Zojirushi is a leading name in rice cookers all over the world. They manufacture high quality, durable rice cookers for all budget levels. Although they produce some cheaper rice cookers most of their products are higher end and often run over $100. If you take ever make a trip over to Japan you will probably notice that almost all homes and restaurants use Zojirushi rice cookers. An entire nation of rice fanatics using a single brand of rice cooker has to say something for its quality.
A large portion of Zojirushi rice cookers are higher end, made for those who love eating a variety of rice and who care about the end product when cooking. However they do make a number of more simple, cheaper rice cookers as well.
Here are some of the major features that Zojirushi offers in their different rice cookers:
Warming
Just about every Zojirushi rice cooker that’s out there comes with a warming ability. However, some of the cheaper models only can keep rice warm after it’s finished cooking whereas the higher-end models come with the ability to re-warm rice or other items. But no matter what rice cooker you use make sure to take care when using the warming function with only 1 or 2 cups of rice as it could dry it out.
The Ability to Steam
Getting a Zojirushi rice cooker with the ability to steam is a good idea. There really isn’t much difference between one with the steamer feature and one without except the one with is designed to hold a steamer plate that comes with the rice cooker. With a steamer you can steam vegetables, fish, certain types of rice such as Jasmine and Thai sticky rice and a ton more, it’s a fantastic feature that really opens up the options for your rice cooker.
Micom Technology such as Fuzzy Logic and Neuro Fuzzy
Fuzzy technology is very common in Zojirushi rice cookers, in fact, just about all mid to upper-range models come with it. If you are particular about the way your rice comes out then you shouldn’t get any rice cooker without this technology. Neuro Fuzzy is a newer version of Fuzzy Logic but both work very well. Rice cookers with this feature are able to constantly update the temperature and cooking time, thus allowing it to always produce a perfect pot of rice. It also helps reduce the impact of poor measuring or other possible human errors.
Induction Heating
Most rice cookers have a heating coil below the cooking bowl that is used to cook the rice. However there are a few of the higher-end Zojirushi rice cookers that come with a technology called ‘induction heating’. This process does not use the simple heating coil and thus creates a much more uniform heating of the rice. This type of heating allows for a much more efficient cooking and allows the rice to stay more uniformly cooked.
Again, Zojirushi rice cookers are the best in my book, finding the right one for you can sometimes seem a bit complicated. I hope that the features described in this article help you in finding the perfect rice cooker for you.
Tags: kitchen appliances, rice, rice cookers, zojirushi rice cookers