A while back I found that rice and beans was something that I could eat pretty much week in and week out. Since, however, I come from a long, proud line of pack rats, I was worried about catching gadgetitis — the affliction of having rooms filled with single-use appliances — from my ancestors.
I never quite got the knack of cooking rice on the stovetop. I had to watch it carefully or it would boil over and burn the rice to the bottom of the pot. Other easier-to-prepare options were too expensive. So, eventually, I figured that a rice cooker might actually be decent at cooking rice, and one weekend in Costco I decided to pick up an Aroma® rice cooker. It was $29 — we got the ARC-1000 which is actually a better deal there than at Amazon — but it was $29 very well spent.
It's a piece of cake to make really good rice with this thing. Even I can't screw it up:
- Measure up to 10 rice cups (1 rice cup = 6 ounces) of uncooked rice.
- Rinse rice under water until it rinses clear.
- Measure the same amount of water, plus 3 ounces.
- Put rice and water in the cooker.
- Push the “white rice” button if it's white rice, and the “brown rice” button if it's brown rice.
- Take the cooked rice out when it beeps.
That's all I do. The rice comes out great. It's so easy, and I don't have to pay attention to it while it's cooking, or even guess how long it will take to cook. It just knows. (I do take it out shortly after it's done so that it doesn't dry out or stick to the bottom, though.)
My Aroma rice cooker has already paid for itself in saved time and aggravation. A+!
Your title made me laugh pretty good. The ‘Aroma’ sounds good! We love our rice cooker as well.
I have never used a rice cooker and proabably never will. I love to make rice as well and havent ever had a problem cooking it on the stove. These are my simple directions…
Twice as much water as rice.
bring to a boil, then simmer (about 20 min for 1-cup of dry rice). fluff with fork.
I have an older version of the Aroma that has a steaming basket on the top – definitely a good purchase. Works great for rice and veggies, and I can even use the water from steaming as vegetable stock.
I have to confess, I wasn’t sure what the post was going to be about until the second paragraph! I’ve never had too many probs cooking rice in a pot. Just put two parts water to one part rice. Never tried a rice cooker though – I feel like I wouldn’t be able to trust it! Congrats on eating so much rice and beans (save those poor animals!:))
I have the same Rice Cooker. The only problem with the cooker is that the keep warm function causes the rice to brown and get dry on the bottom. To avoid this you need to turn off the cooker as the cooking cycle ends and not let it go into the keep warm cycle. I wouldn’t recommend this Rice cooker as there are numerous other rice cookers that can keep the rice warm and moist without causing a crusty bottom.
Gypsie: It’s the simmer part that gets me. I have trouble getting the setting right. It also might be because our stove is flat-glass and the lower heat settings just alternate blasting the pot with heat and shutting off.
Doyle: Yes, it does brown a little. That’s why I take it out. I’m cooking for several days’ worth of lunches, so I just let it cool before putting it in the refrigerator.
Great post! now if I could just find a “bean cooker” I’d be thrilled! I cook mine in the crock pot all day, but I’d love to be able to cook up a good batch quickly, like you can do with a rice cooker. Oh, and I hear ya about the flat-glass and the inconsistent heat. We used to have one and now have gas stove in our new home – what a difference! While the flat-glass sure was easy to keep clean, I did not like the way it cooked things!