I'm Asian American, and my family has been using Panasonic rice cookers since as far back as I can remember. The SR3-NAL is the perfect size for me, living alone. I actually own two of them, one for home, and one for the office. As with all rice cookers, its capacity is stated based on the Japanese gō, a 180 mL equivalent measuring cup that is the standard serving size. So, this "1.5 cup" rice cooker is designed to make up to 270 mL of uncooked rice in a single batch, but I find that for middle-aged me, 120 mL is a more reasonable serving size, so I can get two full servings if I make 240 mL rice. I normally use Japanese "Japonica" medium grain rice, because I got tired of stocking so many different kinds of rice in my house (long grain, medium grain, Jasmine, Basmati, etc, etc). I have heard this model is very popular with Japanese flight crews, since it can fit easily in a suitcase and be used to make fresh rice when overnighting overseas in places where Japanese food might not be easily available. Perhaps someday, I will invest in a fuzzy logic rice cooker, but the simplicity and much lower cost of the basic type of rice cooker is very appealing, and has been used successfully by Asian families since it was invented in the mid-1950s. I actually own two of these, the newer one is now over 7 years old and still working fine. I keep one at home and one at the office, so I can make fresh rice for lunch. If you have the time, your rice will cook best if you allow it to soak for 30 minutes before draining and rinsing until the water is more or less clear, before adding your cooking water and cooking. With japonica medium grain rice, this is really easy, as the ratio is 1:1 rice to water. Measure your rice, soak it, rinse it, drain all water, then add as much water as your original rice measurement, and cook. If you are careful, you do all this right in the pot. You can drain all the water (or enough not to make a difference) from the pot without needing a colander or strainer, and without accidentally dumping the soaked rice out. Just go slowly. Read more
I got tired of scrubbing our rice cooker liner and was looking for something non stick. This is a great little rice cooker. It is smaller than our last one but is fine for a family of four. It cooks 2 cups uncooked rice to four cups cooked perfectly and quickly.. you can even do one serving (1/2 cup uncooked to 1 cup cooked) just fine. I love that it is easy to clean. No more soaking and scraping for me! And it does it in half the time the old one took. I love this little cooker. The liner is sturdy and does not bend easily and the lid is a single layer and cleans easily. I had no problem with boil over but I only cook 2 cups uncooked rice at the most. I didn't have a problem with the bottom layer burning but I also did not let it sit when done. I stirred and served immediately. It is perfect for our family. Read more
I owned a larger National rice cooker that finally conked out after 30 years! Although this Panasonic is smaller, it is just right for the two of us. It works better than expected for such an inexpensive, simple cooker. It cooks long grain white rice and jasmine rice perfectly. However, we cook a lot of medium grain brown rice mixed with wild rice and sweet rice which requires more care. Since it doesn't have a perforated plate at the bottom like the National cooker, the brownish debris tends to concentrate around the hot spots and can be mistaken for burnt rice. But the staining can be minimised if we stir ithe mixture right before all of the water has completely evaporated. But for the price, I can put up with it. Read more
I was skeptical this rice cooker would work as well as it did, but I followed the directions exactly to make the "M" brand extra long grain white rice. I put in the rice using two full cups of the supplied measuring cup. I rinsed the rice 5 times until the water was clear. I then added water to the 2 line exactly and let it sit for 30 minutes. Once time was reached, I pressed the cook button and in 21 minutes it turned off. Resisting the urge to lift the top and stir to prevent browning on the bottom layer of rice, I unplugged the power cord and let it sit for 15 minutes. Wow.....Perfect rice, no browning, on the bottom layer of rice, not dry or under cooked, just totally surprised it came out perfect. This is the perfect quantity of rice for my wife and I to create a meal by adding veggies and shrimp, or chicken, or sausage....etc. and following the instruction manual worked perfectly for me! Read more
