Rice cookers and my big score

annie1992

9 years ago

Here we have an online auction. It's like ebay, kind of, except it's local, we drive to a neighboring town to pick up our purchases and you can go to their building and look at anything that's up for auction, so there's no shipping

You can get anything from guns to the kitchen sink, I've gotten shovels and snowboards for the kids there, and I just bought a big box of pyrex that had 12 pie plates and a couple of casseroles for $3.00. I've gotten Griswold cast iron and four LeCrueset pans for less than $25 each.

A few weeks ago a rice cooker came up for auction. Used once. I promptly got on Amazon and looked up the Zojirushi pressure induction 10 cup rice cooker, number
NP-NVC18. $464.07? You've got to be kidding me, it's just for cooking rice!

Elery really, really wanted it. I finally bid it up, all the way up to $20.00.

So now it's been used twice, LOL. I've read the instructions 3 times and have given up impatiently each time. Today I cooked rice on top of the stove in a pan while the "machine" sat on the counter and looked at me.

We had one batch of rice and it was perfect right out of the machine but very dry the next day. I understand it has a "moist" setting, so there is apparently a learning curve.

I really gotta keep Elery away from that auction site or we'll need to build another barn, just to keep kitchen appliances in. (grin)

Annie

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Comments (13)

John Liu
9 years ago
Envious!
bellsmom
9 years ago
Oh, wow!!!
If I were in the area of that sale, I would be in BIG trouble! Another barn might not be enough.
Great buy. At that price it is worth it to learn that you don't want it ;-)
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I have seen some nicer Japanese made units that have a sushi rice setting. If you mean Chinese sticky rice or rice porridge then no, I've never seen one with that setting. I think it's just not that many people interested in that feature. If you leave your rice on warm, I think you'll run rice sticking or burning on the bottom with any rice cooker. I typically don't use the warm function at all. The double pot ones maintain heat pretty well so I just leave it in there and it stays warm for at least an hour or more which is plenty of time for a mean. If I want to be fancy, I have a clay pot that I heat up in an oven just to about 200 deg and then serve the rice in that. Especially nice on a cold day. I think the term "steamed rice" is an American artifact. The term in Chinese is usually simply rice or "white rice". Traditional preparation is mostly steaming. The double pot rice cooker is actually also called a "steam pot" in Chinese and doubles as a steamer. The water in the outer pot insulates the inner pot from high direct heat and generates steam. The automatic shutoff is just a simple thermostatic relay that shuts off if it detects high temps due to all the water in the outer pot drying out. This prevents burning of the rice. One of the main reasons people have problems with these simple rice cookers is that they don't add enough water to the outer pot. The newer cookers are all direct heat of one form or another so they rely on microprocessors and such to know when to shut off. The early direct heat units were notorious for burning rice but that hasn't been a problem for more than 5 years now. The "newer" units seem to work quite well and require less guesswork or experience.
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We use a microwave rice cooker that BF's father (full-blood-cajun-I-can't-understand-a-word-he-says-so-I-just-smile-and-nod-and-have-been-caught-doing-it) sent us. It works perfect for white rice every time. His parents make seafood gumbo, jambalya, and catfish courtboullion that make you scream! Anyway, it's a multiuse gadget too. You can serve in it, store in it in the fridge, reheat in it, etc. When we reheat, we sometimes add stuff like gravy, meat, corn, seasonings, or whatever. I'm going to try to make rice pudding with leftovers in it someday soon. I found another brand new Pampered Chef micro rice cooker at the thrift for 2 bucks! Now we're set, the thing looks like it will last for three generations! BF is teaching me to stay in the kitchen when I cook. I too, have a difficult time with things like garlic bread, toasting nuts, etc. I've begun using the timer for even one minute at a time!! It's easy to get distracted, isn't it? What did you end up doing about your rice situation?
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I have several and all of my family members have them too, being Cajun we eat a LOT of rice so having the rice cooker comes in very handy, and frees up one more burner and pot for all those big meals. Can I cook perfect rice with out it, I sure can so can all my family, it is one of the first things we learn LOL but do I love my rice cookers I sure do and use them almost daily. They do so many things besides cook rice, if you do a search for rice cooker cookbooks you will be amazed and they are good recipes. Most of the ones I now own are Aroma brand I also have a couple of the microwave type and like those too, they are especially handy for steaming veggies. but they work equally well at cooking rice. I appreciate technology and consider the rice cooker a nice step.
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Yes, I have tried a rice-cooker. Being such a "sucker" for kitchen gadgets, how would I not have? LOL. When we moved into this house, I thought I had plenty of storage space - but not any longer, and it probably has something to do with my desire to have all the "conveniences" in the kitchen. :-) The rice cooker is now sitting in the pantry (has been for years, actually). It is a 10-cup version and was taking up too much counter space. As you, I hated moving it all the time. Also, the rice-cooker has a non-stick interior which I have been trying to for some time. IDK, but I really prefer the stove top method. I can then put the pot in the DW while the rice-cooker insert had to be hand-washed. Etc. Angie, Try pre-soaking the rice. Some say that 30 minutes are enough and some do it overnight. You may have to experiment so it is not overcooked.
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mustangs81
9 years ago
Hey--whatever Big E wants. He's worth it!
Jasdip
9 years ago
LOL at your comment of making rice on the stove, while the rice cooker looked at you.

Years ago I had a rice maker, but I didn't like the crusty rice that was always at the bottom. I love the rice using the stove.

I've since found out from Johnliu that the crusty rice is what people love. :-)
arley_gw
9 years ago
What a steal!

Let us know how GABA brown rice turns out. GABA is supposed to do all sorts of wonderful stuff like lower blood pressure and stress.

Also, I bet steel cut oats would be great in that. I cook them in a 1.5 crock pot, but cleaning that crockpot is a PITA.
annie1992
Original Author
9 years ago
arley, I read the instructions and I read the reviews. Half of them say you can cook steel cut oats in it, and half say you can't. I guess I'll just have to try it. I'm also thinking maybe wheat berries, those take a long time to cook too...

I'm also wondering about making a big batch of brown rice and freezing some, I see those frozen packages at the store now, so I know it can be done.

Annie
melissaki5
9 years ago
What a great find! You will have to report back after you've had some more time with it to give us your thoughts. I am always tempted to purchase one when someone posts a good price on a deal forum I frequent but have stopped myself so far. Mostly because I am quickly running out of places to store all my kitchen gadgets in my small kitchen.
party_music50
9 years ago
I've never had problems cooking any rice on the stovetop, and definitely don't have the room to store a rice cooker. Somehow I would have found storage space for the $3 box of 12 pie plates and casserole dishes! wow! I wish we had one of those auction places near here.

BTW: If you have too many pie plates, I've found that they work great as a tray under a large potted plant! :)
dcarch7 d c f l a s h 7 @ y a h o o . c o m
9 years ago
That's wild! What a score!

Very curious about whoever spent $464, used it once, and didn't return it for a refund.

It will probably drive me nuts with the built-in Artificial Intelligence and fuzzy logic. In other words, it will guess what is best for you. Each time you set something up, it will change it to something else for you, and change again and again each time. The computer software programmer in Japan will be your cook.

"Ã£ÂÂÃ£ÂÂÃ£ÂÂÃ£ÂÂÃ£ÂÂÃ§Â§ÂÃ£ÂÂ¯Ã£ÂÂÃ£ÂÂÃ£ÂÂ¯Ã¦ÂÂÃ£ÂÂÃ£ÂÂ¾Ã£ÂÂ"Ã£ÂÂÃ£ÂÂÃ£ÂÂÃ£ÂÂ¯23Ã¥ÂÂÃ£ÂÂ®Ã¤Â»Â£Ã£ÂÂÃ£ÂÂÃ£ÂÂ«20Ã¥ÂÂÃ£ÂÂ¦Ã£ÂÂ£Ã£ÂÂ«Ã£ÂÂÃ£ÂÂÃ¨ÂÂ¯Ã£ÂÂÃ¥ÂÂ³ !!!!"

dcarch

This post was edited by dcarch on Mon, Aug 25, 14 at 9:03
kitchendetective
9 years ago
I prefer the rice that I make in stove top Staub pot. My fuzzy logic Zoj takes too, too long to cook rice. And I love the crunchy stuff on the bottom.
P.S. I still use the Zoj if all other burners are otherwise occupied when I cook for a crowd.

This post was edited by kitchendetective on Mon, Aug 25, 14 at 9:40
John Liu
9 years ago
I'd be interested how it does on the other programs - brown rice, sushi rice, etc.
lascatx
9 years ago
Great find if you enjoy using it. I've never gotten into the idea of using an appliance to cook rice when I have a saucepan that works just fine, but the local auction sounds wonderful. That Le Crueset would have been tempting me. I only have one pot, but for that price, I'd make room for another.
annie1992
Original Author
9 years ago
johnliu, I'm sure I'll be finding out, and I haven't made sushi in quite a while, now I need to get busy and make some.

dcarch, I have no idea what those characters mean, I'm only assuming it's complimentary. (grin)

As for the source of the auction items, the people who run it allow private sellers to take a photograph and write a description of their item to be auctioned, and the auction company keeps a percentage. I've seen items from a child's potty chair to tractors to "a box of awesomeness", LOL. It's easy to find, jnjonlineauction dot com.

In addition to the private sellers, the company and/or agents/sellers buy estate items, store liquidations, the items in abandoned/unpaid storage units, etc. This week there are 2,000+ items up for auction and many of them are complete junk, many are firearms and ammunition, and a few are real gems. You sort through, their search is pretty bad...

Annie

Rice cookers and my big score

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