Insomnia has me looking at Amazon so.. best rice cooker for 2/small family

[ColinRobinsonsFart]

As above. Can’t sleep as usual so looking at rice cookers. Any one recommend one? I know I can do it on the hob but it is hit and miss. Tried every way and tbh it’s a PITA. I eat a lot of rice (it’s one of my favourite foods) so it will be used a few times a week.
i have been known to eat cold plain rice - it helps an itchy infected throat!

it’s only DH and I but he eats for England ( and is still scrawny) so i think small family size will be useful

thanks!

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MNHQ Update
Searching for a rice cooker that'll help you make deliciously fluffy rice at home with ease? Our guide to the best rice cookers is up to date with a wide range of tried and tested options. We hope it’s helpful!

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We have this. Amazing. Perfect rice every time

https://www.blackanddeckerappliances.com/products/cooking-appliances/rice-cookers-and-steamers.aspx

Lol, not sure what happened there. This link is better

I use a sistema microwave rice cooker. It's very easy to use and makes perfect rice in 15 mins with an extra 5-10 mins of sitting out time before I serve

I don't understand this. A lot of people say what you've says in the OP. .

I don't do anything special and our rice is absolutely fine 99% of the time (the 1% is when we forget about it and burn it or overcook it!).

I don't do anything fancy. I whack it on in a pan and with a ton of boiling water for the time is says on the packet. I fill the pan right up. Drain it when the times up, rinse it in a kettle of boiling water. Fluff with a fork. Done. Perfect every time. I am not a great cook but rice is pretty easy isn't it? What am I missing?

I love good food so I don't think it's just that I don't have good taste!

My friend is a very good cook and she swears by a rice cooker but tbh I can't tell the difference between her rice and mine.

Where are people going wrong? What is happening to their rice that it's so terrible having cooked it in a pan?

Truly baffled!

I do this, but it’s absolutely horrible. I can cook well but not rice, currently use the packets instead as have given up. Boiling, absorption methods etc-all come out wrong. I don’t know why. DH is an amazing cook and he can’t either.

I’d like a rice cooker but not enough space.

Do you have a microwave? If so- this is the one I use. It's brilliant!

Joseph Joseph M-Cuisine Microwave Rice and Grain Cooker Steamer - Stone/Orange, 2 Litre amzn.eu/d/cObxmqZ

The trick to cooking rice is to rinse it at least 3 times till the water goes clear

2 cups of water to 1 cup of rice

It's the same on the hob or in my Sistema microwave rice cooker

Cook for 15 mins from cold water - do not start with boiled water

I love my rice cooker. I thought it would be a gadget but I use it at least once a week. No point recommending it because it would be too small for you, but definitely get one.

I do mine in my pressure cooker (pot in pot method). It takes the same time as boiling it but no burning, no stickiness. I don't bother to rinse it but others do.

I have the sistema microwave rice cooker too. Work’s brilliantly

Asian supermarkets often sell rice cookers much cheaper than anywhere else. I think our current one is around 15 years old.

Same here. It works really well.
rinse the basmati until clear
100g per person of rice.
Double the amount of boiling water. (so 3 people 300g rice, 600ml)
microwave on low for 13 mins. Leave to stand for 5-10 mins. Job done

Big fans of microwave rice cookers. Even take ours on self-catering holidays.

I know what you mean. I am a good cook and cook from scratch 90% of the time. I have nearly 40 yrs experience of ‘rustling something up’ but rice is my nemesis.
i rinse it until it runs clear, I have used the bung it in and boil it method, the absorption method etc.

sometimes it’s perfect. Light fluffy etc. And then ( doing the same thing) it comes out horrible. It’s like playing Russian roulette.

since becoming chronically ill I have struggled to gauge my cooking and I have had some failures. Tbh having no sense of taste or smell hasn’t helped ( thanks covid).

i just want guaranteed rice every time.

Honestly the microwave method is the one. It’s foolproof.
I struggle like you with rice. I’ve got an a* in gcse food, cook from scratch since I was about 8. Yet normal plain rice some how is impossible to get right every time.

Some of the food ninjas are rice cookers as well aren’t they?
thinking one gadget multiple uses.

For small amounts( up to 3 people) you just need the microwave. Basmati Rice is the best not American Rice. Wash several times to remove starch. Add to a largish china bowl with twice the amount of water.
Microwave for 20 minutes without a lid.
Foolproof. We get through loads of rice & buy the super large bags from Tesco's or the Chinese supermarket.

Wash the rice first.

Swirl around to wash the starch off and empty water, then repeat until water isn’t cloudy.

Then fill up with clean water, and dip your finger in and touch the rice.
You want the water to come up to the first crease on your first finger.

Put the heat on high, and wait until water starts to boil. Once it is, turn the heat right down to lowest, and cover with a lid.

Cook for 15 minutes like this. If it’s still a bit watery after this, leave on for another 5.

Turn off the heat, and leave concerned for further 5 mins before you serve.

Perfect fluffy rice every time 😊

I r just got a cheap rice cooker from Argos. I rinse the rice and use equal amounts of water and rice. Works every time.

I have a Sanyo one similar to this. Have had it for 15 years and still going strong. Use it 3-4 times per week. Best investment ever. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Yum-Asia-Functions-Multicooker-functions/dp/B07PQRBT5N/ref=mp_s_a_1_1_sspa?adgrpid=55901503369&hvadid=259130274892&hvdev=m&hvlocphy=9045879&hvnetw=g&hvqmt=e&hvrand=2224432757942093683&hvtargid=kwd-298181486356&hydadcr=3221_1757434&keywords=sanyo+rice+cooker&qid=1686393906&sr=8-1-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9waG9uZV9zZWFyY2hfYXRm&psc=1&smid=A1TVB2IWNZK64K

Basmati is the trick. White or brown, you can straight up boil it in a full pan of water and drain and it's fine. I don't even bother with the rinsing before, Tilda basmati is pre-rinsed and basically nothing comes off. All it needs is a stir a couple of times in the first minute of being boiled. 11 minutes and you're done, drain in a sieve for another minute or so, plate.

Long grain or other rice? Gloopy and also tastes crap.

Oh I just remembered the other thing we do is to stir the rice!

So we whack cold unrinsed rice in a pan.

Boil water in kettle.

Add boiling water to pan with rice. I fill the pan right up.

Wait for water to start thoroughly boiling again and then stir the rice once - this is a key step, or it sticks to bottom of pan and each other. Put lid on (just to save energy that bit!).

Start timer as per packet.

Get another kettle of water ready to go.

Drain once timer goes off into sieve.

Rinse rice in full kettle of boiling water.

Fluff.

Perfect each time - I use all sorts of different rice doing this - basmati, long grain, brown, jasmine, etc etc.

I agree with @PicturesOfDogs method. You really must have a very tight-fitting lid though., and the heat after it boils must be very low. I attend to go 10 mins with heat on and then 10 with it off. Do NOT open it halfway through!

Rice cookers pretty much replicate this process and they are fantastically convenient. I lived in Asia and they are standard in every kitchen- also frees up a ring on the hob to use for the rest of the meal. They are all pretty similar, you can't really go wrong. If you often cook small quantities it's better not to get one that is too big.

There was a thing on Tik Tok recently which was Asian people rolling their eyes at bonkers Western cooking of rice which involved putting it in way too much water and draining it at the end. Rice should never require any form of draining!

I bought a really expensive rice cooker a couple of years ago. Use it 3/4 times a week

Mostly for rice but have used it for porridge, rice pudding

Used to do the absorption method which was fine, but this is reliably good

I think it's the first kitchen gadget we've bought that turned out good value in terms of price per use. Definitely down to the fractions of a penny now.