You may think that buying a rice cooker is one of the easiest things in the world. However, your thinking will change as soon as you visit the shop. You’ll find yourself lost in hundreds of rice cooker brands. The different price ranges these cookers come in will confuse you further. 

Once you hit the shop, you’ll find that there are rice cookers that cost less than $50, and there are ones that cost more than $250. One common question that arises in everyone’s mind is, “Why am I paying the extra $200? Will I get more features?” 

One of the costliest rice cookers in the market is the Zojirushi rice cooker. This appliance costs more than $250, and the price even soars over $300 in some markets. Naturally, a lot of people question, “Is a Zojirushi rice cooker worth it?”

In this comprehensive review, we’ll discuss all there is to know about the Zojirushi rice cooker. Let’s get started, shall we?

Zojirushi Rice Cooker Review:

Product Description:

The Zojirushi Rice Cooker is undoubtedly one of the most expensive rice cookers you can find on the market. This makes a lot of people question its features. However, the reviews about Zojirushi rice cookers are mostly positive, if not all. The problem with this is, as these reviews are found on the internet, they look too good to be true. Believe it or not, our experience with the Zojirushi rice cooker was equally impressive, and we found close to no flaws with this kitchen appliance. 

Most rice cookers that you’ll find under the $100 price margin offers only two features. These can either cook your rice or warm them up. However, once you start climbing on the price range, the offered features start to increase as well. Here, it must be mentioned that the features offered by the rice cookers below the $200 mark aren’t worth getting, as they don’t offer quite the value for the price. 

On the other hand, the Zojirushi rice cooker costs over $250, and the high price tag can make you question, “Is a Zojirushi rice cooker worth it?” it offers a lot of other features other than warming and cooking. This is truly an intelligent rice cooker, as it can cook different types of rice just the way they’re meant to be cooked. 

When you cook brown rice, you don’t cook it like you would’ve cooked Sushi rice, do you? Similarly, there are different procedures built into the Zojirushi rice cooker that allows it to cook white rice, brown rice, Sushi rice, and jasmine rice. 

Then again, there will be an LCD screen that’ll display the timer, mode, etc. that you’ve set. Then there’s the timer function. With the timer, you’ll not only be able to set the cooking time, but you can also delay the time at which the cooking will start. This is a fantastic function as it allows the user to prepare the rice cooker early. After setting the timer, you can do your chores, and the rice cooker will start cooking only when you want it to. 

Now, let’s talk about how the rice cooker will cook your favorite rice dishes. Unlike the standard rice cookers, the Zojirushi rice cooker uses induction heating to cook the rice. This same technology allows the rice cooker different types of rice to restaurant-level perfection. 

The induction heating technology is very different from the stovetop boiling method. In this case, the heating energy is generated by harnessing electrical energy through a magnetic field. Thus, the heat reaches every corner of the rice cooker uniformly, allowing it to bring variations. 

A lot of people doubt the feasibility of this method, and there’s a reason for that too. As induction heating is a comparatively newer technology, you can’t tell if heat is reaching every portion uniformly or not. To ensure that happens, the Zojirushi rice cooker comes with heat sensors. These sensors make sure that heat is being dissipated evenly. 

One thing that caught our mind immediately is, although the Zojirushi rice cooker harnesses high-tech features, it’s very easy to use. It’s great that the manufacturers were able to create the controls as simple as possible, and you won’t yourself confused even on the first day! 

The best part about the rice cooker is the variety of rice it can cook. What’s more, is that the rice cooked with this rice cooker resemble restaurant quality. With the variety of features that this rice cooker has to offer, you can bring the true aroma and flavor out of the rice. 

For example, if you want to get the best out of brown rice, you need to extract the Gamma-aminobutyric acid or GABA out of it. However, this is hard to do manually as you need to warm the brown rice at 104 degrees for two hours! 

However, with the custom warming feature of the Zojirushi rice cooker, you can do this very easily. This will allow you to extract the GABA out of brown rice, which makes it one of the healthiest rice dishes out there. 

Plus, you can select the texture of the rice as per your choice. Whenever you’re cooking the rice, you can select whether you want the rice to be hard, regular, or soft. 

Then again, there are special presets that allows the rice cooker to extract the umami aroma and flavor out of the rice you’re cooking. This will help you cook flavored rice even out of regular white rice. So, if you’re keen on customizing your daily rice meals, the Zojirushi rice cooker can provide the features you need. 

However, this rice cooker isn’t only about good things. Although you can create a variety of rice dishes with this appliance, you need to wait a lot. Even the quickest preset will make you wait for 30 minutes, at least if you’re cooking three pots of rice. Then again, if you’re on the regular setup, you’ll have to wait for 55 minutes. 

Now, will the wait be worth it? Of course! If you can wait for that much, you’ll be able to enjoy restaurant-grade rice for no extra expenses at all. However, there are people to whom time is of the essence. If you’re one of them, you shouldn’t go for the Zojirushi rice cooker. 

Then again, if you can manage to activate the rice cooker before you start cooking all the other items, the rice will finish cooking once you’re done with the others. So, if you can handle this smartly, the long sessions shouldn’t be a problem for you. 

There are three modes to the alarm system of the Zojirushi rice cooker. The cooker will play a melody of ‘Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star’ once the cooker is done cooking by default. However, if you don’t like this melody, you can change it to the traditional beep alarm, or you can set to silent if the alarms bother you. Although this feature isn’t groundbreaking, it’s a nice and simple touch that provides greater flexibility to the user. 

As we’ve said before, using the Zojirushi rice cooker is easier than you think. A measuring cup will be included with the package, and you can measure how many pots of rice you’re going to cook. Then it would help if you rinsed the rice. Although a lot of people avoid this step, you shouldn’t as a rinse helps remove excess starch from the rice. 

You can rinse the rice right in the cooking pot. However, the Zojirushi rice cooker doesn’t provide a strainer so that you can use the one in your home, or you can get yourself a new one. Once you’re done with this step, you need to put the amount of rice you need to cook in the rice cooker, and then you need to hit start. 

The time needed to cook the rice will be displayed on the LCD screen. However, you don’t need to remember that as you’ll be alerted as soon as the rice cooker is done cooking. Plus, when the cooking will be done, the rice cooker shifts to regular warming automatically. Due to this feature, the rice won’t get cool over time, which is why it’s very convenient if you’re planning on taking the meal later. However, there is a definite amount of time until which the rice will stay fresh, so you better take it as soon as you can. Once you’re ready to take it out, press the ‘cancel’ button, and take the pot out. 

When we decided to check the rice cooker out for the first time, we tried to cook two pots of rice. Let’s talk about our experience a bit. 

The rice cooker prepared our meal in about 50 minutes. However, it should be mentioned that we cooked white rice, and the type of rice determines the cooking time. Once the cooking was finished, we found out that the rice was easy to take out of the pot. No rice was sticking at the bottom, and the rice condition was as per our instruction. We wanted the rice to be warm and hard, and that’s how we got it. Although the rice cooker took around 50 minutes to prepare white rice, it took almost 90 minutes to cook brown rice. If you’re going to cook brown rice mostly, and if you want to cook it fast, then this rice cooker isn’t for you. 

Product Design and Quality:

Is a Zojirushi rice cooker worth it? You’ll find out as soon as you look at its build. If you’re looking for a rice cooker that’s built like a tank, the Zojirushi rice cooker is the one you need. As we didn’t get the chance to use it for a long time before writing the review, we had to resort to reliable public forums, and we collected reviews from genuine buyers. 

We saw a post from a long-time user who claimed to be using a Zojirushi rice cooker for almost 20 years! He didn’t face any problem till now, and he expressed his wish to get another Zojirushi rice cooker if his present one stops working. 

If you want our opinion, we will highly recommend you go for this rice cooker. The Zojirushi rice cooker is built like a tank, and you won’t face any problem with it. Then again, if you get unlucky, you may face some problems. Then again, there’s a good warranty to back you up, so you shouldn’t think twice before getting one. 

As for the interface, we love it. It’s got a digital LCD panel that displays all the metrics and information that you may look for. What’s best is that the rice cooker displays a lot of information, but it doesn’t overcomplicate things. Even if you’re new to this, you can use the rice cooker with ease. 

Then again, the rice cooker doesn’t come with a mode button that complicates things. Each feature comes with a dedicated button on the interface, which makes operation very smooth and intuitive. You don’t have to push multiple buttons to select the mode you need. 

The Zojirushi rice cooker weighs about 9 pounds, which is ideal for a rice cooker. Then again, the rice cooker is considerably large, and you won’t be able to fit it in your kitchen if you have space constraints. 

Although this might be a problem for some, it also allows the rice cooker to cook up to 11 pots of rice, which is great if you have a lot of family members to feed. Plus, it’ll come in handy if you invite some guests over. 

One of the things we didn’t like about the Zojirushi rice cooker is its cleaning process. As it’s a huge rice cooker, you need to clean every accessory by hand. There’s no way to clean these with a dishwasher. Then again, if you want to clean this thoroughly, you need to dismantle some parts of the rice cooker. So, if you wish to clean this, you’ll need to invest a lot of time. 

However, doing these won’t be a tough job, as the instruction manual provides more than enough guidance on these. 

Pros:

• A high capacity rice cooker can cook up to 11 pots of rice
• Versatile, can cook different types of rice to perfection
• Offers a lot of features; thus, it’s very flexible
• Alert sound can be customized
• Cooking delay time can be customized
• Uses an induction heating technology to cook every portion equally

Cons:

• It takes a lot of time to cook
• Must be cleaned manually, which can take some time

Verdict:

As you can see, the Zojirushi rice cooker packs all the features that you may ask from a high-end rice cooker. Yes, the price might be daunting to some, but it’s true that the rice cooker provides adequate value for the price they’re charging. 

Plus, if you buy a $50 rice cooker, there’s no telling when that may stop working. On the other hand, you can rest assured if you buy the Zojirushi rice cooker as you’ll be able to use it for years without a problem. 

Plus, there are extra features. The Zojirushi rice cooker offers features that no other rice cooker does. Although it’s a bit more expensive than the others, it’s completely worth paying the extra. 

So, is a Zojirushi rice cooker worth it? Yes! It’s simply one of the best rice cookers you can get, and it offers amazing value for money. Although it might seem to be a huge investment when you buy it, it technically makes up for that with its longevity. 

FAQ:

Do You Need an Induction Heating Cooker?

Although an induction heating cooker is great, it might not be for everyone. For starters, it’s definitely five times more expensive than an average electric rice cooker. Even then, it will take a lot of time to cook the rice. So, if you don’t need an induction heating cooker and you can do just fine with the average taste of rice, then any standard electric rice cooker will be better for you. 

What’s Micom:

Micom is an abbreviation of micro-computerized. If the rice cooker has micom, it will be able to use its sensors to adjust the heat properly. The rice cookers that come with micom can fix human errors. That’s why we recommend you look for micom if you’re going for high-end rice cookers. 

Conclusion:

There are a lot of factors that can make a rice cooker perfect for your usage. There’s no perfect rice cooker on the market, so you need to find out which one suits you most. To get the perfect rice cooker for yourself, you need to understand whether the rice cooker’s features align with your necessities. If they do, you’re good to go. 

Then again, if you’re talking about the price, you need to know whether you need the features the rice cooker is providing. Is a Zojirushi rice cooker worth it? Well, that completely depends on whether you need the facilities that come with it. If you need them, you should get the Zojirushi rice cooker right away!