The rice cookers we tested fell into three loose categories: small, affordable devices, midrange multicookers and specialized, high-end rice cookers.Įach mini rice cooker we tested, including the $19 Imusa 3-cup the $25 Dash mini 2-cup rice cooker and the $20 Black & Decker 3-cup rice cooker offered decent, small servings of white rice - although the Dash took a painfully long 35 minutes just to cook just one cup of white. The Tiger cooked excellent white rice faster than the rest of the field and made the best brown rice of any cooker we tested. We also kept track of how long it took for each machine to make white and brown rice because when you're busy or running late, cooking rice dish speed can be the most important factor of all. We both fluffed and tasted rice from each cooker at the 15-minute mark (which, in addition to the cooking time, ranged from 28 to 56 minutes), and then again after about an hour on the "warm" setting.īecause some folks prefer their cooked rice at slightly different levels of moisture, we focused on the problems in each rice cooker's yield, be it inconsistency in cooking, any uncooked rice, kernels that weren't cooked through or ones that had lost their distinction and become mushy. Almost every device recommended allowing the rice to steam for an additional 15 minutes after the cook completed and I allowed that time for each one.
We tested 12 rice cookers side by side, cooking 1 cup of white rice and 1 cup of brown rice in each, following the individual directions and using each device's standard settings for both. $231 at Best Buy How we tested to find the best rice cooker If you love rice and want to eat great rice regularly, but don't want to break the bank, the Oster is a fantastic option. It also didn't have any of the spillage or mess of some of the other basic budget rice cooker options, so cleanup was easier, too. The small rice cooker whipped up a cup of white rice in under 20 minutes and brown rice in 25 minutes. The Oster is fast and can also be used as a grain cooker. It has a tempered glass lid with a vent and comes with a steamer basket and won't crowd the counter. That said, this basic rice cooker is head and shoulders above other small cookers under $50. No, the rice isn't perfect - brown rice, in particular, came out just slightly underdone and a little chewy. That perfect fluffy rice is tough to capture, so the quality output for this Oster rice cooker's $25 price tag is wholly impressive. Perfect white rice is almost a paradox: It's moist, but not mushy toothsome, but not chewy. In a retest, the Oster DiamondForce remains the clear pick for an easy rice cooker under $50. This budget-friendly rice cooker took the top spot in our original round of rice cooker testing. To find the best rice cooker in 2022, we put a few of the most popular models to the test. For perfectly cooked rice, there are alternatives for gas stove-based rice cookers, such as induction rice cookers and microwave rice cookers. The best rice cookers on the market are easier than ever to bring home, making the prospect of easy, everyday meals a reality. If you've ever burned rice on the stove, you know what a nightmare it can be to degunk. The last thing you'll love about a rice cooker is how easy they make cleanup, mostly by way of a nonstick cooking receptacle and a foolproof timer that shuts off when the rice is done. Just about every rice cooker comes standard with a steam tray too, so you can cook healthy vegetables and even meats in these underrated kitchen multitaskers. Rice cookers also have come a long way in terms of functionality, and while cooking perfectly tender grains of rice is still the primary duty, some of the best rice cooker machines or slow cooker models designed with rice specialization in mind are equipped to cook other grains such as bulgur, quinoa and oatmeal. You can find rice cookers in just about any size, from tiny two-cup mini rice cooker models all the way up to massive machines that will make enough rice for a small army. The best rice cookers will whip up perfectly fluffy rice out of any grain or strain of the stuff without any guesswork, freeing you up to do other things. Yes, temperamental rice can be made far less so with the employment of one of these clever countertop appliances. That's where a trusty rice cooker comes into play. Now, you can cook it in a pot as if it were pasta, but you likely live a busy life and can't spend too much time perched over a pot like a gargoyle. It's both nourishing, filling and inexpensive, making it an excellent food for people of any budget. It's at the heart of so many different kinds of peoples' diets. People around the world enjoy the deliciousness of rice.