The Best Zojirushi Rice Cookers
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Rice cookers fly under the radar of many people who either don't get what all the fuss is about or simply have not heard about them. These folks are missing out on a lot of convenience. Good rice cookers make excellent rice with surprisingly little effort. Maybe not fancy-restaurant perfect, but far better than most of us can do most of the time. Measure the number of cups of uncooked rice you'd like into the cooking bowl, rinse it if that's your thing, fill the bowl with water up to the line that corresponds with the number of cups you're making, close the lid, and hit start. Do other things for a while and soon, it will play a song to let you know it's done.
Slightly lesser known is how it will then hold your rice in that near-perfect state, warm and ready to eat. Make a batch in the afternoon and you'll have enough for dinner in the evening and something to bolster an early meal tomorrow. (Zojirushi does not recommend storing rice in the rice cooker for longer than 12 hours, or 24 hours on the “Extended Keep Warm” feature.) It might not be as perfect the next day, but it's still surprisingly good. For those of us who just lived through a couple years at home during a pandemic, it's not difficult to envision the convenience. I like to say that mine has probably been on for about half of the 12 years that I've owned it, food at the ready for hungry bellies.
While I've used and reviewed other brands of rice cooker, Zojirushi is easily my favorite, almost always performing extremely well whether it's a basic or fancy model. Opt for one with a start button (not the light-switch style), a sort of shorthand for which ones have the most even heating and stronger keep-warm qualities, but you'll likely be happy with almost anything in Zojirushi's lineup.
For more appliance advice, check out our other kitchen guides, including Best Food Steamers, Best Food Processors, Best Toasters, and Best Stand Mixers.
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Best for Most People
Zojirushi Micom Rice Cooker & Warmer NS-LGC05I got this model's near-identical predecessor (The NS-LAC05) 12 years ago as a wedding gift, and while it's one of Zojirushi's most basic models, I've never really wanted anything more. After all this time, it functions exceeding well, like a dependable old car that just keeps on chugging. Even a model this basic cooks a variety of rice styles well. Short-grain brown rice is our daily driver, and on the "quick" setting it cooks up surprisingly quickly while retaining a little bit of bite. Short-grain white rice and jasmine come out unsurprisingly well. Basmati: terrific. Even after all this time, I'm amazed that I can get a batch going in about a minute. When I need more counter space, I appreciate how neatly and easily it stows away, thanks to a retractable cord and carrying handle. Its replacement, the three-cup NS-LGC05, features minor enhancements and is all most people would need. If you're new to rice cookers, this is a great model that you may never outgrow and will serve you well for years.
Best for Flavor
Zojirushi Umami Micom Rice Cooker & WarmerThis model emerged toward the end of the Instant Pot and multicooker craze, making an effort to latch on by adding a slow cook function to its capabilities. It makes sense in a way, as rice cookers and slow cookers both specialize in cooking at an even, sustained, and simmer-y temperature. For rice, the Umami is like a gently souped-up basic model, offering a few extra settings like a regular and extended "keep warm" and "umami," which prolongs the presoak to make the rice sweeter or, in Zojirushi's parlance, give it "an extra dimension of taste." Back when it came out, I wasn't sure the price was justified, but I was hopeful and curious about the slow cook setting, which turned out to be short-lived. It comes in five- and 10-cup sizes, but even in the 10-cup size, it only slow cooks a puny 1.8 liters (about 2 quarts) at a time. Being able to cook rice for a group but a slow-cooked dinner for only two or three makes for a very peculiar ratio.
It's a $290 MSRP machine, and since you likely won't be using that slow-cooker function much, that's a lot of money for a rice cooker with its capabilities. However, the market price has dropped notably since its release, frequently dipping into the low $200s, at which point the extra rice-cooking settings and five- or 10-cup size become more enticing.
Best for One-Pot Cooking
Zojirushi Multicooker EL-CAC60In the late 2010s, everyone seemed to want a "multicooker." This typically meant "electric pressure cooker" that could also do things like slow cook and sauté, but the pressure-cooking part was by far the most important. Right at that moment, imagine launching a distinctive-looking multicooker that specialized in slow cooking and didn't have a pressure-cooker feature. Crazy, right? The Zojirushi Multicooker (8/10 WIRED Recommends) looks like the outer-space cousin of most slow cookers and its capabilities are also pretty out of this world. First, yes, it cooks rice, but it's really homing in on the Crock Pot market, and it's best to think of it as a 6-quart slow cooker with specialized skills that most slow cookers do not have. It can sauté with to-the-degree temperature control—I successfully made a steak on it. That searing capability is particularly nice for many slow cooker recipes that call for a hard sear followed by a long, slow bubble. Not having to switch between pots or settling for a subpar sear really sets this machine apart. In testing, I browned then braised chicken thighs, which came out very well; made chef Paul Bertolli's high-end and remarkably memorable sugo; and cooked up a batch of dark stock (chicken stock where you brown the bird first) from Hugh Acheson's The Chef and the Slow Cooker. It easily aced all of the slow-cooking tests.
One thing to consider is that this is a unique-looking machine. Few kitchen appliances are notable for their good looks, but this one has a removable lid with a distinctively large handle that also allows you to rest it upright on the countertop. The whole thing has a ship-portal quality to it, strange but lovable. Depending on your taste, it might range from, say, "funky cool" to "not my thing." Hopefully it is, because it's a high-functioning machine, and as time has gone by since its release, its price has come down, making it a surprisingly good value.
Best Budget
Zojirushi Rice Cooker & Warmer NL-BAC05WIRED reviewer Adrienne So wrote the glowing review for this Zojirushi 3-Cup Rice Warmer and Cooker (8/10, WIRED Recommends), and when I first started reading it, I thought, “It's like she's falling in love.” Sure enough, she fesses up to her crush at the end, admitting to Legends of the Fall levels of swoon. She figured it all out, too: the set-it-and-forget-it ease, the joyously simple controls, the amazement at the keep-warm function, and, of course, how perfectly it cooks rice. Welcome to the fold, Adrienne!
This model is similar to my NS-LGC05, minus the stainless sidewalls and retractable cord. It also features a peculiar cake (!) function that allows you to take action if the dessert-made-in-a-rice-cooker spirit moves you. While Zojirushis in the US range from three- to 10-cup capacity, something worth highlighting with this model is how useful the smaller three-cup size is. I've had a three-cup in my two-person household for years, and only rarely do I need to haul out something else to make a larger batch. The three-cup size is great for anything from a half-cup solo lunch side to a three-cup stir fry dinner for two with leftovers. ("Cups" here refer to the 180-ml rice cup almost all rice cookers come with, which are the same size as wooden sake cups and three-fourths the size of an imperial measuring cup.) I'm sure I'd be happy with a larger model, and it might even be more versatile and nicer for a crowd, but then it'd cost a bit more and be a little bulkier. Regardless of which one you choose, your life will get a little easier, your meals a little tastier. You might even fall in love.
- Photograph: Instant Pot
Hey, What About My Instant Pot?
Instant Pot Pro Plus 6-quart Smart Multi-CookerDon't let me stand between you and your multicooker/electric pressure cooker/Instant Pot. They make great rice and I'm sure you could find an online debate to get involved in to argue about whether or not they do it better than rice cookers. If you remain unconvinced, I've got the Instant Pot for you: the Pro Plus (8/10, WIRED Recommends). It is by far my favorite multicooker not only because of its ability to pressure cook, slow cook, sear, and make excellent rice, but also because this model has three key differences that make it particularly well thought out. First, while many Instant Pots and their competitors have a domed bottom that creates a moat of oil around the bottom, this one is nice and flat, making sautéing more pleasurable. Second, while Instant Pot is semi-notorious for its jumbled and busy control panels, this one, with a touchscreen and knob, is streamlined and intuitive. Third, two "helper handles," which most of their other models lack, make getting the hot pan in and out of the base and pouring its contents out a breeze. These should be mandatory on all pressure cookers! The price is on the higher end for Instant Pots, but those improvements make it worth it.
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How We Tested
MethodologyI've owned a Zojirushi rice cooker for 12 years and almost always have a pot going. Testing methods have varied for each model, but often included testing it against the high bar of my own machine as a starting point. Zojirushi uses Tamanishiki white and brown rice as its in-house testing brand, and I often used those. I've also used many other brands and types of rice. Some of them have settings to steam veggies or make oatmeal or porridge, or even cake. While I occasionally tried some of those, testing unsurprisingly focused on making rice. I almost always had each unit for a couple of months, both doing focused testing on it and using it as my everyday rice maker. This allowed me to get to know each machine well and discover any idiosesyncrasies and advantages of owning one.
