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Old 02-07-2011, 07:14 PM   #41
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We have always used a rice cooker, but cheapo ones. I don't know about this "fuzzy logic" thing. I believe mine just has 2 internal heat settings. It first turns on the high heat, and then after the water has steamed away, the temperature of the bottom plate rises, triggering the switch-over to the lower heat setting. Else the rice would burn, the same way when we cook with pots on the stove.

What is tricky is the proportion of water to the rice volume. When we change brand or the type of rice, the new batch may come out too dry or too mushy, and my wife has to adjust the water level for the next batch. It is just too tricky for me, and I leave it all to my wife. Perhaps the "fuzzy logic" thing has something to do with that, but what sensor is employed, and what is it sensing? The "fuzzy thing" is the logic between the input sensors and the output, which is the heat control in this case.

So, what's the input? I say ERD50 needs to buy one, take apart, and report to us on his findings.
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Old 02-07-2011, 07:20 PM   #42
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I got a rice cooker. I bought that several years back. The cooker costed only about $20 from Kmart. I like using that more than stovetop cooking because for rice, the cooker shuts from cooking to keep warm. No worries about rice burning like if I put that on the stovetop, and I can just set it and let it cook then warm. The cooker also came with an aluminum steaming pan (great for vegetables or fish) and plastic laddle for serving the rice.
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Old 02-07-2011, 07:40 PM   #43
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I used to always make rice on the stovetop. It's so easy I could not understand why anyone would want a rice cooker. Then I got a really low end one as a gift. Even my super simple one with no settings and no fuzzy logic is wonderful. I really enjoy the automatic cooking and not having to watch while it cooks. Set it up and come back when the rice is ready. It will even keep it warm if I wait too long. If you like rice, it makes it super simple to have some freshly cooked whenever you want.
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Old 02-07-2011, 07:42 PM   #44
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In classical logic, to the question "Is the rice done?", we must either answer "Yes" or "No". Fuzzily, though, we might answer: "It might very well be done, but I'm not taking a definite position." With this additional flexibility, will the rice be better cooked? It might very well be.
Indeed. The proper preparation of rice is an emprise demanding the application of non-Aristotelian logic. I find, however, that Hamiltonian formulations are excessively rigorous, as such formalism does not appear to improve the result in any measurable way. Simple ad-hoc mechanisms appear to produce results well within the anticipated Wigner quasi-probability distribution.

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Old 02-07-2011, 07:49 PM   #45
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We use our ancient and cheap rice cooker almost daily. Its the easiest way to steam rice and painless to clean up afterwards - much easier than boiling or using a microwave and next to no risk of overcooking.
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Old 02-07-2011, 07:49 PM   #46
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Cheaper models from my understanding do a very good job.
There are some good ones in the $40 range. The fuzzy logic ones cost more because of the following features.

1. It senses the moisture in your rice (or lack thereof) and makes adjustments on the cooking to insure good results.

2. It allows you to leave rice in for long extended periods without burning bottom. Some regular (but expensive-made in Japan only) rice cookers like Tiger allow you to leave rice in cooker for days, and it is still good. The fuzzy logic type also allow for keeping it for extended periods.

3. The fuzzy logic cooks brown rice better (harder to cook compared to white) as well as mixed rice, and porridge. Some even bake cake. Most can also function as a slow cooker.

I probably would have bought a $40 model I had my eye on, had it not been for the fact it was bigger than I needed and I have a very small kitchen, and very little counter space, so I wanted a smaller one. Sanyo was the right capacity 5.5 cups and had one of the smallest footprint, and was rated very high. Hope that answered your question.
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Old 02-07-2011, 09:18 PM   #47
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<sigh> I knew I should not have clicked on this thread. I love rice. I make rice in a pan and every time it's a challenge of being too sticky, not done, and sometimes - just right.

I just bought a basic little 3.3 Cup Panasonic off Amazon. It will probably be here the first part of next week. Do any of you rinse the rice before using your rice cooker? If so, does it really make a difference in cooking or is it just to diminish the frothing?
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Old 02-07-2011, 09:59 PM   #48
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<sigh> I knew I should not have clicked on this thread. I love rice. I make rice in a pan and every time it's a challenge of being too sticky, not done, and sometimes - just right.

I just bought a basic little 3.3 Cup Panasonic off Amazon. It will probably be here the first part of next week. Do any of you rinse the rice before using your rice cooker? If so, does it really make a difference in cooking or is it just to diminish the frothing?
When I was a child, we ate rice everyday. My mom would rinse until the rice water was clear. Now they tell you to just rinse enough to remove the dirt/particles. We rinse once or twice depending on how cloudy/murky the rice is. Try this, cover the rice about 1" higher, swish the water around for 30 secs, then pour it out slowly and you'll notice particles that will come out w/the water. Some experts I've read claim to not rinse at all because rinsing removes the nutrients. Frothing I believe is the result of the starch being released.

Congrats on the Panasonic, I've had my cheap old Panasonic for over 25 yrs now and it's still going strong! Hope yours lasts as long!
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Old 02-07-2011, 10:46 PM   #49
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I own a pretty big old rice cooker that I inherited from a Filipino family I used to spend quite a bit of time with. Due to the number of people coming and going in the household, and the fact that someone nearly always needed feeding, the rice cooker was on pretty much all the time. When the rice was all gone, they'd just clean it out and cook another batch. Seemed like it was never too long before someone would wander into the kitchen, scoop some rice onto their plate and match it with some tasty soup or other item to be found in one of the pans on the stove.

It doesn't have any fancy features, but rice always comes out well in it.
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Old 02-07-2011, 10:52 PM   #50
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I also use a rice cooker and love that it holds rice after cooking for a while with no real degradation of the rice. This helps meal timing a lot. I just start the rice first and it's ready when I am. Mine is a cheap one LBYM model from a discount store. As I recall it cost about ten bucks on sale and I have been using it for many years.

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Old 02-07-2011, 11:18 PM   #51
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Back home so I can tell you that our favorite brand of rice is Matsuri, a short grain rice.
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Old 02-08-2011, 12:51 AM   #52
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We eat rice approx three times per week as we often order Thai or Chinese take out and make our own rice. Zojirushi cooker with Daipoong brown rice for meals. Shirakiku white rice for Korean style sushi snacks.

The Zojirushi (and prob other "fuzzy" cookers) are great for their ease of use, cleaning and ability to keep rice heated for prob up to a day.
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Old 02-08-2011, 01:07 AM   #53
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Do any of you rinse the rice before using your rice cooker? If so, does it really make a difference in cooking or is it just to diminish the frothing?
If you are using domestic rice that has been enriched (e.g. most white rice) you should not rinse the rice as the starchy coating contains the added nutrients.
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Old 02-08-2011, 03:21 AM   #54
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We use our rice cooker almost daily. It is a Chinese brand you probably can't get in the US, but my experience has been that there is not too much difference between rice cookers. I usually rinse lightly with tap water and then add water using the "knuckle method" -- level out the rice on the bottom of the cooker, and then add enough water to reach from the tip of your index finger to your first knuckle. Pretty much turns out perfect rice every time. I think one reason that rice cookers are so popular in Asia is that in many Asian homes you only have a two-burner stovetop to work with, and most dishes need to be cooked on the stovetop. You may have something stewing on one burner while you make a couple of stir fries on the other burner. If you had to use one of those burners to cook your rice, too, making dinner would be much more complicated and take longer. with a rice cooker, your stovetop is freed up for cooking the rest of the meal, and the rice can be started in advanced and held warm for some time.

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Old 02-08-2011, 06:44 AM   #55
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I think one reason that rice cookers are so popular in Asia is that in many Asian homes you only have a two-burner stovetop to work with, and most dishes need to be cooked on the stovetop. You may have something stewing on one burner while you make a couple of stir fries on the other burner. If you had to use one of those burners to cook your rice, too, making dinner would be much more complicated and take longer. with a rice cooker, your stovetop is freed up for cooking the rest of the meal, and the rice can be started in advanced and held warm for some time.
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Thanks for that bit of info lhamo. It might well explain it.
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Old 02-08-2011, 07:40 AM   #56
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I think one reason that rice cookers are so popular in Asia is that in many Asian homes you only have a two-burner stovetop to work with, and most dishes need to be cooked on the stovetop. ... with a rice cooker, your stovetop is freed up for cooking the rest of the meal,...

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Ahhh, that makes a lot of sense. And I suppose people just stuck with that, even when moving to larger kitchen in the US.

From the comments here, I can see the advantages of a dedicated rice cooker, more predictable results, longer hold times, free up a burner, etc - but for me personally, only cooking rice maybe ~ 1/week, I can't see dedicating cabinet space to it. That changes if you cook rice every day, and/or have trouble getting your rice cooked the way you want.

I recall now, DW had a 'steamer' device for vegetables and it had a rice basket. It worked well, she used it any time she made rice or steamed veggies, but it crapped out (and I couldn't fix it ) and we were not motivated to replace it.


I always wondered about the rinse-no-rinse. I follow directions, and they vary from one package to the next, but the rice always turns out, so I just go with it.

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Old 02-08-2011, 07:42 AM   #57
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I always wondered about the rinse-no-rinse. I follow directions, and they vary from one package to the next, but the rice always turns out, so I just go with it.
-ERD50
The Filipinos I hung out with would always rinse the rice, but then they'd use the starchy water to make soup, so no nutrients were thrown away.
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Old 02-08-2011, 07:55 AM   #58
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We had one and used it almost daily, but rice is not part of low carb eating so it is gone now. Probably 3-4 nights a week dinner was red beans and rice, with chopped raw onion and cheddar cheese on top.

They do work great, no more burned rice once you use one of these.

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Old 02-08-2011, 09:04 AM   #59
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<sigh> I knew I should not have clicked on this thread. I love rice. I make rice in a pan and every time it's a challenge of being too sticky, not done, and sometimes - just right.

I just bought a basic little 3.3 Cup Panasonic off Amazon. It will probably be here the first part of next week.
I am tempted! I just went to Amazon and that Panasonic rice cooker is attractive. The one I am looking at is inexpensive, small, and it can cook just one cup of rice if desired. Reviewers say it is easy to clean. I may order it also if I can think of someplace to store it.
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Old 02-08-2011, 10:18 AM   #60
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We always washed our rice but my wife doesn't. Here is a more detailed explanation.
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