Healthy rice is the basis of many different types of meals. There are many different factors to consider when choosing a rice cooker for your household. There are two basic types of rice cooking device that can greatly benefit you and your family's needs, depending on your situation. Whether you use white or brown rice, want to steam your own healthy food, slow cook, or simply want to make some rice for dinner, you have to consider a few factors first.
Basic Rice Cookers
Basic one-lever cookers come with steam cooker trays that can fit over the top of the cooking area and steam food such like fish, shrimp, or poultry; and vegetables such as asparagus, yams, broccoli, or tofu at the same time as the rice is cooking. This saves time and dishes, as there is no need to use separate cookware for preparing the other elements of your dish.
Furthermore, not only does this save space and dishes, but when you steam food, the flavors all blend together and make a very savory dish with more healthy rice! These one-lever systems are great for low or high capacity amounts of rice with models ranging from 3 to 10 cups.
With one-lever steam cookers, the rice cooks evenly and thoroughly throughout the cooker, which means no extra time is required to prepare your rice. Even brown rice only takes 25 minutes to cook after soaking, which is impressive due to its tougher texture.
As mentioned, the steam tray can help cook and hold vegetables, meats, and even appetizers such as rice buns and keep them fresh and hot thanks to the 'keep warm' function most basic cookers come with.
These cookers are an affordable choice and perfect for any size family, with great models in the Aroma and Zojriushi rice cooker brand line.
Fuzzy Logic Cookers
Another type of rice cooker, the fuzzy logic cooker, uses a computer chip inside of the device itself to discern how warm the rice or meat and vegetables are and how much longer your meal needs to be cooked.
Most of these also have specific settings on the machine itself that can help choose how hard or soft you want your rice to be, and also what type of rice you are cooking. From brown rice, sushi rice, basmati rice, white rice, porridge rice, sweet rice, or sticky rice, you can decide how wet or dry you want it and set the cooker accordingly. Some cookers include GABA settings which can help produce healthier dishes with brown rice.
Some specific fuzzy logic models like the Zojirushi Umami can even slow-cook entire healthy meals. If you and your family like to steam food, you can make anything at the same time as your favorite rice. Even dumplings can be exquisite when prepared in the fuzzy logic rice cooker. Healthy rice can be the best element in any meal, and having the proper type of cooker in which to prepare your rice can make all the difference in the world.
Whether you are a single mom or a member of a large family, making healthy choices for yourself and your children is the most important thing about meal time. No matter which cooker you choose for your individual needs, you are bound to be able to make a better meal with a steam cooker rather than a fried meal in a frying pan full of oil.
Research your preferences and decide which cooker will best suit your needs and those of your family. No matter which you choose, the one-lever cooker or the fuzzy logic cooker, your health is sure to improve and your family will appreciate the time you took to help them stay healthier.
Article provided by Rice Cooker Guide.com. For more information on researching models please consider Aroma rice cookers or Zojirus rice cookers.
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