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Electric Rice Cookers
If you are looking to make perfect rice,
it may be wise to buy one of the new electric
rice cookers that have recently come on the
market. While older versions of these electric
appliances merely turned on or off, newer
models have a special microchip that allows
for a variety of settings for different types
of rice (white, brown, sticky or sushi) and
different cooked consistencies, resulting
in perfect rice every time you make it. You
merely pour rice into the cooker’s removable
bowl, add the correct amount of water, designate
the types of rice you want to cook, and press
the start button.
If you are shopping for an electric rice
cooker, consider the following:
- Start by choosing a machine that can cook
the quantity of rice you want, since rice
is best cooked fresh and not held from meal
to meal. A typical serving is about one cup,
so unless you are feeding a large family,
look for the smaller machines (3-6 cups);
the cooker will take up less counter and
cabinet space. If needed, you can buy a larger
cooker that makes 10 to 15 cups of white
rice.
- Most people can skimp on all the features
but one: a Teflon inner pot. Otherwise, a
large quantity of the rice will stick to
the pot, be wasted, and make clean-up a lot
more work.
- If you want fancy features, consider these:
- different types and quantities of rice will
require different cooking times. White rice
for two can be made in under twenty minutes,
while brown rice for a large family may need
60 to 120 minutes. Some machines have a quick
cook cycle, but this will produce harder
grains of rice.
- a timer that allows you to set the start
time in advance
- a setting that allows you to keep the cooked
rice warm increase your serving time is delayed.
Many rice cookers can also be used for other
purposes, such as warming hot cereals, soups,
and stews and for steaming vegetables (by
using a steaming plate). |
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