Riceburner

[roadrunnertwice]

So you might remember that I bought a ricemaker a little while back. It was one of these--I chose it because I'd had good luck with that cylindrical, latching-lid type in the past, and expected that this one would be pretty much the same as the Zojirushi one they had at 1373. In point of fact, it turned out to be complete ass. I must have tried like eight different ways of cooking brown rice in that thing, and every single time, it burned half of my rice onto the bottom of the pan. And the rest of the rice was usually pretty chewy and inedible, too, but let's not get off track, here--I was throwing away half of every single batch of rice.

So I took it back, and bought this instead:

It was half the price, it cooked this afternoon's rice perfectly on the first try, and it's totally frikkin' adorable. I reckon that as a clear win.

Now if only I could get that popcorn popper to not make a mess all over the kitchen...

John Darnielle sang, "Fill your mouth with berries / by the full light of the moon / work all night if you have to / the Magpie comes at noon." If you find this to be the case, you should just make do with the berries and feed the rice you made in your Oster Inspire rice cooker to the magpie.

I did try to give it a chance, honest--I must have tried like eight different ways of making brown rice with the thing (more water, less water, way more water, soak the grains for ten minutes, soak the grains for half an hour, soak the grains for half an hour in more water, etcetera ad nauseam). 'Twas all bootless: if there was one certainty in my kitchen during that unhappy time, it was that the Oster Inspire would burn half of my rice to the bottom of the pan. So then I got my money back and bought a far better ricemaker for half the price.

Product is broken as designed. Avoid.

Comments

[froborr.livejournal.com]

You know, I should get a ricecooker. What kind of a price range should I be looking at? Do they make any really little ones (like, 1-2 cups)? Oh, and the big question: how long do they take? If it's not 45 min or less, it's probably not worth it for me.

[roadrunnertwice]

Here's the above-pictured Rival one on Amazon. It cost me fifteen bucks at the downtown Target. I reckon it's smaller than a bowling ball, it makes a max of like 6 cups of cooked rice, and on brown rice it takes somewhere between half an hour and 40 minutes. I'd say you could do far worse than just getting the same one I did. Granted, I've only cooked one batch in it, so consider the advice still tentative.

[vaulted-eel.livejournal.com]

You are just about the only person I know who could quote a Mountain Goats song in a review of a rice cooker.

But gosh, the new one sure is cute! And the "actually works" bit sounds like a good bonus. :P

[roadrunnertwice]

It is such a good bonus.

(...surely not the only one...)

[b-zedan.livejournal.com]

That is an adorable kitchen gadget. I have a question: why would one need a rice cooker? I've never understood that. Doesn't rice cook just as fast and easy on the stove?

[froborr.livejournal.com]

*raises hand*

I need a ricecooker. Every time I make rice, I burn the first batch to inedibility. EVERY SINGLE TIME.

[roadrunnertwice]

I'm actually pretty darn good at making rice on the range, and am vain enough to be proud of my sharp judgment and steely nerve (of rice). But man, it's kind of observation-intensive. With a good ricemaker, you can just put the rice and water in, plug it in, and flick the switch, and then just read a book or something without worrying about scorching it.

Plus, I only have one saucepan right now, so I couldn't make rice and chili at the same time. When I was deciding whether to buy another (probably better) pan or an automatic rice cooker, the dollarage was coming out pretty similar. I ended up deciding that a rice cooker was less versatile, but more useful.

[b-zedan.livejournal.com]

That makes sense. My relative ease at cooking rice is pretty much based on working with the same stove-top, saucepan and rice type for a couple of years straight. Also, I think I am rarely out of the kitchen when cooking rice, since there is normally something else in there I'm making as well.

It also probably takes the place of a hot plate or slow cooker, in some uses.

Keep an eye on those second-hand stores for pans, our extra sauce pan was snagged from one.

[roadrunnertwice]

Will do.

(Man, though, last time? When I was looking at the secondhand saucepans? They were all nonstick ones with half the coating gouged off. And I was like, "Mmm, toxic." It's all about the stainless + copper, I say.)

[b-zedan.livejournal.com]

Look for old fondue sets. The pot part isn't always that super at high-temp cooking, but they're cheap and stainless and come with a lid. If they don't have the stand with them, they tend to be cheaper as well.

Why on earth would someone wand a non-stick sauce pan? Because something is going to burn on it eventually, and you can't steel-wool non-stick coating.

[roadrunnertwice]

I know, right? Seems to demonstrate a lack of forethought.

[tomax.livejournal.com]

I'm currently drooling over stainless-plated cast copper, myself. Maybe someday I'll be able to afford it.

[tomax.livejournal.com]

The stove is the problem, especially with brown rice. I suggest tossing everything into a heat-stable pan and sticking it in the oven, ignoring the stovetop entirely.