Customer Reviews

Zojirushi NS-JCC18 Neuro Fuzzy 10-Cup Rice Cooker & Warmer

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I bought this practically on a whim after a business trip to Japan, where I was impressed with the ubiquitous high-tech rice cookers I saw there. My wife thought I was crazy to spend [price] on a rice cooker, but much to my surprise she has become a total convert! We are using the machine much more than I thought we would--every second or third night, on average. I've been delighted overall with the cooker's performance. We've made a variety of short- and long-grain rices, both white and brown, with great results overall. I was initially disappointed with my results with Indian basmati rice--it came out too mushy--but I corrected this by using less water. I agonized a bit between the 5- and 10-cup models, and finally decided to go with the 10-cup. I would recommend the larger machine (it is only [price] more expensive) UNLESS you live alone. The 10-cup cooker requires a minimum of 2 rice-cooker cups (1.5 US cups) of uncooked rice to do a good job, which yields way too much cooked rice for one person. In our experience, however, this amount is fine for 2-4 people, as in our family.

One thing I would highly recommend, unless you are already very knowledgable about rice, is to get a good rice cooker cookbook. We've been using "The Ultimate Rice Cooker Cookbook" by Hensperger and Kaufmann, and I feel it has really allowed us to get a much higher return on our investment in this machine. The documentation that comes with the cooker is, frankly, pretty awful and does not do the machine's capabilities justice. For example, you may not be aware that this cooker is capable of making FANTASTIC risotto and polenta using the porridge cycle. You can even saute the onion and rice right in the cooker bowl when making risotto by using the quick cook cycle; all you need do is then add the liquid stock, reset the machine and start the porridge cycle. About 45 minutes later, you have perfect risotto with much less fuss than when using the stovetop method. Polenta requires 2 full porridge cycles, but the results are equally impressive. These capabilities, which are not at all touted by the manufacturer, have been a very pleasant surprise indeed!

Though I live alone, I bought the 10-cup cooker because I wanted to have plenty of capacity to cook dishes other than rice. In the short time I've owned the cooker, I've tried tapioca pudding, a couple of black bean dishes, homemade applesauce, sweet potato porridge, and steel-cut oatmeal in addition to rice. Everything, including cleanup, is such a snap, and every dish comes out perfectly.

I'm certain that most people reading this review will be primarily interested in cooking rice, and they will be very pleased with this little machine. I didn't eat much rice prior to buying this machine, but I'm quickly becoming a rice convert. I'm spending time combing local supermarkets and health food stores looking for different varities of rice to try out in my Zojirushi.

This rice cooker was a big investment for a young, single guy like myself, but it was well worth it. I doubt I could own a kitchen appliance that I would use more frequently than this Zojirushi.

I recently purchased this rice cooker and couldn't be more impressed. I'd formerly used a cheap (under $20) rice cooker and had been less than thrilled with the amount of time and effort needed to create rice that only turned out so-so. Unhappy, I reverted to my handy microwave rice cooker which didn't produce perfect rice but was at least fast and easy to use. I resisted getting another electric rice cooker for years until finally a friend persuaded me that the Zojirushi "fuzzy logic" model was different.

Not only does this machine make absolutely perfect rice every time but it's incredibly easy to use, clean up and store. The bowl is removable and dishwasher safe for easy clean up. You can program the machine to cook rice and have it ready for you at dinner time. It will even turn itself off automatically and go to the "keep warm" feature if you accidentally leave your rice in too long. It makes every kind of rice from plain white steamed, to Thai sticky or old fashioned wild rice and, like I said before, I've yet to have a batch that wasn't light, fluffy and restaurant perfect!

And, best of all for those of us with crowded kitchens, storage is a cinch. The machine is VERY lightweight and even has a handle so that it can be put away easily (no valuable counter space wasted) when not in use. Another handy stoarage feature is a cord spool (like on old vacuum cleaners) that keeps the plug tucked away tightly (under the machine) when not in use. You'll wish every appliance you owned was so well designed!

Since getting this cooker, I've suddenly been preparing rice over potatoes at meal after meal. Yes, this machine is expensive (shop around though, you can find it for a bit less elsewhere), but it's worth every penny!

Let me start by saying that I am pleased with this rice cooker. We purchased this thinking it would cook rice much faster than other methods. Technically, the machine does cook the rice in less than 20 minutes - HOWEVER - the machine takes about 30 minutes to warm up before it starts cooking the rice. So, total time is around 45-50 minutes. We are pleased with the quality of the rice. It turns out consistently good rice. Be advised, the scoop that comes with this is marked at 1/4, 1/2, 3/4 measurements. We logically thought that these measurements referred to a cup. However, if you check you will see that the measurements are smaller than a cup. We had to experiment with the water to rice ratio, but now that we have that down, the rice turns out great. It also keeps the rice warm for a long time, which is nice. Overall, I would recommend this machine to people who are serious rice eaters.

We have owned this cooker for two years. It is the best cooker I have ever owned. I can add butter, chicken stock and it NEVER burns. I can cook my rice soft or hard, long or quickly and control the results every time. If you love the taste of good rice, you eat it every night, if you love the look of fine appliances on your countertop, or can afford a $260 fancy gadget (i bet you will use this more than your cuisinart or Kitchenaid!) I recommend this 100 percent!

I actually have two of the Zojirushi Neuro Fuzzy rice cookers, including this 10-cup one (for family size and bulk meals) and the smaller 3-cup for cooking plain white rice for 1-4 people. Like the other reviews, this rice cooker makes long- and medium- grain rices perfectly. This includes arborio, jasmine, etc.

Some caveats to mention that were not in the other reviews:

- While there are many styles of making congee (rice porridge, jook, etc.,) this rice cooker makes the rice expand to soak up the water so that the result is not soupy, but rather has the consistency of say, grits. It doesn't make the rice creamy the way some restaurants do by adding starch. I personally like soupy and creamy styles. This one is somewhere in between.

- I tried cooking sticky rice, which is used in lotus leaf rice (zhong) or "lo mei gei." In order for this to work, the sweet rice grains must be soaked for several hours before cooking. This can be achieved by setting a timed cook, for example, putting the rice and water in the morning to be done cooking by evening. When I attempted to cook the sticky rice straight up without soaking first, I found that the center was still in kernels while the rice sticking to the edge were correctly cooked to a sticky consistency. (Even if you attempt to cycle through two or three times, this isn't going to work.) Also, I don't recommend cooking more than three cups of sticky rice at any given time. (I had tried 6 cups. It was a disastrous mess.)

Perhaps another reviewer can give better tips on cooking sticky rice in these rice cookers other than pre-soaking the rice.

- Last caveat: Keeping the rice pot in warming mode for more than an hour after cooking congee can erode some of the inner pot's non-stick finish on the bottom of the pot, but not much.


Just thought I would add some realities after I've had my rice cooker for two or three years. It really is a great rice cooker and I don't regret having purchased both sizes of them.

This rice cooker is an outstanding addition to our kitchen, and in my estimation worth its premium price. We had been using one of those cheap, one-button, bare aluminum bowl rice cookers and to be honest, it worked good enough for plain white rice. But I was worried about how much aluminum I was introducing into our food this way, and was also looking to be able to cook brown rice, casseroles and rice porridge (congee/jook) with the same ease as regular white rice (if you've ever cooked jook on the stovetop you know how messy this can be). This rice cooker makes it easy to do all those things and more with its simple to use controls. The metal bowl has an effective non-stick coating that releases the cooked food completely after cooking and is almost effortless to clean -- and believe me, I wouldn't say that if it wasn't true, because I loathe cleanup.

The only small caveat I have is that the rice porridge setting tends to cook the rice a smidge too thick for my preference - I enjoy a thinner consistency jook. No big deal here, really, just add a bit of hot water to your bowl to achieve your own preferred consistency.

While it is true that this is for serious cooks (given the price) - it is also true that this device produces the finest rice you'll ever eat. And keep it hot for hours - we've used it for preparing Jasmine rice, Basmati, Texmati, Calmati, Cal-Rose, long & short grain brown rice, arborio as well as brown sweet rice from Japan. All came out perfectly. If one is serious about their rice there is no better machine available - period.

Super easy to clean, and excellent rice every time! Timer is indispensable for our busy family. We used this same brand of cooker in our rented home in Japan for over 3 years and it was the first thing we bought when we returned to America. We gave one as a wedding gift to our daughter and am buying another one as a gift for good friends.

I've been happy with the purchase. I decided to go with the 10-cup cooker because: 1) it is not much larger than the 5-cup cooker, 2) it offers twice the amount of cooking capacity useful in occasions, and 3) it costs only slightly more than the 5-cup cooker. One thing to watch out for is to avoid placing it directly under kitchen counter, as it will generate a lot of vapor/steam when cooking. The timer and keep-warm function is great as it gives you freshly cooked rice when you need it. I've cooked white rice so far and am happy with the result but have not try porridge and others.