I do think that a Rice Cooker is a most unnecessary appliance. Its secret is preventing steam from escaping and thus the rice ‘absorbs’ all of the moisture and transforms into nicely cooked, separate, fluffy grains. Any pot with a tight lid (I enfold mine in aluminium foil too) will do the same job in 15/20 min. without the fuss of a separate appliance taking up space, being fussy if too much/not enough water is added, blowing a fuse if liquid overflows, sticking rice to the bottom of the pan, being limited in the amount of rice you can cook in it (it seems that the big size ones don’t like cooking a small quantity).
It reminds me of people buying an egg cooker to make hard boiled eggs…
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I tried smaller rice cookers . Were useless burnt the rice . I use a Sunbeam 7 cup pressure cooker rice cooker . Very quick to cook . Always add a teaspoon of olive oil to rice . Use the rule of thumb regarding water to add . Water should cover the rice to half way between the base of the thumb nail and joint .
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You just mentioned one of my most used appliances: the $20 (was $22) 6-egg cooker also from KMART. I have used a couple of other brands (that friends have) and am impressed time and again by the quality, simplicity and speed of the KMART appliance.
When compared to cooking (soft or hard boiled) eggs in saucepans, the cooker wins hands down, IMHO.
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No offence intended @Jon01
Glad those appliances suit your needs. I prefer to do without them 
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I learned exactly that rule from a man from Honkers (Hong Kong) who learned it from his sainted grandma. It doesn’t work unless you all use the same sized pot because it doesn’t scale to different sizes of pots and amounts of rice.
If I did that for a medium pot that takes two cups of rice and it worked well it would be far too much water for a small pot with half a cup of rice and too little for a big one with 6 cups. Think square-cube law.
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It doesn’t take long to cook it stove top and it will be cheaper as $15 appliance will not last long.
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I was also told that rule by a Chinese friend - but as @syncretic noted, it only works for certain sizes of pot and amounts of rice. You need a specific water:rice volume ratio.
The instructions on the packet will probably call for ~1.5 cups of water to each 1 cup of white rice for the absorption method.
I always cook rice in the microwave using a modified version of the absorption method.
To (x) cups of white rice in a microwave-safe deep casserole dish with well-fitting lid, add ~1.5 times (x) cups of boiling water, cover with folded tea-towel that overlaps the edges (to improve the seal) and put the lid firmly on top. Microwave on High for 5 minutes, then on 40% for 10 minutes. Remove from microwave, take lid and soggy tea-towel off and let steam escape, then loosen up the cooked rice with a chopstick. Serve.
Boiling the water first makes the process simpler and the time predictable. The first 5 minutes in the microwave brings the water+rice back to the boil, and 40% power will simmer it for the rest of the time.
For brown rice or pearl barley, increase the amount of boiling water to ~2 times (x) (or whatever the packet says for absorption method) and extend the length of time at 40%. Barley would take ~40 minutes. With brown rice it might vary depending on the type of rice.
This process works reliably for 1-2 cups of uncooked grain. More than that would overflow my casserole, so for larger amounts I’d use a suitable saucepan on the induction cooktop and the packet’s absorption method instructions.
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In a rice cooker we do 2:1 (2 cups of water to a cup of rice). Strangely doing this, the water level meets the
We were told the same by a two different Chinese families.
When living in China, rice cooked in larger quantities is done in cabinet type steamers. We think that steamed rice is far superior to any other rice cooking methods (it is lighter, fluffier, retains better flavour, higher consistency), but requires another large appliance in the kitchen.
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If one has an older smaller kitchen one may have limited stove top or cooktop capacity and adjacent worktop. I found the rice cooker useful pre microwave days with only a single pot and pan to work with. A smaller unit might have had extra appeal at the time, although for steaming the greater volume provided greater scope to do a more complete meal in one.
An observation is some favour the precooked single serve microwave packets/containers. Add Furikake, also available in a variety of ready made blends. Of note both products and more complete prepackaged meal options are common in Asian Grocers - they must have a following.
Is a mini microwave or small benchtop “nuke” a better alternative ti a mini rice cooker? Especially since it cannot only handle pre packaged fare, but also cook raw rice efficiently. Compact microwaves 20l volume are readily available, from $49 (EG BigW and KMart). Perhaps even smaller can be found.
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I see that. But such things are much more expensive per serve than plain rice and AFAIK would not suit being cooked in a rice cooker so I don’t see how they fit into the question of whether having a rice cooker is useful for most people to cook plain rice.
It may not?
Perhaps to explore the alternatives is one way to open the mind to whether a rice cooker is the most appropriate or the only solution to providing small quantities.
Politely I was inspired to think about how I might approach the need today. Reality - I have gone for convenience and tried several of the one packet rice wonders when cooking for one. A bi-product of having two single living adult offspring who often cook for one.
On cost we agree. Observation of the real world is many consumers often make decisions on other than absolute lowest cost. Rice and beans one pot wonders excepted. The “Laughing Clown” and spread of franchised Indian inspired cuisines offering supposedly other ways to save money and be more efficient in the home kitchen. Would agree it’s a different emphasis. Although the OP opened more generally prior to choosing the rice cooker, intended as an example only?
I had 2 rice cookers and both left crust in the bottom using white rice varieties. I didnt like either, found the rice a tad gluggy. Went back to traditional method…I was always advised that 1 cup of rice raw produces 3 cups cooked
We have a Breville rice cooker (estimated to be around 15 years old) and have never had any issues with the rice at the base of the rice cooker crusting/being overcooked nor gluggy. We cook principally white rice (medium/long grain, Basmati and Jasmine). We don’t cook short grain rice or glutinous rice as these can be stickier/gluggier. We also infrequently cook brown rice as well and it cooks well in a rice cooker.
That’s about right for fluffed up cooked rice. Brown rice and rice unfluffed, the ratio will be less. This is why the cups provided with rice cooker smaller than a standard measuring cup - as the cups are based on cooked rice, not uncooked rice.
You can get the same in a pot if your juggle the water and time.
Crusty bottom to your rice.
To be valued?
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Cooking time on a stove depends on the cook top used. Where I live now there is an old style raised hotplate. It takes a long time to heat up when compared to ceramic cook tops. If I had a ceramic cook top I would indeed not bother with the mini rice cooker.
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As an aside. Have you considered a portable induction cooktop?
Some tested products including models well under the $100 price mark.
