Many people these days are starting to eat a lot more rice in their diets. Japanese rice cookers are a popular choice. These machines produce very high quality rice and also have a range of options regarding what sorts of rice they can make. Usually they have settings for things like, white rice, brown rice, sushi rice, mixed rice, rice porridge and non-wash rice. This is great. But the question we have to ask ourselves is, are we going to use these functions? If not, then we may be better advised to buy an Aroma ARC838TC rice cooker for instance.
| Aroma ARC-838TC 8-Cup Digital Rice Cooker & Food Steamer |
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| Retail Price: $34.99 |
| Amazon Price: $34.59 |
This machine is produced by an American firm and is much cheaper than most of the Japanese produced models available today. So if you are looking for a cheap rice cooker then it is certainly one to check out. This machine can cook up to eight cups of uncooked rice. This makes it a pretty big machine. This is enough to comfortably serve around twelve persons. So it is big enough for most families.
The difference between this machine and its Japanese counterparts is that it has less options. This does not mean that you cannot cook a wide range of rices using it. But rather just that there are less actual settings on the appliance. Therefore if you want to cook brown rice for example, it is going to involve a bit more work on your part. You may have to stir the rice occasionally to avoid it from sticking. Also you will have to experiment with the amount of water required.
| Zojirushi NS-ZCC10 5-1/2-Cup Neuro Fuzzy Rice Cooker and Warmer, Premium White |
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| Retail Price: $233.00 |
| Amazon Price: $139.12 |
However one of the great things about this machine is that it can be used to cook meals all in one. If you make a hot pot style dish all you have to do is put a load of ingredients in to your Aroma ARC838TC rice steamer and let it go to work.
If you absolutely must have a genuine Japanese rice cooker, check out this option – one of many – from Zojirushi. As you can see it costs substantially more than the Aroma model, but it’s a good choice if your budget allows.