Oster 4722 Rice Cooker with Steaming Tray, Red

by Oster

Product Features

• Cooks a variety of food including rice, soup, fondou and more
• Prepares up to 6 cups of rice
• Includes 1-liter steaming tray
• Automatic keep warm feature
• Integrated one touch operation

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 10.2 x 9.5 inches ; 4 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• Shipping Advisory: This item must be shipped separately from other items in your order. Additional shipping charges will not apply.
• ASIN: B001KBY9M8
• Item model number: 004722-000-000
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (67 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,181 in Kitchen & Dining (See Top 100 in Kitchen & Dining)
  • #12 in Kitchen & Dining > Small Appliances > Rice Cookers

Product Description

Make personalized meals and side dishes with the Oster 6-Cup Rice Cooker. This rice cooker is the perfect size for couples and small families as it makes up to 6 cups of cooked rice. It has a glass lid and a steaming tray for vegetables. Other features include a keep warm function, auto shut-off, and a power on indicator light.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

53 of 54 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good rice cooker - simple but a little fussy, January 23, 2009

By 

Shelley E. Olds "technut" (Nederland, CO USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Oster 4722 Rice Cooker with Steaming Tray, Red (Kitchen)

I've never owned a rice cooker before this, however, I have cooked lots of rice over the years. Its an inexpensive rice cooker and if you follow the directions, it'll do fine.

Since moving to the mountains of Colorado, its taken me years to adjust to the lowered the boiling point due to the higher elevation (8300')... it takes more time (add ~10-20min) and the dry climate means using more water (for a 1 cup of dry rice, takes ~2.5+ cups water rather than 2cups). Still, there have been many times when rice just didn't work out the way I wanted.

So I mentioned that it would be nice to have a rice cooker and let it deal with the cook time. Of course I had done some research, and when this came in the mail as a present, I was a little nervous since Oster's seem to get so-so reviews. Well, I cooked my typical basmati rice, a 1/2 cup dry and added my typical 1c water plus extra, put lid on, pressed the button and went to do something else.

A lot of reviewers mention how the rice on the bottom gets over-cooked, sometimes brown or burnt. Some reviewers like the crunchiness, some hate it. Well, the directions tell you to stir the rice - especially the bottom of the cooker after 15 minutes. Sure enough, the rice at the bottom was starting to stick. I scraped it all loose, added another 1/4 cup water, chopped it up a little, put the lid on, and let fate take its course. Would the rice by a burnt mess? 20 minutes later we had the best sticky rice we've ever had!

Plus it seemed to cook faster. And I really liked that it went to 'warm' mode automatically. One major drawback: It spewed hot sticky water up under the lid and through the vent all over the kitchen but once we wiped the lid off (without picking up the lid), it settled down. If you are a neat freak or want a set-and-forgot, this rice cooker is not for you. And for me, I'll come up with a little steam catcher helmet and deal with the mess. For the price, its a good buy. And, I love the red color too!

[found this cool tip from Spyce: To help keep the starch from bubbling up and spraying out of the vent hole, rinse the rice thoroughly and drain. Heat a small amount of olive oil in the rice bowl, once the oil is heated, carefully add the rice and saute it for 3 to 4 minutes. Add the water and continue cooking.] I'm going to try this tip next time!

BTW, this cooker seems like a knock-off of the similar Rival rice cooker (both owned by Jarden]

32 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very nice, January 5, 2010

By 

Reader "a_reader_999" (United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Oster 4722 Rice Cooker with Steaming Tray, Red (Kitchen)

I just got this cooker today, so durability is not something I can rate yet.

These are the things I like;

1. No plastic. This was important for me. Both the bottom rice cooker and the steamer tray are metal. The lid is glass.

2. Nice and compact. I cook for my wife and myself, so I don't something huge, and of course storage space is always limited. The steamer tray is small; on the other hand, the manual claims that this can cook up to 5 cups of rice.

3. Easy cleanup. Yes some of the rice made a gooey mess in the bottom, but a little soaking took it all right out.

4. Inexpensive.

5. Multi-purpose. I have used it once so far, and here's what I did. I put some brown rice in the bottom rice cooker, and some salmon, broccoli and cauliflower in the steamer tray. The manual says nothing about steaming anything other than veggies, but I thought I'd try it. The result: Excellent. The salmon was cooked to perfection, and so were the vegetables. So I had a complete, tasty, and healthy meal, all in one cooker, and so long as I was prepared to let the bowl and the tray soak for a bit, cleanup was a breeze. Oh and you can make soups, stews, etc. instead of cooking rice. It's not a large-capacity cooker but it would make plenty of stew for two people.

Things I don't like:

1. No timer. It apparently senses when the steam is gone, and then switches to "warmer" mode automatically. The only control is a switch that goes from "cook" to "warmer." This also means that you have to unplug it to turn it off, though that doesn't bother me.

That's about the only thing I have to carp about so far. It didn't bubble or spit at all.

If I can get at least three or four years of regular (and by regular I mean nearly daily) use out of this thing, I'll consider it an extremely good value.

Update June 2010: OK sometimes it does bubble and spit a bit. Nothing terrible. I've used it probably 25 times altogether without any problems. Considering the low purchase price, I'd call this thing a good value. I'd buy it again.

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Secret is Salt and a Little Butter, January 2, 2010

By 

C. Preston (USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Oster 4722 Rice Cooker with Steaming Tray, Red (Kitchen)

I bought this thinking it would take up so much less space on my counter top than the other model I had in mind. I got home to use it and was so disappointed until I read a comment someone else made about a review. It did sputter and spit and shoot rice water on my counter and the rice seemed to stick-the trick is to add a little butter or oil of your choice and a little salt. Now it works like a charm! I usually add liquids and butter first, then the rice. I start it up an hour or two before I want to actually eat the rice, or even longer. I've let it run for 3-4 hours before. It keeps the rice nice and warm all that time. I use this about every day-we love rice and I just started a gluten free diet so I'm eating more rice instead of noodles. I'm glad I checked the reviews after the initial disappointment. This one is a keeper.