I wonder if Choice reviewed pint sized appliances such as those sold by KMART.
If yes, then I’d like to add my 2c below. If Choice has not reviewed these items, I am happy to encourage staff to do so and offer my 2c hereunder.
On the w/end I bought the KMART/ANKO mini rice cooker ($15) after seeing it for sale and reading reviews on KMART’s website (all those I saw were glowing).
I used it once and this is my experience, FWIW:
Cost $15, so I shouldn’t expect miracles;
Instructions are not specific. Mention is made to clean the unit (and accessories before use) but I cannot find the so-called “steam tray” it mentions to clean;
How to place the rice in the “inner pot” is clear and how much water to use is also clear;
There is zero indication of how long the cooking process takes;
There is zero acknowledgement and indication that say white or jasmine use different amounts of water to brown rice to cook one cup;
There is no cooking time guide;
I cooked one cup of brown rice. I always thought one cup is approx 225 gms. The instructions state one cup = 150 gms (how 'bout that?);
Cooking took 67 mins. Unreasonably and unjustifiably long time IMHO; and
The instructions state to wait 15 mins post cooking before opening the lid in order to ensure the rice is “more fluffy and tasty”.
Waiting 82 mins for one cup is a joke.
So how did it taste: “al dente” comes close to describing it as does “nutty flavour”. It tasted good, that I cannot deny. Better than rice cooked (in water) in a microwave and better than 90 sec microwave brown rice.
When spooning out the rice, I saw a crust formed on the bottom of the inner pot. I suppose due to insufficient water (even though I followed the instructions).
I will try with other rice in due course.
If the cooking time was much reduced, this item would be a winner.
I will keep the appliance and see what else can be cooked in it. I discovered a Choice article on cooking soups in rice cookers, but I doubt it applies to an appliance so small.
Brown rice has the bran still intact around the grain of rice which slows down the water absorption needed to cook it and therefore more time is needed, about twice that of the white rice, and the water ratio is also a bit more: 1:2. This is the absorption method on top of the stove, other methods would vary. How many grams in one cup also vary according to the type of rice.
67 min seems too long, in fact the ‘crust’ at the bottom means that there was too little water and too long cooking time. But never mind, keep experimenting until you get there
I haven’t timed it, as we don’t use it for rice. Our Shanghai red pork dish, which it is predominantly used for, takes about 50-60 minutes filled about half full. I expected a cup of white rice, which is far less in the rice cooker, would take around half that time, or less. Brown rice a little longer.
We have a Breville rice cooker we use for rice. It takes about 20-25 minutes for two cups.
It would be. It would take longer and you csn put in 1 cup of rice with more water. More water will mean longer cooking times.
Gaby, you read my mind. I will try cooking jasmine or white rice and if it cooks in a reasonable time, then I shall keep it.
Update
I just cooked white rice (long grain) half a cup (using the appliance manual’s definition) with approx 100 ml of water.
It took 18 mins and the result was tasty and looked good. It was neither fluffy nor dry. I suspect a bit more water would make it fluffier. Again I did not wait the suggested 15 mins post cooking before tucking into the carbohydrate.
The other consideration is the mini rice cooker has an rated output of 200W. The larger Kmart 7 cup rice cooker has a rated output of 450-536W. If one is cooking a cup and a half of rice in the mini, it is likely that the mini rice cooker will take around twice as long or more than the larger version. It is also unlikely to save money through power use.
A big advantage of a larger rice cooker is it gives the flexibility to cook more than 1.5 cups at a time.
We have owned three rice cookers over the last 20-odd years. Each came provided with a measuring cup which is way smaller than a standard 250ml cup.
The most recent two had/have an ‘Ultra’ mode for white rice that increases the cooking time. Our experience has been that the longer cycles produce rice with a better texture/appearance/taste, but the value of that needs to be weighed against the longer wait.
“Although the gō is no longer used as an official unit, 1-gō measuring cups or their 180ml metric equivalents are often included with modern premium rice cookers.”
(from greedy-panda.com)
also from that site - “volume rather than weight of the rice is the preferred method of measuring rice.”
All due to “grain types and moisture in the rice”
So your brown rice is going to be different to Jasmine rice and it goes on from there.
I bought one of these mini rice cookers thinking it just the right size for me and my little dog. I cooked some jasmine rice using one of the included measuring cup of rice with water up to the “one cup” mark on the cooking bowl of the appliance. I didn’t time how long it took to cook then switch to " warm"; not terribly long and the end result was ok. A little crusting on the bottom of the bowl but nothing serious. Next time I’ll try brown rice or quinoa.
I agree with your inference that the mini is neither going to save me money in electricity charges nor is it useful for a couple or more people.
I saw the $14 KMART cooker you mention and wonder why there is no appliance selling at KMART that straddles the chasm b/w 1 and 7 cups.
The 7 cup appliance takes a good deal more bench top space than the mini.
Experience of one is the common rice cookers seem to be more capable of cooking multiple cups of rice than just a small measure. Lack of filled depth to satisfy the design assumptions?
One could supposedly cook a large batch and save it in multiple one serve lots in the freezer. Not quite the same second time around, Fried rice excepted?
One could do a lot of things. One could use different sized saucepans according to how much you need and forget about rice cookers altogether. Learning to cook rice by either immersion or absorption is not difficult and by the reports here both are quicker than a cooker. Unless you eat a lot of rice often (I have been an impoverished student with Asian friends and flatmates) I wonder about the need for another appliance.
It would cost a huge amount in all sorts of areas including molding, design, as well as the added storage needs to hold so many items of different but similar stock.
Better to provide one (if needed) minimal sized item and then a more multi-sized item to cater for all usage purposes (or majority of those needs). This reduces production costs and meets the majority of needs of the consumers. I would be more inclined to purchase a unit that can cater for a multiple of circumstances rather than a multiple of units to cater for those different serving size needs.
In our family home we do not use the adsorption method. We use enough water in a pot to leave an amount after cooking is complete (around 6 to 8 cups of water is added to every cup of the dry rice). We started this to help avoid arsenic.
