Customer Reviews

Sanyo ECJ-HC55H 5-1/2-Cup Micro-Computerized Rice Cooker and Slow Cooker, Grey

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I bought this model to replace my $12 reject rice cooker. Clearly, a hundred bucks does make a bit of a difference, the most obvious and pleasing of which is the thick, non-stick cooking vessel. There are two that come with this appliance, a rice cooker with graduations for different kinds of rice, and a slow cooker, both non-stick. No more soaking with soap and attacking the pan with a scouring pad after every batch of rice. Being an electronic rice cooker, the other noteworthy advantages over its cheapo predecessor are the timer function and truly hands-off operation, which translates into more food being prepared at home. If it costs $8-10 to buy a modest lunch, and perhaps a dollar or so to prepare one in the cooker (which is likely more nutritious anyway,) the savings quickly add up. Using a device like this to prepare meals really saves time.

So far, I've cooked several flawless batches of brown rice, a process that the manufacturer has made near-absolutely idiot-proof. There's no point going into detail here--just read and follow the instructions and you'll get a nicely-made batch. I also used the high slow-cook setting to prepare some buckwheat, which came out fine, but the quicker rice-cooking modes will work equally well on buckwheat or other grains with some experimentation. Dig around online to find recipes. I look forward to making some soups with this thing.

Construction is typical for the Sanyo brand: solid and refined. Zojirushi appears to be the favored brand in this category for whatever reason, but the cheaper Sanyo offerings have the same features and careful attention to detail.

I've had this rice cooker for about 6 months, and it is truly great. It's easy to use and clean. It is very versatile. The rice is great. Fill it in the morning and it is done when you get home. Forget about the rice and it keeps it warm and good for hours. It's very easy and painless to make good brown rice. I use it a lot to have my steel cut oatmeal ready in the morning. I've used it as a slow cooker and it works well. The extra pot for slow cooking is a nice feature, so you don't mess up the non stick "rice pot". Unless you need alot of rice, the 5 cup is fine. I agonized a bit about the high end features, like pressure cooking, or gamma gobba of the other rice cookers. I think that is b.s. Do your self a favor and get the Rice Cooker Cookbook, to explain the types of rice their proportions in cooking and to extend your range. I've made rice puddings and risottos that were great and super easy. I went to San Francisco and bought all sorts of premium japanese rices. I couldn't tell the difference between most of them. They did have better texture than the very cheap cal rose rices, but among them they were not noticibly different to this foodie.

I recently purchased this Sanyo rice cooker and have been very satisfied. I have used it for making regular white rice, as well as rinse-free rice (eg. Uncle Ben's), and it has made perfect rice. As well as using water for the cooking liquid, I often use a good chicken stock instead, to give the rice extra flavor.

My favorite use for the cooker is to use a rinse-free rice, add chicken stock according to the cooker's directions (I do prefer to use the "one-quarter more liquid method"--see rice cooker directions for more info), and, after adding the liquid, putting in some chopped onion and/or other fresh vegetables such as celery and carrots, with a little salt and pepper. This makes a wonderful, healthy side-dish for any meal!

Since everyone has their own preferences for type and texture of their cooked rice, it is wonderful that this particular cooker has enough versatility and features to accommodate many tastes and preferences.

I have not yet tried to make brown rice, but I am looking forward to using the cooker for that type of rice, also. This is definitely worth the few extra dollars it costs, and it comes with a nice little cook book, as well, with some interesting recipes. The size is nice, also, as it can make a good amount of rice if needed, certainly enough to satisfy most families.

We chose this rice cooker for several reasons. The reviews of this product and its differently colored brother products were excellent. The comparable Zojiruishi cookers were good as well but slightly more expensive. Cooking rice in this is a breeze - a must have for busy families on the go. My favorite option is the 24 hour timer - I can set it in the morning to have perfect rice waiting for my dinner when I get home from work and don't feel like cooking. And the rice? Comes out perfect every time!!! Not a single burnt or stuck to the pot grain so far. Just follow the instructions and that's it! Though it is just the husband and myself we got the 5.5 cup cooker because we will use if for dinner parties and future children. And it is plenty enough for that - I would not recommend a bigger size unless you are running a restaurant! Most days I put 1 cup dry rice in for the two of us and it is perfect, if not a little too much for us. The separate pot and inner lid for slow cooking is an excellent idea. Our kitchen is all black/stainless steel and this was the closest rice cooker to that theme that had great reviews. This is an excellent appliance and well worth the money!

After reading the reviews for many of the rice cookers on Amazon I decided that it was time to upgrade my old on/off rice cooker with a fuzzy logic model. I knew that a computerized rice cooker would be much better but I didn't realize how much better. I have had my rice cooker for a week now and have used it just about everyday with amazing results. I had butternut squash risotto from the cooker for lunch, dinner, and breakfast the following day since it was so good. I highly recommend this cooker for anyone looking to upgrade. Just a word of clarification though...The product says it is a 5.5 cup cooker. This refers to uncooked rice. When cooked the final result is 11 cups of rice. I had a hard time figuring this out when I was shopping since the description doesn't give this detail anywhere.

I'm Japanese and I eat rice A LOT, and many people are very picky about rice in general. I used to have a cheap basic rice cooker with bare minimum functions (cooks rice, steam veggie-which I don't, keep warm), as a result of being a poor student. However I don't think I will never go back to those basic ones after I experienced how rice should be made and taste using this rice cooker! Really, it's worth paying for a great rice cooker like this.

My favorite feature is that it makes an excellent short-grain brown rice. I do love white short-grain rice (a.k.a. sushi rice), but I alternate with short-grain brown rice sometimes. Usually, brown rice takes forever to cook, and it's much drier than short-grain white rice, and it's hard to eat those non-sticky rice with chopsticks (I can't separate rice and chopsticks!). But this machine makes the most fluffy and moist brown rice I have ever had! And I just set the timer in the morning, and I never have to wait all night for the brown rice to be cooked! My fiance and roommate were truly surprised with the result too.

I haven't used the Tofu making function, but I am very excited about that too. It'll be fun to make fun tofu!

Sanyo ECJ-HC55H 5-1/2-Cup Micro-Computerized Rice Cooker and Slow Cooker, Grey

I was looking for a good modern-looking slowcooker. I got that plus a really sweet rice cooker. This product is easy to use & clean. It's compact & sleek looking. My husband & I got some giggles beacause it looks kinda like an old-school boom box. No music, tho. I have not made tofu yet because I have not found a source for the "nigari" stuff. Overall, we're really pleased. The only thing that would improve the machine...would be if it went grocery shopping & prepared all the ingredients for cooking for me. ;-)

Just started using our new one. The directions leave a lot to be desired. This rice cooker WILL deliver quality cooked rice IF you do it right. All the sample recipes except the brown rice have multiple ingredients beyond simple plain rice. Those will be nice after I have cooked plain simple batches to learn how. They confuse in the beginning, IMHO.

Basic flavor and texure of rice always appealled to me. The finsihed brown and white rice batches are so superior that it is like I have never tasted or seen this quality at home or in all the Chinese restaurants.

Visually every rice seed is separate and moist. Cooked the rice looks light and flakey. Directions say to let soak for one to three hours depending on type. They don't say you can let it soak beyond those minimums without effecting the outcome. Just use the time setting which you set for when you want the rice done. Obviously set time forward enough to include soaking and cooking plus what ever you want. I set at noon for 5pm. Basically timer soaked for about four hours, started cooking, finished by 5pm and went to warming cycle good for another 12 hours. Minimum forward set time for white would be 2 1/2hr. One for soak and 1 1/2 for cook. Set timer push "cook" it will be ready at set time 5pm or any two minute divisions past the hour.

Do not measure rice in anything but cup provided which is not 8oz cup. That way water lines in pot will proportion to rice. If you used 8oz cup it will be too dry. Japan uses metric "cups". You get one with cooker. Conversion to US 1=6oz 2=12oz etc

Washing rice means rinsing until clear. Use rice pot add lots of water slosh around and pour out milky water. Repeat UNTIL CLEAR. My rice took many rinsing to get clear water and it was still not perfectly clear. Maybe soaking five minutes between rinsings to extract more corn starch which is used to polish rice. That is what you are rinsing out. It can take a lot of rinsings, OK? Wipe ALL water off exerior of cook pot before putting in machine.

If you add a bullion cube for flavor WITHOUT DESOLVING it will still be there dissolved but a lump in the finished rice. There is no stirring action during the cooking.

This rice cooker will cook many many more things than just rice. Start simple and practice. Rice is cheap. Practice and your patience will be rewarded with the best rice you ever tasted.

Been a couple months: Couple dozen batches white and brown all excellent. Following water levels leaves rice a little dry and too flakey. Been adding extra water, about 1/3 to 1/2 cup water i.e. half way to next larger cup line in pot. I always add chicken boullion too. You can add anything you want but ALWAYS stir before closing lid to start. There is no stirring during cooking.

This cooker does practically everything (except bake bread.) I've used all of the described features without any issues. Rice comes out amazing, steaming veggies is a snap (hard boiled eggs come out GREAT) and the slow cooker is fantastic. Make sure to wash your rice first (use a fine strainer), otherwise you'll end up with a lot of sticky stuff (starch) on the bottom of the bowl at the end of your rice cooking cycle.

Pros:
- Size
- Speed (quick cook does a great job for only taking ~20 min)
- Looks sharp
- Retractable power cord
- Handle
- Comes with a bunch of accessories
- Programmable settings

Improvements (not really cons):
- Steaming veggies can only be set in increments of 2 minutes
- Would really like an "auto-off" timer (once you finish cooking, it'd be nice if you could set it to only keep warm for 30 minutes and then 'stop')
- Wish there were a longer/louder "finished" beeps. Currently it will beep for only about 5 seconds and then switch to "keep warm." If you don't hear it or you aren't near the rice cooker, it'll just continue to keep warm [I think it will keep warm for a maximum of 2 hours] (for making hard boiled eggs, it's really bad if you miss the "beeps" as you'll overcook your eggs)

This 5 1/2 cup model is a great size for 1-4 people. If you have more people you need to feed, I'd suggest getting the 10 cup version.

I had to contact Sanyo Customer Service due to steam getting in to the LCD console area and short-circuiting the controls. I "think" this is because a decent amount of water may have spilled between the bowl and the heating element (Sanyo specifically says to be careful to not get any liquid in this area.) In as quick as a week, I was able to ship them my broken rice cooker and they sent me back a brand spanking new one, no questions asked. Huge ++ for Sanyo customer service.

Well here Is my full review.

I had to send the other one back as the lid didn't fit quite right.It wasn't sitting tight and it looked like it was sprung. I have now used this cooker and am very pleased with it. It takes a little longer than the Oster I had but I guess it's the fuzzy brain or something.(I know the feeling) I like the idea that I can set the rice up early in the day for the time I want it done and that helps with the taking longer to cook. I've used it now for Jasmine White and Jasmine Brown and the rice is perfect. You do have to rinse the heck out of it or you will have some spill from the vent on top but I just rinse it about 5 times and its fine. By rinsing it so much I find I don't have as fragrance coming from it like I did when I used my other one. I love the smell of Jasmine rice. It is very easy to clean and I love the gray with my stainless appliances. I like the soft setting for my rice but the normal wasn't bad either. I have not tried the slow cooker option since I use a bigger slow cooker than this one but it's nice to have in case I want to cook two things at the same time. I did a lot of research before deciding on this cooker since I have never paid this much for a rice cooker in my life but if you are going to go to the trouble of buying the best then you might as well buy the best to cook it in. I think most people would be happy with this cooker and I hope it gives me good service. Amazon acknowledged my problem and responded extremely fast.
Well, that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Here's to eating and sharing good rice. SF