I’m thinking of buying a rice cooker, are they worth the money? I’m actually not bad at cooking rice on the gas hob but anything for an easy life. 🍚

@BenSouthwood They are, if you like a lot of rice or are cooking for a group. I never use mine if just cooking for self as the minimum amount would be 3-5 days rice for me…

@FionnulaMac Thanks.

@BenSouthwood I had one years ago and it really wasn’t bad but I’d say if you’re used to cooking in a saucepan and you enjoy it, you’re probably going to get slightly better results sticking with that.

@nonsequitur This is my worry, another piece of clutter.

@SamHawken I use those microwaveable bags often, but they just aren’t as nice as properly steamed rice. Cooked far too much last week, but it was delicious.

@BenSouthwood I live in a motorhome, so space is at a premium. But we still brought our rice cooker. So yes, we think it's worthwhile. Use it about once a week.

@BenSouthwood Across Asia and the Middle East, basically every home that has electricity has a rice cooker. But then, those homes probably cook a lot of rice. I think they're great, but have a tiny kitchen and do fine using the stovetop. One big plus of the cooker: if you're not great at multitasking, you can start the rice and forget about it while you do other meal prep.

@BenSouthwood I love my rice cooker! You can also use it to cook oatmeal, barley, etc. - pretty much any grain. It will keep it warm until you're ready to eat it. I got mine when kids were young and we had a lot of distractions. Getting a rice cooker (and electric tea kettle) were game changers. No more burnt pots. Editing to add: makes my cooking life much easier, I can fuss over other dishes instead of babysitting the rice (barley, farro) pot.

@annahavron Now you're making me think about getting one! I'll think about where it would live in our little kitchen if I got one.

@JohnBrady undeniably they take up a fair amount of space, but the rice cooker in our house has earned its keep. And as another commenter said, you can find small ones, but I prefer to cook big batches and have leftovers to recombine later in the week (salads, tacos or burritos, soups, stir fries, etc)

@BenSouthwood If you make a lot of brown rice, I would recommend the Zojirushi “neuro fuzzy” cooker. It is expensive but makes the fluffiest, tenderest brown rice I have ever eaten. It also rewarms cooked rice perfectly. I always had a cheaper one just for convenience, but this one really makes better rice than I can on a stovetop.

@dwalbert Looks great, but far too expensive for me. Maybe one for the future. :-)

@Ddanielson I’ve put our magimix away, just to save some space.

@BenSouthwood My wife is Asian, so it’s an almost necessity. We actually have both a large and a small one. She would not want to live with out it.

@SamHawken Perfect rice is... heavenly. The solution is to obviously get more people!

@annahavron What benefits do you perceive in an electric teakettle? Is it getting the temperature "just right" for various hot beverages? Can you taste the difference? (Serious question: I'm a gadget guy but my wife scoffed at the electric teakettle.)

@ReaderJohn Primary benefit: we no longer have to replace stovetop teapots every few months after I get distracted, go to another room, and smell smoke 😅 (I don't hear whistles on teapots, and rarely hear timers,I have hearing loss). Secondary benefit: you can adjust temperatures, and I do think that makes a difference for more delicate tea blends and some herbal teas.

@ReaderJohn Dialing the temperature is my favorite feature (black tea vs oolong, etc), but it's also faster, I think, than heating it on the stovetop (or it is compared to the radiant cooktop in my house).

@dgreene196 we found it to be faster, too. Edited to add: my husband and kids also love it for heating water for pour-over coffee @ReaderJohn

@ReaderJohn you’d struggle to find a home in the UK that doesn’t have an electric kettle. They’re also much faster than using a stovetop one.