The best rice cookers we tested:
Best rice cooker: Zojirushi 10-Cup Neuro Fuzzy Rice Cooker
Best budget rice cooker: Cuckoo CR-0655F Rice Cooker
If you eat a lot of rice or you’re just tired of making it on the stovetop, then a good rice cooker can make better-quality rice than you can on the stove, all while you’re busy cooking other elements of your meal. It can turn out perfectly cooked rice and porridges of any type — all you need to do is measure accurately. But with different brands and technologies, it can be hard to know which rice cookers are worth your hard-earned money.
To find the best rice cooker for you and your kitchen, we spent weeks testing 18 different rice cookers from popular brands such as Zojirushi, Tiger, Cuckoo and more. After dozens of test cooks and eating way too much rice (a phrase we never thought we’d write), two rice cookers stood out among the rest.
The Zojirushi 10-Cup Neuro Fuzzy Rice Cooker consistently had the best results in all of our cooking tests. It cooked perfectly fluffy rice every time and has handy features that make it a must-have for people who cook and eat rice regularly.
The Cuckoo CR-0655F Rice Cooker made rice that was delicious and a big upgrade from stovetop rice, though not on the same level as the Neuro Fuzzy. It also has similar features such as Quick Cook and Keep Warm. Plus it costs considerably less than the Zojirushi, making it the perfect rice cooker for people who want to spend less.
Best rice cooker: Zojirushi Neuro Fuzzy Rice Cooker
The Zojirushi Neuro Fuzzy Rice Cooker was the clear winner in our testing. Whether we cooked sushi rice, brown rice or basmati rice, the rice came out fluffy and delicious every single time. It was the highest-quality cook we got out of all the rice cookers we tested, tied with the Tiger JKT-D10U, which cooked similarly delicious rice but costs about $60 more.
The rice from the Zojirushi Neuro Fuzzy was top-notch, and the machine has plenty of features that make cooking rice an easy and pleasant experience. The Zojirushi’s microprocessor (“Micom” for “microcomputer” in the company’s nomenclature) uses software (“fuzzy logic”) to determine how much water and rice is in the cooker so it makes the perfect pot every time — even if you aren’t perfect in your measurements.
That means if you ditch your measuring cup and accidentally add too much or too little water to your rice, the Zojirushi will make up for your mistake and adjust its cooking process to produce delicious rice. We tested this ourselves by adding an extra cup of water in one cook and a cup fewer in another. This would normally result in a completely ruined batch of rice, but with the Neuro Fuzzy it was still edible and actually not that bad.
It’s easy to cook rice in the Zojirushi, and thankfully it’s a breeze to clean as well. Most cookers we tested had between two and three detachable parts that can easily be hand-washed. The Neuro Fuzzy has two elements — the inner pan and the inner lid — that can be removed and washed in mere minutes (like most pots in rice cookers, it can’t be thrown in the dishwasher).
The Zojirushi is all about ease of use, whether that’s in the form of its forgiving software, easy-to-clean elements or the Neuro Fuzzy’s useful “Keep Warm” and “Extended Keep Warm” features. These automatically turn on after cooking and will store your rice at the perfect temperature (about 140 degrees Fahrenheit, warm enough to inhibit bacterial growth that can cause food poisoning) so you can scoop up leftover rice to eat hours after its finished cooking. The normal Keep Warm will last for 12 hours, after which the Extended Keep Warm will activate for an additional eight hours.
The Zojirushi also has a “Quick Cook” function, which brought its normal cook time for sushi rice from 42 minutes down to 31 minutes. The quality of the rice isn’t as good as the full 42-minute cycle, but it’s still much better than any stovetop rice we’ve eaten.
Features like the Quick Cook and Keep Warm settings are featured in many of the other rice cookers we tested (including our other winner), so while they’re nice to have, they aren’t what pushed the Zojirushi over the top. Our selections really came down to the quality of rice, and in that area, the Zojirushi just couldn’t be beat. So if you want a rice cooker that’s simple to use but most importantly makes an amazing pot of rice every single time, the Zojirushi Neuro Fuzzy is the one for you. If you want to learn more about our favorite rice cooker, check out our full, in-depth review.
Why You Need a Rice Cooker
FAQ
What is the disadvantage of rice cooker?
Do rice cookers make better rice?
Do I need a rice steamer?
Are rice steamers good for You?
Rice steamers are also better at retaining nutrients in the rice. Because rice is cooked in steam rather than boiling water, more of the vitamins and minerals in the rice are preserved. This makes rice steamers a great option for health-conscious individuals looking to get the most nutrition out of their rice.
What are the benefits of steamed rice?
Steam cooked foods have a much smaller nutritional loss and, in addition, are less caloric, as the process does not use butter and other sources of fat. Steaming is therefore a healthy and practical technique.
Are rice steamers better than rice cookers?
Price: Rice steamers are generally more affordable than rice cookers, as they have fewer features and a simpler design. Ultimately, the choice between a rice cooker and a rice steamer depends on personal preference and cooking needs. If you mainly cook rice and prefer fluffier grains, a rice steamer may be the best option for you.
What is a rice steamer?
Rice steamers, on the other hand, are relatively lesser-known appliances, primarily used for cooking healthier, fluffier rice. They use steam to cook rice, ensuring that the grains remain separate, and retain their nutrients, resulting in a healthier and tastier rice dish.