Cooking rice on a stovetop is easy enough. Just pour some rice on a pot, rinse it, add water, and cook it on medium heat until the waterâs bubbling up, then turn it way down to finish things up for another 10 minutes or so. However, cooking perfect rice every time is not quite so easy. Sometimes, it ends up a bit too moist. Other times, the rice at the bottom ends up browning and charring a bit. If you want to avoid all those potential issues, itâs usually best to just use a rice cooker.
The best rice cookers make cooking rice a pretty automatic affair, similar to how the best multicookers let you cook different dishes with much less work. You still have to do the rinsing and add the water yourself, but it handles everything after that by itself. If you put in too much or too little water, for instance, it will either adjust the temperature or the cooking time all on its own, so you still get well-cooked rice without any extra fuss. That means, you can just leave the kitchen and come back to ready steamed rice afterwards, with zero risk of seeing any hint of burnt rice at the bottom of the pot.
Not all the best rice cookers are the same, of course. Some keep things simple with two settings, cook and keep warm, with the device automatically switching to the keep warm setting as soon as the rice is finished cooking. These types of rice cookers are very cheap, too, which is why theyâre a very common sight in many peopleâs kitchens. However, there are more advanced rice cookers that can do so much more. Some offer presets for different types of rice (brown rice, long grain, sushi rice, and more), while others have options to cook different rice-based dishes (porridge, congee, rice cakes).
Some rice cookers also take longer to cook than others. While those that cook in the 10 minutes or so range are very convenient, many of the best-tasting rice weâve had all came from rice cookers that took more of their time, so youâll have to decide what your own priorities are.
These are the best rice cookers to make perfectly-cooked rice an effortless affair.
Aroma Digital Rice Cooker
Pros
- Inexpensive
- Consistent results every time
- Separate white rice and brown rice settings
Cons
- Inner pot feels flimsy
- Might be too small for some
Capacity: 4 cups (uncooked)
Settings: White rice, brown rice, keep warm, steam, flash rice
Accessories: Steam tray, serving spatula, rice measuring cup
When people want a cheap rice cooker, most people get one of those sub-$20 models that has those basic cook and keep warm settings. However, you can find something with a bit more features for just an extra $10 or so like this Aroma Digital Rice Cooker, which we think is a much better value. For instance, it has different settings for white rice and brown rice, so you can have each type cook in a different way, while a Flash Rice setting is also available for those times you need your rice cooked as fast as possible. Weâre impressed at how well it cooks, as we tried medium grain, Basmati, and Jasmine, all at the same white rice setting and got the expected results each time. The flash rice setting made pretty good rice, too, albeit with grains not as consistently fluffy across the whole batch as the standard settings.
Hamilton Beach Programmable Rice Cooker & Steamer
Pros
- Inexpensive
- Cooks rice well
- Cooks fast
Cons
- Limited settings
- Hinged lid spills water when opened
Capacity: 7 cups (uncooked)
Settings: White rice, whole grain, quick rice, hot cereals, steam, simmer
Accessories: Steam basket, serving spatula, rice measuring cup
We like Hamilton Beachâs line of affordable kitchen appliances, from their indoor grill and air fry toaster oven to their panini press and more. As such, weâre not surprised they have one of our favorite rice cookers at around the $50 price point. This a good alternative to the Aroma model above if you need a rice cooker than can cook more than four uncooked cups in one go (it takes up to seven cups). Despite having that much capacity, itâs actually built pretty compact, so it still doesnât take up as much space as some seven- and eight-cup models weâve used. It cooked, pretty much, every type of rice we tried correctly, even when we varied the amount of water, with the device making its own adjustments to compensate. In fact, of all the rice we tried, only sushi rice turned out not so good, being a little more sticky and mushy than weâd like, although we can probably fix that with slightly less water (we didnât get to try). The standard presets cook rice fast, too, cooking six-cup batches in around 30 minutes or so, although thereâs also a Quick Rice setting if youâre in a hurry. The only thing we donât like is the hinged lid, which has closed accidentally multiple times (you have to really push it open) and even occasionally spills water onto the counter when opened, but itâs not a deal breaker.
Cuckoo Micom Rice Cooker
Pros
- Lots of cooking presets
- Functions as slow cooker
- Can preprogram to start cooking up to 12 hours later
- Allows manual control
Cons
- Takes up a lot of space
Capacity: 6 cups (uncooked)
Settings: Glutinous, turbo, mixed, brown, porridge, steam, baby food, multi cook, auto clean
Accessories: Serving spatula, measuring cup
If you want a rice cooker with plenty of preset programs for under $100, itâs hard to beat this model, which comes with 11 different presets, so you can really tailor the cooking process to whatever rice grains youâre using. We like the handy reheat setting and the multi cook setting, which basically lets it function as a slow cooker, as well as the ability to preprogram cooking for up to 12 hours beforehand. That means, you can rinse your rice and add water in the morning, head to work then come back to freshly cooked rice in the evening. Very convenient. It cooks rice excellently, too, turning them out at a quality not that far off from more expensive rice cookers like the Zojirushi below. This rice cooker also allows far more manual control than other options, which folks who like to experiment might appreciate, although we, admittedly, do prefer the automated presets.
Tiger Micom JBV-A10U
Pros
- Precision cooking
- Terrific cooked rice quality
- Offers slow cook preset
Cons
- Limited presets (no turbo mode)
Capacity: 5.5 cups (uncooked)
Settings: Plain, synchro (rice and steam), brown, slow cook
Accessories: Steam tray, measuring cup, serving spatula, spatula holder, mini-cookbook
In case youâre wondering what âMicomâ means in the names of some rice cookers (like this one and the one above), itâs just a generic abbreviation of âmicrocomputerized,â essentially pointing out that it uses a chip to manage temperature and cooking times instead of relying on a thermostat and a heating element. Tiger is one of the more popular brands in rice cookers and, from what we know, this is one of their most affordable models. As such, it only has four settings, while also not having any timer, alarm, or digital display. What it does have is Tigerâs wonderful programming for rice cooking, so it turns out terrific-tasting rice for every type of grain we tried. We do wish it has a âTurbo Riceâ function for those days we just want a quick and dirty cook, but the quality results more than make up for it. Plus, we appreciate the addition of a slow cook function that let us use it for non-rice pot dishes.
Cuckoo Heating Pressure Cooker & Warmer CRP-P1009S
Pros
- Cooks faster at high quality
- Lots of presets
- Can be used to pressure cook meats
Cons
- Can be confusing with all the options
Capacity: 10 cups (uncooked)
Settings: White rice, white turbo, mixed rice, brown rice, high heat, GABA rice, porridge, nu rung ji, multi cook
Accessories: Steam plate, rice spatula, measuring cup
At this price point, we werenât surprised to find this rice cooker to be so well-made. It just feels like the kind of appliance that will last you a long, long time (fingers crossed). It has even more presets than the more affordable Cuckoo model above, adding separate ones for GABA and brown rice for instance, while also doing Korean-style nu rung ji for those who like their scorched rice bottoms (we donât). Unlike all the previous entries in the list, this one has integrated pressure cooking, which is why itâs able to achieve excellent rice texture while cooking at a much faster pace than others. And yes, you can use it to pressure cook meats, too, via the multi cook preset, which is incredibly handy. We love the real-time audio alerts, so you know when rice has moved from pressure cooking to settling to other cooking stages.
KitchenAid Grain and Rice Cooker
Pros
- Cooks rice, beans, and grains
- 21 presets
- Uses perfect amount of water every time
Cons
- Takes up lots of countertop space
Capacity: 8 cups (uncooked)
Settings: Short grain white, long grain white, short grain brown, long grain brown, Basmati, Jasmine, wild rice, sushi rice, black beans, lentils, red beans, kidney beans, pinto beans, chickpeas, steel cut oats, rolled oats, couscous, quinoa, pearled barley, hulled barley, farro
Accessories: Steamer basket
Easily the most unique rice cooker in the list, this one doesnât just look different, it does things differently, too. Instead of having the user combine rice and water in the pot, it has a separate water tank right next to the pot. When you cook rice or other grains in it, the device detects how much you put inside, then draws the right amount of water from the tank on its own. It has 21 preset options that let you choose what items youâre cooking, so itâs not only for rice, as you can also use it with beans, oats, couscous, quinoa, and more. You can also choose whether you want the item to cook with soft, regular, or firm textures, which we found very helpful, especially when using it with beans. While some of the fancier Japanese rice cookers easily outdo it when it comes to overall taste and texture for various rice types (itâs good, just not as good), its ability to cook grains and beans just make it so much more versatile, especially if you cook those things with any regularity.
Zojirushi NP-HCC10XH Induction Heating Rice Cooker
Pros
- Super precise cooking
- Incredible rice fluffiness and texture
- Warms rice for long periods without drying (weâre talking 8+ hours or more)
- Lots of different rice presets
Cons
- Cooks slower than others
- Very expensive
Capacity: 5.5 cups (uncooked)
Settings: White rice (with options for regular, softer, or harder), jasmine, mixed rice, sushi rice, porridge, sweet rice, brown rice, GABA brown rice, turbo
Accessories: Measuring cup, serving spatula, spatula holder
When it comes to the overall quality of the cooked rice, thereâs just nothing that tops this Zojirushi model. It doesnât matter whether itâs long-grain, brown rice, or anything else â this thing turns out consistently fluffy and tender rice at perfect moisture levels. We also like the âKeep Warmâ setting that kept the rice warm without ever drying out even after leaving it in that setting for multiple hours, as well as the âExtend Keep Warmâ that does the same when you want to leave it warming for over eight hours. It cooks very evenly by using induction tech that heats the pot from the bottom, sides, and even the lid, although it does take longer than to cook than a whole lot of other models, which, we guess, is the main reason why the rice you make on it ends up tasting incredibly good. Suffice to say, itâs worth the wait.
