This thing is humanity's greatest achievement...

I've had other rice cookers, but this one is from a different, more advanced planet. I'd like to marry it (I told my boyfriend he could be best man).

Trust me, just get it. Don't bother with the cheaper ones.

[Tuesday, November 04, 2008]

WE USE IT ALMOST EVERY DAY!

I guess I could say this rice cooker and "The Ultimate Rice Cooker Cookbook" by Beth Hensperger/Julie Kaufmann has turned our weekly home dining experience into a healthy fun adventure!
My husband agrees that even though it was expensive, it is worth every penny and more. It's FUN. It also ends up being a very economical way to go, and the money you can save by making the types of foods that you can make in this rice cooker will probably pay for it in no time, especially if you end up NOT eating out because it's so fast to throw something (healthy) together in a short amount of time with very little mess to clean up! We eat up all the leftovers! Every bit.
I love it so much I gave one to my daughter for her birthday along with the same book. She uses hers every day as well.
We also feed brown rice to our doggies so it comes in handy for that. I have never been able to make very good brown rice stove method style, and this cooker makes wonderful rice. It takes some experimenting and getting to know the cooker.
My daughter and I are finding that we love Basmati rice cooked on the quick cycle: No rinse, saute' in ghee before adding chicken stock (Pacific boxed) and a little salt. (taste the liquid) Ready in about 20 minutes.
We also love "Riceselect Organic Texmati Brown Rice" from Costco. It is OUTSTANDING and I never rinse.
(Cooks Illustrated doesn't rinse Basmati either, and they use the "Pilaf" method,...cooking in a little oil first... as well). I cook the brown the same way (saute' in ghee first before adding liquid) only on brown rice cycle.
I don't like any rice left on "Warm" because it gets too mushy for my taste, so I always wait 10 minutes after "finished song" plays and then toss and dump the rice out on a plate or lined cookie sheet (if there's a lot) so it will stop cooking. When it stops steaming I put it back in the rice cooker and shut the lid to keep the food warm without turning it on. We don't like mushy rice. I don't agree with "keeping rice on warm" concept.
Two wonderful recipes from the above mentioned book: Vegetable Paella on pg. 122, and Prawn Rissoto with Seasonal vegetables on pg. 133. Best oatmeal you will ever put in your mouth!
One thing I AM going to start doing is using a pan to saute my veggies instead of using the method the book suggests. The "high" heat goes on and off and it becomes frustrating to get a true saute', in my opinion. But for a quick saute' like just garlic and a little onion, it's fine. This is an induction cooker and maybe the methods in the cookbook for saute' work better for non-induction cookers, I don't know. The recipes are wonderful but I'm going to dirty a pan to do my saute' from now on instead of the cooker.
We love it, and my bet is you will to!

[Sunday, August 17, 2008]

Top of the line

I am a rice eater all my life. As any serious rice eater would know, the best rice come from slow cooking in a thick pot over flame. You will not get that with any electric rice cooker, not even this one.
I have used lots of nice rice cookers in my life. This one is very good. Like any good rice cooker, it keep your rice warm and moist for a couple of days. Try all settings, soft, hard, medium to see what fit your taste. It is very good, but a good one from Panasonic or Sanyo will be more budget-friendly, only slightly inferior. Buy this if you absolutely have to have the best.

[Sunday, July 20, 2008]

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