Side by Side Comparison of: Inomata vs Black & Decker

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.

Great little rice cooker. Quick, easy, and makes the rice perfect every time. My only suggestion would be to unplug it after it clicks over from cooking to warming. Otherwise, you may get some burned rice on the bottom of the pan.

This rice cooker makes really great rice and keeps it warm.This rice cooker does more than free up a burner. It cooks without burning the rice and keeps it warm. The only downside is its propensity to splatter hot water on the counter (when cooking brown rice). It's similar to the experience of cooking on the stove, actually - where you have to watch the water with the rice to make sure it doesn't start foaming and bubbling over. A rice cooker should be different so you don't have to pop the lid every so often to prevent a soaked counter and floor... and it's not just water - it's starchy water, so it has to be thoroughly cleaned up so you don't end up with a sticky, bug-attracting mess later.Overall this product is great because I am a college student and quick easy meals are helpful!

This is an incredible little machine which I love so much ! It cooks rice effortlessly. I just wash the rice, pour it into the cooker, and return back in 20 minutes. When the rice is cooked, it automatically switches to "keep warm mode." There are indications inside the rice cooker with how much rice and water to put. The added steamer allows me to cook broccoli and cauliflower to eat along with my rice as well! It's small and doesn't take up a lot of energy, so I do intend to bring it abroad with me and just placed an adapter on the plug. Overall, really satisfied with this stunningly inexpensive item !

This is one of those products that make me ask each time I use it: "why did I wait so long before purchasing one of these!"I been cooking rice for over 20 years and just the same its still more an art than a science on the stove top. That is until I got this baby..It is quick, efficient, virtually noiseless, and best of all, as long as you do two parts water to one part rice, you will end up with flawless rice.I heard the phrase, "nothing to write mom home about."Well guess what:This is definitely something worth writing mom home about.And why stop there?I now have used this little cooker to heat up soups. I open the can up and toss its contents in and switch it on for about three minutes, just to when its starts to boil.Then I lift the pot gently out using an oven mitt which causes the unit to shut off.Better tasting in my opinion than the microbe wave and just more homely tasting with no scattered surprising random cold spots.

For those of us who have issues with rice boiling over in the microwave, and have it burn on the stove-- this thing is fantastic.Got it in the mail this morning and tested it out on some long grain rice; it did not boil over when loaded with 3 cups of rice (uncooked). Note that you need to use the included measure and not your own measuring cup to keep it from boiling over. The rice did not burn or brown on the bottom; it was all white and fluffy.The inside of the inner bowl is nonstick, and the coating seems to work well- I had no problems cleaning it.Overall, it's nicely made, and it works really well. There are instructions for how to cook veggies and fish in it, too, though I've not tested them yet.This is perfect for college/grad students with an apartment of their own and relatively little time, since it's a set-and-forget kind of tool.

My husband loves rice and this cooker works really well. The proper amount of water must be used because there is a sensor that measures moisture and turns the cooker to warm when ready. The rice should be stirred when it switches to warm to prevent sticking and scorching if your are not quite ready to eat. It only takes 20 minutes to cook enough rice for 2 full cups of cooked rice. Personally , I have not used it. My husband tells me about every times he uses it. :)

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.

Had this for a year now, works okay. Small, but okay for making rice for one or two people. Was missing the serving cup and spoon that it said it came with, but chose to keep it instead of returning the whole thing. Haven't had any issues making rice in it, use it a few times a week. I usually make long jasmine rice in this.

Likes:not having to worry about burning the rice, set it forget it it stays on warm until readyImprovements:since key to good rice is measurements, these instructions are hazy even for a someone with an advanced grad degree+ the measuring cup & inside the pot quantity indicators are damn close to invisibleAfter only one pot rice experiment, I followed the rice package instruction more than these hieroglyphics so not confident the outcome was as true blue to its design as intended ... WHY CAN'T THIS BE AS SIMPLE as advertised? Rice, water, push the cook button, then presto?Prime + price = satisfied & hoping a solution to the mix appears to make it all 1-2-3 simple in future.

We have had this rice cooker for 8 months and use it nearly daily for rice, amaranth, quinoa and brown rice. This is a small, cheap, lightweight cooker perfect for one or two people. The description is incorrect. It does not make 3-cups of dry rice without making a mess. For best results use 2/3 cup to 1 1/2 cups dry. ALWAYS rinse the rice/grain before placing in cooker. Some people have complained about burned rice on the bottom: We have had this happen when the bottom of the insert pot and/or element is damp. Even a drip of water under the insert pot causes problems. Just dry it all up thoroughly before using.We deducted a star because the vent lets out a lot of starchy steam, so we keep a tea towel spread out under it for quicker clean up. This cooker uses less counter space than most. Insert cleanup is quick, but lid cleanup is tougher. It's a good idea to rub a little oil into the bottom of the insert occasionally. You'll be able to tell when it needs it.It is an inexpensive cooker, so we have no expectations about it living a long time. If it does, that's great.

The capacity of this device is deceiving. It comes with a measuring cup that is 3/4 a cup and the instructions specifically tell you not to use a normal 1cup measuring cup to measure your rice and water, to only use the provided cup. This means the dry capacity is 2 and 1/4 cup, which is significantly less than 3 cups. It's annoying that everything on the box and instructions says it holds "about 3 cups", when the truth is it holds closer to 2 cups of dry rice.Other than that, this rice cooker performs well. It gave off a strong smell the first time I used it, but that smell has faded on it's own without additional cleaning. This cooker is perfect if you have a small kitchen and limited cabinet space. It will make enough rice to feed 4-5 people in one sitting, where the rice is a side dish, not the majority of your plate. Or it provides a couple servings of leftovers for 2 people.Based on the cheap price, I would definitely re-order this product.

This small and simple appliance makes perfect rice every time and easy to clean and maintain. Just add rice and water (or broth if you prefer), plug it in and wait until you hear the click that indicates that the rice is ready - 15-20 minutes depending on the type of rice you're using. The compact size is ideal for a single or couple. If you regularly need to cook much larger quantities of rice, this isn't the appliance for you.As others have noted, the description is misleading. The cooker will not accommodate 3 cups of dry rice. When the rice doubles during cooking it will surely overflow and make a giant mess in the kitchen. The included measuring cup is really just two-thirds of a cup. One measure of rice and two measures of rice is enough rice for 1-2 servings.

When i saw Black & Decker in Amazon for just 15 dollars and also the big-sized image, i was so excited to buy this. But when it came, it was surprisingly small.So i don't want anyone else to make the same mistake!!!...But it can hold rice for two people perfectly.Like all other cookers from the same brand, it does a very good job.The rice comes out perfectly and consistently well. But be careful not to leave it in warm mode for a long time.Rice becomes very dry, so you just need to unplug it when the rice is done and close the hole in the lid if you want to leave it like that for a little longer.Also it is very easy to clean and maintain.But be careful not to wet and use non-stick inner cooking pot in the rice cooker because it can get damaged easily.

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.

Bought this product a little over a year ago now. After having it for about a year it has stopped working. When it gets plugged in it doesn't turn on. It's been a great product til now. Just wish it would have lasted longer.

VERY slow rice cooker! not sure if mine is dysfunctional, but it takes a long time to cook even a cup of rice. not worth it to me.

I didn't have it for very long before it stopped working. When it was working, it worked well until it didn't.

I was mostly looking for this to be able to just put the ingredients in, set it and forget it. Maybe I was just expecting too much. It shuts off when its done cooking and goes to warm which is nice. I have used it about 5 times and every time the rice sticks and starts burning if I was not stirring it every few minutes though. I tried putting more water in each time to prevent that, but it hasn't helped. With that said, you might as well just use a pan and cook the rice on the stove, there is no difference. Product works though and cooks the rice thoroughly every time. Have a feeling mine will be on the shelves of Goodwill soon, as it's not worth taking up the space in the kitchen.

Okay, so here's the thing. It claims to hold 3 cups of dry rice and 6 cups cooked rice. WRONG. It comes with a little cup (I measured it out and it holds 2/3 of a cup) and it's THAT cup that is the portioning for this machine. So, it holds 3 uncooked "cups" of rice. So, I followed the rules and used that cup to cook the rice. I put in 3 dry cups and then 6 of the same cup of water. The rice was overflowing, got the lid all starchy, and was wetter than I expected the rice to be. The bottom of the rice had stuck to the non-stick basin and burned a little bit. Considering that this machine has an auto-function to switch to "keep warm" after the rice has cooked, I didn't expect to have burned rice in the bottom of the steamer. Needless to say, I'm a bit disappointed with this. But, I steamed some small sweet potatoes in this (as long as I found ones that would let the lid sit correctly) and it worked better than my old steamer. I haven't tried steaming salmon in it yet, I'm sure I'll edit this when I do and let you guys know how that turns out.In short, if you're a college student or buying this for a college student, it should suit them well. Even if they need to hide from their roommate and make rice in their room, it'll be perfect for them. This is a great one person meal making machine. If you have 2+ people you're trying to make rice for, use a pot.

I eat a lot of brown rice, which can be very time consuming to prepare (and expensive if you buy the instant kind) so I bought this product to make it easier. I read several reviews and this seemed to be pretty good. At first glance it worked pretty well. It's a pretty simple device, it basically cooks based on weight. You add rice (and whatever else) and water, and it presses down on the bowl to activate the on switch. It then continuously cooks at the same even temperature until all of the water is evaporated and it automatically shuts off. You have to be very precise with you measurements though. I found that if I just "set it and forget it" that the rice would be burned and starched on the bottom and very thick and gummy. It was pretty effective for brown rice, because it takes so much longer to cook. You can add the rice, seasoning and water and turn it on, and come back in 20 minutes and it still wouldn't be done - but close enough to it that you could stay to finish the process. But you need to stir it occassionally so setting and forgetting is a bad idea. I used it for about a month before I realized it wasn't saving me any time or hassle and tossed it.

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!

I've had a couple of problems with this product. The first time I used it, I followed all the directions, measured out the correct amount of water, and turned it on... and when it was done my rice was crunchy and half cooked. It was horrible. I turned it on for a second cycle and it still came out underdone. The second time I used it, the automatic shut off just stopped working, so my rice came out horrible and overcooked. I just can't win! I will not be using it for rice again.However, the one thing I do use it a lot for is to steam vegetables. The steamer basket is pretty perfect for a single portion or so, and if I set a timer and remember to come back to it, my veggies come out perfect and delicious. I steam broccoli in it probably once or twice a week and it is the easiest and most convenient way to cook a small portion when I'm just making it for myself.Since this product is useless for me for it's intended purpose, but I do still use for other things, 2 stars out of five. If it was marketed as just a veggie steamer, it'd be a more favorable score. I don't know if mine was a bad one or if they are all manufactured poorly, but I would not recommend this purchase.

I've used my rice cooker three times since receiving it and each time, it overflows. I've never used more than one 'measure' of rice and have never filled it past the '1' line with water. Now granted, the rice comes out tasting good, but it makes a huge mess! The answer to overflows in the troubleshooting section of the manual says I'm using too much water, but I am clearly not. Perhaps mine is defective. I'll attempt to exchange and update my review with the results.

We got this one in December 2014. All this time, it was fine, but today all of sudden while cooking rice, we noticed that the lid broke into pieces all by itself. Not sure if it is a defective piece or not.

The material used for the handle on the lid and the side of the cooker is really flimsy and cheap - the grip on both is not enough and not substantial. If you don't mind the cheapy annoying handling of the cooker, then this would be the best value for you. For me, I'm returning.DEAL BREAKER: The air vent on the lid is too big of a hole and would ruin the steaming process. Poor design.Also, the rice cup included did not resemble the picture at all. Instead of a cup, it was a small plastic bowl.

This rice cooker gets the job done.I'd like to mention some negative information. If I reviewed this item directly after I purchased it, I would give it five stars. Everything was excellent. Rice came out prefect, no burned spots. Unit switched from cooking to keeping the rice warm, perfectly.Fast forward several months and it's as if the unit does not switch to keeping the rice warm soon enough. This causes the bottom to become burnt more often than not. Sure you can further watch it and manually switch from cooking as the water dissipates. However, that sort of defeats the purpose of the unit.All and all I think it's worth the price, but I wouldn't purchase again.

It does cook rice. Poorly.The bottom always ends up over done (brown-ish_ and the top always seems a bit too wet no matter what I do. I usually use Kohuko Rose or another good quality rice. I've tried varying quantities of rice to water, pre-soaking the rice, washing and not washing the rice, stopping the cooker before it's fully done it's cook cycle, unplugging it as soon as it's done so that the warming cycle doesn't get a chance to turn on, etc. No matter what it is always over done on the bottom and it's not evenly done. I've (successfully) used many various rice cookers over the years so I don't think it's a user error (I also read the instructions multiple times just in case I was being overly dense).Over all I do not recommend this rice cooker.It seemed like a good deal for the price but sometime soon I will be replacing it with a different type (and hopefully much better/consistant) rice cooker.

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.

This ítem is no good. Just stpped working way before 30 days. Amazon takes no responsibility cuz its a 3 rd party. DO NOT BUY! YOU WILL BE SORRY. My last rice maker last 5 years. This one is a heap of junk! I'm still waiting for the replacement it seems that Black and Decker and put the address incorrectly so I call Black & Decker and I got the most rudest person that I've ever spoken with. She said for me to call UPS but they don't call UPS. I then asked to speak to a supervisor and you're not going to believe what she did she hung up on me. So I did all the leg work that they should have done but they don't care about their customers obviously corrected the address and I'm getting close to 20 days now and I still have no rice cooker besides this being trash I'm pretty sure that the new model isn't any better and you're not going to get any type of service I will never purchase another Black & Decker item and neither will anyone in my family. I posted this on my Twitter and I got over 20,000 hits of people that have had the same problem.

Best places to operate this rice cooker would probably be outdoors (clean up witha garden hose?) or in the bathtub (wash down with handheld shower attachment?)No matter where I place this appliance, it spews staining foam all over the place.I tried putting it in the sink (foam on curtains, dish rack, counter tops); placed it ona large kitchen table covered with newspapers (could not protect nearby chairs orfloor).Brown rice comes out fine in my small crock pot, A sheet of aluminum foil atop thecrockpot's glass cover allows the rice to cook faster and avoids the hot stainingfoam that spews from this B&D rice cooker and helps keep a kitchen cooler in thesummer months.

Though I bought this product in July 2015, I started to use it just about three months. The unit stopped working and I called the customer service.They want me to cut the power cord and mail it to them along with a check for $7.50. It makes no sense. Perhaps this is the direction all the customer service / product warranty is going to be. In stead of taking pains to do all the crappy work and also pay almost $10, I would rather buy a new one AND I believe that is what exactly these companies wants their customers do. I will never buy this brand again.

This is the second cooker we've purchased, as the first one had a motor that burned out two months into owning it. We bought a second, thinking it was a fluke. Guess what? It wasn't. This one burned out on us, too, just a few weeks after buying it. Horrible product.

I bought this a few weeks ago and had only used it once. I tried cooking brown rice and it worked as advertised and I had no issues. A week later, I plug it in, put the rice and water in and the cooker NEVER heated up. I then glanced at the LED by the Heat/Keep Warm lever on the front and it didn't turn on in an outlet I had used previously. I tried flipping the switch between the 2 settings and also plugging it into a new outlet and still no power.I contacted their Support number and was told it was defective (obviously) and that I would need to cut the plug and mail in the last 3 to 4 inches of the power cable, including the end and pay $7.50 for 'Replacement fees'. I shipped them the cooker back without paying the fee (which was half the price of the cooker) and am waiting for a replacement unit.I will update this post once the replacement is received.UPDATE 9/2015:I received the replacement about 2 months ago and used it once successfully. I just tried plugging it in to cook some rice and of course the same problem as last time happened. No lights, no heat, not working after 1 use. Contacting support again but would suggest looking elsewhere for a cheap rice cooker

After 3 months of use (4-5 times in total) it suddenly stopped working. The light wouldn't turn on.I checked the website for repairs, but the site ways that the service centers don't repair small kitchen appliances. Amazon won't take it back as it is past their return windows. So now am stuck with the rice cooker that doesn't work and cannot be repaired.This is the second B&D item that has stopped working within 3 months of purchase. I will definitely stay away from B&D in future.