Read our full review of the Zojirushi 3-Cup Rice Cooker
KitchenAid Rice and Grain Cooker
Kitchenaid’s new grain and rice cooker is unlike any other rice cooker we’ve ever tested. Its unique design uses an integrated scale and external water tank. Rather than relying on a cup or the lines on the interior wall of a bowl, you just pour your grains right into the cooker and the internal scale will adjust and add what it deems the right amount of water from the tank accordingly. It uses pre-programmed ratios for different grains, cereals, beans, and legumes, with 21 preset functions in all, more than almost any other rice cooker on the market. It’s an interesting concept that seeks to further streamline the already pretty streamlined cooking process of a rice cooker, but the results of our initial test were mixed.
The first batch of white rice was unacceptably dry. The KitchenAid fared better on the brown rice setting which, while still a touch dry, had a nice, chewy, properly cooked texture. We gave white rice another go, selecting the ‘softer’ function and had better luck with results that were in line with middle-of-the-pack, perfectly acceptable rice cookers.
I don’t want to write off this machine quite yet—it has a lot of cooking functions that go above and beyond a typical rice cooker and beyond the scope of this test we want to explore. And, as is the case with all appliances, especially ones with novel engineering, there’s a bit of a learning curve to using them. For now we will leave this one down here, until we are able to conduct a comprehensive stand alone test.
Toshiba TRCS01 Rice Cooker
In our first initial blind rice cooker test, the Toshiba TRCS01 won us over with the quality of rice it produced in addition to its programmable features. However, we encountered an issue in long term testing. Like many higher-end rice cookers, the Toshiba utilizes fuzzy logic AI, which allows the rice cooker to make fine adjustments to temperature in order to optimize the quality of rice you get. The Toshiba gets major points for giving us a full countdown from the start rather than appearing 10 minutes before completion. It also includes a delay timer so you can pre-soak grains overnight and have them cook up automatically and produces an audible chime when it’s finished cooking
The controls are very intuitive, easy to use, and well-designed for American consumers, with presets for white, brown, mixed grain, porridge, steel-cut oats, and more. The quick rice function is great for grains like quinoa, polenta, and farro that one might normally make in a saucepan. It also includes a basket for steaming proteins and veggies—another feature most Zojirushi models lack.
We decided to replace the model as our budget recommendation after long-term testing revealed an issue where the timer would freeze but the machine would continue to cook until manually stopped. The timer on this rice cooker is technically relative, meaning that it is not a true timer but provides a rough approximation of when the cooking cycle will complete, so sometimes “minutes” that seem to go on for several actual minutes can be expected. However, we found this machine to have an issue—particularly with the multi grain and quick rice settings, where it would stay on the same time for 20 minutes or longer. usually when this took place, the resulting rice or grain would be overcooked or burned. This would occur when cooking grains like quinoa, farro, or a multigrain blend. However, it was not a consistent problem. Sometimes these settings, with the same grains and same water ratios, would function without issue at all. It could very well be a consequence of human error, but the manual did little help to troubleshoot the problem, and we imagine that the perception of a rice cooker ostensibly “freezing” in this way, may not make this the best rice cooker for someone who isn’t too familiar with how these machines work.
Toshiba TRCS02
Despite the name, this is not a new and improved version of the Toshiba TRCS01, which for a time was our best rice cooker until long-term use revealed some glitchy problems that led us to knock it back down. This Toshiba is smaller and has a different roster of settings, including an official “cake” setting (making cakes in rice cookers is a popular off-label use for them, but a designated setting is a new thing.) It did a decent job on the white rice setting, but the brown rice was overcooked.
Tiger Microcomputer Controlled Rice Cooker JAX-T10U
This model is similar to the Toshiba in functionality, but testers found that rice on standard settings skewed a little too soft for their liking, and overall ranked it lower than the more affordable Tiger JBV-A10U. This is another model that we will continue to provide information through long-term testing.
Tiger 10-Cup (Uncooked) Rice Cooker JNP-1800-FL
This is a big, family-style basic rice cooker that cooks things one way and only one way. With the brand’s recommended measurements, testers found this rice cooker skewed the softest and mushiest out of all the machines tested. Certainly, it’s something that can be remedied by tinkering with water levels, but this rice cooker is just too simple for what we were looking for and delivered underwhelming results. The flowers on the outside were cute, though!
Tiger 5.5-Cup (Uncooked) IH Rice Cooker JKT-D10U
This Tiger model was remarkably close in performance to the winning Zojirushi, with testers scoring the Zojirushi rice only slightly higher. We feel comfortable recommending this cooker as well and will continue to provide more in-depth information with long-term testing.
Cosori 5-Cup Rice Cooker
This is Cosori’s first rice cooker, and the brand did a fine job. Standard settings on this machine run dry, so people who like their rice al dente will appreciate this machine. Most of the testers found the rice to be undercooked. This cooker has 18 settings, though, which also include adjustments on doneness. However, we reserve our recommendations for this cooker since plenty of other models simply do a better job.
Cuckoo 6-Cup Micom Rice Cooker CR-0675F
This is seemingly a redesign of Cuckoo’s CR-0655F model, with a sleek new modern control panel and design. Yes, the rice is great, but we found that the new buttons responded poorly to touch, many of the settings were poorly explained and inadequately translated to English in the manual, and overall, we found the machine not to be very intuitive or easy to use. Cuckoo rice cookers cook great rice, and also have uniquely appealing settings—like one that specifically gives you a crispy bottom—but this redesign was just a bit of a mess in our opinion.
Cuckoo 6-Cup Rice Cooker and Warmer CR-0655F
The Cuckoo 6-Cup Rice Cooker and Warmer has a fantastic price for the quality it delivers. It produced rice that was close in quality to the Zojirushi Induction Rice Cooker—at a much faster pace. It beat the Zojirushi by 15 minutes. Also, it has a slightly larger capacity than the Zojirushi, holding 6 cups of uncooked rice compared to the Zojirushi’s 5.5. For $90 (at the time of writing), it’s a great deal, and you’ll get great rice out of it again and again. However, a couple things kept it out of the top budget pick spot. The lid jerks open so violently that it can knock itself or other things off the counter, and it also does not display the countdown from start to finish.
Cuckoo 6-Cup HP Twin Pressure Rice Cooker CRP-ST0609F
This Cuckoo suffered the same design issues as the CR-0675F, but with the addition of a sputtering pressure cooker valve. However, by far the most distinctive feature of this rice cooker is that it talks…a lot….with a perky voice similar to Y2K-era Barbie toys. We were honestly charmed, but the glitchy and unresponsive control panel and meh performance held this one back.
Aroma Digital Rice Cooker ARC-914SBD
The Aroma Housewares Digital Rice Cooker made solid rice, though not as fluffy or perfectly textured as our winning models. Also, it released fumes that smelled like burning rubber.
Aroma Mi 3-Cup Rice Cooker
The Aroma Mi 3-Cup Rice Cooker had a unique shape; tall rather than squat, it features a side-locking lid and top handles for carrying, plus individual buttons for cooking white and brown rice. It was easy to clean, made very fluffy rice, and emitted a loud beep to let us know when it was done cooking (then immediately moved to the Keep Warm setting). It would be a decent budget-friendly pick for those looking for a smaller rice cooker.
Aroma 2.5-Cup Rice Cooker ARC-753SG
The Aroma 2.5-Cup Rice Cooker is a dead-simple, one-button machine. It cooked totally passable rice in 25 minutes and takes up virtually the same counter space as the Zojirushi 3-Cup. But it suffered from some leakage.
Hamilton Beach Rice Cooker
The Hamilton Beach Rice Cooker was a solid contender. It produced impressive results with medium-grain white rice and long-grain basmati and possessed a number of features more advanced than what you’d normally get on a low-cost machine, such as warming and preprogramming options. However, it fell short with the brown rice, which was undercooked after 60 minutes. If you’re not much of a brown rice eater, this could be a good option for you.
GreenPan Bistro 8 Cup Traditional Rice Cooker
GreenPan’s Bistro rice cooker, like its Elite rice cooker, is notable because it’s one of the few options out there with a ceramic nonstick interior rather than a PTFE-based interior. Performance-wise though, it pales in comparison to the Elite model. We found that this rice cooker runs far too hot, as it scorched the bottom of each batch of rice we cooked in it, and the keep warm setting caused the rice to yellow in a matter of minutes.
Yum Asia Panda
This is one of the best-selling rice cookers on amazon. But as we know from testing the site’s popular knives and juicers, that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s going to be one of the best rice cookers. The Panda definitely gets points for its compact size. It’s a mini rice cooker, but has the preset functionality, like different options for long or short grain rice, typically limited to larger rice cookers. That definitely makes this model appealing for small spaces. The white rice was really well executed in this one, which set high expectations for the brown rice. Sadly the brown rice ended up mushy and overcooked. Still, this could be a good rice cooker to keep in a dorm room for any upcoming college first years.
Dash Mini Rice Cooker
The Dash Mini Rice Cooker is very cute and easy to use, with a one-button lever system like the Zojirushi 3-Cup. But the lid was too light to stay on properly; while the rice cooked, the resulting steam kept popping the lid askew. That allowed too much heat to escape and we had to monitor it throughout the process. Also, it took the longest of any of the mini models we tested to cook one of rice—a whopping 34 minutes.
Cuisinart 4-Cup Rice Cooker
The Cuisinart 4-Cup Rice Cooker had the biggest capacity of any mini rice cooker we tested, but it fell short on execution. The rice it made—in record time for a mini, just 19 minutes—was a little too firm, and during the cooking process, it leaked slightly starchy water all over the sides and down the counter.
Nutribullet EveryGrain Cooker
The Nutribullet Rice Cooker produced inconsistent and unsatisfactory results. Some batches were too dry, while others were too mushy.
Instant Pot Duo
If the Instant Pot Duo is already your air fryer and slow cooker, why shouldn’t it be your rice cooker? After all, one of the many versatile functions it offers is a rice cooking setting. Well, the multi-cooker produced the most disappointing results of the rice cookers we tested and did not advance beyond the medium-grain rice round. It was very fast, but the result was gummy, difficult to fluff—even with the rice paddle—and stuck to the stainless-steel pot (the only pot insert that held on to rice). As a pressure cooker, it’s great, but we would not count cooking rice successfully among the Instant Pots’ many features.
Are cheap rice cookers good?
While we certainly understand the impulse to always want the “best” option out there when appliance shopping, we feel comfortable saying that for many people out there, a budget rice cooker will be more than fine. If you are someone who eats rice several times a week, consider it a fundamental component of your diet, or have exacting standards in regard to texture and quality, it is worth investing in an electric rice cooker with fuzzy logic and an array of precise settings. A cheap machine will not produce the kinds of consistently excellent results you get from one of those.