Customer Reviews

Sanyo EC-503 3-Cup Rice Cooker and Vegetable Steamer, White

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I must say this is my first cooker, and I chose a small one since I'm single. I found it handy to have the meal ready and warm when I come home for lunch breaks (I live close to the office), or in the evenings, when I'm tired and don't feel like cooking. The cooker has a cook mode and a "keep warm" - once the cooking is done it switches to the latter and the warm food awaits you to arrive home!

I found the instructions regarding how much water to use (depending on rice quantity) to be a little on the low side - the rice I got was somewhat dry for my taste. I also used it to cook other grains - quinoa and millet (BTW, the I millet I get with the cooker is the best I've tasted so far). Learning from the rice experience, I now put more water, actually I use more water than if I would cook in a pot!
If you stick to the grains/water proportions, you have no problem with making a mess in the kitchen. If you use (much) more water, you might see the lid and the area around the cooker becoming a little stained, as in steam/water which dried and left some stains. For me this is not an issue - I want a good food first, kitchen comes after. Actually, you might not even see that - it's such a minor issue - but if you do, then you just need to use less water. In my experience, this doesn't happen with rice, but other grains (notably millet) swell a lot more during cooking. The instructions (and the web) say that it is possible to cook other dishes (stews, etc.) using the cooker, but haven't done that yet.

This cooker doesn't have an on-off button, you need to plug and unplug it from the outlet. This is a non-issue for me, but "your mileage msy vary". I guess this can actually work to your advantage: if you are really cheap, you can get an appliance device which you can program so that the cooking starts - say - about 40 minutes before you get home, and thus you save electricity money on the "keeping warm" time. This is also possible to do with smarter cookers, but they cost $70+ more.

Note that the "3 cup" size is not your typical 8oz. size. The one supplied with the rice cooker and is to used following their directions, is a 6 oz. cup. So, instead of having 3 cooked cups of rice, you only get 2.25 cups of rice. Other than this, I found the cooker works very well.

We love our rice cooker. Honestly, I haven't tasted rice this good anywhere on the planet. And what it does to sweet potatoes you wouldn't believe. There's only one problem. There's only two of us, so I got the small, 3-cup cooker. I can only add 2 cups of liquid, so I can't make what would be 3 cups of rice, or it will boil over. Get one with more capacity, unless you live alone.

Nice easy-to-use cooker. It is compact, simple to use and is easy to clean. I agree with another reviewer that the water/rice volumes lead toward a rather dry end product but this is the fault of the instructions rather than the cooker.

This is a great cooker for people who don't need a whole bunch of rice in one go. It's perfect for meals with two people. My only complaint is that you need to use more water than the manual recommends, so I'm always balancing between water-and-rice ratios.

AT first, I am pleased with the product. Just do what it should do and easy to clean.
However, after 4-months use, I found the non-stick within the bowl began to fall down from piece to piece. I believe I have aten some of them. This is really frustrated!

This is a small enough rice cooker to keep on my kitchen counter, something I wanted since I use it several times a week. However, it is important to realize that it is a 3-cup cooker, which translates to 18 ounces or just over 2 cups in the American system. So ... it is great for just me and the kids or one other adult but you just can't make a lot of rice with it. It's perfect for us because it makes just the right amount for a side dish and we don't have any waste. The reviewers who say it boils over are trying to cook too much rice! If you are cooking for more than 2 people or eat large quantities, you need a bigger cooker. Also, understand that the warming function just acts as a hot plate; it isn't a steam warmer, so if you let it sit on warm for too long, it will get too dry. This is not like one of those big steamers that you cook a bunch of rice in and then keep warm for hours as people ladle it onto their plates. Nope, you cook it, you eat it, you wash the bowl. It's marvelous. It's very simple and inexpensive, no electronics or fancy settings. If you want it to cook longer (such as with brown rice), you just have to put in more water. I used to cook rice on the stove and I too often overcooked it, ruining it all. Now I don't have to worry about that!

I bought this product based on previous experience with an older model of the same brand. What a DISAPPOINTMENT. If one follows the cooking instructions provided,the rice ends up completely uncooked. Also the steamer bowl is too small for anything but beans. If cooked to perfection by " trial-and-error" the rice will stick to the button, on a non-stick surface. The old model was cheaper and much better.

This rice cooker is very basic. It only has two states when plugged in: Warm or Cook. The rice comes out very nice and doesn't stick very much to the bottom. After 2 1/2 years of almost daily use, it's still working fine.

We got this rice cooker several months ago and we have been very happy with this cooker so far. We cooked white rice, brown rice, millets and it cooks everything perfectly. You just have to figure out how much water to add by trial and error because some rice varieties need more water and some less. We bought RIVAL (I think that is what it was) rice cookers from target before that and that is simply junk. It was cheap but the cooker was cheap too. Conked out within couple of weeks. We got a replacement from target but that one died too within a couple of weeks again. We did not want any more replacements, and Target would not give us credit, only replacement for the same product which is nothing but junk. So we threw it away. But this Sanyo cooker seems to be a very good product.