The Perfect Rice Cooker & More

This rice cooker is superb. It cooks from 1-5 cups of rice perfectly every time. Yes, it takes longer than your standard rice cooker but that seems to be due to the micro-processor. It adjusts cooking temperatures to make sure the cooker doesn't get too hot and glue the rice to the bottom of the cooker. I also like the way the cooker vents only steam and doesn't spit rice paste all over the counter like my old cooker.

The cooker is simple to use and has settings for all types of rice (including rice porridge) plus an auto-on timer. The cooker also has a keep warm feature but normally you don't need it. The extra heavy duty rice bowl keeps the rice hot for a considerable amount of time.

Clean-up is easy, the internal vented lid and top vent pop out and wipe clean. The first time was a little slow becuase the instructions aren't very specific about how to take apart and clean the cooker. Once past the first time though it is very quick.

Overall, I'm could not be happier with the product.

[Friday, October 03, 2008]

Perfect Rice Every Time

No matter how much water I put in, no matter what grade the rice is, the rice is always perfect. Now, when I add coconut milk, I can taste the coconut more with the Sanyo! I highly recommend this item!

[Friday, September 19, 2008]

Excellent rice cooker

I needed a new rice cooker after the teflon coating on the pan of my Zojirushi on-off started peeling off. Zoji had already replaced the pan once under warranty because of the same problem. Another replacement pan would have cost me $50 with S&H, just about as much as a replacement of the cooker. I was not happy with Zoji because of the short life of the pan coating and the high pan replacement cost. I did use their cooker mostly for steaming though, rather than rice cooking, so maybe the fact that the bottom of the pan was dry at the end of each steaming cycle lead to the premature failure of the Teflon coating.

Compared to the Zoji on-off, the pan that comes with this Sanyo model is much heavier and thicker and the titanium coating seems much more durable. Thanks to a prior reviewer for the alert on the difference in pan thickness between this and the 5.5 cup model. I will not be steaming with it, however, in case my theory above is correct. I now use my Black & Decker steamer for steaming, which works great.

I have used this Sanyo for cooking brown rice, forbidden rice, Bhutanese rice, oatmeal porridge, and cooked rice/veggy/meat combinations. The rice comes out much better than my Zoji on-off - no crust on the bottom and uniformly tender. I usually soak my rice prior to cooking, as per Nourishing Traditions, so with the timer feature the longer cooking time isn't an issue for me.

I actually use this cooker mostly for cooking oatmeal. I love the porridge option. I crack oat groats in my grain mill, set the timer for breakfast time, and set the cracked oats in the pan with water with some whey added for 12-24 hours. Grains are more healthful when they're soaked first - reduces phytic acid. Sure beats stirring and stirring a pot over the stove. If someone wanted to use rolled oats, the porridge option would overcook them, but maybe the Dol Sat Bi Bim Bab setting would work. I've used it to cook my rice/veggy/meat combos.

My kitchen cabinets will appreciate not having the steam emitting from this cooker that used to come out of my Zoji. After cooking, I've always needed to remove the Sanyo inner lid and dry out the water that has settled on the lowest point of the rubber gasket. It would have been nice to have an audible signal at the end of a cooking cycle.

After using this cooker for 40 days, I am happy with it's functionality. I am unhappy that it will eventually need to be shipped to Sanyo for a battery replacement so the timer function will keep working. In order to prolong the battery life, I keep my Sanyo plugged in all the time. The battery doesn't get used unless the unit is unplugged. However, the directions do say to unplug the unit when not in use. I wonder why. The cord storage function is neat, but it doesn't matter when the unit stays plugged in. Someone wrote on a review for a Hitachi unit that it has a battery that can be replaced by the owner.

[Tuesday, September 09, 2008]

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