I had planned to buy a rice cooker to bring back with me to college in the Fall, but I also wanted to make sure it was a rice cooker that would last and make excellent rice.
After hearing about the excellent qualities of Zojirushi rice cookers, I reviewed all of the models and made my selection based on the features of the cooker versus the price.
I decided on this one due to the excellent array of features it had in addition to the reasonable (relative to the other Zojirushi cookers) price as well as the look of the cooker itself. It just jumped out as the best overall value for me.
And boy, was I ever right! This cooker definitely makes perfect rice every time!
The aspect of this cooker that stands out as the best reason to buy it is the ability to set the cooker to have the rice cooked and ready by a certain time. As a college student, this is an excellent feature since I can set the cooker, go to class, and come back to a delicious bowl of perfect sticky rice. No fuss, no muss!
Plus, I can keep the cooker in my dorm room and not have to worry about keeping an eye on a stove for a bag of meagerly cooked rice. Just set it and forget it!
Those two are the best reasons I can give for purchasing the cooker, if not just for the sheer quality of the end-product and the no-hassle, no-stress cooking. I've only cooked white rice with the rice cooker, but the ability to cook a wide variety of rice is a great asset of the cooker. The retractable cord is very nice as well, allowing you to stow away the cooker if you don't want it in the way.
There are only two real downsides I could say about this cooker:
One is that I wish they made the metallic inner cover was stainless steel and not aluminum. Moisture and rice gunk tends to collect up there, and, while it's not too much of a bear to clean, I wish they made it non-stick as well. Make sure to clean it with a rag or wash cloth since paper towels can leave a residue on the metal.
The other downside is the price. This rice cooker isn't even the "top-of-the-line" in the Zojirushi catalogue of rice cookers, yet can still cost from upwards of $160. The induction-heating rice cookers are even more expensive, ranging from $250 to as much as $450 or more!! Even this rice cooker might be a little extravagant for most, given the price.
(On the bright side, buying rice in bulk ends up being a lot cheaper than buying boxes of bagged, boiled or microwaved rice, let alone going out to buy fast food. It's better for you and, in a way, becomes cheaper for you in the long run! Plus, the rice this baby makes is much, much better than boiled or microwaved rice!)
Still, even those two downsides aren't enough to bring my rating down. I stand by my five-star rating. The sheer convenience and excellent quality of the rice this cooker consistently puts out is enough to make me excited to eat the rice by itself - a rare delight!
(Well, maybe just a little bit of soy sauce...)
If you want perfect rice at excellent convenience from the best price-effective rice cooker (and the money to spare), splurge on this one.
It's worth it!
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IMPORTANT NOTE!!!: It can be a little confusing at first, but remember to use the cups included with the rice cooker for measurement and be sure to use the measurement labeled on the inside!! I was stupid the first time I used the rice cooker and used equal amounts of rice and water and ended up with the water boiling over and making the rice a soggy mess.
The measuring cups are not equivalent to standard American measuring cups. Furthermore, the white cup is used for rice you wash yourself while the green cup is for "Musenmai," or No-Rinse Rice. When you want two cups of non-prewashed rice, for example, measure out two cups of rice using the clear white cup, wash the bowl of rice 3-5 times to remove excess starch, then fill the inner bowl up to the 2 line with water. Put the bowl in the rice cooker and cook as normal.
Brown rice uses a different amount of water, but this is definitely something you should watch for. It's not exactly covered that well in the manual and I had to look it up on the Zojirushi website to check and see what I was messing up. A little frustrating at first, but extremely easy once you understand the rice to water measurements.
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Pros:
- Perfect rice every time
- Timer function to have cooked rice ready when you come back
- Set it and forget it rice cooking
- Rice cooker can cook a wide variety of rice
- Retractable cord to reduce clutter
- Non-stick rice bowl and spatula (Easy to clean/remove rice)
- Sleek exterior design
Cons:
- Price
- Inner lid is not non-stick/stainless metal, rice gunk and moisture accumulates in there
- Rice to water measurements can be slightly confusing at first
Neutral:
- Rice takes 45 minutes to 1 hour to cook on the regular cooking mode. (An apparent issue for other reviewers, but not for me)
- May not be enough rice for a large gathering or a party. (More than enough for one person, I typically eat 2 cups worth of rice when I'm really hungry)Get more detail about
Zojirushi NS-ZCC10 5-1/2-Cup Neuro Fuzzy Rice Cooker and Warmer, Premium White.
