pros and cons of rice cookers

[ncyg46]

i have the small zojirushi 3 cup...and I like the twinkle, twinkle little star that plays when you start it! lol...I make long grain brown rice (this week) with 2 T of lentils in it. I love the way it come out...still want to find out how to do polenta in it!

still would like to know how to do polenta in this?

[serenity]

Thanks, Letha! The size on that one looks very manageable. If I'm lucky, SactoBob has the bigger one, and I'll really have a comparison to go by. Thanks again.

[LauraA]

I have the same rice cooker, and same size as Letha. I can think of no negatives at all. Also, I love the little song that the rice cooker sings!! Take care, LauraA

[Daffodil]

I want a good one too! My husband bought one of those "good deals" several years ago, and brought home a cheapie $10 reconditioned basic rice cooker. a no-name brand. It worked once or twice and died. What a great deal! Not! lol
I want a Zojirushi! Will have to save for one. That would be a great addition to our kitchen since we both love rice and have it often.

[ncyg46]

i have the small zojirushi 3 cup...and I like the twinkle, twinkle little star that plays when you start it! lol...I make long grain brown rice (this week) with 2 T of lentils in it. I love the way it come out...still want to find out how to do polenta in it!

still would like to know how to do polenta in this?

to whoever wrote about the polenta...how do you make it and what setting, porridge? polenta to water ratio?

[aussie]

I have a Wolfgang Puck rice cooker and also love it, especially for brown rice as i just walk away and forget it. I would also like to know how to make polenta in it!

[TwinB]

Another post, ignored. Sigh...

[MasserLMC]

I have 3 rice cookers & I wouldn't be without them. I am 1/2 Chinese & eat a lot of rice. I have the large Zojirushi/ a small Sanyo/ & the cutest little portable rice cooker (3 cp) that is nice when we go on vacation. You can even plug it into the cig lighter in your car! It's called Easy Life. The lid fastens with latches so it cannot spill. It also has the keep warm feature. I got it at the Asian store. They also make a smaller(I think 1 or 2 cp.) model. My rice is always perfect.

[TwinB]

I'm planning on buying a Zojirushi with the fuzzy logic option sometime before the end of the year. I figure in this economy the prices on everything will be drastically reduced. The other day I was on a computer products website and it had that rice cooker for under $200 with free shipping. Talk about fuzzy logic!

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6896101315

[Pinto]

I have the same Zojirishi rice cooker that Letha has pictured. I love it.

I also have The Ultimate Rice Cooker Cookbook by Beth Hensperger and Julie Kaufmann. I have found it very helpful. It gives the basics for making barley, quinoa, all types of rice, polenta and beans, just about every grain you can think of. It gets you started with the simple cooking instructions then adds wonderful recipes. You have to make them McDougall friendly though (some may not be fixable).

I make steel cut oats everyday. I set them up at night and the timer has them ready for us in the morning. The barley I make turns out perfect too. The recipe that the cookbook has makes them turn out a little soupy. I use the liquid in soups or to 'stir fry' with.

Yes, it is expensive but it's worth every penny. Everything I make in it tuns out delicious. The timer and the keep warm feature are very useful.

[tmsjava]

I also have a Zojirushi and I love it! Yes, expensive, but well worth it if you use it a lot. I make brown and mixed rices in it. I also cook my whole oat groats about once a week (with the timer set for breakfast), so that I can have them all week, every morning (I reheat in the microwave). It's been really great. I'll have to look into the rice cooker cookbook someone mentioned....

T.

[Mrs. Doodlepunk]

I have a Zo also. I went for the largest one, with a GABA cycle. It does such a good job on rice with no mess, easy to clean up and we eat rice now every day. Although I don't often leave it on warm because of energy use, I do love how I can set it to be DONE for a meal and that's one less thing I have to think about and coordinate when preparing to feed the family.

Cons - the cord does not retract, it takes up counter space. Oh well, it's worth it.

Nancy, I think I would do polenta on the porridge cycle. Does yours have a porridge setting? Maybe I will try that today, Mr. D loves polenta!

[ncyg46]

yes mine has the porridge setting...just not sure how to make it!

Ed broke the button knob on our slow cooker so we replaced it yesterday with one of those stay or go cookers and I was rereading Robin Robertson's Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker which I have had for awhile. Her recipes have oil in them so I really haven't tried much from there but I think most of them I can leave the oil out. Solar cooking isn't the greatest at this time of year so I am looking at using the crockpot more.

I guess I just run out of ideas at times....and tired of making something and then having to eat it all week.

[sigma957]

Here's a link to a post I made with my settings for cooking in the Zoji rice cooker:

http://drmcdougall.com/forums/viewtopic ... ht=#115858

Enjoy!

[ncyg46]

thanks, will try some!