Customer Reviews

Stainless Steel Rice Cooker Model ME81 (Formerly ME8) - by Miracle Exclusives

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Length:: 1:55 Mins

I bought this rice cooker to replace an old aluminum bowl rice cooker that was starting to show a lot of wear and tear after many years of use. I spent a lot of time searching for a rice cooker that wasn't made with aluminum or those non-stick surfaces. I was delighted to find this one that has a stainless steel bowl and steaming basket. It really looks a lot nicer than the picture on the page shows, so I thought it would be great to do a video so you could see it.

I use it practically every day for one thing or another and like the nice 8 cup size. I make brown rice, wild rice, lentil soup, pea soup, steel cut oatmeal, quinoa, barley and other whole grains. Everything seems to come out perfectly and clean-up is easy. I usually set the bowl in the sink with some warm water in it for about 10 minutes and then just sponge out any remaining residue.

Two thumbs up for this great rice/grain/other stuff cooker!

After an exhaustive search for a rice cooker without a non-stick coating I was pretty much left with the ME81 from Miracle. On this basis alone, I would have given it 5 stars. It's very basic; when you plug it in, it goes to a warming mode (the directions state brown rice should be warmed for 15 minutes prior to cooking). When ready to cook, you simply depress the cook button. It then heats the contents to boiling and when ready, automatically switches back to the warming mode. The rice can continue warming for a couple of hours. Whenever ready to stop, simply unplug the unit and fluff the rice.

I must admit I have no experience with rice-cookers so my experience with the Miracle could be affected by my own ineptitude. To date, as far as grains are concerned, I've only made brown rice. My first attempt was 2 cups (the little plastic cup size which comes with the machine is smaller than one cup) and it worked fairly well with only a little rim of sludge around the edge of the glass top that occurred when it was pushed up during the boiling phase. The rice also stuck slightly to the bottom of the pan and was more moist in some areas than others, but I might have put in too much water. The directions call for extra water when cooking brown rice so with experimentation, I hope to improve on this. Next, I tried making 3 cups of brown rice and had quite a bit of boil over, with sludge running down the face of the cooker. I wonder what kind of mess results if you try to make all 8 cups? Obviously, I need more experience.

That aside, I have to say my efforts resulted in the best rice I've ever tasted! I feel like I can now get into all those healthy grains like millet, quinoa - and of course, brown rice - and switch from wheat-based products. I also steamed some vegetables in the steaming basket. They cooked in less time than I anticipated and even though I overcooked them (they never changed their bright colors so I thought they weren't done), they tasted fantastic. I've always felt uneasy about cooking vegetables in the microwave and now I'm finally liberated! The taste improvement alone is worth the investment in this cooker!

When initially searching for a rice cooker, I was disappointed all the fancy, multi-function rice cookers didn't come with stainless steel pots. Fuzzy-logic sounds so cool. But, according to a NY Times article (Sept 30 '08, "The Steamy Way to Dinner") one button varieties actually may have more flexibility. "It's easy to override the machine's small brain. Press the "cook" button, melt butter in the bowl, and sweat a finely diced shallot in it until soft - then add rice, broth and saffron strands, and start the machine again to make a daffodil-yellow pilaf". (Although, I think the directions enclosed with the ME81 stated you shouldn't repress the cook button, probably for risk of burning the contents of the pot.) According to the NY Times, "The most intriguing recipes are those that have been developed, out of necessity or curiosity, entirely for the rice cooker, like the ones here" and then introduces food blogger Hui Leng Tay teczcape.blogspot There are also some recipe links. Just looking at the pictures makes me want to start experimenting.

Anyway, despite the slight messiness, I love this rice cooker, love the tastes it is producing, and look forward to many more healthful meals in the future.

I bought this rice cooker because of the stainless steel pot. Learning about the dangers of non stick coatings and alum. pots made me invest in this product. I have no big complaints. I do wish it were a larger size (large family) Cooks rice well- if you spray the pot with PAM type product in the bottom. If not, it will stick. Overall it is a good purchase.

Like basically everyone else, I bought this rice cooker to replace an old one, whose non-stick coating was starting to flake. The idea of a stainless steel bowl really appealed to me, but the reality of it is that you're going to lose a lot of rice when cooking a batch.
There are a few recommendations for reducing the effect of this, the most helpful being to coat the bowl with oil (I haven't tried a cooking spray yet) prior to adding rice and water, but it won't completely solve the problem and it also affects the taste of the rice.
Soaking the bowl overnight does allow for easy cleaning, but it's still a bummer to have a substantial layer of rice go down the sink (or, if you don't have garbage disposal, to be fished out of the strainer and into the trash).
This might just be the trade off, for being able to avoid aluminum or non-stick coating, but be prepared for it.

This is the best rice cooker ever. My mom and I love it! I avoided rice cookers because of the aluminum and I did not need another kitchen gadget. Everyone in my extended family uses them. Now I can live without this Mircale cooker! It has the stainless steel pot I was searching for. And it cooks rice perfectly in 20 minutes. It has the generic two modes - cook and warm. I tend to use 1 cup of rice to about 2.2 cups of water. If using a 1 to 2 ratio for your rice, do not let the rice go to warm mode two long. It will dry out. Now my aunt wants it too. No more non-stick or aluminum. Healthy and safe!

We have used this rice cooker once or twice a week for the past two years and highly recommend it. We bought it because of its stainless steel bowl (we did not want a non-stick coated bowl) and are happy with the performance. All parts that come in contact with the food or the steam are either steel or glass. Note that the steamer tray is steel with plastic handles but the handles remain outside of the cooker and do not come in contact with the food or steam. Occasionally a small amount of rice will stick to the bottom of the bowl (never the sides) but is easily removed with a sponge or if left soaking for a few minutes. For us, this minor inconvenience is worth not being exposed to the non-stick coating in our food.

I had been looking all over for a rice cooker without a non-stick interior. This was just what I wanted! Two drawbacks: It bubbles over considerably while cooking. In fact, my countertop was covered with the overflow one time. I just figured out that I can't make more than 3 cups of rice at a time, and a baking pan underneath is probably a good idea. The rice also sticks to the bottom, or at least it has for me. It isn't burned, so there's no residual odor or anything, but I do waste rice. Easy clean up if you put a little water in the pot after removing the rice . Got a few kinks to work out, but I still like it. Haven't tried steaming shrimp or veggies yet, but I will soon.

Easy to clean. Rice taste great. No metal taste like aluminium pots. Tends to overboil the pot. Have to watch carefully or can create a rice crust on bottom.

My wife paid $90 for a cheaply made Panasonic non-stick rice cooker locally so, I showed her that same model cost $45 on Amazon. Needless to say, we took it back. I did my research online and found this stainless steel rice cooker (I hate non-stick cookware) on Amazon. Ordered it, received it in 3-4 days. It works great for cooking rice (unplug cooker when done cooking rice for that meal so your rice doesn't burn) and you can steam veggies in the stainless steel steamer basket that fits above the main pan. It's easy to clean, just soak it in warm water for a while, scrub what is stuck as hard as you want (no non-stick coating to scratch or come off in your food). I'm not much of a cook but I know quality cookware when I see it. Later. Peace/out.

This rice cooker works as well as the others with the aluminum pot. At least there is one less source of aluminum to be ingested into my body.

The unit has a warming function that automatically keeps the rice warm after it is cooked. If you do NOT want to keep the rice warm you will have to remember to turn the cooker off by unplugging it. There is no way to cook the rice without the wamer feature coming on. This sucks. The warmer will also dry out the rice.

It would have been nice to have a smaller capacity rice cooker.

The bottom rice layer does stick more in the stainless steel pot than in an aluminum pot. The automatic warming feature does contribute to the sticking problem. To remove the bottom layer you need to soak inside of the pot in soapy water. After soaking the bottom rice comes out easily.

Update January 24, 2012
The unit is still working. The stainless steel pot still looks like new.