Zojirushi rice cookers

[palo]

Three events would have to happen before I would buy that.

1. My present Zo would have to die.
2. I would have to start a majorly Asian diet.
3. I would need to become MUCH wealthier.

p

 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

1 hour ago, palo said:

Three events would have to happen before I would buy that.

1. My present Zo would have to die.
2. I would have to start a majorly Asian diet.
3. I would need to become MUCH wealthier.

p

 

 

Not sure about a majorly Asian diet, but I typically eat oats several times a week.

 

[rotuts]

I dont see the point of adding Pressure

 

to a Fuzzy Rice cooker .  the price differential is

 

significant.  

 

I do know that in Japan  ' perfectly cooked rice '

 

is a sort of Grail .  starting w the rice itself.

 

if you can easily afford the difference , that's fine.

 

I don't need an Electric  Maserati  ( Lotus , maybe ? ) 

 

to get to MarketBasket @ 6:30 AM  Sat or Sun.

 

1/3d of the time there is one very slow car in front  of me .

 

its OverTech  .    

 

I did get the 3 cup induction 

 

as its a bit smaller than my National/Panasonic 10 cup.

 

which is helpful

 

but its mostly an after Tax treat .

 

will try it out soon.

 

it is out of the box , a good start Id say .

 

 

 

 

 

 

[palo]

8 hours ago, rotuts said:

it is out of the box , a good start Id say .

 

Has the APO gotten a "good start" yet? ☺️

 

p

[JoNorvelleWalker]

On 4/17/2022 at 8:51 PM, palo said:

Consumer Reports did a nice review of the Zojirushi NP- GBC05 that rotuts purchased. Well done sir!

 

https://www.consumerreports.org/rice-cookers/is-the-zojirushi-np-gbc05-rice-cooker-worth-the-high-price-a1074644411/

 

She rated it highly and the review is worthwhile as well for its discussion of the whole rice cooker/rice topic. It is made in Japan. My Zojirushi is the NP-HCC10XH. It has a few more menu settings which include Jasmine.

 

p

 

I enjoyed the Consumer Reports review.  I couldn't help but note the author had a disappointing result trying to make congee.  However the NP-GBC05 does not have a congee setting.  Not that I would miss the congee feature much, as I've never tried to make congee in my life.  What I would miss is the umami setting.

 

[rotuts]

@palo 

 

not quite .

 

it doesn't have a nice handle 

 

and needs a different space .

 

in good time .

[andiesenji]

I posted on the first page of this thread in 2019 but I also wrote about the Zojirushi IH rice cooker when I first got it several years ago when it was first introduced.

I already had had the Zojirushi "Fuzzy Neuro" rice cooker for a few years and that one I sent to my daughter who also cooks a lot of rich.  

I still use the Zo at least once a week and it has never failed to produce rice cooked exactly the way I like it, does steel cut or pinhead oats perfectly. I also cook mixed grains and seeds using the cycles that with experimenting, I have learned works well. 

(Pearled barley cooks up perfectly on the "softer" rice setting, with half again as much water.)  

I don't have an IP any longer because the one I received free, for testing from Amazon when I was in the "Vine Voices" program, was an 8 quart and too large for me.  I do have a 6 quart electric pressure cooker.  But there are many things that for me cook easier in the Zo and it has the extended keep warm function - 24 hours.  This works well for me.

I start out with rice or a rice medley or mixed grains and seeds, when cooked fully or partially, add other ingredients, first vegetables that take longer to cook and later add veg that doesn't take as long, then cooked meat, poultry, fish, etc.

I often make kedgeree and it turns out perfect with little effort in the Zo.

I make rice pudding, red wheat pudding, millet pudding & etc.  No standing at the stove stirring for 45 minutes with the two latter.

If this Zo dies, which is unlikely, I will buy another, possibly smaller this time because the 10 cup is really larger than I need, although I do cook large batches and freeze the rices that I use most.

[lindag]

14 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

I enjoyed the Consumer Reports review.  I couldn't help but note the author had a disappointing result trying to make congee.  However the NP-GBC05 does not have a congee setting.  Not that I would miss the congee feature much, as I've never tried to make congee in my life.  What I would miss is the umami setting.

 

What can you tell us about the umami setting?  How is the rice different?

[JoNorvelleWalker]

53 minutes ago, lindag said:

What can you tell us about the umami setting?  How is the rice different?

 

I wish I could do a blind taste comparison, but that seems infeasible.  I spent an hour googling for information but can't say I learned anything.  One thing for sure the umami setting cooks for a longer time.  Eighty minutes on my model.  During that time I can see and hear the pressure cycle high and low.  However apparently some non-pressure Zojirushi also have a umami setting.  I am thus confused.

 

It may be psychological and all marketing.  The variety of rice may matter more.  But thinking about a bowl of umami rice makes me salivate like one of Pavlov's dogs.  Something can be said for that.

 

[rotuts]

I could not make sense of the Umami setting.

 

my 3-cup induction does not have it 

 

and I knew this in advance .   

 

I settled for GABA .  3 to 3.5 hours !

 

I though I might add a few drops of RB40 

 

and pretend that was similar to an Umami setting .

[JoNorvelleWalker]

In reading up on the new crop of rice cookers, at least Zojirushi, there is one setting my old NP-NVC18 has that is lacking:  there is no "scorch" cycle.  Odd that they would drop something.

 

[lindag]

2 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

In reading up on the new crop of rice cookers, at least Zojirushi, there is one setting my old NP-NVC18 has that is lacking:  there is no "scorch" cycle.  Odd that they would drop something.

 

I’m betting that the no scorch is just not needed any longer

 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

14 minutes ago, lindag said:

I’m betting that the no scorch is just not needed any longer

 

 

I tried it once.  Did not do much for me.  It's not like Persian rice.

 

[heidih]

2 minutes ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

I tried it once.  Did not do much for me.  It's not like Persian rice.

 

I used to get almost a lovely tahdig when I did jasmine rice with 1/2 coconut milk for the liquid and some half pre-cooked spit green peas in my Zo Talk about comfort food. 

[palo]

1 hour ago, heidih said:

pre-cooked spit green peas

Unhygienic!!!

 

Where's that damn L when I need it???

 

lol 

 

p

[lindag]

I'm cooking up a batch of Jasmine rice today in my Zo in anticipation of making shrimp fried rice tomorrow.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

5 hours ago, lindag said:

I'm cooking up a batch of Jasmine rice today in my Zo in anticipation of making shrimp fried rice tomorrow.

 

What setting?

 

 

[lindag]

47 minutes ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

What setting?

 

 

Jasmine

[JoNorvelleWalker]

17 minutes ago, lindag said:

Jasmine

 

Sadly mine does not have a Jasmine setting.

 

[lindag]

8 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

Sadly mine does not have a Jasmine setting.

 

I reallly don't think that matters, my previous model didn't have that either but made perfect Jasmine rice on the 'white' setting.

[Kerry Beal]

I'm more accustomed to being the enabler rather than the enabelee - however I am now the proud owner of the little Zojirushi NP- GBC05 mentioned above.

 

I didn't need it - I have a 5.5 cup Fuzzy Logic Zo and most of the time I have been cooking rice on the stovetop in the interest of speed - but the review posted where she said it did a nice job on glutinous rice was what convinced me.

 

My old Zo will head off to a new home this week - it's battery is long gone but it should still give @Alleguedemany years of service. 

 

 

[KennethT]

9 minutes ago, Kerry Beal said:

but the review posted where she said it did a nice job on glutinous rice was what convinced me.

 

 

 

 

I do glutinous rice (Thai sticky rice) in the CSO - soak it in a bowl of water for 12 hours or so (overnight is fine), then I lay out in a single layer on a tamis and steam in the CSO at 210F for 15 minutes, then change the setting to keep warm at 185 or something like that for another 15 minutes.  Comes out perfectly every time.

Edited April 30, 2022 by KennethT (log)

[dtremit]

On 4/18/2022 at 2:46 PM, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

My NP-NVC18 cannot do oats because it is said oats would clog the pressure valve.  However if you look at the instruction manual (linked above) for the newer NP-NVC10/18, which is designed for oats, the oats setting does not apply pressure -- nor do the settings for sushi rice, sweet rice, porridge, or congee.  The other nine settings do apply pressure.  Brown rice uses higher pressure than white rice.

 

What is your source of groats?  I ask because Bob's Red Mill has stopped offering them.

 

 

I bought the NP-NWC10XB a few months ago — and at least from the pictures I can find, it appears that the pressure valve apparatus is identical to your NP-NVC18:

 

 

The "grain filter" that covers the pressure apparatus is also the same part for both series: https://www.zojirushi.com/app/spare_parts/item/BU201011L-00

 

The line for the steel cut oats setting is much lower than any other measurement line, though:

 

 

I'm wondering if that's actually the only real difference — a line to tell you not to overfill it.

 

A lot of Instant Pot instructions also recommend adding a little fat to anything likely to foam — good enough excuse for me to put some butter in my oats!

[dtremit]

On 4/24/2022 at 8:55 PM, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

However the NP-GBC05 does not have a congee setting.  Not that I would miss the congee feature much, as I've never tried to make congee in my life.  What I would miss is the umami setting.

 

 

NP-GPC05 does have a "porridge" setting, though. I was always under the impression that "porridge" and "congee" were just different translations of the same option.

 

The manual for my NP-NWC10XB (which has both "porridge" and "congee") seems to only differentiate the two based on the type of rice (short grain for porridge, long grain for congee, with a slightly longer cooking time). The instructions for preparing the ingredients are identical and clearly describe the same kind of dish.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

4 hours ago, dtremit said:

 

I bought the NP-NWC10XB a few months ago — and at least from the pictures I can find, it appears that the pressure valve apparatus is identical to your NP-NVC18:

 

 

The "grain filter" that covers the pressure apparatus is also the same part for both series: https://www.zojirushi.com/app/spare_parts/item/BU201011L-00

 

The line for the steel cut oats setting is much lower than any other measurement line, though:

 

 

I'm wondering if that's actually the only real difference — a line to tell you not to overfill it.

 

A lot of Instant Pot instructions also recommend adding a little fat to anything likely to foam — good enough excuse for me to put some butter in my oats!

 

Except for color your valve looks the same as mine.