Customer Reviews

Sanyo ECJ-D100S 10-Cup Micro-Computerized Rice Cooker/Steamer, White with Stainless Accent

5 star:		(92)
4 star:		(36)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(11)

 

 

This is a review from a family for whom rice is a staple food (rice is cooked in the house every day). The only variety used though is white rice (long grain). We bought this about 6 months ago - wanted to gain some experience before posting a review about it. During this time this cooker has been used about 180 times (once a day). There are different methods of cooking rice: a) microwave, b) pressure cooker, c) boiling rice in a vessel in an electric/gas countertop oven. The key to getting rice cooked in the consistency desired (the family prefers fluffy) is the ratio of water to rice, regardless of method used. This holds true for the Sanyo electric cooker also. This optimum water/rice ratio varies with the variety of rice used (even among the long grain white rice varieties). The marked measurements in the cooker are a guide only - and will not get the desired result all the time. Keeping this in mind, I will start with my biggest gripe:

a) I fail to understand what all the fuzzy logic, micro computerized technology does to improve the process of rice cooking. This was evidenced by the fact that the cooked rice was no different from the earlier $15 B$D rice cooker it replaced. There is a timer - which turns off based on some preset logic, but this logic certainly is NOT based on cooked rice quality and consistency. Until technology reaches that level all this micro computer fuzzy logic mumbo jumbo is more marketing hype than reality.

b) Looks good: From the design aspect, it does look good, somewhat futuristic looking.

c) Easy to clean and maintain: some thought has gone into the component design, they are easy to clean and maintain.

d) The non-stick coating seems to be more scratch resistant than conventional. Again comparing with the B&D cooker this replaces, this is performing much better - we did not try scratching this with a knife to check this as one poster claimed - this is just everyday use.

e) Added feature of the steamer is quite helpful when steaming vegetables in addition to cooking rice is desired.

f) Price/Value: This rice cooker is expensive at $110. However, I wouldnt complain too much, if the inherent value of product compensates for it. As mentioned earlier, aside from aesthetics, general improvements there is no revolutionary advantage to this product over cheaper products. My main problem with the B&D cheapo cooker was longevity. It crapped out after 1 year. Given the price differential the Sanyo enjoys over that - almost 6 times, then the Sanyo cooker should last about 6 years. I am not ready to attest to this yet, as I am only 6 months into my ownership. If me, cooker, Amazon are still around, I will come back and update.

Bottomline: Works well, but pricey, I would be hesitant to recommend for the occasional rice eater.

Update (Nov 2007): One year now - absolutely no issues with once a day use so far. No scratches on the non-stick coating (we strictly use the spatula provided), easy to clean, and consistent cooked rice quality.

Update (Jan 2009): Two plus years now and still going strong. The non-stick coating has started to come off in places.

Being a full time working mom I need a good machine helping me with cooking so that I have more time for my little boy. First, I wasn't sure 10-cup or 5-cup? Since 5-cup model is not much smaller. Bigger is better when we have gathering at home. I was comparing with zojirushi 10 cup model features with this model and decided to buy this Sanyo. The main reason I bought this model is that it has a slow cooker option which I use it often. I never try zojirushi brand so can't compare to it. I have it for about 3 months. So far it works as promise.

- It's smaller than it looks like in the picure.
- 3-in-1 that saves a lot of space in the kitchen.
- Didn't smell any chemical like other reviewers mentioned
- I measured the water exact as instructed but the rice is a bit too hard for me since I like it very soft so the fix is adding more water. You have to try a couple times to get used to the cooker and also depends on the rice and preferences.
- Cooked white jasmine rice, thai sticky rice, brown rice, and mixed grains, and rice porridge very well. It takes long time to cook but I often use the timer set it up in the morning and come home the rice is ready for the family.
- Cooked rice mixed with meat as one dish meal for entire family.
- The best part is the slow cooker which zojirushi doesn't have. So far I cooked chicken soup with entire hen, stew, turkey, pork, beef. It's done in 2.5 hours without drying the pot and worry.
- The unit looks modern. When friends come to my house always wondering what is this machine?

Very happy with it!

if i could give this a 10 i would!
this is a great, great, great cooker....it comes with the steamer basket, measure cup and spatula...has so many options like the zojirushi but way better on the price!
does so much more than cook just rice..get the ultimate rice cooker cookbook..beth hensperger..try it and you'll see....
i also purchased the 5.5 cup model...but if you can only buy one..buy the larger of course...sometimes you need a larger cooker and it too will cook as little as the smaller unit!!!
i love these they are so worthy of 5 stars.
this one has a quick cook feature which means no sitting time and straight to boiling point...it should cut out about 10 minutes. rice is fabulous!


brown rice hint:
soak your brown rice overnight..for example: measure 3 cups with the sanyo cup provided and soak in bowl overnight. put cleaned soaked brown rice in the cooker bowl and mark the water to #3 brown rice..you can now cook this in the cooker under the white/sprouted menu selection(not the brown rice selection)...this cuts down about half the cooking time. rice has come out perfect for me everytime...i add a little butter and fresh cilantro or fresh basil at the end of the cycle....excellent!
i have tried this with nishiki brand brown rice.

update feb 2011
this rice cooker is amazing and used about 3-5 times a week
in home and also in an RV for nice meals

cook nice egg dishes, soups, cakes and so much more than delicious rice

i have baked many boxed cakes in this unit for you cake bakers out there
the cakes are yummy and moist and a great shape

here's how
prepare cake package as directed on the box
spray the rice pan with cooking spray or
simply use butter/about 3/4 way to the top of the bowl
put all the batter in/yes it will fit

press cook
you may go through about 3 cycles of cook but
the cake will get done and you can check it with toothpick or knife method
you will have to press off after each cook cycle and then cook again...about 3 times
but check your cake for doneness during the cycles until you get the hang of it
/take bowl out of cooker and let cool when done/maybe 20 minutes
invert cake onto plate it slips right out/cool again if frosting

i cut mine in half and frost it..done
no one ever believes i make them in the rice cooker

PROS:

-It comes w/a retractable power cord that retracts into the base

CONS:

-The rear of the lid DOES NOT have a steam-moisture collector. Tiger brand has a very nice, very high end rice cooker that incorporates a steam-moisture collector into the back of the lid. Typically, when you open the lid of a rice cooker, there will be moisture on the bottom of it from the steam. When you open the lid up 90 degrees, the moisture will drip down the lid onto the plastic housing of the rice cooker. The Tiger brand has an ingenius "collector" at the base of the lids of their models and the bottom surface of their lids are designed to channel the moisture so that when you open the lid, the droplets of water run down into the "collector" and makes for easy cleanup. You just pop out the collector and dump the excess water from the steam. Our mom has this model and was disappointed that Sanyo didn't incorporate this feature.

I've only own this for a week but I'll be updating this as time goes on. So far, it does make great tasting rice and is easy to use!

As a minimum this 10 cup rice cooker needs to cook 2 cups of uncooked rice. That may be too much rice for a single person. The ECJ-D55S 5.5 cup or ECJ-B or E 35S 3.5 cup may be a better option for a single or small apartment. The unit is about the size of a large 4 slice toaster and maybe a little taller. The larger 10 cup size allows more flexiblity in use. I am happy I went with the larger 10 cup size, but if you only cook smaller meals you would maybe want to go smaller.

These rice cookers also have a steam vent on the top. If the unit is under a cabinet you will need to pull it out to use.
The veggie steamer tray on this 10 cup unit is just about the right size for someone or two that eats a lot of steamed vegetables.

There is a 8 1/2 x 11 piece of paper under the metal bowl that must come out before use. My unit was also missing the Japanese measuring cup that should have came with it. 1 Japanese cup = 180 mL , 1 American cup = 240 mL Remember to use Japanese cup sizes.

I've used rice cooker for more than 25 years and all of them have been panasonic. This is the first fuzzy logic based rice cooker that we have and the main reason for buying is to make porridge and soup for our 10 months old.

Although the rice cooker sounds like it has many programmed mode for all different kinds of rice, many of them are acutally in the same mode. There are only 5 modes in total. For example, soup and slow cook use the same mode.

The rice cooker has been working well, porridge mode is an excellent idea. It saves us a lot of time, just set the timer and it'll be done at the time you want it.

Rice mode also works well, so far we've used all 5 modes.
The reason it's getting 4 stars is that soup mode doesn't really work very well. Even after 5-6 hours of cooking, soup just tastes like cooked for 30 min or so. Using the slow cook mode to make stew is fine though.

Regarding the chemcial smell, it is there. But it isn't really a chemical smell. It smells like some kind of light paper burn, coming from the buttom of the inner pot and the heating element. It the exact same smell from a subway sandwich placed on the wrapping paper then passed through the toaster. The paper is burnt a little and has a funny smell. The smell doesn't affect the rice and whatever inside the pot. You only smell it the first few seconds when you open the cover. It doesn't bother me and I don't smell it everytime.

So far, we love this rice cooker and highly recommend it for others, but also a little disappointed on the less than competent soup making capability.

This rice cooker produces very strong chemical smell. I thought it was a brand new cooker and it needs some time to break in but after many uses like 10 times, it still has the same smell. The problem is the inner coating of the rice cooker that generated burning chemical smell. According to the previous reviewer, I thought he got the defective product, but i was wrong. It is because I bought two and both of them have the same chemical smell. So I must return it for safety reason. And I have experienced with many rice cookers like Tiger, Zojirushi, Panasonic, and National but none of them generated chemical smell.

First, the Sanyo micom rice cooker DOES NOT have a burning chemical smell...it never did from the first time we have used this cooker. For the people that complain about this, did you check to make sure there is nothing at the bottom of the bowl and the cooker? The cooker comes packed with a sheet of white translucent paper between the cooker and the bowl, so make sure to remove it before cooking for the first time. And if this isn't the problem, send it back and exchange it for a new one.

Second, this rice cooker is the best because it cooks PERFECT rice, porridge, and stew each and every time. That's the one bonus of having a micom fuzzy logic rice cooker...rice porridge (aka congee or jok). Only the fuzzy logic cookers can cook porridge without burning the rice at the bottom and it's been perfect each time. And the Sanyo is the best priced fuzzy logic cooker out there. Also, I admit that I tend to be in a "hurry" most of the time to get dinner on the table, so I typically use the "quick" cook function. It cooks the rice in about half an hour, but the key is to use just a teeny bit more water (1/2 cup for 3-4 cups rice), to compensate for the higher/faster heat. But otherwise, if you are cooking using the normal settings, all you have to do is measure the rice with the included measuring cup, put the rice in the pot, fill the rest of the pot with water/broth to the corresponding line and perfect rice, porridge or stew will be ready in no time!

And finally, the nonstick rice spatula is truly nonstick and to not waste 1/3 cup of rice sticking to the spatula is great! The titanium bowl is great too...minimal cleaning...take a damp sponge, rinse and you're done! Simply amazing overall!

The inner pot is not all that thick. The sanyo 5-cup (not the 5.5-cup) has truely thick pot. This one is just average, among the computerized rice cookers.

Like the Z brand, this sanyo also uses an internal lithium battery which according to the manual will last 4-5 years. After that you can call sanyo to buy a new one. But it didn't say whether you can install it yourself. If you don't get the new battery after the old one dies, you'll have to keep the cord plugged in in order to keep the time between cookings. I ususally keep it plugged in all the time, so it's not a problem.

The rice cooks fine. There's a chemical smell inside, seems to be coming from the bottom. I took out the inner pot and left the cover open for a day. The smell is still there. Not very strong, and does not get in the rice. So I can live with that. Hopefully it will eventually go away.

The cord I think is about 3 feet long. Personally I would've liked it longer so you can put the cooker any where on the counter.

** June 17, 2008 **
After a year and half of using it I'm quite pleased. No complaints at all. There's no chemical smell. Must've gone out a long time ago. The slow-cook feature, which is absent in most rice cookers, is particularly useful. Slow-cooked meat is so much better than the stuff cooked over the regular stove. You must try to appreciate. Unlike slow cooking over the stove, this cooker slow-cooks at much lower heat. The liquid hardly boils! The cooker can do this because the pot is pressurized with the cover closed during cooking. The low heat really does wonders to meat, keeping it tender and not dried out. Yet it cooks quicker than slow-cook on the regular stove. And you don't have to watch it. It will not cook dry.

I have another rice cooker that doesn't have the slow-cook feature. I use that one for rice only. Isn't nice that you can just dump stuff into the two cookers any time of the day, and come back eat both hot and fresh, any time of the day.

I wish Amazon would let me change my original rating of 4 stars to 5.

These newer model rice cookers are very pleasing to the eyes. Equipped with microchips inside and digital timers with many difference rice settings that suppose to make them more versatile to use. I love new technology, so I gave this mid range price cooker a try. I'm Asian, so my family consumes about 6 cup of white rice everyday. This cooker was on 24/7, it either cooking the rice or warming it. It did its job for about a year then a problem arise. I usually cook the rice the night before, eat some of it, and let it keep warm until the next day's dinner. The problem is that at dinner I would find the rice have a spoil odor. The bowl had a 1/4" soggy layer of rice all around, and the inner rice are dry and slightly burnt looking. You would think that I used it 24/7 for a year and that was expected of it. However, my other cheap cookers (around fifty dollars) that I bought at Asian supermarket would received the same treatment and they lasted for 10+ years. All in all, I was disappointed at the reliability of Sanyo's product. My recommendation is to either buy the top japanese brand Zojirushi NS-ZCC10 or the cheap simple ones that are at the Asian market. They are more reliable than these mid range (half cheap half expensive)model. Good luck on your quest to buy the perfect rice cooker.