Kitchen Gourmet Rice Cooker Review

I love freshly cooked rice, but hate the mess of making it. When my roommate purchased a rice cooker, I found these gadgets whip up perfectly cooked rice in minutes with no fuss. Leo was a good cook and prepared Indian food with the help of a large rice cooker. When he returned to India for his wedding, I was left without a steady supply of freshly cooked rice. What now?

Back in college, my Japanese roommate, Mikio also used a large rice cooker. I guess it was only inevitable that I purchased my own. I chose the Three Cup Kitchen Gourmet Rice Cooker. Although small, this unit performs efficiently and at $9.99 is clearly one of the more cost effective rice cookers around.

Supply & Demand

How much rice do you need? If you're single, have a small family or if your brood doesn't require much rice, the 3 Cup Kitchen Gourmet's capacity may be just the choice for you. There's also an 8 Cup model for the more rice addicted clan. It makes three overly large bowls of piping hot rice and with the quick cooking time - about 15 mins - you could fill it twice for six cups in a half an hour if a sudden visit of rice loving friends or family caught you by surprise.

Versatility

Rice cookers also do double duty as steamers. While they don't have the volume for large amounts of food or the steaming capability of a true steamer, they can perform small steaming jobs. The Kitchen Gourmet Rice Cooker comes with a sturdy wire steaming rack. This allows you to steam a nice portion of veggies for your rice. Besides broccoli, carrots or squash you can even steam whole potatoes. This cooking versatility not only provides value for the price, but also saves on counter space in cramped cooking areas.

Clean-Up

The aluminum inner liner of the Kitchen Gourmet Rice Cooker ensures easy clean-up. Simply fill with hot soapy water, let stand for awhile and that's all. The glass lid also requires some soaking, but this is the extent of your cleaning chores for this fantastic unit.

Cooking can be time consuming or even stressful - especially in our hectic, time deprived society. Take-out and prepared foods are options, but they're costly and taste and freshness is always left up to the restaurant doing the cooking. Affordable and fast appliances like The Kitchen Gourmet Rice Cooker provides fresh cooked rice and steamed foods to put a little home cooking zest back into your life.