Best Cheap Japanese Rice Cooker: Do They Worth Buying?

Modern technology has brought a great change in the cooking process. Now we are trying to make the cooking process quicker and easier. Rice is an age-old food item of humans that is still popular in the present time and will be to the next.

Rice cookers are very helpful to make the cooking process easier and quicker. But when you have the best cheap Japanese rice cooker at your home it’s easy to get restaurant-quality cooked rice easily.

You will find a lot of rice cookers out there. But unfortunately, most of them are useless.

In a world that’s full of great rice cookers, how can you choose? It doesn’t help that many of the best ones come from Japan, which makes them hard to find outside of specialty shops.

(We recommend ordering one from Amazon, by the way, but that’s another story.) In any case, we’ve picked out some of the best to help you narrow down your choices.

So let’s get started.

Zojirushi 3-Cup Rice Cooker and Warmer Review

When you need restaurant-quality rice at home; the best solution can be the top Japanese rice cooker. Zojirushi NS-LAC05XT is one of the best cookers of the Japanese rice cooker family with multi-functionality. Let’s have a closer look.

Features & Benefits of Zojirushi Rice cooker

Provides 6 Cups of Cooked Rice

This cooker serves you a perfect amount of 6 cups of cooked rice from just 3 cups of raw short-grain white rice. But this may vary to the other grains. This will be a perfect cooker for a family having three to four members.

Preparation of Various Dishes

For multi-purpose use, this cooker is one of the best. You can use this cooker not only for traditional rice cooking but also for mixed, sushi, porridge, brown, and quick cooking. In addition, you can also use this cooker as a rice warmer and a steamer.

Better Cooking Through Spherical Metal Pan

Some of the best functionality is integrated with this cooker that made this more user-friendly than other rice cookers. The spherical inner cooking pan is made with aluminum and holds a coating of Teflon surface protector.

As a result, the rice will never get stuck with the cooking pan. This kind of shape also makes the cooking process quicker.

Availability of Modern Features

It’s featured with some of the modern technology such as an auto timer, LED control panel, delay timer, reheating cycle. The detachable pan allows you to clean this more easily and efficiently.

Additional Accessories for Better Cooking

The necessary accessories are included with this cooker such as the measuring cup, non-sticky rice spatula, a spatula holder. Despite all of this small footprint takes up minimal counter space.

Pros

• Can cook different types of rice.
• Usable for other kitchen purposes.
• Easy setup and cleaning.
• For the ease of use timer and delay, the timer is added.
• Low electric power consumption.
• Teflon-coated aluminum cooking pan.

Cons

• The upper lid isn’t well designed.
• The electric cord loosens after a couple of months.

Verdict

From the above discussion, we have found that this cooker has some cons. But compared to the pros they are negligible if you use this cooker with a little care. So if you need a quality rice cooker, you can pick this one up without any hesitation here.

Tiger 5.5-Cup (Uncooked) Micom Rice Cooker Review

Tiger JAX-T10U-K is one of the quickest rice cookers of this time. Besides it also offers a slow cooking process. Ten different cooking mode has made this cooker a perfect one. Let’s have a deep dive.

Features & Benefits Tiger Micom rice cooker

Serves 5.5 Cups of Cooked Rice

Tiger JAX-T10U-K can serve you 5.5 cups of super fresh cooked rice in each cooking. Measuring this quantity will be enough for a family having up to three members.

Microcomputer Controlling for Better Usage

This cooker uses a microcomputer control system for better performance. Consequently, this is also goofed rice warmer. The “cook” Synchronic cooking function has added a new dimension to the user-friendliness of this cooker.

Different Functions for Different Types of Rice

It includes four cooking functions just in one pack. The ten different computerized menus are integrated to serve you different types of rice just from one convenient cooker.

Faster Cooking with Comforting Shape

The cooking pan is just 1.5 millimeters. This is spherical. These two make the cooking process quick and save electricity.

Easy to Use and Clean with Removable Lid

The inner lid is easily removable and the steam cap is easily cleanable. The Teflon surface protector in the cooking pot made this non-sticky and easier the cleaning process.

Pros

• Adjustable timer mode.
• Comes with a low cooking mode for the special dishes.
• The normal rice cooking process is twice faster as ordinary cookers.
• Anti-rust outer design.
• Ten different cooking modes and four functions.

Cons

• The power chord is not retractable.

The cooking pot doesn’t have plastic handles to pick in the hot

Verdict

Although this cooker has some handicaps but comparing to the advantages they are negligible. Love multi-functionality in your cooker; then for more info click here.

Hirbo 13-in-1 Asian-style Multi-functional Rice Cooker

HirboEb-fc57 is the electronic rice cooker that comes with more cooking functionality than any other cooker by this time.3D heating technology has made this cooker unique from others. Let’s see its other functionalities.

Features & Benefits Multi-Functional Rice Cooker

Higher Capacity of Cooking

Turbo Eb-fc57 comes with a large capacity of 5 liters. Therefore, this is a perfect cooker for up to 8 people.

Preparation of Various Dishes

It allows you to cook 13 different types of dishes of cooked rice and other dishes such as Pasta, Fry, Soup, Meat, Fish, etc. Furthermore, you can use this as rice crustier, re-heater.

Better Conduction of Heat with Thinner Pot

The rice cooking pot is super thin. As a result, this is more thermally conductive and saves energy. The spherical shape uniformly transfers the heat more efficiently to the rice. Hence you will get equally cooked rice.

Modern Technology for Heat Control

It uses 3D heating with Fuzzy Logics. This logic controls Dynamic and variable heating. With the help of this technology, you can cook different types of rice just in one cooker.

Additional Timer for Better Performance

Easy to use control panel comes with a different language for ease of understanding. In addition, this also contains pre and auto-timer for better cooking.

Pros

• Pre-set functionality for better cooking.
• A Large volume of cooking capacity.
• 3D heating technology.
• It can hold optimum temperature till serving.
• Allows cooking various dishes.
• Easy cleaning process.
• Energy saver and quick cooker.

Cons

• The Teflon protector isn’t well enough to be non-sticky.
• The LED indicator is not much durable.

Verdict

In conclusion, this fact is clear that this cooker is one of the best cookers within this price range. Although it has some cons, but still better than the other ordinary cookers. For further experience, you can visit this link.

Aroma Housewares 8-Cup Digital Rice Cooker Steamer Review

When you are looking for quality and durability rather than the outer design than Aroma Housewares ARC-914SBD can be the right choice for you. Aroma Housewares is renowned for manufacturing quality home products for years. This one is no different.

Features & Benefits Aroma Digital Rice Cooker Steamer Review

Provides 8 Cups of Cooked Rice

Comes with a great serving of up to 8 cups of cooked rice from 4 cups of uncooked raw rice. Therefore, this will be a great option for families having four to five members.

Easier function for Better Cooking

Comes with improved and easy functionality hence this is more user-friendly. This is a multipurpose cooker and can be used for steam, white rice, and brown rice.

Keep-warm Technology to Keep Dishes Fresh

This cooker has a delay time of up to 15 hours. Consequently, the automatic keep-warm technology keeps the rice fresh for a long time before serving.

Additional Accessories for Higher Performance

The most important accessories are included with this cooker for better performance. You will get a team tray, measuring cup, spatula as well as some coupons for Mahatma and Carolina Rice recipes.

Easy to Handle and Clean with Removable Pot

To make the cleaning process easier and more efficient the inner pot is easily removable. Furthermore, the other accessories are also easily removable for a full cleaning.

Pros

• 15 hours of delay time.
• Various cooking functions.
• The slow cooking process for better rice.
• Affordable price.
• It can be used as a steamer and a warmer.

Cons

• The connecting wire loses if not used carefully.
• Old style design.

Verdict

Although the design isn’t much attractive if you are looking for quality over design then nothing can be better than this one. You can get more information about this product here!

Panasonic Automatic 3.3 Cup (Uncooked) Rice Cooker Review

The very first thing about this cooker that impresses me most is its appealing design. Not only the design but the user-friendly

functionality made it one of the best Japanese rice cookers. Let’s see why this is on the hotlist.

Features & Benefits Panasonic Automatic Rice Cooker

Provides 6 cups of Cooked Rice

Yields 6 cups of cooked rice just from three cups of raw rice. All you need to do is just put the raw rice and water and turn the switch on. The cooker will get the rest of the work done by itself with the help of the auto shut down feature.

Easy View of Cooking with Glass Lid

Panasonic used a glass lid that fits easily to view the cooking process. This is great for cooking the rice as you need.

Better Heat Conductivity with Aluminum Pot

The inner cooking pot is made with aluminum for better thermal conductivity. This cooker consumes 310 watts of electric energy in each hour of the cooking process.

Allows to Cook Only White Rice

One thing you should know about this cooker is that this cooker isn’t for cooking brown rice. It allows you to cook only clean washed white rice. So be aware of this issue.

Additional Accessories for Greater Performance

For better use, some of the necessary accessories are included with this cooker such as a measuring pot and serving spatula. You should only use these accessories with this cooker to get excellent quality rice.

Pros

• Modern and durable design.
• Low power consumption.
• One-touch easy operation.
• Convenient design.
• Good customer support.

Cons

• Non-sticky Teflon coating damages after some years of use.

Verdict

This is one of the basic rice cookers. But the only reason behind its survival in modern times is its quality. If you love the basic design and durable and convenient design then this can be the best choice for you. So if you love this; then for further information visit this link.

Check a video on Best Japanese Rice cookers

How to prepare Japanese Rice for Cooking

Cooking rice is just like art for the Japanese. They want to cook rice following the best possible methods they have. They are very sensitive about how to prepare Japanese rice for cooking.

Are you interested to be a master of cooking these kinds of rice perfectly? Of course, you also can do it. It should be fluffy and light in texture as well as a bit sticky too.

Now the question is how will you do that? To assist you widely in these criteria, I am here with this consistent article where I will give you the best instructions to follow. Let’s begin the procedure from the first. And please stay with me till the end by reading it.

Step By Step Instructions to Cook Japanese Rice

The procedure is not too easy to follow. But in my opinion, nothing is so hard if you made your mind to do it. So, let’s have a look at the recipes I am going to share with you.

1. Arrange the ingredients:

First of all, you need to accumulate the required ingredients to cook rice. What you will need is

• A cup of uncooked Japanese short grain.
• 390mL of water.
• Necessary utensils such as pot, saucepan, spoon, etc.

Rinse The Grain

This step might be bothersome for you. But is very important to produce perfectly cooked Japanese rice. Take your measured rice in a large container such as a saucepan or a bowl.

Then take enough amount of water to wash. In this stage, using your fingers to stir it will be the best option for you. Clean it gently in a circular motion.

Wash it and discard the cloudy water. Repeat this process until you are not getting it clear. When you are draining it, make sure you are using a fine mesh.

Boil the Rice

Once the washing is done properly, take it to a pot or saucepan to boil with water. The water and the rice ratio should be 1.1:1 or 1.2:1. This is the best one for Japanese rice.

Hence, you can use a stove or pressure cooker for it. Then you should soak it for half an hour. Mostly it depends on the properties of the rice.

If you find it older, you need to soak it for an extended time. The process of soaking should be between 30 minutes to 50 minutes. Never do it for a long time otherwise it can lose the genuine flavor.

When you prefer to use an electric cooker, just turn on the switch. You can set the time if you want it later to serve. If you intend to use a pot, pass medium heat and cover it with a lid.

Initially, you can cook at a high temperature for a minute. Then lower the heat in medium flame for 4-5 minutes. Wait to view the surface of the boiled rice.

Afterward, you should reduce the heat to the lower heat for about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, the water should be fully absorbed. Once, you will find it finished steaming, add some Japanese rice paddle with it. Also, you can mix a shamoji. To enlarge the flavor, you can use Japanese pickles, furikake, or sauce.

Sushi rice preparation method

Are you done with the cooking of Japanese rice? Okay, then you have to approach a few more steps to go. Sushi is a great combination of dashi, salt, and required vinegar.

A wooden bowl is probably the best choice for it. This is called a hangiri. Are you confused about where to get it from? No worries at all. This object is available at any Japanese kitchen store. Furthermore, to make the best solution, Amazon is there for you to assist.

The wooden hangiri is useful because it absorbs extra moisture from your prepared rice smartly. A solid paddle is also a necessary tool for you to use.

To make it ready, you require Sushi vinegar and a bowl. Again, you must mix them with the cooked rice. To keep it with the perfect flavor, you should use 80ml of vinegar.

Take ¼ cup of it and moisten the paddle with it. Then place the hot rice in the wooden bowl and pour the vinegar in it. Next, you should turn it and mix it properly.

Make sure you are not squishing the grains in any way while mixing. Also, you should fan it to make it cool. To make it look glossy and fluffy, you should do it quickly.

Meanwhile, it should absorb the vinegar thoroughly. Keep a thing in mind and that is Sushi should be warm before serving. At least, it should maintain room temperature.

While you are preparing it at home, try to avoid freezing it. Warm rice is the highest preference to enjoy the fullest. If you keep it in mind, you can have well-prepared Japanese rice with fine texture and flavor.

Again, you must have a concern about the moisturizer as well. If you can hold the moisturizer, it will help you prevent it from hardening.

Finally, you might have made up your mind in completing the task. With this article, you learn how to prepare Japanese Rice for Cooking. They are very expert at cooking rice with perfection and maintain their quality as much as possible.

The majority of concern is to gather the necessary ingredients to cook it nicely. If you research a bit online, you can buy them from Amazon or other prominent companies. Again, you can make some of the ingredients at the home such as Sushi vinegar.

Hopefully, this recipe and instructions will help you a lot to know and prepare this food item. Enjoy your meal with excellent flavor.

Final Verdict about Best Cheap Japanese Rice Cooker

We have talked a lot about Japanese rice cookers. The five cookers that I have mentioned above are the best Japanese rice cookers that I have found after conduction deep research.

Yes, all of them indeed have some handicap. But I think you will agree with me on this issue that nothing is perfect in this world. Again considering the pros we can easily neglect the cons. In conclusion, I suggest you get any of this according to your need without any hesitation. I’m pretty much sure that you will not depressed. Again, thank you for reading this long article.

In conclusion, I suggest you get any of this according to your need without any hesitation. I’m pretty much sure that you will not depressed. Again, thank you for reading this long article.