Rice Cooker Reviews

two strikes....i really wanted to like this little cooker but Panasonic seems to have quality control problems.

I suppose its possible that they came from a bad production run, but I give up with Panasonic.

Some thoughts about the Panasonic SR-W06PA three cup rice cooker which I bought last month.

It does a fine job with all kinds of rice, including long grain brown. The unit is simple, logically and well designed and only has one switch: on/off. Clean up is easy enough, especially if you soak the inner container for awhile before swabbing with a sponge.

There is no warming function after the rice has cooked -- the unit gives a quiet chime and powers off. This has not been a problem for me but if you want to keep rice warm in the middle of a meal, just switch the unit "on" for two minutes and turn it off. Alternatively, buy a more expensive cooker.

To re-heat left-over rice, use the steaming plate and put the rice on top of it. This works far better than trying to revive cold rice with a microwave oven and only takes a few minutes. The steamer works very well for vegetables -- would be worth having it just for that alone.

The cooker cooks one to three cups of dry rice -- more than enough for four people (probably six). The unit is small and compact in size (a 7" circle -- 9" counting handles -- that is 8" high with lid on) and easy to store.

Be aware that a "cup" measure (included) is actually about 6 ounces in volume. That still makes far more rice than I can eat at one sitting. I'd recommend buying a plastic or wood rice paddle (not provided) -- a wooden or nylon spoon would do -- to protect the non-stick coating.

The only product glitch is a printing error in the instructions. The user is told to add one cup of rice and one cup of water. Skeptically, I tried using one and a half cups of water and had to steam the resulting under cooked rice (but even that mistake turned out pretty well). The correct proportions are 1 rice to 2 water -- just like mom told you.

The instructions also tell you to soak the rice before cooking, something most European Americans do not do. Though I do soak my rice, it is not necessary to do so to produce satisfactory results.

I've been eating more brown rice since I bought the steamer because its so easy to make now. If you think cooking rice on the stovetop is easy, try a rice cooker. Just put the rice, water and a pinch of salt in and turn it on. No timing, no fiddling with the heat, and perfect results every time.

I have had good luck with Panasonic products in the past -- good value and reliability for the money. This rice cooker
appears to be no exception.
/end/

I have purchased this rice cooker twice. The first year it burned out, literally. I purchased another one and the same thing happened this morning, almost a year later.
Pros: It is extremely easy to use, easy to clean, and is inexpensive.
Cons: Do not use this product under cabinetry. It will cause moisture stains/damage, even if the cabinetry is mounted high. Foam will bubble out of the cooker and onto the counter. The life expectancy of this cooker is only 1 year with moderate to heavy use.

This machine will boil over with a starchy bubbling mess to clean up - even when cooking the smallest quantity of rice. The vent hole on the top will also get clogged - making it dangerous to lift the lid. DO NOT LEAVE UNATTENDED. It seems a good value, because it has a large capacity & a removable pan to make clean-up easier - and believe me that's because cleaning up after this machine is a mess. The rice is always soggy on top - with a crust on the bottom. You would be better off using instant rice or cooking it on the stove the old fashioned way - it's less trouble then cleaning up after this machine. I gave it ONE STAR - BECAUSE THAT IS LOWEST YOU CAN GIVE - and that is overrating this machine.

I'm an experienced rice cooker user. The cooking directions are baloney. You MUST wash the rice, drain, then add twice the amount of water as dry rice - 1 cup dry rice to 2 cups water. Let the pot cool completely before removing leftover rice and hand washing. This will extend the nonstick surface.

I bought this expensive, name brand rice cooker to replace the cheapy one I bought in college. What a mistake! The rice always browned on the bottom and the cooker quit heating less than six months after I bought it.

This is the second rice cooker I have owned. Both have been in the mid-price range. For what I use it for it works just fine. I tend to make rice and throw a bunch of other stuff in while the rice is cooking. It does not tend to boil over like the other rice cooker I have used. Sometimes it may overcook a little on the bottom but not as bad as the other rice cooker I have used.

The non-stick surface cleans easily. I have had the cooker about a year and the non-stick surface is still in good condition.

It's not the best rice cooker ever but it is far from the worst.

While this one might not be the rice cooker for you I strongly recommend buying a rice cooker. It is a quick convenient way to make healthy meals.

Well I am a college student who loves rice, this means two things, I cannot afford a really expensive rice cooker and I eat a lot, a lot. The price of this thing was shocking, especially for its HUGE 8-cup capacity; I was looking at cookers that were well over $60 dollars for only 5-cup capacity. I was very hestitant to make the purchase thinking this thing might be a piece of (bad stuff)-I knew Krups only made oustanding products but (...) Well, I finally gave in and bought it, the thing has a BRAIN I tell yah! I put the rice in with the 'special made cup', then fill up to the line with water, click the button, and that is it!!! it measures the weight of the rice+water and decides the cooking times! I only use Jasmine rice (the best, imported from Thailand) and it is some of the best DAMN rice I have ever eaten (and I eat it every day). So get on your horse or computer or whatever and buy it--Next I need to get a rice dispenser to hold the 25pounds of rice I purchase every few months (...)

I HAVE PURCHASED TWO OF THE AROMA RICE COOKERS WITHIN THE LAST 6 MONTHS AT [a local store] AND NEATHER ONE OF THEM WORKED MORE THAN A FEW MONTHS. THEY SIMPLY STOPPED WORKING. THE PREVIOUS RICE COOKER FROM WESTINGHOUSE LASTED FOR MORE THAN EIGHTEEN YEARS.

My husband and I got this for a wedding present in 1995 and we use it AT LEAST 3 times a week, every week. We love it. It finally lost one leg this year so we sit it on a towel to make it level. We bought a more expensive rice cooker but I still pull this one out every time because the rice is great and it is so easy to use. Yes, the rice at the bottom sticks to the pan a bit but it comes out very easily if you wash it right away or if you don't, you'll need to soak the pot for a bit. I have also found that we like the rice better if we add a bit more water than what is recommended in the booklet.

I got this rice-cooker on sale at amazon, pretty good actually. I have been using it everyday, 2-3 times a day since June, and it's fine! It's not one of those fancy Zorijushi, but it's [inexpensive], and in working order.

I got this one as a wedding present. Less than a year later, it overheated and melted its foot. I sent it back to Salton and eventually received a new one. Less than a year later, the new one overheated. Save your house from burning down and buy yourself a better one.

My husband and I constantly argue over my rice cooker. He doesn't like it and wants to get a new one, and I like it. It's not as bulky as others, it cooks a great deal of rice, and it cleans up very quickly. It's also very easy to use -- my 9 year old has no problem: just add water, rice, plug it in.

But then there's the other side. Although you are supposedly able to leave it alone, you do need to stir the rice every now and then to make sure it doesn't stick and burn. Also, the lid gets very very hot, and you have to worry about setting it down somewhere it won't break or be overly cooled and crack. It cooks faster than the guidelines say, also, so you have to watch the time. But other than that it's fine. I've never had a problem with overheating or parts melting or anything, and I have had mine for several years. It's a trusty hardworking little machine, but it's probably not for everyone.

This is the only rice cooker I have owned, so I can't compare it to others. But I can tell you that my experience with it has been good.

Basically, what I wanted was rice like I get at the take-out Chinese restraunt I go to. Sticky, tasty, white rice. You just can't accomplish this kind of rice on the stovetop. I've tried, came close, but no cigar.

The first few times I used my ricemaker, I was dissapointed - only to find out I wasn't making the rice correctly. You have to follow the directions IN the box of the ricemaker, not on the bag of rice. After I got my directions right, I've been able to make hassle-free, perfect rice. It's cheap, easy and relatively fast. What more could you want?

... mine does not bubble over at all. It honestly makes fantastic rice all the time.

Well, this product was okay for a while. Then it simply stopped working. Looking back, I didn't care much for the functionality of the design, although it was cute. The water collector and the rubber gasket lid caused many cleaning problems. I've switched to a Zoji rice cooker with a removable lid. No problems. I'd check out that brand instead.

The ads for this rice cooker gives wrong information.
I am very disappointed with it.
I have an Aroma ARC703-G 3 cup rice cooker, it said 3-cup where I can cook 3 cup of rice before cook, I love it.
But this 12-cup rice cooker can only cook 5.5 cup of raw rice...
The lid is hard to open because of bad design (or maybe it happen to be bad product), and it takes two hands to open it because you need to use another hand to hold on to the rice cooker.
Good thing about it is the rice doesn't stick on the cooker, and can be easily washed.

I recently bought this Faberware Rice cooker on the notion that it looked to be superior construction and quality. Plus for the price, you'd think it could at least cook a decent pot of rice. Guess again. Despite how careful you are, the rice is either soggy or burnt! Plus the manufacture has calibrated their cooker to use their "Cup" of measurement which has no bearing to real world measurements (Closer to 3/4 cup) Not the end of the world, but frustrating to use with our recipes. Overall a real disappointment. Stay away - stay far far away!

I received this rice cooker as a wedding present almost 9 years ago. It still looks and performs well to this day at the rate of using it only 2 or 3 times per month (we're trying to cut down on starch in our diet). We never used it to steam vegetables, although it has an insert for that -- IMHO it's kind of superfluous.

The only noteworthy flaw as far as I'm concerned is that it will cause the very bottom layer of rice to crust and brown (nor really burnt per se) every time. Not a problem if you are making more than the minimum 2 cups of rice at a time, as it is really only a small amount of the overall batch that is affected. Still, for rice fanatics I can see how this would be unacceptable. I usually just discard that part and eat the rest, which is always fluffy and perfect.
Nonetheless, we will soon be getting rid of this 10 cup rice cooker in favor of a smaller one that doesn't "burn" the bottom layer; we just don't need to make that much rice at a time!

I have had this farberware rice cooker for well over 5 years and it is still cooking. My rice comes out fluffy and I love that sometimes it does stick to the bottom but upon adding a little sprinkle of water it just comes right out and we love the crispy rice. My daughter is now on her own and wants one badly. I will just buy her one and send it to her. It is a wonderful rice cooker and I cook a lot of rice. I also cook other wonderful casseroles in it. The steamer is good but I have to admit it, i haven't used it that much.

I owned this Rice Cooker for about 6 months. After some helpful tips I finally found out how to make perfect rice with this thing.
1) throughly clean your rice before putting it in the Rice Cooker.
2) Let the 1.25 cups of water for every 1 cup of rice.
3) Let the rice soak for 20 minutes before you power on the thing.

All in all, for $... this is a good deal, but this cooker doesn't last. Give it 1 year and it will die on you. My advice is to go for a more expensive model if you want something to last. If you want to experiment with a rice cooker then snag this one. better yet, get the 3 cup version for $...

Over and over and over I see everyone complaining about these rice cookers burning rice. Well you know what they are supposed to burn rice! I had one of these for 3 years and each and every time it would burn rice on the bottom and sides. All my friends had various kinds too and they also burnt rice each and every time. I expected it to, just like cooking rice in a pot thats what allowed the rice in the middle to cook properly. Also don't worry, you don't ever eat burnt rice unless of course you sat there and scrapped the burnt stuff off the sides.

These cookers work fine for cooking rice, but expect to have to soak the pan in water for a few hours and scrape the burnt rice off. Also if you are timid about burnt rice stop complaining when you only spent 30 dollars. To get no burnt rice everytime you are going to have to fork over 150 dollars at least for the fuzzy logic ones and they are worth every penny.

I've had this model for about 8 months now and have been completely satisfied with it. I haven't burned rice in it once. Lack of a power switch is somewhat annoying but for the money this item is a great value.

Just as another couple who left feedback, we received this rice cooker as a wedding shower gift. The first time we tried it, the rice burned bad. So we tried it a few more times and all 3 times it burned. We even added extra water to see if that would help - NOPE, it burned just the same. Do not buy this rice cooker unless you want burned rice.

I bought it in December 2003. At first, it worked fine for me. I just used it to cook rice, nothing more. After 3 1/2 months of normal use, it just stopped working.

I did not expect much out of $30 rice-cooker, but 3 1/2 months? Like I said, DO NOT BUY this rice cooker, unless you are willing to claim your 1-year warrenty (more than once)

We received this rice cooker as a wedding gift and it works great. Its been with us for several months and no complaints. We did have to play with it in the beginning (i.e. measuring the oil & water quantities it needs) and once we figured it out, it has been smooth sailing. Our rice comes out great every time. It's true it doesn't have heat control, but it is not needed. Once it has all the ingredients, it cooks and then keeps it warm. Also is is very eay to clean. We love it! Thanks.

Don't waste your money on a cheap rice cooker. I have used many rice cookers in the past and have found that cheap products like the Salton RA3 are not worth the bother. These cheaper cookers usually create a mess and often burn or dry out the cooked rice. Fortunately there are some better products out there for you if you want to spend a bit more money. I donated my Salton to Goodwill and upgraded to a Zojirushi and I am getting a lot of use out of it without all of the hassles.

I received this little gem of a rice cooker for Christmas a couple of years ago. I have not been able to stop using it. I love the thing to pieces as much as I love eating white rice. I think it is the most wonderful gift I had ever received for Xmas. It is definitely the most used appliance in my apartment. As a big rice eater, this little rice cooker is a godsend. It is so efficient because I can throw in the rice, water and salt, flip the switch, and walk away for 15-20 minutes. I don't have to worry about boil-overs or the rice burning at the bottom of the pan. Although I can use this to steam vegetables, I strictly use my rice cooker to cook rice. It is pretty simple to use. After 2-3 years of heavy usage, my little rice cooker is still functioning like it did the first time I used it. The rice cookers the negative reviewers got were probably defects because my rice cooker is still working and has yet to blow a gasket. The Salton 3 cup rice cooker is ideal for apartment dwellers like myself who lives alone. Contrary to what a few people might have to say about it, I love this rice cooker.

I have noticed a number of negative reviews regarding this rice cooker. My Salton rice cooker has worked flawlessly for the three years I have been using it.

One very important hint - the AC plug can be inserted two different ways into the rice cooker. If you don't insert the plug properly the rice cooker auto switch will not function properly.

IT IS IMPORTANT TO INSERT THE PLUG INTO THE RICE COOKER WITH THE METAL STRIP ON THE PLUG FACING UPWARDS (TOWARDS THE TOP OF THE RICE COOKER). THE PLUG (UNFORTUNATELY) CAN BE INSERTED EITHER WAY I.E. METAL STRIP UP OR DOWN. IF YOU INSERT THE PLUG THE WRONG WAY THE RICE COOKER WILL NOT WORK PROPERLY.

Maybe this has been a problem for many of the dissatisfied users. Hope this helps them return their Salton rice cookers to useful service!