Do you want to find the perfect way to cook healthy rice consistently? One of the best investments you can make is in a rice cooker. These appliances allow you to make extremely tasty rice every time without hassle or worry. In this article we’ll find the best rice cooker for your needs. Whether that be ease of use, nutrition, capacity, and quality.

In this best of 2017 list you’ll find top rice pot models and options. Each choice is carefully considered on metrics such as price, quality, customer reviews, efficiency, and suitability for consumer needs. Take a quick look and you’ll easily find the rice cooker you’ve always wanted. If you want to make sushi rice, be sure to check out our Japanese rice cooker guide.

RC503 Mini Single-Serve

In my reviews I like to go through a spectrum of needs to find something for everyone. For people looking for consistent tasty rice look no further than the Black+Decker RC503. Essentially a standard model rice cooker the RC503 comes in multiple sizes from 3 cups to 28. So you can find something regardless of your needs.

With a simple interface and an automatic keep warm button you’ll be able to cook rice easily and not have to worry about juggling multiple dishes in the kitchen. You can set and forget until it’s time to dish up. It takes 20 minutes to half an hour to fully cook your rice, but it’ll taste good and it’s a simple addition that brings ease of life benefits to your kitchen for cheap. The cooker can even heat stews, soups and oatmeal as well.

The sizing is perfect for small servings intended for two people and easily satisfies the job. When it comes to actually doing the job don’t let the price point fool you, it makes a decent bowl of rice and it won’t let you down.

But unfortunately the real issues start when you try to be creative. There’s an on button and it goes till it’s done. My mom had a similar rice pot to this and I stole it when I moved into residence because it was so simple even a lowlife college kid could use it. A perfect gift for a kid leaving home that you want to stay well fed.

Aroma Housewares ARC-914SBD 8-Cup

For a larger family this is one of the best options on the market, if you check on Amazon you can see THOUSANDS of reviews of happy customers. A nice cheap model with high capacity that makes 8 cups of cooked rice for everyone to enjoy.

It’s limited, but it’s simple and it’s affordable. This means its easy for you to program it for steaming, browning, and random rice options. It’s definitely more sophisticated than the previously reviewed rice pot in that it comes with lots more features. No longer are the days when you have a one button rice cooker, now you can rule dinner parties with your SIX BUTTON rice cooker.

Timer delays, TIMERS and multiple cooking options for a pretty sweet deal. It’s actually a great quality buy that thousands of families rely on for cooking nutritious and delicious rice.

Zojirushi NS-LAC05XT

As a high quality rice pot I’ve included this Zojirushi. Weighing in at a high mid-range price it comes loaded with functions and is built with sturdy quality in mind. It’s designed and built with a stainless steel body for durability and ease of cleaning the outside, and the inner pot is detachable and washable. It’s a computer controlled unit that allows for the cooking of small portions and is intended for smaller meals.

There’s a surprising amount of complexity and care that went into the manufacture of the LAC05XT, with a multitude of settings and proprietary technology for making the perfect rice. It comes with built in menu programs and displays to keep your food on track and let you know exactly how your dish is coming along. But even if you ignore it for a bit it holds your dish warm and keeps it at a ready to eat temperature while the rest of your meal finishes up. It even comes with a rice recipe book in case you want to experiment and practice new dishes.

It’s sturdy, easy to clean, versatile, and makes great rice, you can’t go wrong.

Cuckoo CRP-CHSS1009FN

To finish up we have the Cuckoo CRP-CHSS1009FN. If you want top of the line, perfect rice on demand this is the rice cooker for you. This is an expensive option, but unbeatable at making rice. It’s top of the line quality, with voice commands in three languages and settings for pretty much any style of rice you can think of.

I’m going to run through the features, mainly because I’m amused that such a top of the line rice pot exists for super fans. Need to feed 10 people? No problem. Need Smart phone NFC integration? Oh yeah. Auto cleaning? Nailed it. Need English, Korean and Chinese voice integration? Do you even need to ask?

Cuckoo Rice cookers are the best thing on the market hands down. You may think it might be expensive for just a rice cooker. Joking aside this isn’t just a rice cooker, this is actually a state of the art smart pressure cooker as well. Throw down with veggies, eggs, meat, poultry and pretty much anything you can think of.
Doesn’t matter what you throw in it, it will blow you away how well it brings out the best of your ingredients. The cooker comes with an Android app that allows you to look up recipes and set settings from your phone. It comes with 19 cooking functions, talk about a one stop shop, cheat sheet to easy street.

The majority of the cooking process is automatic, you follow the recipe and the machine does the rest. The non stick pot sits within a heating element array that heats the pot from all directions, not just the bottom. You don’t have to worry about cleaning as everything is extremely accessible or self steam cleaning functions. Customers are frothing at the mouth over how good this rice pressure cooker is. Consistently amazing reviews across the board are a testament to it’s quality and the sheer delicacies it creates.

The Different Types of Rice Cooker

Standard Models

Standard rice pots are the bare bones basic version of a rice cooker. They come with minimal technology. A heating plate, a cooking pot and an external pot. For these there is very little control over the batch of rice. You just put in the amount of water and rice and flip the switch. Due to the restraints it’s very difficult to adjust and make changes outside of the ratios and the cooking time is set. Don’t let that fool you though, once you get the recipe down the limitations become consistency. Growing up we had one that my mother learned how to use, and rice was perfect for every meal. She was heartbroken when she lost the rice pot in the move and had to “upgrade”.

Computer Controlled Models

With the technological age new methods of control were created and more sophisticated rice pots came about. Boasting the same basic design as standard models the computer controlled pots come with a few added benefits. Equipped with microprocessors and sensors these smart rice cookers are capable of adjusting temperature and timers based on sensors that read the status of the cooking rice. Feeling a little bit like a rebel? These rice pots have you covered. Cooks have a lot more leeway in their recipes with these.

Going overkill – Induction Rice Pots

If you want to go all out with your rice making you’re in for a treat. Modern science has allowed for rice pots that not only self monitor, but also make precision adjustments. That’s right, if your rice temperature is off by 0.1% your pot has got you covered. Micro-adjustments are made using an induction heating system which is feedback controlled by the systems. The future is now and it is tasty.

Considerations

There are some considerations when buying a rice cooker. They come in a large range of sizes and lots of technological features. But there’s also some things you need to pay attention to when purchasing to figure out exactly which ricer cookers cover you needs. Here’s a list of everything you need to take into account:

• White and brown rice cook differently, and you need to make sure your pot can cook both
• Storage capacity is a must, I don’t know about you but when I make rice, I make way too much and extra space saves my bacon.
• Bigger Pots take extra energy and cook time.
• Dishwasher safe units are amazing when it comes time to cleanup after dinner
• If you frequently cook large meals with lots of second helpings, a reheat feature will allow you to keep rice warm for everyone well into the meal.

If you really want to pump up your prep game definitely check out my reviews of commercial food processors!