Food rice cooker

Butter?!?
I'm asian. We don't do butter or oil or whatever with our rice. In any case, rice cookers are FAR from 'new fangled.' Especially since mine is closer to 50 years old...

 

Ah! er ... where did you get it? I like the idea of £20.

I know what you mean about the thing paying for itself. I got a Crockpot - slow cooker and wow. Minimal cost for ingredients and mega good food for three or four days. Not to mention the non stop smell of nice winter food as well as zero waiting time when 'hungry at a whim' ... apart from an optional 20 minutes to throw in three Aunt Bessie's Dumplings if I felt like it.

Eh ... how's the Vegetable steaming function ... have you tried that yet? Thing is, I've been doing my broccoli in the microwave in recycled Chinese take-away plastic containers, but I've always felt that slow steaming might get better results than direct excitement of the electrons ... you tried the steamer yet, SF?

 

Got mine from ASDA. It was £40 but £20 in the sale. I haven't tried the steamer function but I have a basic one that you put on the hob and its better than veg done in the microwave in my opinion, but not spectacularly so.

 

Ah ... thank you, SF. ASDA ... that is one of my locals. Now I am very tempted. I will give it a look

 

I've had a rice cooker for years and love it. I always cook with either chicken or vegetable stock to get more flavour. When the rice is done I usually stir in some sauteed onions & peppers or even some mushrooms or peas. Absolutely love it and makes it perfect every time.

My latest rice that I've been making a lot is 5 cups of rice and then 1/2 cup each of organic black rice and wild rice. After cooking stir in onions and some toasted almonds. Yummy.

 

I never considered a rice cooker before but now I am contemplating it with a big rice-eater in the house. I would want something that is more multi function, something I could easily steam some veggies or perform some other use for it as I don't have a lot of kitchen space at the moment. Having not used one before are there any specifics function-wise that I should consider? Honestly I always thought it was a silly thing to have but I know I will soon be cooking rice again nearly every day. I haven't done any research of my own at all yet. I am sure I wouldn't want to choose something too small as I would want it to be used for other things. As far as rice is concerned he usually prefers basmati. I am more looking for advice on practical issues such as what functions to look for that are useful than specific brands since I have never operated such a thing before.

I have heard you can cook beans in one. Anyone give this a shot? Did it seem to work out? I imagine something like lentils wouldn't be problematic while a larger bean I can't imagine it working well for.

 

I can't remember if I mentioned this previously or not, but I use my rice cooker for quinoa all the time. It's totally foolproof - just match quinoa to liquid 1:1. I always use some sort of stock for flavour and then afterwards will add herbs and other veggies. Love it!

Just remember to rinse it very very well before cooking.