Side by Side Comparison of: Aroma vs Inomata

I'm not one for writing reviews but after almost being dissuaded from purchasing this product by reading a slew of dumb reviews (like who decides to bake a potato in a rice cooker or who is confused at reading the simple instructions?) I decided to write one in the hopes that you will find this and this will help you make a decision whether to purchase or to not.

I'm a simple guy who is terrible at cooking rice and has to feed a family of 6 regularly (not including the occasional guest that pops in unexpectedly). This rice cooker is awesome and I question why I waited so long to buy one. Sure, you could get a better one by dropping a couple hundred bucks on a fancy model but for what this does, it does it well. It takes about 35 minutes to cook rice for that many people. Yes, you can cook it faster by doing it the old fashioned way, but I find it very convenient to put the rice on first and just forget about it while I'm cooking the rest of the food. It makes juggling the stove much easier and frees up a burner slot so I could cook something else instead of micro-managing rice. The cup provided with the rice cooker is 3/4 the size of a regular cup of rice but even still one cup per person is more than enough.

Put your rice in in and then fill the conveniently marked bowel with water up to the number of cups you used. For example, place 6 cups of rice and then fill with water up to the "6" marked line on the inside of the bowel. Easy-peasy. You DO have to rinse your rice off before you start the cooker to get rid of extra starch but this process only takes a minute or less and you don't need special tools or anything. I just put in the rice, add a bit of water, swirl it around, carefully drain the water out (the water will turn milky white), and literally rinse and repeat until the water is more or less clear upon draining. The rice comes out fluffy and great with nothing burned on the bottom of the pot.

I've also cooked other things in the rice cooker as well like a beef stew and chili. Each time I cut up the meat, tossed it in, chopped up veggies, added water and spices, closed the lid and hit the "slow cooker" option. It says it will take 7 hours but a pot roast (cut into 3-5 inch cubes) only took about 4 hours to cook and the meat was just falling apart. SO GOOOOD!

The instructions are simple and whenever you use this rice cooker please use the cup provided for easy measuring. Other than that it was worked great, cleans super easy, easy to operate, and does what it's supposed to do. You won't be disappointed. Hope this review helps! Also, feel free to ask me some questions if you have any. I'm no scientist but I might be able to help as well.

This really is a gem of an appliance. Have used it every day for the past week. Will taper off, but it is simple and rice is a nice partial addition to m diet. But don't get into this the way I did. I started down the steam path a year ago when I purchased an egg steamer for hard-boiled, soft-boiled chicken nuggets. I grew to like steamed food pretty quickly. Fast and helps cut a few oily fats. So next, I purchased a separate veggie steamer. Another great product, but it didn't do rice. By the time I realized I really wanted rice and veggies most of the time, and eggs less frequently, I purchased the Aroma 20 cup. It's perfect. Took a few tries to figure out 1 cup of rice in the lingo is actually 3/4 cup, but all has been fine ever since. Sometime in the near future I will toss or rehome an old slow cooker, and the veggie steamer, while keeping the egg steamer. New ways to cook, and they really save time and improve on the quality of the stuff that passes my lips.

This thing is a great low-to-medium volume rice cooker. It does exactly the same thing every time so long as you follow the instructions. It also has great details in the design with regards to function - the removable inside lid and condensation collector come to mind.

There are better rice cookers, but not at this price point.

First of all - WOW! I've never owned a rice cooker, I've always just cooked it on the stove top. I have also never owned a steamer. This is now my best friend - it is so easy to use and makes incredibly good tasting food. I have a 3 year old who really is not into veggies except corn and carrots, so I literally use this thing EVERY SINGLE DAY. It automatically knows how long to cook the rice for, all you have to do is specify if it is brown or white rice. It steams your veggies AND CAN COOK RICE AT THE SAME TIME. And the best part - YOU CAN EVEN USE IT AS A SLOW COOKER! I broke up with my old slow cooker as soon as I received this one - it is literally 3 products in one, a steamer, a rice cooker, and a slow cooker. It is by far the best kitchen appliance I have ever had in my life. My fiancé grew up eating rice all the time, and he still loves it quite a few times a week. So, in the few weeks that I have had this product, I have gotten so much use out of it! This is how I make the rice, and it is so incredibly simple:
Step 1: Plug it in
Step 2: Add a few cups of the rice (with the cup that was included!)
Step 3: Fill water up to the line that corresponds with how many cups of rice you put in.
Step 4: Press the "white rice" or "brown rice" button.
Step 5: Sit back, relax, and wait for it to beep!
thats literally it! It is so easy to use, and so user friendly! As for steaming veggies, you literally put some water in the bottom, put the veggies on the steam tray, and hit the "steam" button. It does ALLLLL of the work for you!
This product has seriously changed my life. Making dinner is not as annoying as it used to be. I truly love feeding my family and I love that this product has helped me to do so. I love that the rice and veggies practically cooks itself while I can focus on the main dish.
My whole kitchen is stainless steel and black, so this item fits in really well with everything else. It is not too big, but not too small, and looks really nice on my counter when I am using it.
It came with a rice server and a cup, as well as a steamer tray and an inner pot.
I expect to get a ton of life out of this product.
Anyways, I hope that my review has helped you, I hope that you purchase this product, and I hope that you love it just as much as me and my family do!

Was skeptical at first but truly pleased with my purchase. Stopped cooking rice after years of it sticking to the pan or coming out over done or undercooked. Healthier eating brought on less bulky pastas and wanted to try to incorporate more rice into our meals. Also, since this appliance is not only a rice cooker but also acts as a crock pot and veggie steamer as well...it's easy on the pocketbook as well as the counter space. Reviews were kinda half and half with many saying that they either couldn't figure it out (hard to follow directions) or the rice was not coming out well when they used it. After using this for two-three months now, I'd have to say that either those people are either not understanding the directions (which are very easy in my opinion to follow) or it's simply operator error. I LOVE my rice cooker. I can set it and leave it (unlike the pan on the stove) and it's come out perfect every time!

Extras:
1. The wide spoon that is included for the rice is wonderful and stores inside the cooker when not in use.
2. The cup included has measurements on the side, stores inside cooker while not in use.
3. The inside metal bowl of the cooker is easy to clean (literally a damp cloth will do ya-nothing sticks, burns etc!), removes for easy cleaning without worries of water damage to unit AND has measurements on inside of bowl so you know you're getting the right amount of water and rice evertime! Takes the guess work out.
4. Manual is very easy to read. Separated into sections "Cooking Rice", "Steaming veggies while cooking rice" etc etc. Has a handy insert that is removable with "Quick cooking tips" for amounts to use and hangs on my fridge for quick referencing.
5. Steamer tray is removable, stores in unit when not in use and gives ample space. I can usually fit two 10-12oz frozen veggie bags in it with a bit of room to spare. This tray does seem to take on some of the color of the more colored veggies (such as carrots with an orangish tint) but otherwise not a huge deal. Easy clean up.

Only Downside that I can think of:
The cord for this unit is somewhat shorter than my usual appliances. However, this also means that I can bring it up through the handle once, and have it dangle while not in use-rather than have a wad of cord flopping around the cabinet too. So, take that as you will.

I added photos for better viewing-since seller does not post for much to see. This was one of my biggest issues when comparing these to other brands/models. I wanted to see inside and how it all comes together or comes apart. So, I'm hoping this helps someone out. Coffee can in photos is a large coffee can from Sams club-for size comparison.

One thing to note, the lid on this unit does NOT come off completely. It is attached by a hinge on one side. Grab onto handle, push in large button with thumb to release door and it opens easily (light weight lid also). Lid does stay open without dropping down hard when ready to serve rice OR metal bowl can be removed during serving.

Bottom Line: WORTH THE MONEY! Great price, excellent rice-every time! Takes the hassle out of multiple pans, can be used for full meal dishes (crock pot type use) & veggie or food steamer tray. Would definitely recommend this to anyone.

Buying this bowl is one of the best decisions I've ever made. Rice is pretty much my go-to staple, so this purchase has made life a lot easier. I used to use strainers to wash my rice, which was just awkward and annoying. This bowl makes it easy to swish around the rice and let the water drain from either the bottom or the side spout.Seriously, it's less than $6. If you cook rice ever, just buy this bowl. It's awesome.

Great for cleaning rice, as washing rice is highly recommended since arsenic ooften is found in rice, absorbed through the growing fields! But washing it and not over boiling it gets rid of much of the poison. Washing the rice gets rid of the poisons too...and using a steamer, instead of letting the rice absorb the poisoned water, is the best way to cook it. So the first step, washing the rice very well, is great in getting rid of any poisons which are found in rice products as they are produced these days

I cook rice as a basis for most meals (Japanese rice or basmati rice, mostly), and washing it is a bit of a pain. I usually put the rice in the ricecooker container, pour water, than squish it by hand, pour the water hand and restart a few times. This doesn't work very well, is pretty slow, but at least you avoid the mess with a fine mesh strainer (were the rice plugs the holes). I usually settle for somewhat clear water, and it takes about 5 minutes.I got fed up and looked up "rice washer" thinking surely cooking rice is universal enough that SOMEBODY would have solved it.This is magical. The holes at the bottom perfectly regulate the water: the flow is slow enough that you can just put the rice underneath the tap, squish it for about 20 seconds, and wash it more perfectly than you ever could before. The side holes are a bit large for basmati rice, but are still useful, especially when you don't want to wait for the rice to drain.Finally I recommend a silicone spatula, to make it easy to transfer rice from this bowl to rice cooker.

Surprisingly efficient; I guess I never washed my rice well before getting this bowl.They knew what they were doing when they designed this wash bowl. It removed more of that cloudy starch in less time with fewer grain loss. The cooked rice seemed less sticky too.

This item is of quality made from Japan. It was sold from JapanSuperMall through Amazon. Some people complain that it is not made from Japan, just make sure that you use JapanSuperMall vendor and you will get the authentic original made from Japan.The bowl is about 22.9 cm from the top and about 25.4 cm from the handle to the spout. There is a decent size hole on the handle to let it through a hook, if needed. The brand label that came with the product is all in Japanese script.This is dishwasher safe but the plastic is not ruggedly thick and looks delicate but solid so I opted to hand wash it every time to lengthen its durability and quality. Besides, it is super light weight.The bottom drain is small enough to not let Quinoa out. I have used Thai Jasmine Rice and Indian Basmati Rice and not a grain goes through the bottom. The side slit near the spout is wide enough to let some Quinoa grain get through. This drain bowl is also great for mushrooms and other fruits and vegetables.For less than 5 bucks this is an excellent deal with free 2 days shipping through Amazon Prime. I highly recommend this item to anybody. +1

I'm very picky about my rice. So, I always wash my rice before cooking it and I always cook my rice in a rice cooker. The result is perfect rice every time. However, until now I've never found the right container to wash my rice in. Colanders are not suiatable because the holes in most colanders are too large so that the rice will escape with the water. With a common bowl the problem is, how do you drain off the wash water without also allowing rice to escape? I've used strainers and other approaches but, none work as well and a easily as this rice washing bowl.When I cook rice I usually cook 1-4 cups of rice at a time. This bowl handles that well but, can proabaly accomidate two to three times that much rice.In fact, when the bowl first arrived I thought it was too large. My mind changed immediately when I started using it. I like to use my hands when I wash rice and I have large hands; it turns out that the bowl is the perfect size so that I can get water, rice and my hands all into the mix and get the job done.While you can't really see it in the picture, the bowl has draining holes at the bottom. It also has draining holes incorporated in the little drain spout. This gives this bowl a lot of flexibility.I generally don't like single purpose tools in my kitchen, they just take up too much room and expense. Since I got the bowl I've been using it to wash, and strain all sort of things in addition to rice. It was a nice find for me and the price is also quite reasonable.

I bought one of this 2 years ago and until now still working, I got this new one for my friend and she likes it. Good for cooking rice, and as a steamer, you can use it to steam vegetables or cook something good that needs to be steamed. The price now is cheaper than 2 years ago, it is now half price than it was before I remember I paid 2 years ago for $60.

Ok so I've had this brand before but I have a smaller one for like 2 people. My boyfriend wanted a larger rice cooker so he can make larger quantities so he doesn't have to cook as often. There was nothing wrong with the smaller rice cooker from this brand. The only thing I didn't like with this larger one was it didn't have that connecting top piece when you open the lid. I like to cook quinoa so little bits of the quinoa would be stuck to the top lid and you would have to wipe it off with a rag. But with the smaller rice cooker and most other rice cookers I've had had the detachable piece on the lid to make cleaning easy just by removing and rinsing the piece. Also this rice cooker cooks a little differently, I have to use less water for the rice so it doesn't come out mushy.

So I love fried rice, but hate the mess it makes. You have to cook the rice, the fry it, but then I get yelled at for all the pans in the sink. I tried this for the first time, and the rice actually came out very flaky and evenly cooked. Its actually very simple to use, but since I never really used one before, I will have to experiment with what and when to ad ingredients so they don't come out mushy. The reason for the one star is that I did have some burning of the rice on the bottom. This was even after I stirred it a few times during cooking, but still came out better than anytime I have made it on the stove. All in all, it is very simple to use, and super easy to clean up. Once I get the hang of it, I will be using it all the time.

After reviewing many different rice cookers the Aroma ARC-15SB was the choice. No regrets. The only reason I can't give a full five stars is the surface of the cooking bowl was scratched when I received it. It was a semi-circular imperfection in the direct center of the bottom of the bowl where the coating was scratched to the bare metal. I should have called customer service to at least have given them a chance to make it right but my life was too hectic then and by the time I could have called I felt it wouldn't be right (nor should they have even believed me that I received damaged goods at that point). Nevertheless, the damage was large enough and prominent enough that it should have been caught by QC before packaging (it obviously was not packaging or shipping damage).

About me: I'm a work from home dad who is responsible for most of the meals and can cook mean ribs, chicken, steak, mashed potatoes, vegetables, pasta, etc. but I always fumbled the ball when it came to rice. I would follow the directions to a 'T' and make adjustments where directed but it was always clumpy, mushy, or a mixture of clumpy and crunchy. I had to do something.

Regarding the cooker:
We've had the cooker for about a year and I'd say we average 2 rice dishes a week and we have NEVER had a bad dish of rice the entire time. My family is so happy to have gone from eating wallpaper paste to easting authentic Asian cuisine! Claims of the foaming and overflowing water are just simply unfounded. The users are doing something incorrect. I have used all types of rice (short, long, brown, white, jasmine, bulk, etc.) and I have yet to have foaming or excessive water. My routine is to measure the rice into a strainer, rinse the rice with running water for about 30 secs, put rice and water in the cooker, and press the corresponding button to the type of rice. IT IS SO EASY!

And it isn't just for rice, I cook meat and steam vegetables along with a variety of other things.

I recommend the Aroma ARC-15SB to anyone who enjoys eating rice at home.

Love my rice cooker! I had a small cheap one but after a year it died so I decided to upgrade to something better. I love the idea of being able to use as a slow cooker too. I have made baked potatoes in it which turned out really good. I learned the hard way it needs liquid because it kept turning off. So I had balled up aluminum foil and put them on the bottom to keep the potatoes off the bottom and then added enough water to cover the bottom of the pot but completely kept the potatoes off the bottom. They cooked for 5 hours and they were so good. Very nice since I was using my crockpot at the same time, this made it so easy to have this going w/ potatoes.

My only complaint is I wish the lid flipped from the back, not sure if there is a reason for it. It isn't too big of a deal, just awkward. So I just turn it but it is odd getting into it and have a big hot lid right there. Even if it came off it would be even better.

I finally got to use this and it does the job. It's considerably larger than I need, so that makes it a little awkward to use, however, it allows the rice to be rinsed without losing any. Transferring the rice from the washing bowl into the rice cooker is a minor challenge. It's difficult to get every wet grain of rice out of the bowl. Rinsing the rice did make a noticeable difference in the end product, my cooked rice was not starchy or sticky.

Not sure why we didn't purchase one of these in the past. We eat a lot of rice and this makes cleaning it so much easier.

This works as intended. However I find this was much bigger than I needed! I do not use the side drainer so much, it seems the rice gets stuck in it! I just use the bottom drainer as illustrated. I cannot compare this with anything, as I never "washed" rice before. Now when I make rice, always will wash.

I had higher hopes for the utility of this strainer. The holes in the bottom are not as numerous as I expected and staining rice doesn't work very well. The water pools and the rice doesn't get properly cleansed. Uncooked rice is the perfect size to clog up the bottom ports. This strainer works well for cooked pasta. The slits at the pour spout are okay but it's not any better than a standard kitchen utensil. If you don't have a strainer currently, not a bad choice. Definitely wouldn't recommend this to replace another one.

This colander drainer pourer is the right size for general use in the kitchen. It will handle a large pan of boiled spaghetti or a small amount of rice equally well and after draining, it can place the product just cooked in a serving dish without so much as a spilled string or grain. If you are looking for a good kitchen colander, give this one a try. For the price it is a bargain. Although they sent a clear plastic product, it is very acceptable. I like it.

This is an awesome rice bowl. Being Asian, we eat rice at every meal and making rice is a chore everyone hates since the rice we eat is a mixture of short and long grain rice. As such, if the water to rice ratio is not correct, the rice is not cook completely or becomes gruel since it is hard to drain the water completely without spilling rice when using a regular bowl. We could always tell how experience the person who made the rice was, depending on how cooked it was. This bowl solves the problem of having too much or too little water. As such, I felt fine letting my teenage sister or niece make rice, since I knew it would turned out edible. The reason I gave it 4 instead of 5 stars is because I wish the bowl was just a bit bigger. We usually make about 6 -8 cups of rice and I can rinse 6 cups of rice in the bowl if I'm careful without rice going over the edge. Other than that, it's the perfect bowl.

We had a white Aroma that we gave away before we moved. That model no longer exists. We liked it a lot - felt very sturdy. This model looks great, but weights little, and when the lid is open it doesn't feel sturdy at all; it feels like the lid might just rip right off the pot at the hinge. Also, not sure if we have the vent installed correctly, but the upper vent on the lid is making a mess with gobs of white goo ooozing out of it when cooking. Not sure why that's happening. This model is fine. And for the money it's a wonder how they can make things this "good enough" for such a low price.

This is not a crock pot (slow cooker) they don't advertise that it is, but it gives that impression. Doesn't seem to cook on low enough temp for an 8-10hrs of cooking. So if pot isn't full... food ends up either almost boiling and cooking too fast.

Easy to use but really hard to clean - the lid doesn't remove, so no way to completely clean. Can only wipe down with soap and water, which doesn't clean well enough and seems to leave some odors behind. I have tried washing and scrubbing several times.
Would be nice to fully submerge in soapy water and/or run it throughout the dishwasher.

Makes a nice rice cooker. But if I knew how hard it was to clean I would not have purchased.

Update: we have a small household and usually cook only small amounts, about 1-2 cups of uncooked rice with a suitable amount of water. This rice cooker works fine for that, whether it's white, brown, short grain, long grain, wild/quinoa blend...no problem.

BUT, I have found that the rice comes out mushy when making large batches of most kinds of rice, no matter what setting I use. You might be able to work around that by using a smaller proportion of water when making large batches, but who wants to experiment? I do it the old fashioned way in a pot on the stove for large batches now, and of course that's not why you buy a rice cooker.

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I'm extremely pleased with this rice cooker. Once every few months I attend some kind of potluck or other gathering, and since I have a culinary background I'm often asked to bring a main dish. This makes it easy to make rice to accompany some chicken, ribs, or other offering, and holds enough to serve 20 people or so.

This one is fancier than my old rice cooker and has separate buttons for brown and white rice. After experimenting, I've determined you can just use the white rice button for brown rice - the end result seems identical but it's faster. Yes, I know brown rice is supposed to cook longer, but mine runs for about 90 minutes on the brown rice setting, and that's longer than necessary. You might want to experiment with this, but I've tried steel-cut oats, various brown and wild rice, blends of different grains, you name it and they all come out good.

I've used a friend's Zojirushi for comparison purposes, and while it looks cooler, it doesn't seem to make rice any better or worse. Hey, after all, it's rice...you can also cook it in a pot you bought at a garage sale for 50 cents, right?

I purchased this rice cooker to replace an older Aroma rice cooker. That model was a basic, entry-level rice cooker.

This model has an attractive stainless steel finish, but the lid feels cheaper and less sturdy than my other rice cooker. The settings and timer feature are great, but this rice cooker is slow.

It takes 51 minutes to cook 4 cups of (cooked) rice. My previous rice cooker could cook 16 (cooked) cups of rice in 20-25, It takes 25-30 minutes to steam broccoli with this rice cooker. My old one could do it in 5.

It doesn't make sense that this higher-model rice cooker is so much worse than my original rice cooker.

The spinning animation on the LCD display while it's cooking is interesting, but it becomes frustrating watching it wondering when the rice will be done. Has Aroma quality gone down? I would think all of their rice cookers in this range would have the same kind of heating element, but this one is twice as slow as my old one when cooking rice.

And one time when I cooked two and a half cups of (uncooked) rice, starchy water was bubbling out of the steam vent (?) The rice was nowhere near the top.

I do like the paddle holder on the side. My old one had a place to hook a paddle holder on it, but I lost it. This one is integrated, so you can't lose it. The design of the holder, however, means only rice paddles from Aroma are likely to fit in it.

My old one had a removable steam vent, so you could wash it. This one does not. It's integrated into the lid, and non-removable. My old one also had a removable power cord. This one does not.

I will be returning this, and looking for a better one.

I've only used it for brown rice so I can't speak to its abilities with white rice or quinoa yet but what I've seen so far with brown rice has not amazed me. While it is a set-it-and-forget-it type of appliance, which is nice, if the quality of the finished product isn't up to snuff then it's really no help.

First of all, we typically only eat brown rice and that's all I've cooked in it. Many reviews refer to 20-30 minute cook times but that is with white rice only. Brown rice is going to set you back upwards of 90 minutes...yes, an hour and half. I wouldn't even have a problem with it taking twice as long to make rice as it does in a pot...if it did it well.

Anyway, I've made about 6 batches, so far, and every one has had some degree of burning on the bottom. No, I have never let it sit in the warm setting after it's done for more than a minute or so either, so that's not the issue. With the first batch I made, I heard it go off and stirred it all up to absorb any residual moisture before serving. Unfortunately, this mixed all the burnt rice on the bottom of the cooker with the rest and we had to deal with periodic bites of crunchy burnt rice. Since then, I've learned to carefully "peel" off the layer of burnt rice prior to stirring it all together.

Since the first batch, I've experimented with various levels of water and have, most recently, added almost double the water to rice ratio (i.e. for 3 cups rice, fill with water to the 6 line). While the burning layer has decreased somewhat, now the consistency of the rest is suffering and comes out mushier than the initial batch. I don't know if the 90 minutes is still not low and slow enough but I'd gladly plan for 2 hours IF it meant it would come out right.

I'm going to continue to experiment with the ratios and hope the quality will improve. I will update with my results.

This product was bought as an add on to my Rice cooker. The plastic used seems to be too thin.I have one already which I have been using for many years and this one is not as sturdy. The holes at thebottom does not really make the rice wash any better. With the bottom sealed, you can really immerse the rice inthe water and get all the debris out. Then the slotted spout will drain the water.Not very happy with this item, but it does a satisfactory job.

I usually just throw the rice in there and let me spray tap run for a while to wash the rice out instead of using my hands to scrub the rice. The reason is because the rice gets stuck at the bottom in the holes and really hurts because they all stick up. Don't know if that makes sense - all add a photo next time I use to explain better.

It does the job. The small holes in the bottom drain slowly and even after allowing the rice to sit for a minute there will be some water left. I wish the feet were taller to hold it a little higher off the sink. The larger slots in the spout are the perfect size to trap rice grains and that's an annoying flaw.Update. Downgraded to 3 stars. My enthusiasm wore off over time after poking rice grains out of the holes. Now I use a mesh strainer which works perfectly and is much faster.

This is a huge rice washer. Expect it to be very oversized. I do like it's ability to drain water from the wash without losing the rice BUT the side for pouring the washed rice into a cooking pot has slightly larger drain slits and the rice gets stuck in there and isn't easy to get out. So I feel that sort of defeats the convenience that the rice washer. I will continue to use it, but I'll have to figure out a different way to transfer the finished product.

I have always washed my rice in the rice cooker bowl. Thought that this might help get the last bit of excess starch out, convinced that I do leave some starch at the bottom when I normally just tilt the pot over to drain the water. Here's the problem. The holes drain water so quickly that I can't get the rice swirling in water for a proper wash. This ends up using more water than my usual method, with no noticeable improvement. Now if you cook your rice on the stove, and want to wash your rice and get out all the water before adding a measured amount, then I think that this is useful. Otherwise just wash in the rice cooker bowl and fill water to the correct line.

The description is deceptive in more ways than one. Others have pointed out its origin not in Japan but in China. There are no "side vents," too, apart from a row at the very top of the bowl. The strainer I've used for years is actually faster for washing rice. This might work for berry-washing, if one needs another colander.

ALWAYS BURNS. This rice cooker burns the rice almost every time. Multiple reviewers state they have the same issue. I've tried adding extra water, interrupting it to stir, and a million other things. The rice on the top is well cooked and done correctly, but I have to add like an extra half cup so that I can leave the burnt rice on the bottom and only eat the top rice.

Until I get another that is NOT damaged and has all of the parts, I'll stay with this rating.

Actually, I never fired all of this up. I went through the instructions about washing all the parts before first use. But, there was no condensation collector. Yes, it is supposed to have one since there are small notches in the recess below the hinge side of the lid. That is when I spotted a large dent in the side of the pot.

So, this is more a review of the Amazon Warehouse Deals system than the product. This was a like new item and the packaging still looked that way. It had obviously been re-opened and retaped. That's okay. The description said NO damage and that al parts where there.

Obviously, no one really looked at this!! There are four more "Like New" listed at the warehouse. HOWEVER, they have jacked the price up by $3 putting it only $2 less than a new one. Not a value now.

I have a similar model(from the the same maker) for about 10 years and I decided to replace it. After 3 month usage, I concluded that I couldn't give it a score more than 3: the water constantly comes out of the steam vent, making a mess on the lid, as well as adjacent counter area. You have to make sure that the top space is clear as well, otherwise any object immediately above will sure to catch a lot of steam: I am sure it is not good for wood cabinets. It matters little if I use the setting of white rice, slow cook or brown rice. Now I regret that I tossed my old cooker.

I just received it today and when it arrived, the box was not even in another box to hide or protect it. The box was tore open and dented and so I decided t o try it out to see if it worked. So far it does,(I cooked 4 cups of brown rice in it) however the rice took a hour and half!
The rice took 90 minutes to cook! My old cheap regular rice cooker tool only 20 minutes to cook white rice. This one says it takes 30 minutes to cook white rice! Why so long? I will try a second time to cook white rice in it and see how it comes out.

I can't give it more than two stars. The cooker is great, but it has a huge issue that I personally dislike very much. For some reason, food odors stick to the lid like crazy glue! I've washed it with vinegar, lemon, soaked it in hot water, baking soda, etc, etc, etc,... oh my gosh! What didn't I tried? I even boiled for hours cinnamon and lemons in it so it can at least smell good... The weird thing is that this doesn't happen with the other accessories it comes with. Everything else is easy to wash and does not retain any odors. I guess it must have something to do with the type of material the entire lid is made of. At this point I'll use it only for white rice and odorless foods. Not good for hearty seasoned food, unless you want the smell around for weeks. I wish Aroma would come up with a solution. Let's say a replacement lid made of a different material.

I did not like this. I frequently make rice. I used it twice before giving up on it.There are two problems. It is white so it makes it more difficult than necessary to tell when it is done. Also, rice gets caught in the holes. While rice does not escape while washing, you waste time trying to get it out afterwards.

My wife is asian, we cook a lot of rice and I thought she would like this. However, I found it difficult to use for washing rice, grains stick in the grooves and it's no better than simply washing the rice in water in the rice cooker bowl a couple times. Also, this uses running water, not a good purchase for me in California in a drought.

This bowl is much too big for my needs - I only rinse 1-1.5 cups of rice at a time. Also, the water doesn't drain completely out of the bottom, so I'd have to pour it through a strainer anyway, and the rice would fall out because the bowl is so much bigger than my strainer. I used this once and went back to just rinsing rice in a small bowl and pouring it out through a strainer.

The item I received does not have the slots around the bottom edge as the picture shows. Mine has only pinholes in the bottom which allows water to drain as a light shower, adequate but will take longer to wash a large quantity of rice. By the handle (orange dot) is where some slots are located but who in the world swishes their rice that far up??? Clarify with the seller BEFORE you buy.

It does the job but considering its made to put rice in I would expect it to be designed so grains of rice don't get stuck in the holes on the bottom and at the spout. You have to use your hands to push the rice through in order to get it un-stuck.

I noticed several other people commenting on how easy this item breaks. I purchased this along with a Rice Cooker. The order was fulfilled by Amazon. The shipping box was in perfect condition on the outside, but inside - the Rice Cooker (in its retail box) and this item (in a type of plastic bag) apparently got into an argument during the trip and the bowl was a mess, i.e. broken shards of brittle plastic.When you examine the bowl, you can see how brittle the plastic is so that is a legitimate concern if you are buying this bowl. Throw in a shipping box with a much heavier item and it bounced around enough to break it into pieces.The real joke is: to get my refund I have to return (shipping paid for by Amazon). Expensive return for Amazon to pay for, but only way to get my money.EDITED: January 24, 2014 -- I took the package to the local UPS Store (early evening, January 23rd) to ship back to Amazon in order to get my refund. I got an EMAIL around 9:30 p.m. that my purchase price was being refunded. Not sure how they do refunds, but obviously the package didn't get all the way back to the shipping destination before they processed the refund. Oh well - maybe I will order another one - just this time all by itself so it is not packed with anything else that could possibly break it!

Did not work well for me my rice turned out almost burnt on the bottom. I followed the book exactly and defiantly was not happy with the results. I ended up sending it back.

The rice cooker makes excellent rice. However, it vents water and steam which creates a mess. Update to my original review. We have used this cooker approximately 4 times and are throwing it away. It leaks water over our counters and on to the floor. I would not recommend this cooker. It makes great rice but the clean up is not worth it.

The hinge for the top is not structurally sound and flexes ... at times this keeps the latch for securing the top to the base/body when trying to close the top ... BUT at times the flex in the hinge is sufficient to disengage the latch when the top IS closed, which when carrying the device with the handle on the top of the top, results in spillage of cooked rice, or even worse, water and uncooked rice!

The rice ALWAYS comes out burnt and terrible. Everytime. Bought the most popular rice of Amazon and it comes out the consistency of courage. Added the appropriate amount of water, wash the rice before hand and everytime the thing burns the bottom of the rice and the texture is garbage. I hate this thing. Spend the extra money on a different model. This thing will be in my trash next time I get paid.

This is my first rice cooker and it might just be my last. It doesn't cook rice - period. It's supposed to do up to 20 cups cooked, but when I put 10 cups of rice In and fill the water line appropriately, it "cooks" me hard, unfinished pellets of rice. Yuck. I actually had to take rice out and finish it on the stove - what is the point?! Of course I tried to give it the benefit of the doubt - I used it 3x - and now I can't return the piece of crap. Ugh.

Rice slips out of the bottom holes (and ends up plugging quite a few of them) and also gets stuck to the side slots while draining. Some rice still lost in the sink, the very thing I wanted to avoid which is why I made this purchase. Very disappointing product.

mine arrived cracked..it was not worth to ship back. I threw away

Takes to long to rinse the water off, made out better using the pot to drain it.

Arrived cracked across the whole bottom of the bowl...

This product is very cheaply, poorly made. It was cracked in half when I received it and the lip of it was also broken off on one side. The only thing I can say is that it was shipped very quickly, however the bowl was just thrown in the box amidst other items, it was in a self container box or anything which may explain why it was broken.

I received a decent quality rice washing bowl. However I ordered this specifically for the side openings and the product I received had no side openings only bottom openings. An add on product so not worth returning don't know if I'll ever use it again.