The Best Rice Cookers of 2024

Around the world, rice is the universally popular ingredient that can provide a simple base for various foods. And while it’s completely possible to make great rice on the stove, doing so means hovering over the pot to ensure that your grains cook fully without burning.

By using a rice cooker, like our new favorite Zojirushi Neuro Fuzzy Logic Rice Cooker and Warmer (available at Amazon for $194.39) , you can avoid that hassle and focus on the rest of your meal. There's a reason these devices are a fixture in professional kitchens—they promise rice with convenience and consistency—you can simply set it and forget it, whether it's jasmine or brown rice.

But which cookers fulfill their promise of perfectly cooked rice? If you're going to give up precious kitchen counter space for yet another gadget, it needs to be worthy. We tested about a dozen of the top rice cookers on the market to find out which ones are convenient, consistent, and—ultimately—can make that ideal bowl of rice.

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Other Rice Cookers We Tested

How We Test Rice Cookers

Before we begin testing, we spend hours scouring other reviews, various cooking sites, and manufacturers' websites to find the best rice cookers worth their counter space.

As brown and white rice cook quite differently, we evaluate whether each rice cooker could handle both tougher, long-grain brown rice and short-grain white rice. We also include long-grain jasmine rice in the testing to see how each cooker performs with fluffy rice.

We also think beyond rice, ultimately choosing to test the steamer baskets often included with these appliances using frozen dumplings and fresh vegetables.

We tested each rice type twice to gauge consistency across tests and judged each cooker on its results. We also steam dumplings in each cooker, using the steamer basket provided.

Alongside its cooking results, we consider how easy each rice cooker is to clean, whether it cooks rice consistently from one batch to the next, and whether it can handle cooking for both small and large groups. While we love having leftovers to make fried rice, we don’t want to be required to cook the same few dishes one after the other every time.

A final consideration is how much counter or cabinet space is required to house this new piece of kitchen gadgetry. Is it going to take over the entire apartment counter, or fit neatly next to the microwave? Can we tuck it away if we need the counter space to make holiday cookies or pies?

From this data, we determined our top contenders and noted various features and bugs others would benefit from knowing.

How To Choose The Best Rice Cooker For You

Rice cookers are absolutely phenomenal if you want to make a lot of rice without having to constantly monitor it over the stove. As an appliance that can take up some precious countertop space, it has a lot to live up to and there are a lot of things to consider.

So before buying, ask yourself: How frequently do I cook rice? And how many features do I want from my rice cooker? Do I cook both white and brown rice frequently? Do I enjoy making sticky sushi rice?

Would a warming function help me pull off those rice-based dinner parties I’m always planning? These questions are probably connected, and good to lay out before you make your purchase.

Some rice cookers, like the Oster we tested, have a single function controlled by a single lever. These are the most basic types. Others, like Panasonic, have multiple cooking functions and a Keep Warm setting along with an inner bowl that tells you exactly the amount of rice and water to use for different types of rice. Both types are useful, but it’s good to know which you want and how much you want to spend.

In general, if you want perfect rice every time—regardless of which type of rice you’re cooking—then you’re probably better off getting a cooker that offers different settings for brown and white rice. You might also want to splurge for an induction rice cooker, but we’ll get to that in a bit.

How Do Rice Cookers Work?

Before we dive into fuzzy logic, let’s look at how these appliances work. It’s pretty simple. Rice cookers are constructed of five main parts: an insulated outer container, a non-stick removable inner cooking pot, a selection of thermal sensors, a heating element, and a lid.

Much like cooking rice on the stove, you just add uncooked rice and water to the inner pot, pop on the lid, and add heat. In this case though, the internal heating element boils the water while the thermal sensors ensure that heating stops once all of the water is absorbed.

These sensors are where the magic happens. On the stove, you have to judge your rice carefully—too much cooking time and the rice will absorb all of the water and start to burn. But pop the top to check too frequently and all of your steam will escape.

With a rice cooker, the sensors know when the internal pot is heating up too much and can stop the cooking for you. (If it’s getting past water’s boiling point, 212°F, that means your rice has absorbed all of the available water and it's becoming overdone.)

Many rice cookers also have warming functions. These work by simply turning the cooking temperature way down after the pot reaches 212°F, rather than totally off. This keeps the rice warm without adding enough heat to burn your food.

What Is Fuzzy Logic?

A few of the higher-end rice cookers, such as Panasonic and Zojirushi, rely on what they call “fuzzy logic” to cook the perfect rice. It seems to work, but what does it do exactly? How is it different from a typical rice cooker?

Jessika Toothman from HowStuffWorks explains it in more detail, but in brief: Fuzzy-logic rice cookers use computer chips that let the cooker make micro-adjustments in real-time. These programs allow more flexibility for cooking time and temperature, based on how the cooking process is going.

So rather than always cooking to 212°F and then switching off, a fuzzy logic cooker may change the temperature or cooking time depending on how fast the rice is absorbing water or what type of rice it knows you’re cooking. In essence, it’s reacting to your rice.

How Much Should I Spend on a Rice Cooker?

That depends on your budget. Think about the features you want and how much you’re willing to pay for them. If you know you’ll cook different types of rice, and rice quality is your highest concern, then we suggest splurging on a product with more features.

Fuzzy logic and programming make phenomenal rice and you can easily set the cooker to different types of rice that require different water and cooking times. Plus, the nicer cookers come with a Keep Warm setting and other features. It’s fantastic if you’re like us and enjoy going back for seconds.

Another great feature that many people splurge on is induction heating, which changed the rice cooking game. Instead of having the heating element on the bottom of the cooker, induction heating technology allows each grain of rice to equally absorb the same amount of heat and water, making the rice quality exceptional.

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