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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great value for all you can do! Panasonic SR-MS182 Fuzzy-Logic 20-Cup Rice Cooker, May 27, 2009
This review is from: Panasonic SR-MS182 Fuzzy-Logic 10-Cup Rice Cooker, White (Kitchen)
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
This cooker is supposed to be able to: cook white rice (normal mode), white rice (quick mode), brown rice, sticky rice, rice porridge, steam, cake, slow cook. I tested the functions I would most often use: cooking white rice, steaming, cake, and slow cooking.
[1] Cook rice (white jasmine) in normal mode
This cooker is meant to make as little as 2 cups rice (4 cup yield cooked) to 10 cups (20 cup yield cooked). Cooking takes about 40 minutes. When cooking the minimum (2 cups) with the recommended amount of water according to the markings in the inner bowl, the finished rice seemed a bit dry and undercooked. Whenever I find the rice slightly undercooked for my taste when the machine says the rice is finished cooking, I let the rice steam for a few additional minutes in "warm" mode, and it'll usually eventually get cooked more thoroughly, though still a bit dry. I've had the same problem with my old rice cooker. With smaller amounts of rice, the markings are usually off so I need to add more water than what is recommended. I tried cooking 2 cups again, but this time, added water 1-2 millimeters above the recommended water line, and the rice came out perfect when the machine sounded the "ready" beep. When I made a larger amount in this cooker (4 cups), I added water only up to the recommended line, but this time had no problems with the finished rice. Again, this is the same way my old rice cooker (different brand) performed, so don't necessarily think badly of Panasonic's line, there are problems all around - just keep tweaking water as you get to understand how the rice will turn out the more you use the machine.
[2] Cook rice in quick mode
I tried with 2 cups again. Cooking finished in about 15 minutes, but was far more undercooked than the rice in Task 1. I let the rice steam in "warm" mode for about an hour, and the rice was better - took away the whole point of trying to cook rice quickly, though. Doubt I will bother using this over normal cooking.
[3] Steam
You can set the cooking time for steaming anywhere between 1-60 minutes, adjusting in 1 minute increments. The plastic steaming tray fits into the inner bowl of the rice cooker. The tray is approximately 8.25 inches in diameter and 2.25 inches deep. There are two nubs in the plastic tray protruding inwards that you use to help lift the tray out of the inner bowl when steaming is done. Steamed 4 quartered russet potatoes great, and tray was very easy to clean.
[4] Cake
Instead of cake, I made a batter for pumpkin bread that is normally baked at 350º for about 55 minutes in a loaf pan. Put it in the cooker on "cake" mode and it finished cooking in 55 minutes as well. Cooked nicely though the texture of the crust is slightly different and better suited for actual cakes. There will not be the golden crust on the top of the baked good you are used to with oven baking. The top of the cake/bread will look and feel more like steamed buns. You can set the cooking time in "cake" mode anywhere from 20-65 minutes, adjusting in 5 minute intervals.
[5] Slow cook
A completely frozen block of corned beef was cooked in "slow cook" mode for 3.5 hours. It was nice that I didn't have to worry about falling asleep with the machine on since there are no flames to deal with on the stove and didn't have to watch for spillovers. There is no temperature control, but the machine keeps the temperature so the water stays at a low simmer. Cooking times for slow cooking can be adjusted in 30 minute increments anywhere from 1-12 hours.
Happy with overall performance except for quick cooking rice.
Other notes:
The machine will remember the cooking time settings you last used for the steam, cake, and slow cook options - great so you don't have to reset it all the time when you cook the same thing often. A detail I really appreciated was that the inner cover to the lid had a rubber gasket around the edges with a layer of rubber folded back in such a way that when you open the lid, with all the condensation on the inner cover from the steaming of rice, the water is caught in the groove in between the layers of rubber and does not drip all over the bottom half of the machine. The machine displays the time when not in use, but it just operates on a 24-hour clock i.e. when it is 4 in the afternoon, you will see 16:00 on your time display. There is unfortunately no other option for those of us who like to simply see 4:00 pm. The display lays more horizontal than vertically. I wish the display were more vertical so you could easily see the time on it sitting down in a chair across the room, not only if you're standing over it. Disappointed there is no slot/holder for the rice scoop. It would have been nice since once the scoop starts getting used, there's rice sticking all over it and it would be good to have somewhere to put the scoop in between servings without having to dirty another dish or the countertop.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Panasonic SR-MS182 Fuzzy-Logic 20-Cup Rice Cooker, White, May 30, 2009
This review is from: Panasonic SR-MS182 Fuzzy-Logic 10-Cup Rice Cooker, White (Kitchen)
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
Pros:
Easy to use.
Cooks perfect rice.
Fits under cabinet with the lid open.
Non-stick pan, nice and heavy.
Works as slow cooker and steamer and you can even make a cake in it.\
You can cook rice and steam veggies on top of it at the same time.
Cons:
You cannot change the clock battery - need to bring it in for service for that, but the cooker will still work without battery.
Not dishwasher-safe, and there are 4 removable parts to be cleaned every time - the pan, inner lid, and two-part went. There is also 2 places that get dirty every time you use the cooker, but they are not removable, you need to wipe them off. Those two places do not come into contact with food. Some pieces to be washed have very irregular shape and may be hard to wash.
Also, please note, that when the instruction says "cup" they mean 6-oz cup, not the regular 8-oz cups. The smallest amount of rice to be cooked is 2 "cups", which is 1.5 in regular cups. And the maximum amount of rice you can use would be 7.5 regular 8-oz cups.
For the 2-cup setting, I used a bit more water, as other reviewer suggested, and it worked perfectly. I also tried to cook buckwheat and it came out very good, too.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Very good...Almost great...but..., August 19, 2009
This review is from: Panasonic SR-MS182 Fuzzy-Logic 10-Cup Rice Cooker, White (Kitchen)
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
This fuzzy logic rice cooker is a great in some ways, and aggravating in some others.
OK, the good stuff first: It makes fantastic rice. Put the rice in the pan, add the suggested amount of water, press a couple of buttons, and come back in an hour to the best rice you've ever had at home. I make a lot of basmati rice. To be honest, before I got this cooker, I kind of sneered at the idea of a rice cooker. I mean, it's just not that hard to make rice. But when I used the cooker, I realized that on my best day, the rice I make by hand isn't quite as perfectly done as with this cooker. OK, I'm not too big a man to admit I was wrong.
The so-so: Cleanup requires cleaning the pan, the gasket and the steam releaser valve. Not hard, but a little more work than just cleaning a single pot.
There are a limited number of setting on the cooker, so you need to shoehorn your favorite rice into the choices presented if you are getting funky.
The not so hot: The instruction booklet is really poor, particularly for Panasonic (who are usually good about such things). The clock battery is not user replaceable. Huh? That's stupid. It's not clear if the battery is required to have the unit work properly in timer mode or if its only purpose is to hold setting and clock time when not on power.
And then there is the if-they-had-just-gone-the-extra-step-this-would-out-of-this-world-but-they-didn't-and-it's-enough-to-make-you-scream: This unit can be used as a slow cooker ("Crock Pot"). Unfortunately, the only setting you have control over is start. That's right, you can't control the heat. The unit uses fuzzy logic to do the cooking, and that's incredibly good--way better than your normal slow cooker. But YOU CAN'T CONTROL THE HEAT. That means you can't really use recipes that call for setting the heat on low, or on medium or on whatever. You only get the heat that the rice cooker thinks you should use, and that may well not be the heat you need. Ugh! So close Panasonic. One more control and you could have made one device to rule them all. Instead...
Not to end on a bad note, I will reiterate that as a rice cooker, it's a star. And if you think the temperature it picks is good, then maybe it'll be a star for you in terms of slow cooking as well. But beware that it isn't going to be slow cooking recipe friendly. And that's a darn shame.
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