AROMA 8-Cup Cooked 2 Qt Digital Rice Grain Multicooker Durable Nonstick Inner Pot Oatmeal Steam White Brown Rice

Works amazing very is to operate and has multiple features Read more

I was eating a lot of frozen dinners and wanted to try to eat a little healthier, so for me this was not just about the rice cooker but about how well the food steamer would produce "tasty food". At first I tried cooking white rice with different Green Giant frozen vegetable combinations in the steamer basket. What was great was that you could open the cooker at just the right time to add the vegetables without overcooking them. The rice was quite good, and once fluffed with the included paddle and allowed to sit a minute or two it was almost identical to rice I would cook on the stove - yet not as dry as "Chinese-restaurant-style" rice. Then I tried adding a boneless, skinless chicken thigh (seasoned with Goya lemon adobo) with white rice. I put the chicken in from the start of the cooking time. Wow, it is was great --- really, really moist and perfectly cooked. However, the rice did "glisten" from the fat that cooked out of the chicken - but honestly it was tasty. Then, I decided to switch to brown rice. Here's where it got interesting --- it took almost 2 hours to cook the rice (1 hr. 50 min) with the chicken. I noticed that when I used only water for the rice it did not scorch the rice on the bottom very much. However, as I began to add chicken stock it began to scorch considerably more. But for me that's a bonus as I like the scorched rice (concon or pegado). For large boneless, skinless chicken breasts I let the cooker run for an hour then add the seasoned chicken breast (my favorite seasoning is Old Bay seasoning - however if I want to use a lot I like to cut the Old Bay in half with ground celery). When it beeps I take the chicken breast out, fluff the rice, and slice the chicken into thick strips (It is really MOIST - no gravy needed!) and serve with the vegetables I added to the streamer at the appropriate time (depending on whether I am using fresh or frozen vegetable such as broccoli). The brown rice is very good and seems to get better as it steams off a little. I also like to go to my Chinese supermarket and buy frozen dumplings and "mini-pork buns" (look identical to soup dumplings I get in the restaurant). I line the basket with a little lettuce or Chinese cabbage and put the dumplings on top, steam (with or without rice), and eat with the sweet black vinegar --- nice! Since I've received the cooker I've been using it 3-4 times a week. I've experimented with some of favorite seasonings and have even used some seasonings that are not ground (keeping it on the top of the meat). The only things you need to pay attention to is the size the meat - as I have found a large chicken breast fills the steamer basket leaving minimal room for your vegetables. And when using brown rice, I have to start the rice immediately upon getting home from work so as not to have to eat too late (however, if I am awake enough in the morning I have found that i can set it up in the morning for the rice and then set the cooker's timer). Careful with seasoning the meat heavily with a salt based seasoning - as obviously this will make your rice somewhat salty. Honestly, clean-up is a breeze --- a non stick bowl, removable the top plate, metal top, and the water collector --- otherwise I really wouldn't use it. The only thing that seems strange is why can't the timer show the time the entire cooking time instead of the last 15 minutes? But really, so far so good! Read more

Making rice, while simple, it a pain. So many times we weren't watching the pot and it boils over or runs out of water or just doesn't come out right. ....for years! So we tried this and it's so darn easy we wondered why we didn't do it sooner. It's "set it and forget it". The rice comes out perfect every time,....literally. Nice design. Simple, pretty compact size, lids locks down, etc. There's some quarks to the design. - Timer is odd. You hit one button and then wait. I think it need to hit a certain temperature and internal pressure, and then it will give you a count down of how many minutes until ready. I guess sometimes we're impatient. - It has marks on the insight of the pot for how much water to put in and a small cup for how many scoops of rice to put in. But the measuring cup is not a cup. So you can't lose it. - If you fill it to the max line level and max rice level, it seems like too much. It cooks the rice, but that rice goes right to the top of the lid when it expands. Sometimes a little water comes out too. - It can be a little annoying to clean the lid. It has an internal plate/lid as well, which you detach and clean. Not a big deal, but you can't just stick the whole lid under water to clean the starch off. I would buy it again, but I might actually try a bigger one next time. We have a family of 4 and if dinner requires a lot of rice this makes enough for one meal. Or if I was entertaining, I might want more capacity. Read more

I’m just cooking for myself and this cooker is a nice size. I could actually go with a smaller size but like to keep a couple days worth in the fridge after cooking. The inner pot is nonstick and easy to clean. I just hand wash it out after emptying and leave the lid open overnight to dry out. Condensation does collect in the lid and doesn’t dry out so I have to wipe up the water that drips down while closing the lid back up the next day. One thing I absolutely do not like is IT BURNS THE RICE EVERY TIME WHEN I ONLY COOK ONE CUP OF RICE. And it’ll burn 2 cups if you leave it on “keep warm” longer than a couple hours. So I’ll be purchasing a different model/brand when this one needs replacement. The cord is also quite short and the instructions say NOT TO USE AN EXTENSION CORD :/ Luckily it’s long enuff to sit on top of my stove but I’d have returned it if I didn’t. It comes with a spatula and steaming basket but I haven’t tried steaming anything in it since I don’t like other flavors infused into my rice (“picky eater”). Also a TIP ABOUT THE TIMER: the timer is set so that the rice is DONE by the number of hours you set. Example- if you set it for 10hrs it doesn’t start cooking in 10hrs, the rice will be cooked by the 10th hour. I thought the timer was malfunctioning at first since they do not explain this in the very lean manual. But after a few uses I figured it out. So if you set the timer at 8am and want it cooked by 5pm then set the timer for 9hrs. Hope this helps with the timer. The beep is loud enuff to hear down the hall but only beeps once then automatically goes into “keep warm” mode. My advice if you’re cooking only a cup or two at a time is to get a smaller capacity rice cooker. I chose this brand because I had a larger model when I had roommates and it lasted for years. But since we always cooked at least 4-6 cups at a time I didn’t know it’ll burn the bottom/sides if you only need to cook 1-2 cups. Oh well, wished I’d initially bought the 4-cup model in retrospect or returned this one in exchange. Not the best size for cooking smaller portions. Read more