How to Choose the Best Electric Rice Cookers

Back in my college days, whenever my friends came over to my dorm room they would always ask me "What's that short white round bucket looking thing plugged into the socket?" My usual response is "That's my rice cooker". I know it sounds crazy. But if rice is not a staple diet for you then you may not know there were such things as a rice cooker. But rice cookers have been around for quite awhile, even before microwaves. But somehow rice cookers were shoved into obscurity as fewer people back then ate rice.

Today with the help of the Food Channel and celebrity chefs such as Rachel Ray, Bobby Flay, etc. rice has gained popularity in regular everyday households. With so many brands of electric rice cookers choosing one can be quite tricky.

To start off on which type of electric rice cooker you should choose, figure out how many people you will be cooking for. For instance if you are cooking just for yourself and your room mate then a 3 Cup rice cooker is will suffice. Electric rice cookers have a capacity that can go up to 10 Cup, so there are units for every family household size. Keep in mind the larger the the capacity the larger the rice cooker, so choose a size that will fit your kitchen accordingly.

You should also look for a electric rice cooker that is easy to clean. If you have a habit of cleaning your pots the next day you will be surprised at how day old rice can stick to the rice pot. Rice cookers these days have a removable rice pot for ease of cleaning. Typically the rice pot is made of steel or aluminum. Non stick surfaces for rice pots are available as well but keep in mind it will cost more. So if you want to save a bit of cash just make sure you clean out the rice pot every night, or fill it with water and so it'll be easier to clean the next day.

Finally I believe in purchasing items that are multi taskers. This is especially true for kitchen utilities since the majority of people have small kitchens such as students living in college dorms. Today electric rice cookers have become very sophisticated. They have built in sensors that adjust temperature as well as settings for cooking different types of rice grains. For a decent price you can pick up rice cooker units that can steam food and double as a slow cooker. Certain models can even make old fashioned oat meal ready for consumption when you wake up in the morning. You can set it the night before at the same time you're setting up your coffee machine.

Electric rice cookers are priced for all types of budgets. But don't buy one that is too cheap. If you're tight on budget aim for a model that cost around $25 bucks. Units in that price range usually have a capacity of 3 to 5 cups, which is suitable for more households.

Whichever model you finally decide to choose, be at ease knowing that when you use an electric rice cooker you will never have to worry about burned rice. You will never have to worry about shutting off the stove because all electric rice cookers have built in timers that will shut off the cooking process yet keep your rice warm.

For more great information on different types of electric rice cookers check out How to Choose Electric Rice Cookers.

© Copyright 2008 Edwin M. Clark

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