Aroma Rice Cooker, Five-Cup. A Great Product
Written: Jul 23 '06 (Updated Jul 26 '06)
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Pros: High-quality home rice cooker fit for any kitchen
Cons: Try not to dent it!
The Bottom Line: I can heartily recommend this rice cooker for its smooth operation, excellent results and convenience features. Sometimes keeping things simple works best!
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| Mark_A.'s Full Review: Aroma ARC866 Rice Cooker |
I bought my first Zojirushi rice cooker, a two-cup, simple, steel lid model almost 18 years ago, and I have never looked back. Cooking rice in an appliance made for the job is just so fool-proof that I don't bother using the stovetop or oven (yes, some people bake their rice, notably Cajun cooks). The point came where I wanted a little more capacity, and I really wanted an insulated unit that would cook and hold rice. I planned on another Zojirushi, but found this Aroma model for $30 less, and gave it the nod. Let's find out how it does.
Description: The Aroma ARC 866 rice cooker is a medium-sized appliance, small enough to store under the counter, roughly the size of a standard crock pot. Its main components are the cooking vessel, which is formed from aluminum, the insulated body, the hinged lid, and the inner lid seal. The inner lid seal, which seals the rice cooking chamber, is easily removed for cleaning. The claimed capacity of the unit is five-and-a-half cups of cooked rice, but my measurements suggest it really holds about six.
Features: The cooking chamber is coated in an excellent non-stick coating that is extremely durable. If the user never violates the inside of the cooker with a metal spoon or fork, the non-stick appears as if it will last indefinitely. The only control on the unit is the "rice cooking" and "keep warm" switch. When plugged in, the cooker automatically goes on to keep warm mode, with a correspondingly labeled orange light above the switch. When the rice is cooking, the red "rice cooking" light illuminates, telling the operator what mode the cooker is in.
For convenience, there is an excellent hand hold built into the top of the lid for stowing and carrying. This is a great feature, considering the unit is smooth and cylindrical, and since there was really no good place to grab it, they added one to the design. The best feature of the cooker? That's easy, it has a self-winding power cord. I love this feature, you simply pull out the amount of cord you need and plug it in. There is never a bunch of excess cord on your counter top, it is all neat and seamless. There is also a small condensation cup made of clear plastic and situated on the side of the machine. This feature allows the condensation to collect in the cup rather than run down the outside of the machine during operation. The cooker ships with a plastic rice paddle. The rice paddle is the perfect utensil for removing cooked rice for serving.
Fit and Finish: Fit and finish is very good. The outside of the insulated wall is made of tin or some other thin metal, so be careful not to dent it. I put a small ding in mine while taking it to a pot luck dinner one evening, I had it jammed behind my truck's seat, and the seat release dinged it (well, I did by yanking on it). The lid is substantial, and the hinge is very well made. The unit seals positively, and has a push-button lid release on top that works smoothly and easily.
So, how well does it cook rice? One word: flawlessly. It cooks long grain, medium grain and short grain rice with equal finesse. Allow me to give some rice cooking tips, however. When using a cooker, allow ten minutes for everything to settle down in there after the keep warm mode begins. Right after the cooking mode stops, the rice will need a little more time to absorb the rest of the water. Because this is an insulated model that will hold the rice for a long period of time, you can make your rice well in advance of the rest of the meal. That is a plus, especially if you are making something in the wok. You go through your wok routine, and the rice is hot and fresh, ready when you are.
If you choose to rinse your rice, which makes it less sticky and also washes away nutrients, it will do a fine job on rinsed rice as well. Last tip, always use the rice measure provided. Rice measures vary from manufacturer to manufacturer. You may also fill up your rice measure that ships with the unit, pour it into another measuring vessel, and mark it just in case you lose your original. Of course, replacements would not be too hard to get.
Keep warm mode works great, you can keep your load of rice warm for up to 24 hours, just like the Chinese restaurants do. Essentially, this little cooker is very similar to the rice-cookers you see at Chinese eateries, just on a smaller scale.
One additional bonus feature is that the cooker ships with a steamer insert, you now have a two-edged cooking weapon, with a rice cooker on one side, and fool-proof steamer on the other. For recipe ideas, the company has several good recipes printed in the owner's manual.
Cleaning: Cleaning is simple with the Aroma. Wash the cooking vessel in dish water along with the under lid seal, which pops right off a little metal knob with a tug. The non-stick interior makes cleaning it a snap. Make some extra rice for that fried rice recipe for tomorrow. The extra rice just releases from the pan when you're ready to refrigerate.
The exterior and lid just needs a wipe down with a wet cloth, sponge or paper towel. Please don't immerse the exterior because that is the business end of the cooker, where the heating element lives. After some time, you might want to get in and around the hinge with a little brush, because rice starch can accumulate there.
I don't recommend putting the cooking vessel in the dishwasher, although it is advertised as dishwasher-safe. The dishwasher is just too hard on pots.
Conclusion So, even though you can spend hundreds on Panasonic, Zojirushi or Sanyo fuzzy logic rice cookers with computer controls and the like, this unit offers excellent results and value for a lot less money. That said, this cooker is durable enough for everyday use. I certainly enjoy the convenience of mine.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 50
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Epinions.com ID:
Mark_A.
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Member: Mark A
Location: Schauerberg, Germany
Reviews written: 117
Trusted by: 74 members
About Me:
The time will come when we are no more, so let's just eat some BBQ...
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