How to choose a rice cooker ? Compare and find the best
A rice cooker might not be the first thing you think of when assembling your kitchen. It might seem like something only useful for those easting a huge amount of rice, or those who are too lazy to cook rice on their stove. However, any uses of the rice cooker will tell you that this is far from the truth.
History of the rice cooker
The rice cooker, also known as a rice steamer or a rice maker in America, is a huge part of Asian cooking culture and most family homes in Japan and China include one. The cooker in fact originates in Japan and was developed just before world war Two. The Japanese army used the machines to cook quick and easy rice to feed its soldiers. The technology was relatively poor back then, and these machines were pretty unrecognizable from the state of the art rice cookers that are available today. It wasn’t until the 1990s that China started to mass produce the machines and they became a key part of everyday life. Since the 2000s, rice cookers have come on again, and now they do much much more than simply cooking rice. The latest models are different because they use non-metallic materials for inner cooking bowls and employ thermal far-infrared radiation in order to improve the taste of cooked rice.
How does the rice cooker work ?
Basically, the cooker works by having a removable bowl which is heated from below. When the water reaches a certain temperature (the ideal temperature for cooking rice) the heater cuts out and maintains the rice at that temperature. When the rice is cooked, the heater switches again and stops cooking, instead keeping the rice warm so that it is ready and available for you at any time.
The main advantages of the rice cooker are, firstly, that you can make perfect rice at any time, with no risk of over or under cooking. Secondly, you can do this at minimal effort. Once the rice cooker is on you simply press a button and wait, with no attention of checking needed throughout the process. Thirdly, the rice cooker can make huge quantities of rice at one time. Anyone with experience cooking rice will know how difficult it is to make perfect rice in a large quantity of a stove, but with the rice cooker this problem is instantly solved.
Guide how to buy a rice cooker
The following guide will take a look at the best brands of rice cooker and the differences between the models that they offer. It will then give you instructions about how to use the machines and make the perfect rice. Finally, the guide will turn to advise you on where you might consider buying your rice cooker from, and how to get the best deals and prices.
