Cooked rice on plastic ladle in electric rice cooker

Why You Should Buy A Rice Cooker

One of the most versatile kitchen appliances you can buy is actually the humble rice cooker. Also known as a slow cooker, these devices – despite their name – are actually capable of producing a huge array of dishes, ranging from rice (naturally) to soups, stews and even steamed puddings.

If you purchase a machine such as the Zojirushi NP-ZCC10 Induction Heating model, there are a number of recipes that you can make with this sort of appliance. The fact of the matter is that we often purchase a rice cooker with the intention of making white and/or brown rice.

But this is only just scratching the surface of what these machines can do. There are lots of other rice cooker recipes that you can try to make as well. A top-of-the-range Zojirushi product is one of the best units that you can purchase but even if you choose a cheaper model, you should still be able to make some great-tasting mixed rice dishes.

The main thing that you have to consider is that if you want to create some all-in-one dishes in your rice cooker, then almost the most important factor is to replace the water that you cook the rice in with the stock. There are lots of different flavorings that you could add. A chicken or fish stock is a versatile and popular option. Of course, if you are a vegetarian, you can, of course, do well with a vegetable-based stock. This is something that you can make with a stock cube, but for that homemade feel, you might want to make your own.

Once you have the stock ready, all that you then have to worry about is what else you want to add to your rice. Bits of chicken, tinned fish and all kinds of vegetables work really well. You can follow a recipe if you are not so sure what to do or you can just try out a few different things yourself. To begin with, checking out the available recipes is a good idea to get a range of serving suggestions. But once you know what you are doing, you can literally just add whatever you have in the fridge.

Of course, this is only one of many ways to cook delicious dishes using a rice cooker. For example, you can also steam fish – yes, believe it or not, that’s true – or create amazing soups or stews. In fact, the only limit really is your imagination. One question I often get asked is how to cook lentils in a rice cooker? Well, the answer is a, firstly,  of course, you can and secondly that its actually very simple. But, rather than me tell you, I recommend that you click on the link I’ve just provided to get the whole low down. That means that vegetarians can enjoy lentil bakes or tasty filling soups without worrying about the long cooking times that are normally associated with dishes such as these.

So, if you are looking for a cheap and versatile addition to your kitchen equipment then you need to seriously consider buying a rice cooker. I hope you agree.