Zojirushi: The Greatest Rice Cookers

Zojirushi manufactures some of the best rice cookers available on the market today.  Dominating the market in Japan, Zojirushi rice cookers have established themselves as a leader in the rice cooker business.  An entire nation of serious rice fanatics has to say something for the quality of product that they produce.

Zojirushi rice cookers range from the most basic for those on a budget or who don’t need many features all the way up to the most advanced rice cookers on the market.  Whether you’re just one person or a large family Zojirushi has a rice cooker that will fit your needs.

Zojirushi rice cookers of different prices come with different features, the main features to look for are below:

The Warming Feature

The warming feature is now available on practically all Zojirushi rice cookers, I wouldn’t ever buy a rice cooker without this ability.  Something you need to be careful of on cheaper rice cookers, especially if you only cook 1-2 cups of rice at a time is the warming feature might dry out the rice a bit.  Not cooking only 1-2 cups of rice will usually allow you to avoid this problem.

The Steamer Feature

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 programming, Neuro Fuzzy being the newer of the two types mentioned above, is a wonderful feature for your rice cooker to have.  Pretty much all the Zojirushi rice cookers that are from the mid or upper range come with this technology.  These processors in your rice cooker allow the cooker to constantly change the temperature and cooking time so it will produce a perfect rice each and every time.  This fool-proofs the act of cooking rice with a rice cooker even more than it already was.

The Induction Heating Feature

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.