Cooking Rice and Steamed Vegetables with the Rival Rice Cooker #RC61

I've never owned a rice cooker before purchasing the Rival Rice Cooker #RC61. In the past, I've always cooked my rice on the stove top, with varying results. My rice would usually turn out OK, but there have been plenty of times when I've overcooked it, scorched it, and even burned it. The last time I cooked rice on the stove top, I got distracted by something I was reading on the internet, and lost track of time. I forgot that I was cooking dinner, and accidentally burned the rice. My husband decided that it was time for us to buy a rice cooker.

Small and Affordable:

We shopped for a rice cooker together, and decided to buy the Rival Rice Cooker #RC61. The deciding factors for us were its size, and its price. This rice cooker is small, which was attractive to us because our kitchen is tiny and already overloaded with gadgets. The rice cooker was also affordable.

Cooking Rice:

This rice cooker is easy to use. You plug it in, add water, measure and add the rice, and push a button, and the rice cooker will take care of the rest. It makes enough rice for both of us, but I wouldn't recommend this rice cooker to a large family because of its relatively small capacity. This rice cooker is supposed to be able to make up to 6 cups of rice at a time. (The 6 cups being the finished measurement after the rice is cooked, NOT 6 dry cups.) I haven't actually tried making more than 4 1/2 cups of rice at a time, and I have my doubts about this rice cooker's ability to make that much rice. Perhaps it can, but the rice cooker does seem pretty full at the end of the cooking cycle when we cook 4 1/2 cups of rice. I am not sure I would want to press my luck with adding more rice.

Measuring the Rice:

There is one thing about this rice cooker that I find slightly confusing. It comes with its own measuring cup, and the cup is not a standard one cup measuring cup size. According to the instruction manual that comes with the rice cooker, it's actually 3/4 cup; one cupful of dry rice in the included measuring cup makes approximately 2 1/4 cups of cooked rice. The confusing thing is that the instruction manual often refers to it as "one cup" when the actual volume of measured rice isn't really one cup. There are lines on the inside of the rice pot that indicate how much water to add. These lines correspond to how much water to add for each cupful of rice measured in the included 3/4 cup measuring cup. The line for "1" indicates where to fill the rice cooker pot when you are using one rice maker cupful of rice (which is only 3/4 of a cup, NOT a full cup.) So, I've concluded that, if you buy this rice cooker, you'd better not lose the measuring cup that comes with it. Either that, or you have to be sure to remember that you have to use a 3/4 cup measuring cup instead of a 1 cup measuring cup when you prepare your rice.

Steaming Meats and Vegetables:

This rice cooker comes with a steaming basket so that you can steam vegetables and even meats in it. You are also able to steam rice, vegetables, and meats at the same time, so you can prepare a full meal in this rice cooker. The instruction book included gives recommended steaming times for a variety of vegetables, including asparagus, bean sprouts, beans, broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, celery, collard greens, spinach, mushrooms, pea pods, squash, and zucchini.

Recipes:

There are recipes featured in the instruction manual that is included with the Rival rice cooker. The recipes are for chicken rice risotto, risotto with butternut squash, spicy Spanish saffron rice, hearty chili, salmon and citrus marinade with coconut rice, and warm cinnamon applesauce. We've experimented with making our own recipes, too.

Utensils For Use With the Rival Rice Cooker:

The rice cooker comes with its own rice ladle. The instruction manual recommends using this ladle or wooden utensils with the rice cooker. Apparently, metal utensils could damage it if used improperly.

Cleaning the Rival Rice Cooker:

This rice cooker is easy to clean. To clean it, you remove the lid and inner pot and wash them. The inner pot has nonstick coating. The measuring cup, ladle and lid should not be washed in the dishwasher. The exterior should be wiped clean with a damp sponge or cloth, and should not be submerged.

Conclusion:

We've now been using this rice cooker consistently for several weeks, and so far we have been completely satisfied with it. We're happy to recommend it to other couples or single people, and also to families as long as they are OK with its size limitations. So far, we think the rice cooker has been a great value for the money. Since we've owned it, we haven't eaten any burned or scorched rice, and we're definitely thrilled about that.