Invest in rice maker?

Yes absolutely, we use ours all the time. Very easy to use and you may end up saving money in the long run.

LOVE my rice cooker! You'll never do minute rice again.

Yes! Love mine! Brand is Aroma,never sticks, perfect rice every time. And it's relatively inexpensive. :-)

I want one! Must be nice to just put it in and let go, I have to make a batch then store in tupperware!

I agree with the Aroma brand..........doesn't spit hot rice water all over the kitchen like my previous rice cooker. I bought mine at Walmart.

I have a really cheap one that I'll probably throw away when we move. Yes, you can do more than cook rice with one, but they're worth having and you'll save some $ in the long run.

YES, YES, YES!!!! I cook mine with chicken or veggie stock to add good flavor. Can eat this stuff for breakfast it's so good:bigsmile:

Haha, the rice maker is a cook's best friend. I bought mine almost ten years ago back when I was in college. BEST investment I ever made!

Just left my local walgreens drug store. They had a small 6 cup rice cooker/steamer on sale for $10! That might be a great starter cooker.

I would strongly suggest using a pressure cooker instead. You can cook rice in it through the "pot in a pot method". I just bought a cheap $5 stainless steel pot and chopped off the handle so it fits inside and is raised off the bottom. This site has all the info and recipes.

http://fastcooking.ca/pressure_cookers/how_to_cook_rice_in_a_pressure_cooker.php


Pros:
- Cooks rice much faster - It's the way some restaurants do it
- Cooks other foods faster - Perfect for families!
- You don't get that crispy rice on the sides of the pot
- You can use it for more than rice! 30min Chicken Broth, quick cook lentils, basically any slow cooker recipe supercharged.
- No Teflon to worry about
- Never boils over like a rice cooker does.

Cons:
- Cost. It's an investment, but should last a lifetime unlike the heating element of a cheap made in china cooker.
- Space, as they are a little bigger
- Takes a little practice to get the timing right. You need a kitchen timer as 30-60 seconds sometimes makes a difference between soupy rice and cooked rice

FYI. I bought my wife the pressure cooker for Christmas 2 years ago after our traditional rice cooker stopped working. We use it at least once a week. Just make sure that's not the only gift you get her as she may hit you with it.

We got one for a wedding gift, and I thought "I'll never use this". I grew up on min rice. And now I think it's the most used thing aside from our can opener lol. I love it- perfect brown rice every time.

I use mine quite a bit. I thought they were appliances that take up space and don't get used until I was in college. I had some Indonesian roommates that had one, and I was kind of impressed. Some of my friends had them too.

I tried cooking rice on the stove, but I could never tell when it was done, and I didn't have the patience to not lift the lid and check. Lifting the lid is the worst thing when cooking rice. Now, with my rice cooker, it flips a switch when it's done, kind of like a toaster. I also cook veggies in it.

I like to eat brown rice with a little bit of wild rice mixed in. There is so much fiber in it and you would miss out on that if you ate instant rice.

You can cook up a huge batch and ration it out over the week like you want to do.

I also love throwing veggies in the top tray to let them steam.

I would definitely suggest you get a rice cooker. I got one a couple months ago and love mine. I've eaten more rice in the past couple months than I've eaten in my life. It's so easy to use. You won't be sorry.

Definately get one.......

I bought a Zojirushi one from QVC years back and it gets the most use out of all the electric gadgets in our kitchen. We especially love jasmine rice in it and I haven't used Minute Rice since I bought it. We make brown rice in it as well but my family doesn't like the brown rice in it as much as they like the jasmine or white rice.

If you want, here's a recipe I've been using lately for brown rice from Alton Brown and it's made in the oven. It comes out so good and my family loves it.

1 1/2 cups brown rice, medium or short grain
2 1/2 cups water
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 teaspoon kosher salt

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place the rice into an 8 inch square glass baking dish.
Bring water, butter and salt to just a boil in a kettle or covered saucepan. Once the water boils, pour it over the rice, stir to combine and cover the dish tightly with heavy duty aluminum foil. Bake on the middle rack of the oven for 1 hour.