Customer Reviews

Panasonic SR-TMB10 5-1/2-Cup Rice Cooker/Warmer, Silver

5 star:		(56)
4 star:		(19)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Summary: Brown rice cooks reasonably quickly and turns out fluffier and tastier in this machine than in an on-off machine, polenta cooks smoothly, and everything is less messy. The rice cooker is also very attractive. The only disadvantages are that its timer will only cook 13 hours in advance, it will only keep rice warm for 12 hours before shutting off, and it could be a bit easier to clean.


Review:
I am allergic to wheat, so I eat rice every day at almost every meal and I use a rice cooker more often than any appliance in my kitchen. This rice cooker is the first computerized one that I've owned. I've owned three on-off rice cookers before: a cheap little Salton (which was actually quite nice), a 10 c Panasonic on-off with hinged lid, and an 8 c Aroma on-off from Target with hinged lid. The features that I'm noting are probably common to all computerized rice cookers versus on-off machines, but in this price range the on-off machines are probably the competition.

1. Rice tastes better: I had expected the rice would taste about the same and the only difference would be in the extra features, but in fact the rice that I've made in the rice cooker is much tastier and fluffier than the rice from my on-off cooker. I make brown rice almost exclusively, so use the brown rice setting. I think that the rice may be fluffier because the pot simmers the rice instead of coming to a furious boil, since I've noticed that the cooking is relatively gentle and quiet. Unlike my previous rice cooker, I can't hear it cooking.

2. The cooking is relatively quick in spite of the simmer. My mother's computerized rice cooker is a Sanyo, and it has by default a soaking cycle, and that makes it take perhaps an hour if you don't explicitly turn off that function.

3. Besides brown rice, I've made lentils, polenta, and apple sauce. The polenta used the soup/porridge function and turned out smooth and just thick enough, and the gentle cooking meant that there were no spatters to clean, unlike the on-off rice cooker. I made pretty decent applesauce on the slow cook function, but like all slow cooker applesauce it was pretty watery. I haven't tried to make a cake yet, but am really intrigued by that feature. I wish that the instruction book gave some of the Asian recipes for computerized rice cookers like rice porridge --- it took me awhile to figure out that the soup cycle (as opposed to slow cooker) is what's called the porridge cycle on rice cookers for the Asian market.

4. The timer function is handy, allowing you to start cooking 13 hours in advance of when you want the rice. I wish that it could be timed 18 or more hours or more in advance, so you could set it up in the evening for lunch the next day. An on-off rice cooker can be put on a timer which will activate it at a specific time; since this rice cooker is computerized, you can't do that and you're limited to the 13 hour timer.

5. Cleaning is pretty good, but could be easier: When you use any appliance daily over the course of years, cleaning becomes important. This rice cooker is somewhat easier to clean than my previous on-off Panasonic. When you open the lid of a domed rice cooker, there's usually a deep ridge around the entire edge that rice or starchy water would get caught in, creating a brownish scum after awhile --- here, there's hardly any ridge, so it's easy to get rice out if it happens to fall in, and it's easy to clean.

When rice cooks, extra starch or a brown/grey scum separates from the rice, especially if it's brown rice. All of the rice residue which comes up from the cooking gets directed to a round 2" diameter insert on the lid, rather than being splashed all over the top of the lid, as happened with the previous model. The previous model was not too difficult to clean because you would just remove an insert which covered the entire lid. This rice cooker is handy since all the residue just goes into this little insert, but the insert itself is difficult to clean: it comes apart into three pieces, and one of the pieces has little ridges which collect the goo. If you run it under water right after the rice cooks, most of the goo falls off of it. Otherwise you may need to resort to a toothpick. There seems to be much less of the scum than with my previous rice cooker, perhaps because it modulates the temperature and doesn't boil as furiously. For instance, lentils usually produce a lot of brown speckles, but here there was hardly any residue.

Update: I've made several cakes in the rice cooker on the "Cake" setting and they turned out fantastic, including gluten-free brownies from the Trader Joe's mix. Last week my oven broke (it would only broil), so I poured the 9" x 5" pan of wheat-free Gingerbread batter (1975 Joy of Cooking) into the rice cooker and held my breath. The gingerbread rose up really high and I was afraid it wasn't going to be cooked in the middle, but it did, and it held together and sliced beautifully and was moist without being too moist. I've also made rice pudding and oatmeal in the soup setting, following the recipes in the rice cooker cookbook.

Finally: when I was moving house, I decided to bring my rice cooker with me on the airplane. I carried it on as one of my carryons, holding onto the handle, and it passed through security without a problem. All four of the TSA people and two guys behind me in the security line were curious and asked me questions about it. Apparently people carry rice cookers onto planes as carry-on luggage all the time. Who knew?

This is one of the best(less expensive) fuzzy logic cookers available in the market.

Pros:

(i) Possible to make the rice ready at any desired time(you can set timings up to 13hrs using slow cook option)
For instance if you want the rice to be hot and ready when you come from Office, this one will accomplish the task for you. You can set the timer for 8hrs and when you come back, hot rice will be awaiting for you. This a great feature.
(ii) Possible to cook both White rice, Brown rice. Brown rice doesn't get cooked well with regular rice cookers.
(iii) You can steam food at the same time of cooking rice. Remember in case of steaming food during cooking rice at bottom, maximum cooking capacity should be 3 cups.
(iv) It makes delicious soups for you.
(v) One nice additional lineament is, we can bake yummy cakes in less than an hour.
(vi) As said in the manual, time to cook white rice will be 30-40 minutes, which is slower than the regular rice cookers, but it overcomes with the variety of other options.
(vii) It has a nice scoop holder.
(viii) Rice will never stick to the pan, Panasonic comes with a great quality aluminum pan.
(ix) Retractable power cord which befits for both short and long distances.

But every product has other side too:
(i) The LCD Background is not colored one, barely you can see the timings.
(ii) You can change the cooking timing only in the Ascending order(1hr, 1.30hr, 2hr) not the other way around, similarly the menu option you can navigate in only one way.
(iii) Requires more maintenance than the ordinary cookers, since it's microprocessor based even a small dust will have an impact on performance.
(iv) Only offers 5.5 capacity doesn't suit for a big family

Tips:
(i) Always clean the Steam cup and Dew collector(water will get collected in it) after every use.
(ii) Never use a dish washing detergent to clean.
(iii) If a tiny object or rice stick to the sensor, polish it off using
sand paper and wipe with a damp cloth.
(iv) Don't place the cooker next to the faucet as many of us do.

Zojirushi also has the same type of Fuzzy logic cooker, but its expensive and doesn't have many options like the Panasonic!

I bought this rice cooker for myself since I live in an apartment. I find the handiest feature to be the timer. The timer allows me to set the unit to cook rice at a later time and keep it warm so that it will be ready to eat when I get home from work. I also use the steamer tray simultaneously to cook fresh vegetables such as brussel sprouts, asparagus, broccolini, and red and yellow peppers.

Unfortunately after the vegetables are steamed they often look colorless and lifeless. They feel very soft and taste sweet though, so the rice cooker is doing it's job. Any colors from the vegetables will become ingrained into the plastic steamer basket so beware. My steamer basket is red now because I always put red bell peppers inside it.

Unit is easy to clean, although I wish it were simpler. It is necessary to remove the steamer cap and take it apart and wash it inside and out. It is also necessary to wipe the inside lid of the unit and drain the moisture catch.

I appreciate the way the unit tells you how much time is left before the rice is done. I just wish it could tell me how much time is left from the start of cooking (it only tells you when it is under 8 minutes until it's done).

This is my 1st and only rice cooker. I eat brown rice so I can't say this unit cooks brown rice better than others. I can say that the brown rice tends to stick to the bottom and that on occasion the rice feels like it gets a little burnt. Some of the rice grains near the bottom taste hard and crunchy after the unit is done cooking and they aren't supposed to have that kind of texture.

Easy to use, easy to program, although I haven't tried adjusting the cooking timer yet. I bought my unit from 99 Ranch for a few dollars less than the price Amazon is currently selling it for. I feel like I got a very good deal, especially when I see the ridiculous prices for other models. Cooking rice and veggies is so easy and convenient with this unit. If I have some leftover meat from the previous day, I'll place the meat inside the cooker after it is done and leave it in there for a few minutes to warm it up.

This rice cooker has a small footprint which is great because I have only a small space to work with. It is attractive and cute looking with it's small round balanced appearance.

**Update**

I have now owned this product for nearly 1 1/2 years. My steamer basket has not collected the colors of the vegetables to my delight. For some reason the colors stuck initially but after a year of use or so they came out. The unit is still working well and steams everything I throw into it.

The rice does not stick to the top filter (3 pieces) as the review above does. Not sure whether this is because I use brown rice or maybe it's the unit. No piece of food has gotten stuck to any of the inside parts as far as I can see. Everything is easy to clean up afterwards, just rinse it off and dry it.

Received the item about a week ago. Used it for only a few things so far. For example used it to:
- cook short grain white rice. The rice was perfect, even after sitting in warm mode for a couple of hours.
- cook streusel bread (target mix). The streusel bread was new & basically an experiment. Unfortunately didn't care for the results. Didn't really like the taste or consistency but cannot blame it on the cooker.
- warm tortillas for soft-shell tacos. Nice warming but noticed a wierd taste which I believe was from the plastic steaming basket. (& yes, I washed it before using it.)

Pros:
- Incredible short grain white rice. Hit a button & it's off cooking perfect rice. (planning to try medium/long and brown rice over the next few weeks.)
- Warming feature after rice is done works nicely - only gone about 3 hours out. (has a refernce for warming up to 12 hours)
- Easy to follow manual instructions.
- Easy button options.
- Retractable power cord.
- audible alarm when timed cooking is done.
- time remaining for rice completion.
- easy clean up with the non-stick (teflon?) coated bowl.

Cons:
- Too many plastic parts coming in contact with the food or in the food cooking compartment. For example, the rice paddle, measuring cup, steam tray & vent are all made of plastic. Believe some of the 'plastic' smell gets into food, specifically from the steaming tray. (I tasted it with the tortillas that I steamed/warmed up.)
- All non-plastic parts in the cooking compartment appear to be aluminum. Although the bowl is coated with some type of non-stick surface (teflon maybe?), the metal plate on the lid that one could assume develops moisture that would drip back down on the food is aluminum.
- the timer options are limited to preset times.
- time remaining for rice completion does not appear until the last 10 minutes (or something around that time).

This product has completely blown me away. I was contemplating the purchase of a much more expensive Zojirushi when my friend suggested I check out some of Panasonic's rice cookers and lo! I find one that fits my budget completely and does everything the other rice cooker does and more. I love the price tag, I love the fact that everything comes out perfect (so far I've made soups, stews, rice, Hainanese chicken rice, Chinese one pot rice and Chinese tea egg with it) and the nonstick is amazingly easy to clean.

I also adore the fact that there's the little container at the side it reminds me of the rice cookers we use back home when I was younger, a little bit of nostalgia that wasn't present in my old dingy Sunbeam rice cooker. The niche for the rice ladle is nice too! But I use wooden ladles more often than not, so that feature is lost on me. I test ran the Keep Warm function for half a day and the rice didn't burn or dry out at all. That, my friends, is very hard to find. All the rice I cook come out evenly done and fluffy.

It fits perfectly on my dining table, doesn't take up much room at all, and it's easy access to hot rice when we need it. The retractable cord is such a plus, especially because I keep it on the dining table! The looks match my other appliances in my favorite contemporary design and style. Wish I had it in black!

Thank you for creating this lovely product and pricing it just perfectly for a small family like mine!

I got this rice cooker back in February and have loved it from the 1st time I used it. My other cooker spit and spattered everywhere and made clean up a nightmare. This one is so clean and cooks rice perfectly. I would recommend this for anyone.

We are family of 2. This Panasonic rice cooker serves our purpose. We cook rice thrice a week. It took us about a month to research on internet and stores to decide on Rice cooker. We started to looking on Rival (unreliable) to Aroma (ok) to Zjoirushi (Expensive like hell) to Sanyo (somebody at amazon reviewed it has soaking cycle and take an hour to cook rice) and then decided this Panasonic cooker. Following are the positive things about this rice cooker :

1) Easy to cook and clean. No mess on the kitchen top
3) Did not burn rice even though I had low water
4) 13 hrs timer setting. Once we decided to use timer setting. We cooked oatmeal with timmer setting to get it ready in the morning.
5) It has soup-white rice-brown rice-steamer-Bake and slow cooking setting. I have been using white rice-steamer setting a lot (Not to steam vegetable but to cook porridge)
6) Elegant look.

Negative things about rice cooker:
1) Worse product manual I ever got in my entire life for any electrical/electronic products. The product manual is like "Rice Cooker for Dummies". No technical specifications for any of its features (soup, white rice, etc.). I mean it can cook X number of dishes but we had to do trial-error method to decide, which dish can be prepared on what setting. Just to help you guys with features, we prepared following:
Oatmeal - 10 mins. steamer
Kichidi (Indian lentil-rice dish)- 20 min steamer
Kheer (Rice pudding) - 45 min. slow cook
Lentils dal - Soup

We are still exploring Panasonic rice cooker features. Atlast, we love the rice cooker. I hope Panasonic improves its product manual.

This is a WONDERFUL product. I have used it for rice, soup (actually what is known as the porridge cycle on most rice cookers), steamed vegetables, and cakes. I have not tried the slow cook option. Everything has turned out great! It would be nice if you could change the cooking time on the 'soup' cycle as you can in most of the other cycles, but as I say, it really is the 'porridge' cycle under a Western friendly name. The only real complaint I would make is that the steaming basket is made of plastic of which I am not fond for cooking (nasty plasticizers...) and worse than that, it is a plastic that stains! If you steam some carrots, guess what, you have orange dots PERMANENTLY all over the basket!!! I know that Panasonic wanted some soft material that would not scratch the nonstick pan, BUT why not use food grade silicone that is in use in many of the new baking pans!!!! I would have been more than willing to pay a few dollars more for it! In fact, I am currently on a search to see if I can find one of these pans that will fit (a few snips with some scissors and I'll be all set...)!

Rice is our staple food - no kidding, it really is. I have all different kinds of rice bins in my pantry - long grain, brown rice, par boiled rice, sona masuri rice and basmati rice. I cook rice everyday and I was never completely happy with any one rice cooker in all these years. I tried several different kinds, Sanyo, Aroma, Zojirushi etc., There was always something with each of these, uneven cooking, big splatters, bottom getting burnt, so on and so forth. I finally got this one, recommended by a friend.

* Perfect brown rice, white rice and pulav/pilaf.
* Absolutely no splatters. I intentionally put 1.5 cups extra water and NOTHING CAME OUT - rice overcooked, but that is a different story.
* Even though the lid is not detachable, cleaning is easy. Part of it is due to the shape; fancy looking rectangular ones are such a pain. I'd say crappy design.
* Cooking vessel is definitely thicker than most cookers out there. Never had a burnt bottom even when left on warm for several hours.
* I don't have to crank up my big oven for baking a small cake. This cooker does it!

Complaints are really minor.

*Weak LCD display.
*Cannot cancel timer if you change your mind. You have to go in increments all the way to max and then start counting again.
* Does not come in bigger sizes.

I bought this after reading the reviews, so I knew there were plastic parts I might not like. That is true, but so far, so good. I make small batches of rice and steel cut oats. I thought it might make small batches poorly, but the rice was perfect. The steel cut oats are difficult to make on the stove, but it was so easy in this machine. They result was very good oats and I only made 1/4 c. I didn't have to stand over the stove for 1/2 hour.

I have my doubts however that the non-stick pan will last very long. It seems cheap and the coating looks as if it will deteriorate rapidly. I will give more feedback. I just hope it lasts long enough for me to get $70+ worth from it.

Pros: nice size, easy to use and to clean
Cons: too much plastic and seemingly cheap pan.