Customer Reviews

Panasonic SR-MS182 Fuzzy-Logic 10-Cup Rice Cooker, White

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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.


Update 1/3/11. I found out that you can actually brown meat in the rice cooker. I chose "cake" setting for 50 minutes, put some oil and beef (cut as for stew) in the cooker, left the cover open and stirred a few times. The meat browned, and my family loved it. The cover was left open so the meat will not boil in its own juices. I never knew I could do it with a rice cooker.
Wanted to add that I still use the rice cooker few times a week, and still love it. Never had a single problem with it.

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.

The first thing that went through my mind when the Panasonic SR-MS182 Rice Cooker showed up on my doorstep was,"Where am I going to store this thing?" The box was huge! Luckily, it turns out that the unit was just extremely well packed. The unit itself is just a little bigger than my old standard rice cooker, but holds about 4 times as much.

After opening the box I was struck by two things: 1.) The unit matched my modern kitchen very well and 2.)The timer and menu display was already functioning (the clock was even set right). Body of the rice cooker is very similar in design to my bread machine and combo grill/microwave. The menu being active right out of the box means to me that I do not have to worry about power outages wreaking havoc with my dinner plans. Once power returns, the unit will do what it was programmed to do, no lost memory.

The unit also has a very sturdy handle. You can cook your rice in advance and then take the unit with you. You can also use the SR-MS182 to carry and keep warm any dish you are taking to your neighborhood potluck.

So how well does it work? So far I've used it for steaming vegetables and baking a cake. Yes, I said a cake! Not only will the SR-MS182 make rice and steam vegetables but it is also a slow cooker and can be used to make cake and many other recipes that are included in the operating manual (would have been nice if these had been in a separate book).

When steaming vegetables the screen immediately displays 10 minutes cooking time. However for large amounts of vegetables you will want to extend this time. 10 minutes was just enough time for ½ of a yellow squash and ½ of a zucchini cut into strips. The vegetables were cooked but still firm and retained a lot more flavor than boiling.

To see just how good this "rice cooker" really was I decided to follow Panasonics instructions for cooking a cake. I used a standard out-of-the-box chocolate cake mix. I followed the time instructions on the box and then went about other business till the cake was done. The cake came out perfect, just as if I had made it in the oven. I set the timer as if making 2 8" rounds (40 minutes).

I highly recommend the SR-MS182 to anyone that cooks rice, steams vegetables, or just wants a new, flexible kitchen gadget. If that sounds like you, then this product is well worth the money.

When looking for a rice cooker, I was torn between this model and a similar one by Zojirushi. What finally swayed my decision (aside from price) was a complete look at my lifestyle: I enjoy steamed vegetables, and the Zojirushi didn't offer a steaming tray. This Panasonic rice cooker is great.

As soon as I opened the box, I washed the steamer basket, cooking bowl, the paddle and the measuring cup. I know one review here stated that their first few batches tasted a bit chemically. Mine did not--from the very first batch all the way to now (as of this writing I have had the rice cooker for 3 weeks) my rice has tasted excellent. Even when I made oatmeal with lots of cinnamon, a simple washing was all it took to get the cinnamon smell out of the cooking bowl. The batches of rice since then have not smelt or tasted of cinnamon.

When I cooked brown rice, I used the brown rice setting as opposed to the instructions given on the separate sheet of paper included with the manual. My rice came out very well--much more tender and flavourful than any brown rice I have ever made in the past without a rice cooker. That fact alone makes this cooker a god-send to me--my significant other prefers brown rice to white for health reasons and now I can cook it in a manner that makes it taste excellent enough for me to enjoy it as well!

Steaming vegetables and dumplings in the cooker couldn't be easier. Just add water to the cooking bowl, put in the steamer basket and your veggies and then select "Steamer" on the display and adjust your time. For most frozen vegetables, I have found 10 minutes to be sufficient. Also, you can steam vegetables while you cook your rice to 'kill two birds with one stone'.

The longest I have left my rice in the machine on the "keep warm" setting is two days, and for that duration the rice was kept as a nice, warm temperature and it did not brown or dry out. It stayed just as delicious as it was when it was freshly made.

I have yet to bake a cake in this, but I am tempted to and will probably update this review if I ever decide to test that feature. It's not necessary, no, but it is definitely something that has a 'fun' quality to it.

I know some have complained about the 24-hour clock, but for me this is actually a perk to the Panasonic. As someone who prefers the 24-hour system and is more used to it, I now find myself checking the time on the Zojirushi rather than on my stove or microwave. I say this simply to give an alternate opinion on the clock--24-hour time isn't necessarily a bad thing! I do agree, however, that not being able to change the battery yourself is a downside. But, it should have a long life so I will cross that bridge when I get to it.

Aesthetically speaking, this unit is not as cute as the Zojirushi (in my opinion), but is far from being an eye-sore. It has nice, sleek lines and a pleasing modern appearance to it that will most likely match any kitchen. I suppose another "downside" that has nothing to do with functionality is that it does not play any cute songs when the rice is done cooking--it merely sends out a long "beep". For those that don't want to hear "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" every time they cook rice, however, this is probably a perk.

As far as cooking capacity, I did opt for the larger model. When my SO first saw it, they joked that if we ever wanted to feed a small army with rice, we've got it covered. The 10-cup capacity of this model really translates to around 20 smallish cups of COOKED rice. It's something to take into consideration if you don't feel that you will ever need that much rice, or if you don't eat a lot of rice to begin with. I wanted something that would grow with us if we ever decide to have a family, but the larger capacity is also nice when we have guests over. Plus, the steaming tray is larger which means we can steam more vegetables at once. And even though it is meant to make large capacities of rice at once time, I have had no problems making just 2-3 uncooked cups in it. The rice still turns out perfect even with the small amount of rice.

All in all, I have been very pleased with my Panasonic rice cooker and have been very happy with my purchase!

UPDATE 4/18/2010: Normally the size of the steamer basket is fine for my partner and me, but I have noticed that when serving food for more people that its size is sometimes inadequate. Also, there have been times I have attempted to multi-task by steaming vegetables while cooking rice and I have found that if the basket is even remotely full (i.e.--covering most of the slits at the bottom) that the bottom of the rice will not burn, per se, but will get noticeably browner than the rest of the rice. So, in this sense, if you try to steam while cooking rice, you'll want to take into consideration that you cannot add a lot of vegetables.

Having previously owned a Zojirushi rice cooker with fuzzy logic I am familiar with the great advantages of this technology. The appliance can actually sense the cooking of the rice. It knows when the moisture level is just right and will adjust if you add a little too much water etc. It then automatically goes to a "keep warm" mode, until you are ready to serve.

This cooker has several advantages that make it a more useful product. Being able to steam a vegetable at the same time the rice is cooking is a terrific feature that we often use----The summer is hot here in Arizona and we like to limit use of the stove when the air conditioner is running. The veggies along with the rice come out to a T! Thought we would try a cake. The instruction book recipe seemed weird and wrong! We threw all caution to the wind and used a box of regular 18.25 oz. Duncan Hines Devils Food cake mix, following the instructions for ingredients.....it came out perfect. I will say it was not quite done when the cycle was over, but keeping the cake in the cooker an extra 5 minutes after it went to the keep warm mode did the trick. The cake was as high as a two layer cake (approx.3-4")and was beautifully moist. We now have cake without firing off the oven----perfect!

We purchased the "Ultimate Rice Cooker Cookbook" by Beth Hensperger from Amazon which contains many recipes for soup, puddings, polenta and more which are fairly easy to prepare using the rice cooker instead of the stove. I will have to say that yes the rice comes out perfect, this cooker does so much more, including slow cooking, veggies---well, it just makes food prep easier and more enjoyable. So from here in the land where it can reach 115 in the summer I can truly recommend this product.

If you do purchase this be bold, very bold and bake a cake, do a stew, steam veggies, make a pudding, let it make your life just a little easier. I think you will be impressed with your purchase, as I am, and will use it a lot.....

Having drooled over "fuzzy logic" rice cookers for some time, I was quite happy to be able to test this one out. There are definite plusses and definite minuses about this appliance, but I have to rate it on the positive side.

Note: (this review is for the 20 cup rice cooker) The unit is obviously well-made and seems fairly sturdy. The interior bowl is pretty thick and I found no hots spots anywhere when cooking in it (which is better than my present slow cooker). I was impressed that the clock/timer is battery-powered and showed the correct time right out of the box. One of the most handy features is the carry handle which is useful if taking the cooker to a social function where you could set it up and use as a slow cooker, and is also handy when simply picking up off the counter to put back in storage after use. The lid pops open by pressing a lever above the LCD display, and then closes by being pressed down firmly til the lever locks back. The cord length is ample and you can use a proper-size extension cord if needed. Clean up is very simple -- pop the top vent off, screw apart and run under water; pop out of the inside lid with the gasket and wash in warm, soapy water; and wipe off the lip of the cooker underneath the lid where condensation drips down.
And of course, wipe off the exterior is needed with a wet cloth.

One "thumbs-down" for this product is the aggravatingly poorly-written instructions. Others have mentioned that, instead of dividing into three parts, with one language per part, each English paragraph (and sometimes each SENTENCE) is followed by the same text in Chinese and in Spanish. This made it extremely difficult to find all the information needed to operate the unit safely and effectively, as the Engish text was interspersed among the other 2 languages all over each page! I always read instructions 1st and I was ready to throw these out the door. Thank goodness the unit was pretty easy to operate just by touching the LCD screen, but that booklet definitely needs to be reprinted in a different format! I would suggest that a reader take a highlighter & mark the sections in their language of choice as they go along.

I tested this unit with three items -- slow-cooked chicken, brown rice, and a cake:

The slow cooker function heats up very quickly, and it should be noted that there is no "low" setting -- food cooks on what I would consider "high" for a slow cooker. My chicken was done (and at the correct temperature when I checked with my thermometer) in about 3.5 hours, and was really bubbling away when I opened the lid. I actually liked that the cooker took so little time, but, for extended cooking, I will have to use one of the my other slow cookers. So this is probably not a unit you would want to leave on for 8-9 hours, unless it contained much liquid, I wouldn't think. I also noticed that this unit released quite a bit of steam from the top vent, which I would think would further cause lots of evaporation to occur if left on too long.

As far as the brown rice I cooked, I had intended to use the "brown rice" setting, but an addendum sheet that came with the cooker advised that it is better to use the "slow cooker" setting for that food. I made 10 cups of rice, and would just call the results "satisfactory," because I don't like sticky, somewhat clumpy rice, which is what resulted -- possibly the "brown rice" setting would be better, but, as the instructions said not to use, I did not. I have a feeling that, with some experimentation, I will get better results, so I will leave it at that.

It was very simple to make a cake in this unit. I followed the directions in the instruction booklet, adding each ingredient in the interior pot, and a nice, moist cake resulted. I have to say that the cake did not have the brown, somewhat crusty top and sides like we're used to, and it was more like "steamed cake." This made it close to impossible for me to frost (so I used a glaze), and very difficult to cut. It was easy to get out of the pan, though, after buttering the sides before adding the ingredients into the pan. But more than anything, it was just fun to make a cake in a rice cooker! I can see how kids would love this feature.

I have to say that I intend to use this rice cooker in the future and keep it handy, despite the drawbacks. It's not the best rice cooker, not the best slow cooker, and not the best at cakes, but it is fun and handy to use.

Update 9-17-09: I've been using this item for several months now and I must say that, despite the poor directions, the fact that there is a lot of trial and error with it, & that clean-up can sometimes be time-consuming (if there is an overflow), it is now one of my most-used appliances. (The inner pan is always easy to clean, being nonstick--it also seems very durable and shows only a slight sign of wear after repeased usage.) There are so many different dishes you can cook in it, I'm amazed by the sheer versatility of this cooker! Just today, I made some delicious porridge with steel cut oats and almond milk, and now I'm getting ready to make some bean soup. Tomorrow, I plan to make crockpot chicken.

UPDATE 12-26-09: Just a little tip on getting the underside of the unit's lid clean. I have found that some dishes, especially grains, create some pretty tough residue, and a slightly wet toothbrush with just a drop of dishwashing liquid will do the trick, and allow you to get up under the silicone seal. I just scrub lightly initially, just to get the area wet, wait a few minutes while I'm doing something else, and then really scrub til it's all clean. Then I just follow with a wet paper towel and wipe/rinse it all off -- works really well! I still use this appliance frequently and love it!

If you need a large capacity (10 cup), has steam function, easy to clean, fuzzy logic rice cooker, this is the one! I have used this new cooker for a week now, and I am totally delighted with it!
I had read Amazon's reviews extensively and settled on this Panasonic MS182 model over the Zojirushi brand because this one has a "detachable" steam cap, which allows you to clean & dry the area between the inside & outside lids. Also, having a steam tray also makes this cooker super easy to "heat up" left over rice the next day. The white rice so far comes out perfectly each time, the porridge turned out too watery for our taste, but I can achieve my thicker porridge by using less water. Having owned electric rice cooker for 40+ years, I am giving this one 5 stars.

When I first heard of rice cookers as a specific kitchen appliance, I thought it sounded like some kind of excess frippery like an espresso maker or a melon baller - a neat little gadget that you use a few times, before relegating it to a back drawer or cabinet. After all, how hard is it to make rice on the stovetop, anyway?

However, I was won over by my family and we ended up getting this rice cooker. I'm glad we did; I was completely wrong. First off, this makes perfect rice every time, and with basically no supervision, unlike making rice on the stovetop. We eat rice 4 or 5 days a week, sometimes multiple times a day, so this makes having fresh rice so, so much easier. We've set it to run in the middle of night so we'd have hot rice for breakfast, or to run just in time to finish for dinner. So, my opinion of rice cookers in general is that they are just great and if you eat rice as a staple or make slow-cooker type meals, they are a good kitchen investment - even if you have a tiny kitchen, a rice cooker is well worth the real estate it takes up on the countertop.

Now, down to the specifics of this particular rice cooker. For fuzzy-logic, large sized rice cookers, this one is in the low end of the price range, which I like. It does an excellent job with white short-grain, white medium-grain, and brown medium grain rice (those are the rices I've used it for so far; I'm confident that it does well with all rices, though). Unlike some other fuzzy logic rice cookers in this price range, this one also includes a steam tray and steam mode, for making steamed veggies, meat, or dumplings. The steam tray isn't very large, maybe 10 or 11 inches in diameter and a couple of inches deep, but it is great for making steamed dumplings or vegetables to go with dinner. If you're making dumplings as a main course, you'll have to make them in batches, since only maybe 10 or so can fit in the tray. I steam mine for 10 minutes per batch, and they come out perfectly. You can fit a reasonable amount of veggies in the tray - definitely enough for 2 or 3 people, usually enough for 4, depending on portion size and how the veggies are chopped.

It also has a slow-cook mode, which was important to me. I don't have room on my countertop for my ancient slow cooker and this rice maker. Luckily, this guy does a great job at slow-cooking. It does slow-cook a little on the hot side, but so did my 35 year old slow-cooker, so that isn't a big problem for me.

It also has a 'cake' setting - you can use this to make bread or cake. I haven't done this yet, but my understanding is that you won't get much in the way of maillard reactions on your baked goods (so no nice brown crusts). I'm not sure how useful this setting is, but it's definitely not a detriment in any way; I'm sure that one day I'll be glad that I can make a desert or baked-type good in my rice cooker.

There is a 'quick' cook setting - I believe that this is similar to the standard, non-fuzzy logic rice cookers. It's more of an on/off setting. I haven't had call to use it, so I can't comment about it here.

This rice cooker also lets you set it to start a specific time; for example, I can put the rice/water in it at 22:00(10PM) and set it to start at 15:30 (3:30PM) the next day. Brown rice takes a couple of hours to cook, so this means there will be nice brown rice ready when it's time for me to make dinner the next day. I think you can't do this with the slow-cooker, steam, or cake modes (but I may be mistaken on this; I haven't actually tried).

It switches automagically to "Keep Warm" mode once the rice finishes cooking, and keeps the rice at a perfect serving temperature. The "Keep Warm" mode will stay on for up to 4 days; when it switches off, you can switch it back on. I've kept rice in the "Keep Warm" mode in for nearly 5 days, and the rice was still great; it got just a little chewy by the end (but seriously, I left it sitting hot for 4 days - I'd have expected the rice to stop being food by then, but it was fine).

I don't have anything negative to say about this cooker; the instructions are laid out oddly, but I had no trouble understanding them. They include recipes for regular rice and a few fancy dishes, including chocolate cake.

Very nice appliance! I just love it!

This is the third rice cooker that I have owned, and I judge it to be almost as good as the best one, a Zojirushi NS-ZCC10 5-1/2-Cup Neuro Fuzzy Rice Cooker and Warmer, Premium White. This Panasonic model cooks a larger volume of rice, but both are very similar in feature set.

For me, the pluses of this model are that you can set it to cook brown rice before you leave for work, and have the rice ready, timed to coincide with dinner. Brown rice is better for you, but it takes so long to cook that I wouldn't be able to eat it without a rice cooker, simply because by the time I get home the last thing I want to do is wait two hours for rice. This rice cooker performs admirably on that front. I tested both the white and the brown rice features before writing this review, and it is pretty good at delivering the rice within an acceptable time frame.

The reason this rice cooker gets 4 starts instead of 5 stars is this. For fuzzy-logic rice cookers, ideally you want a computer that responds to the level of humidity in the steam emitted, so that it "knows" when the rice is done not just by how long the rice cooked, but based on actual data that it collects from the rice as it is cooking. This little feature means that mistakes like adding a little too much water won't hurt the rice in the end. I found that this machine did not compensate for those little errors as well as my Zojirushi, and sometimes I ended up with mushier rice than I was expecting. This is a truly minor thing, though, and if you are capable of using a measuring cup, you can easily avert this problem by adding the correct amounts of water.