need rice cooker recomendations

[awong]

the latest cheap rice cooker broke for my mom, she wants an 8-10 cup rice cooker, with no teflon on it, any good choices? THe cheap ones from china keep breaking and the 30 year old hitachi one is still chugging away. So I guess Japanese brands are peferred. What does everyone use? Also my mom doesnt like the top to come out, and no need for fancy features, I guess spending more than 20 bucks is going to be needed for it to last

[ellencho]

I've never seen a non-teflon one before. All the newer ones seem to be teflon-coated. Maybe you can check ebay?

My family has always used zojirushi brand rice cookers. If you can't find a good non-teflon one, a zojirushi cooker will at least last a long time.

[vsoy]

My everyday rice cooker is a Tatung rice cooker from like 30 years ago. My mom never used it and I got it while moving her stuff to mine. I've been using it regularly for past 5 years, no problems. I took a look at the Tatung website and they make the one that looks like mine. All accessories are stainless steel. I think my pot is made of aluminum so the new ones are better.
http://www.tatungusa.com/tatungusa/products_services/products/consumer/rice_cooker/tac10-6s.htm

Plus it's Taiwanese product!

While I am very attached to my Tatung, I've been drooling over this Sanyo but your mom may not like all the fancy features. But it is pretty nice:
http://www.amazon.com/Sanyo-ECJ-D100S-Micro-Computerized-Steamer-Stainless/dp/B000260JPS/ref=sr_1_3/002-5560523-0898435?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1188147807&sr=8-3

My Tatung may never break so I'll never get this Sanyo. Plus I have like 3-4 other rice cookers from my mom.

[jaehwan]

Yes, awong, why non-teflon?

I think your mom is probably thinking that teflon rice cookers are similar to teflon frying pans, and that the teflon will eventually come off and render the pan useless. But they aren't the same. Rice cookers don't get as hot, and they don't undergo the same kind of scraping that frying pans go through during stir frying.

So I'd recommend that she go with Teflon if she's willing to make a change. Teflon is awesome; you can scoop the rice as soon as the timer pops and nothing will stick on the bottom. This means less waste and easier cleaning.

I've tried a lot of rice cookers, and I have to agree with Ellen--Zojirushi is by far the best brand.

[awong]

i asked my mom, she said no teflon b/c of the scrapping, she tends to scrap the current one a lot, but since she did mention she would make the change if there was no choice.

the kind of rice cooker vsoy pointed out is overkill for her, she just wants one that you press the button and cook and she loves a top that comes off so its easier to clean.

a simple one like this
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16892100026

[jaehwan]

awong,

Is your mom using the plastic scooper that comes with the cooker? You can't use anything else other than that plastic scooper. If you do, she's right: the teflon will come off. But if she just sticks with the plastic one, she should be fine. Remember, since rice comes off teflon more easily than steel, she doesn't have to dig that hard to take out the rice.

(As someone who grew up in a family with a non-teflon rice cooker, it was a lesson for me at the beginning too...)

[kimtae]

Cuckoo from Korea, go really high tech. These things look like flux capacitors.

[vsoy]

My mom hates teflon too. She doesn't even like the aluminum pot that came with my Tatung rice cooker. And she absolutely hates the plastic spatula for scooping rice. She uses a stainless steel bowl instead of the the pot to cook rice. She figured out how much water to add by first measuring it out in the aluminum pot, then pouring it into the stainless steel bowl and measuring the depth of the water.

The Tatung is pretty old school, just press a button and go, no fuzzi logic electronics. The top doesn't come out though, which does look like a nice feature. I just rinse the inner jacket with water, once in a while wipe it down.

[DijabutiA]

Cuckoo from Korea, go really high tech. These things look like flux capacitors.

Heck yea, get one of those baller ass ones that is a pressure rice cooker! You know it's good when the Japanese are selling a Korean rice cooker in a Japanese store.

[kimtae]

No aluminum plus I like the shiny displays:
http://www.cuckoo.co.kr/Products/ProductList.aspx?mmes=1&scatrefcode=shp001001&scatmenucode=shp001
Cuckoo pots are pressure cookers so if you like a more gelatinous sticky rice, this is the one.

[tkguy]

Miracle Rice cooker is the only rice cooker I believe sold in the us with a stainless steel pan. Use the steamer always when cooking since the thing overflows like crazy. It's between a small and average family size rice cooker.

Anyway this company is the only game in town and they price their merchandise as such.

http://www.miracleexclusives.com/Miracle_Rice_Cooker.html

[jaehwan]

No aluminum plus I like the shiny displays:
http://www.cuckoo.co.kr/Products/ProductList.aspx?mmes=1&scatrefcode=shp001001&scatmenucode=shp001
Cuckoo pots are pressure cookers so if you like a more gelatinous sticky rice, this is the one.

You weren't kidding about the flux capacitor thing. That's one helluva design.

[blockthebox]

No aluminum plus I like the shiny displays:
http://www.cuckoo.co.kr/Products/ProductList.aspx?mmes=1&scatrefcode=shp001001&scatmenucode=shp001
Cuckoo pots are pressure cookers so if you like a more gelatinous sticky rice, this is the one.

Yikes. I bought something similar from a friend who was unloading a bunch of those off the back of her truck and it was just too much for me. There's a Korean brand I'm using now that I can't remember the name of, but basically I've always used teflon-coated rice cookers with the one push button for "On". And I always use the plastic scooper, but it's still a little scratched up.

[awong]

My mom hates teflon too. She doesn't even like the aluminum pot that came with my Tatung rice cooker. And she absolutely hates the plastic spatula for scooping rice. She uses a stainless steel bowl instead of the the pot to cook rice. She figured out how much water to add by first measuring it out in the aluminum pot, then pouring it into the stainless steel bowl and measuring the depth of the water.

The Tatung is pretty old school, just press a button and go, no fuzzi logic electronics. The top doesn't come out though, which does look like a nice feature. I just rinse the inner jacket with water, once in a while wipe it down.

haha, on your edited reason. I asked her again about the teflon and plastic spatula, and my mom is like "there are more metal ones in the house, I'll end up using that instead of using the plastic one. "

I think my mom just found the cheap ones at walmart, walgreens, etc, and they dont have any teflon on it, just they keep breaking. At the switch part I believe,

the hitachi in the house, its got the 70's color green, so it looks out of place in my kitchen, I'll have to take a picture of it.

that korean one is crazy looking, they remind me of power ranger helmets for some reason, looks like it needs a step down transformer for it to work here

[nskripchun]

Another Zojirushi lover here. I got my new as a wedding present, so I'm a happy camper. ;)

Here's a 10-cup one at a reasonable price:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16896101302

I think Amazon.com sells Zojirushi cookers too.

[DijabutiA]

No aluminum plus I like the shiny displays:
http://www.cuckoo.co.kr/Products/ProductList.aspx?mmes=1&scatrefcode=shp001001&scatmenucode=shp001
Cuckoo pots are pressure cookers so if you like a more gelatinous sticky rice, this is the one.

The awesome thing about pressure rice cookers is that they cook REALLY fast!

[awong]

well my mom just took the broken one back to the store and got a replacement for free of the same kind, I guess we'll see how long it lasts,
here is the old one that just works
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v243/aw614/V9030316.jpg

[ellencho]

We have the same thing in red!

[howstrange]

no crappy teflon in my house, that stuff is poisonous for the pet and must be poisonous for me somehow, maybe grow a 3rd ball or something. Anyways, I just use a regualr pot. The height of the water on top of the rice should equal the height of the rice, that's it and yur good to go!