can potentially replace several other small appliances.
With so many settings (17 in all) the Comfee rice cooker is less intuitive to use than my best overall pick, and unfortunately, the instruction manual doesn’t offer a lot of detail for each cooking mode.
Most owners get the hang of things after a few test drives. The extra settings give this unit a lot of versatility, but if you’re the type of person who is looking for a less complex control set-up then you might do better to consider one of my other picks, even the single-button Panasonic that I’ll mention below.
The nonstick inner pot has useful measurement markers and the whole thing is easy to clean without needing to use the dishwasher. Although the bowl is dishwasher safe if the need arises.
The Coffee Japanese rice cooker can do an impressive number of things and hold a large amount of food, all at a very budget-friendly price. But, if your priority is perfectly cooked rice every time, then you may want to look toward one of my other two top picks.
The Tiger induction heating rice cooker does everything my other top picks can, but it does it all a little better. It also costs a lot more, but if you are a frequent rice eater then the extra expense might be worth it.
One of the biggest differences between this Japanese rice cooker and my other choices is the heating element. My best overall and best affordable options both use a heating plate as the cooking element and Tiger uses an induction heating system.
Induction heating technology is much more efficient than the radiant heat produced from a hot plate. It can also heat and cook rice more evenly. The result is rice (or other ingredients) that cook faster and more evenly, all while using less energy. This is also one of the reasons that this model comes with such a high price tag.
Most other models use a perforated steam basket that can sit above the rice as it cooks. Tiger takes it a step further with their “cook synchro-cooking” function. Their specially designed steam basket is sealed. That means you can cook an additional dish, even if it’s liquid-based, directly above the rice without affecting its flavor or texture.
The quality of the non-stick inner pan is another area where Tiger outdoes the competition. The inner pot is built from five layers of metal with a three-layer nonstick coating on top of that. That’s a similar design to some top-of-the-line, fully clad cookware and it leads to more even heating and better durability.
For the casual rice eater, this option may be a bit overkill. But, for those in search of rice perfection, you may have found your answer.
Other Options That Are Great But Didn’t Make The Cut
Panasonic SR-G10FGL 10-Cup Rice Cooker
This Panasonic rice cooker doesn’t have the technology or features that you might expect from the best Japanese rice cookers. Instead, it has one button and one setting, “cook”. It turns out perfectly good white rice, but brown varieties can often need more time even when the cooker says it’s done.
The price of this rice cooker is very appealing.
If you’re the type of person who wants the simplest possible appliance for white rice only, look no further. But if you need more versatility for the type of rice you’ll be cooking or want more control over how it gets done, the Panasonic simply won’t be the best Japanese rice cooker for your kitchen.
Aroma Houseware 4-Cup Rice Cooker
The Aroma rice cooker is another affordable option and isn’t packed with a bunch of bells and whistles. But, unlike the Panasonic, it does have settings for both white and brown rice, as well as a delay timer.
This may be a step up from the push-button rice cookers of yesteryear, but it’s another case where you’ll be missing out on several modern features by choosing this option over my top picks.
Buyers Guide: Choosing The Best Japanese Rice Cooker
best Japanese rice cooker - buyers guide
Choosing The Right Size Rice Cooker
Picking the right size rice cooker can be a little tricky. Some manufacturers label their sizes by cups of cooked rice and some go by cups of uncooked rice. And to make things even more confusing, the cup size doesn’t refer to an 8-oz cup as you might expect.
Instead, most manufacturers use the traditional Japanese rice cup measurement. That’s 180mL or approximately ¾ of a U.S. cup. To make things simple you can think of each uncooked rice cup as one large portion.
So a 5.5-cup capacity (uncooked) rice cooker would be a good size for groups of up to around 6 people. If you’re feeding more than that regularly you might want to jump up to a 10-cup (uncooked) model.
From my picks, the Zojirushi and Tiger are available in both 5.5-Cup or 10-Cup capacity. The Coffee rice cooker is sized to 10-Cups, only.
