Zojirushi NS-LHC05 Micom Rice Cooker & Warmer, Stainless Dark Brown, 3 Cups Uncooked

With all the options for rice cookers on the market and at prices that are significantly cheaper, one might be wondering why to get this rice cooker. For the same price, you can probably get something that only cooks rice but also has other functions as well. I was skeptical on buying this because 130 dollars for something that just cooks different types of rice seems like overkill, especially considering there are much cheaper options.I can tell you right now, this product is worth it. Period. I got this particular one because a 5 cup rice cooker is too big for just myself. The size of this model is pretty compact and the ease of use is extremely easy. I made brown rice (the biggest reason I bought it because I struggle with brown rice cooking) and after a hour and half of cooking, it came out PERFECT. No exaggeration, PERFECT. Not a single grain stuck to the bottom, incredibly fluffy and just down right perfect.Now, the down sides: The cook time is very long. Brown rice on a regular pot over a stove should take about 45 minutes. White rice takes about 25 minutes on a pot on the stove. For this machine, it takes 90 minutes for brown and 60 I believe for white rice. Now I know that is a long time but considering the rice comes out perfect with no fuss, it makes it worth it. Plus, the delayed start timer allows you to set a time to cook the rice at a particular time so it helps manage the long cook time. I will usually set the timer to start about 1.5 hour before I arrive home so when I get home it is cooked. The only other con is that the cool down is longer than I would like since I like to wash dishes right away but that's a really minute complaint.All in all, this is 110% worth it. The price is high but the result is perfect rice with zero imperfections. What more can you ask for?

Took a large leap into higher end rice cookers for everyday eating, and I don't regret it. The gap introduced by this over standard rice cookers is substantial. I think that you will still get the best results cooking it by pot and managing it yourself, however this is extremely easy to use and will cook the rice for you on all sides and provide a consistency with no hardened or stiffer sides of any rice in the cooking pot. Also the multiple settings are quite useful especially given that I use multiple types of rice personally, so I find the settings quite helpful - and they all work quite well.Easily storable and movable, with a retractable cable that works quite well. Comes with a rice ladle and ladle holder, that is more unnecessary than useful. However that is a small detail in this product as the overall rice cooker is probably one of the top end for your money machines you can buy. there are probably fancier and more consistent cookers out there, however they cost much more.

This is my impression after unboxing and using the rice cooker for the first time. It is simple to use. It took almost an hour cooking jasmine rice... but I knew that and planned by starting the rice early. It has a button to keep rice warm for up to 12 hours. I used that feature keeping the finished rice warm for about 20 minutes. Then I used the reheat button. It spent 9 minutes reheating the rice. I had tasted the rice when it finished cooking and also again after it had been kept warm & was then reheated. It tasted the same to me both times. I followed all the instructions which said to fluff the rice once it has finished cooking. I did that. Then when I was ready to reheat the rice, I sprinkled the top of the rice with about 1 tablespoon of water before closing the lid and pressing the reheat button. The cooker produced rice that had separate grains. It was slightly sticky (I like that) and the rice was more tender than I've ever tasted jasmine before. I asked my son what he thought of the rice from the new cooker and he said "It's a lot softer." I agree, the grains are softer yet keep their shape. We had a small amount of gravy with our rice. I noticed the rice did not soak up any of the gravy even though it was sitting in a puddle of it. This cooker does not make the pot full of little rice sponges I’ve come to know which other rice cookers always produce. A fork full of rice with just a little gravy felt wonderful in my mouth. It's like the gravy was able to coat each grain and didn't disappear into the rice grains. The gravy stayed on the outside of the rice. It was easy to taste both the rice and the gravy separately in my mouth. This helped make for a superior tasting meal. The rice cooled a little slower on my plate than rice made in other rice makers. Once the rice had cooled completely, I thought it still tasted really good. About the taste... it does taste somehow slightly different than the flavor I'm familiar with (for jasmine rice,) but I like this ‘new’ flavor just as much. So far I'm delighted with what this rice cooker can do!