Ultimate Guide to Stainless Steel Rice Cookers

Get rid of burnt or poorly cooked rice and read this ultimate guide to stainless steel rice cookers to get the perfect appliance!

After cooking in a stainless steel rice cooker, I look no further than it because it evenly cooks meals, offers high durability, and is easy to clean. Stainless steel makes the rice cooker extra durable and resistant. Well, that’s not enough to know—you need to look for a couple of factors like size, capacity, brand, price, design, functions, etc. Here is the ultimate guide to stainless steel rice cookers:

Ultimate Guide to Stainless Steel Rice Cookers

A stainless steel rice cooker is a cooking pot enclosed in a shell made of stainless steel. Before moving on to the guide to choosing a worthwhile stainless steel rice cooker, it is important for a user to know the reasons why they should get one.

Benefits Of Stainless Steel Cooker

1. Durable

Stainless steel rice cooker, as the name implies, is made of stainless steel, which is strong, robust, and highly resistant to external impact factors. Unlike your traditional rice cooker, the stainless steel rice cooker will last forever as it is not prone to breakage, corrosion, or other likely impacts.

2. Easy Cleaning

After switching to the stainless steel rice cooker, I made the judgment that it is super easy to clean than conventional rice cookers. This is because stainless steel is a solid material with no pores at all. In other words, the left-over food particles, flavor, or aroma will not get absorbed into the stainless steel, which is why the stainless steel rice cooker is easy to clean and manage.

3. Healthier

As far as nutrition is concerned, the stainless steel rice cooker is preferred because it is contaminant free unlike the non-stick cookers or instant pots. There is no chemical coated over the steel cooker that leaches into your edibles and impacts your health.

4. Distributes Heat Evenly

Metals are excellent heat conductors, and stainless steel is no exception. It retains and distributes heat evenly and perfectly to every inch of the rice cooker and serves you a super delicious, evenly cooked, hot, and fresh meal every time.

5. Versatile

Don’t judge the stainless steel rice cooker by its name! You can cook rice, dumplings, pasta, oatmeal, soups, stews, quinoa, steamed veggies, and whatever you want in the same cooker. It is as versatile as a basic kitchen pot that can be used to cook anything or everything.

Factors That You Should Consider

Now that you know the perks of a stainless steel rice cooker and why you should opt for one, it’s time for you to understand the primary factors that need your attention before you spend your precious money. I’ve quoted that stainless steel rice cookers are a valuable addition to anyone’s kitchen based on my experience, but I didn’t say that every steel cooker in the market is a perfect option.

The market is flooded with a range of stainless steel rice cookers because of their increased demand. Each brand is claiming that its product is a top-notch item, but you need to be specific about certain things like budget, brand, serving size, and functions. Let’s talk about the ultimate guide to stainless steel rice cookers in detail below:

1. Build Quality

Stainless steel rice cooker, as its name indicates, is made of stainless steel which stands out for being most durable, robust, long-lasting, non-porous, and smooth. Stainless steel benefits you with even and uniform cooking, nutritious and healthy meals, fast cooking time, easy cleaning, effortless maintenance, and whatnot.

The parts of stainless steel rice cookers other than its pot, like the handle, are usually made of silicone or heat-resistant plastic, rubber, etc. Among all, silicone is preferred because it is lightweight, resistant, long-lasting, BPA-free, and friendly.

2. Functions

Stainless steel rice cookers vary greatly based on the functions they offer as some are a bit basic while others are digital and advanced. You should pick one based on your need. Be aware that the advanced and digital stainless steel rice cookers cost more and are suitable for buyers who are interested in a good investment.

In my opinion, if the price is not an issue for you or you can afford a digital rice cooker, go for it and you’ll be amazed by the automatic functions that will make cooking effortless for you. However, a basic stainless steel rice cooker is also a valuable addition to a kitchen as it brings all the benefits that I listed at the beginning of this blog, except that it is not automatic.

3. Durability

Durability comes from the material used in the making of any product. As far as the stainless steel rice cooker is concerned, it is made of the toughest stainless steel that offers excellent resistance to impact-causing factors and lasts for longer. It would be right to say that getting a stainless steel rice cooker is no less than an investment because after buying one, you’ll not need another cooker for a lifetime.

4. Design

The stainless steel rice cookers come in different designs and shapes like oval from the bottom, rectangular, and more. However, most people including kitchen experts think that the design of the rice cooker is not a matter of concern, but I don’t second that. This is because the shape or style of the rice cooker determines the handling, capacity, cooking efficiency, and more; therefore, choose wisely.

5. Ventilation System

Rice cookers function on steam that is built inside the cooker at certain heat and pressure. However, the accumulated steam needs to escape somewhere through a vent; otherwise, your meal will get soggy due to extra moisture and steam inside. That’s why you need to buy a vented stainless steel rice cooker that comes with a hole through which steam escapes.

Rice cookers vary depending on the size of the vent: small to large. In general, a large steam vent will allow more moisture to escape while a smaller one will cause hindrance in escape. There is no rule of thumb; you need to pick one as per your choice, for example, if you are worried about soggy rice, choose the large vent cooker, while if you’re concerned about dried rice, pick a small vent cooker.

6. Price

Nevertheless, if you’re a billionaire or not, the price is a matter of concern for everyone. Rice cookers vary from fifty dollars to hundreds of dollars. Don’t rush for too cheap or extra expensive products; define your needs, shortlist the size and functions you want, and make a purchase accordingly.

Choose The Right Cooker: Size Guide

Choosing the right size is very important because no matter how good a quality stainless steel rice cooker you get, if it is smaller than the serving you want to prepare, it is no less than a hassle. Therefore, you need to think about the size first, usually in terms of volume.

To pick the right size, you need to consider the serving size based on the total number of members, for instance two-person serving, four-person serving, family serving, and more. Another way to consider the size of the volume or quantity of rice you’ll be preparing.

I choose the right size stainless steel rice cooker by considering the sum of a cup of cooked and half cup of uncooked rice for each person eating. On the internet, you’ll usually see that stainless steel rice cooker sizes are mentioned in terms of uncooked rice cups.

Another thing that I always practice when picking the right cooker is “margin”. You need to leave a little margin when measuring rice cups for each person to avoid any inconvenience in the future.

Now that you know the phenomenon of measuring the cups for each person to choose the true size of the cooker for your kitchen, it’s time to learn a little bit about measuring cups. I always follow the standard USA measuring cup for all measurements which is equal to more or less 240ml.

However, there are brands that follow the Japanese measuring unit which is also termed “go”. One go is equal to 180 ml or three-fourths of a cup. It is very important to understand the difference between units; otherwise, you’ll complain about the size of the cooker in the future.

Cleaning Rice Cooker: All You Need To Know

Another thing I’m adding to this ultimate guide to stainless steel rice cookers is cleaning and maintenance. Cleaning the rice cooker is not a big deal. All you need to do is to unplug the rice cooker, fill the inside pan with warm water, and mix dishwashing liquid in it. Let it soak for five to ten minutes so that the leftover food particles dissolve and get removed easily.

Pour it into the sink and scrub if there is any residue left. After that, rinse the pot with water, and you’re done. I always use mild dishwashing agents to clean the stainless steel cooker, so please be a bit conscious about that to increase the shelf life of the cooker.

FAQs

The Bottom Line

That’s all for an ultimate guide to stainless steel rice cookers! I have explained the important factors in detail in this blog for your assistance. Please make sure to read the size guide carefully to make a worthwhile purchase.