I eat rice everyday and by now I've been through several rice cookers already as each one got old and worn out. I mostly just buy basic ones though and this one I recently got seems somehow a bit different to me as it keeps my rice wet a bit more than usual. I haven't changed my technique so I figure that it must be the rice cooker, so I'm thinking of getting another one, possibly something a bit more expensive to be sure. What do you guys think, does the type of rice cooker have an effect on the way rice is cooked or do you think I should just adjust my method? What type of rice cooker do you usually buy and have you noticed differences in the final product between different types?
I tried out, and later returned, several rice cookers because I wasn't happy with the way they cooked the rice. Admittedly, these were on the less expensive end of the scale - all were under $35, I wasn't looking into those $200+ models. But they all had the same problem, they would scorch the rice at the bottom, and just cook unevenly overall. There wasn't anything remarkable about them technology-wise, they just minimized how much the heating element touched the pot, but it still caused scorching and dried out rice in the area of the pot that it did touch it. For a device that really only did one thing, it didn't do it particularly well. It wasn't until I picked up an electric food steamer, that I realized they too cook rice excellently with no scorching at all since the heat is entirely indirect. The rice was perfectly evenly cooked. Plus, with it being an electric model, you can precisely time how much you want to cook the rice so it comes out exactly the same each time. The steaming starts and stops within seconds of the heating element turning on or off. The only drawback was that it still took just as long as cooking rice over the stove in a pan - around 30-45 minutes depending on what kind of rice you are using. The other issue, was the rice bowl that came with the device was made of plastic - so you couldn't use it for rice recipes that included stuff like turmeric, or carrots, or anything that would stain it, because once it got stained those colors would not wash off of it.
My rice-cooker's brand name is Kyowa. It must be made in Japan, Korea or China because of how the name sounds. We've been together for almost a year and a half but he never really failed me. Or let me say, only I failed him. For me, the result depends on how much water I pour or what kind of rice I purchased. We have different sizes and brands of rice-cooker. I already had used two rice-cookers and maybe I just needed to figure out how it works or what should I do for him to give my desired results. As long as the product is not effective, I believe you can work it out.
