If you are looking for a small appliance that will get lots of use in your home you need to check out rice cookers and steamers. These little cookers will not just end up in the small appliance graveyard with all those other little tools that are handy but just too much trouble to get out and clean up. They are a handy tool that can cook rice perfectly every time, can steam vegetables, and can be used for cooking soups and stews.

Rice cookers were designed to cook rice. Most do that task very well making perfect rice in about twenty to thirty minutes. The thermostat located in the bottom of the pot senses when all the water has been absorbed by the rice and it switches from the high heat setting to a keep warm setting. With a good rice cooker you are able to have real rice that has been cooked to perfection in about fifteen minutes longer than it would take for instant rice to cook if you include the time for boiling the water and allowing it to sit for five minutes.

Rice is a food that is considered a staple in much of the world. It does not require washing, pealing or dicing like potatoes. In fact, you will find it much easier to prepare rice than potatoes, especially with a rice cooker. You just need to add the rice to the pot, add water to the correct mark and press the start button. In a few minutes you will have perfect rice.

This little appliance can do much more than just cook rice, however. It is also a great steamer. In fact, you may choose to steam your vegetables at the same time your rice is cooking using the steamer insert or if you are not cooking rice for the meal, you can simply steam the veggies. You can also steam hot dogs for the same tasty dogs you get at the ballpark or you can steam fish to perfection.

If your husband insists that he must have potatoes at every meal, dice a couple of red potatoes and put in the steamer while you cook rice for the rest of the family. For mashed potato nights, the cooker will boil the potatoes and free the other heating elements on the stove.

The pot of the rice cooker can be used to boil foods as well. Just remember that the liquid in the pot is going to boil at full heat setting. This will burn cream soups, but is ideal for those that are broth based. These soups include many vegetable soups, hot and sour soup or egg drop soup. Pasta can also be boiled in the rice cooker pot as can potatoes for mashers.

A rice cooker equipped with a nonstick pan makes cleanup very easy. Hardly any rice should stick in the nonstick pan. After the rice is placed in the serving dish, the pot can be rinsed and dried so that it is ready for the next cooking of rice. Since rice is not stirred during cooking, there is little danger of scratches to the nonstick surface.

For the best rice cookers and steamers, look for those that are manufactured in Japan. They will last longer and make better rice. Many of the cookers from other countries will not last as long as the Japanese cookers.

Searching for the best rice cookers and steamers for your needs can seem like a major undertaking, but it does not have to be that way. If you’re having a hard time deciding what to get, you really can’t go wrong with a Zojirushi rice cooker.

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