Customer Reviews

Zojirushi NS-TGC10 Micom 5-1/2-Cup Rice Cooker and Warmer, Stainless Steel

5 star:		(116)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

Just got this rice cooker this afternoon & immediately tried it out making one "Zojirushi cup" of sticky short grain white rice I bought at a Japanese grocery store. I just finished gobbling it up with a little soy sauce and it was DELICIOUS! The rice came out perfectly - nice and sticky (I can't wait to make some sushi with it!), but not watery at all and cooked perfectly.

I was really torn between this model and Zojirushi's NS-LAC05 3-Cup model. Most of the time, I will be cooking rice for only 2 people, so the 3-Cup NS-LAC05 seemed ideal. But, on the other hand, I liked the flexibility of getting this bigger 5 1/2-Cup model - e.g., when having company over for dinner, or for cooking "one pot" rice-based dishes - I thought I could use the extra room in both cases. And, this bigger model can make cakes, where as the 3-Cup is too small. The only thing that worried me about getting this bigger model was I wondered if it would cook a small amount (i.e., one "Zojirushi cup") of plain rice as well as the smaller model - after all, that is what I would be doing most of the time.

Well, the flexibility won out in the end (as well as the surprisingly lower price of the NS-TGC10 on Amazon - $10 cheaper than the smaller NS-LAC05). And my worries about making a small amount of plain rice in the NS-TGC10 turned out to be unfounded as I discovered in my test run.

So, if you are torn between these two Zojirushi models, I recommend this one - $10 cheaper & more flexibilty. Plus, judging from the dimensions of both, it is not much bigger than the NS-LAC05 so it won't take up significantly more kitchen counter space.

EDIT (on September 21, 2011) - Three & a half years later, this rice cooker is still going strong & we use it all the time. Our love of this cooker can best be summed up by the comment my wife made several months back. She is not one for special-purpose kitchen gadgets, but she said that this rice cooker was BY FAR the most useful such kitchen gadget we ever purchased or tried...

I bought this rice cooker a month ago and we used it almost every day. We used it to cook white rice most of the time. I have tried brown rice once and sponge cake twice.

White Rice: Taste and texture-wise, it's the same as my other rice cookers. But it takes 45min to cook (vs 20min in others). There is a Quick Cook feature, but that is 30min still. There is 1 noticeable difference with the rice, it tastes very good the next day with microwave reheating.

Brown Rice: Texture-wise, there is a huge difference from my other rice cookers. The brown rice is soft and plum, but it takes almost 2hr to cook.

Sponge Cake: The cakes collapsed both times after I opened the lid.


Features I like:
- Retractable power cord
- Non-stick coating bowl
- Music indicator of when it starts and ends
- "Bumpy" spatula and spatula holder on the side

Features I don't like:
- No condensation collector
- Having to clean inner lid every time

Seriously, it plays Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star when you start it. But, we love it!

This is my second Zojirushi rice cooker with fuzzy logic. I received the first one as a gift 10 years ago and it still works fine. We got this one, because we wanted a smaller cooker that didn't take up as much space in our overloaded kitchen. Our old cooker is a 10-cup model and worked flawlessly. The new model is much improved. The retractable cord is an excellent feature and the cooker is easy to program. It is also easy to clean and nonstick. Cooks rice to perfection. Yes, it's expensive, but it does an excellent job and it's built to last. We had originally gotten a cheaper brand ($40) to replace our old Zojirushi. Big mistake. It lasted less than a year. Zojirushi is much higher quality and we look forward to another decade or more of regular use. Highest recommendation!!

Update May 2009: Still using this cooker regularly. Does a great job and is holding up well!! No problems.

I bought this rice cooker from Amazon a few weeks ago and I've used it almost every day since I got it! I've used it for mixed rice, wild rice, black rice and oatmeal. In fact, I've mainly used it for oatmeal.

The timer feature is great and this model has two! I just put my steel cut oats in and set the timer to have the oatmeal ready for me in the morning. I use the following recipe and oatmeal comes out great each time!

1 Rice Cooker Cup - Steel Cut Oats
2.5 Rice Cooker Cups - Water
Dash of salt

The rice I've cooked has come out perfectly every time! In fact, it comes out too perfect depending on how you're used to your rice. I like my wild rice a little more dry than how this cooker cooked it the first time, but no problem, I just needed to add less water. It still came out moist and tender though and as perfect as you would think.

I've also found that you can be imperfect with your water amounts. This cooker seems to adjust for my imperfections and still makes great rice and oatmeal!

Having two timers is pretty handy, but one timer models will be fine for most people. The only advantage to having two timers is that the timer remembers your last time setting so you don't have input a new time each time. If you always have two set times, changing the times on a single timer model would be a pain.

I've noticed that the timer doesn't seem to remember my cooking method settings. This is odd since it remembers the time just fine. I always have to change my settings to porridge for my oatmeal, even though I've always set it to that the time before. This is my one con about this model so far.

The bowl is non-stick and cleans up easily. I've had no problem with cleaning the bowl even if I've left rice remnants in there all day. The inner lid removes easily and is cleaned easily. It doesn't get too dirty, but I have noticed that using the Quick Cook method seems to make it a bit dirtier than the normal cooking time.

The included cup is smaller than a standard US Cup, but that's not a big deal since everything is proportional anyhow. The include spoon is great and easy to clean as well. Nothing seems to stick to!

The handle and retractable cord are also pluses. All in all, a very well designed machine and easy to use. I didn't have any issues understanding the manual.

This is a great machine and hopefully it will stand up over time!

After years of my husband making fun of me because I couldn't properly cook rice on the stove, I finally broke down and bought a rice cooker. A Japanese friend suggested Zojirushi, so I did some researching before purchasing this model.

I don't have a huge group to cook for, just our family of four, but I do entertain quite often so I bought this model instead of the smaller 3 cup model just incase I ever needed it.

So far, I've made white rice and oatmeal in the rice cooker. Both turned out perfectly! My husband mentioned that this was the best rice he'd ever eaten and kept pointing out how each grain was perfect, not a sticky mess like our usual rice.

For the oatmeal, I used a "recipe" mentioned in another Amazon review (1 rice cooker cup steel cut oats, 2.5 cooker cups water and a dash of salt). I used the timer function on the rice cooker so that it was ready when I woke up in the morning. I've had the rice cooker for a week and made the oatmeal three times already! It's a nice treat. (For the record, my very picky 1 year old loved hers with a little brown sugar and some dried cherries mixed in).

Clean up is a breeze. Both the rice and oatmeal cooked without scorching and the pan cleaned up quickly. Not a speck stuck to the side.

People have complained about having to wipe out the top lid each time you cook. I really don't understand the complaint. This takes all of 5 seconds and there's no mess to scrub, just maybe a drip of water.

I am very happy that I finally broke down and shelled out the money for a decent rice cooker. I could have gotten a cheaper one, but would I be enjoying fabulous oatmeal first thing in the morning? No, and I'd probably be replacing it within a year, from what people have told me.

I bought this rice cooker during my kitchen remodel, when the only methods of cooking I had were crock pot, microwave, or hot plate. This thing was, and still is, a life-saver!

I love brown rice, but I hate the intense, laborious process of cooking it on the stove. Watching the heat, getting the water amount just right, constantly having to baby it...no thanks. With my Zojirushi I just set it to brown and go to town (haha). The brown rice cycle takes about 2 hours...but if you use the built in timer function, you can have brown rice (or any kind of rice) ready and waiting for you at the time you desire. The time you set on the timer is the time that your Zojirushi sings it's corny little japanese song to let you know that your rice is ready to eat. If you aren't ready for it yet, your rice is kept warm without getting dried out or crusty.

If you've never tried short or medium grain brown rice, do it. It's so much better for you and most people I've cooked it for prefer the texture of short grain brown rice to the more common long grain. In case you were wondering...PF Changs uses medium grain, but I've had trouble finding that.

White rice always comes out great, not too sticky or wet...though it does take around 45 minutes. I make a lot of spanish rice...here's a quick easy recipe for that:

**SPANISH RICE***
2 Zojirushi Cups White Rice
1 Small can Tomato Juice (I think it's 8oz)
2-4 Teaspoons of Chicken Buillon (or use chicken broth instead of the water)
2-4 Tablespoons of Taco Seasoning
Fill with water to "2" and cook on white rice setting
It's a pretty forgiving recipe and I frequently spice it up with additional ingredients....chipotle peppers, sweet corn, etc.

I also make steel-cut oatmeal nearly every morning. My timer automatically has it hot and ready for me when I get up for work. I use 1/2 Zojirushi cup of steel cut oats (rinsed) with 1.5 zojirushi cups of water. All of this goes in the night before. More often than not, I have to clean the inside steam vent cover after cooking this, but that doesn't take long.

This is the first rice cooker I've ever owned, so I can't vouch for the performance of any other model, though I suspect I'd be disappointed with the cheapo on/off ones sold by most stores. The 5.5 cup capacity has been plenty for me & my roommate....usually 2 cups is enough for us (and we eat a lot). I typically cook 4 cups so that I've got leftovers or lunches.

If you're trying to decide between this and the induction model...you really don't need to spend the extra money...this one does just fine. I can't imagine the results being any better than they are...save that extra $100 for something else. I got the stainless finish because it matches my other appliances, but I'm sure the cooking functionality of the other models is identical.

At the time I purchased mine, Amazon was charging a bit more, so I ordered it, cheaper, from a place where I usually buy computer supplies. Now I see that Amazon has it for about the same price. You really can't go wrong with Zojirushi.

I am a huge fan of sushi, but I have 2 problems: 1- I don't have a clue about rice, and 2- white rice isn't part of my chosen lifestyle. Not to mention that I think it doesn't taste very good.

So, I've been hunting for a rice cooker that would make good brown rice without a hassle. Everything I found told me that this rice cooker made particularly good rice. Yeah, but it's pricy, is it worth the huge difference in price?

ABSOLUTELY!

We made brown rice sushi today. The rice was plump, sticky, delicious tasting. It was just about the best brown rice I've ever tasted!

Also it was a lot easier to clean than I thought it would be.

I have yet to try the timer function and all that stuff, but if you're looking for a cooker specifically to make brown rice, this is it!

Even my husband loved it and he's not usually a fan of brown rice.

I'm extremely happy with my purchase!

Many, many years ago (20 years ago!) my brother sent my family a Zojirushi rice cooker as a gift. It makes 12 cups but I was serving 5 people and when you add guests you need a lot of rice. It works BEAUTIFULLY if I want a LOT of rice. Now my family is down to 2 and we don't eat more than a cup of rice in a meal so I tried to find a small rice cooker. I've bought two, small, inexpensive rice cookers from a local store only to be horribly disappointed. The rice always scorches and is never cooked right. I went back to cooking rice on the stove. For Christmas, I splurged and bought the Zojirushi 5.5 cup rice cooker. I considered the smaller 3 cup version but my kids do come to visit and the 5.5 has the option to make sponge cakes which sounded interesting.

The first batch of rice was plain white rice. I read the instructions, measured the rice in the included cup, poured it in to the cooker and added enough filtered water to the rice for the water level to touch the one cup line marked on the cooking bowl. I closed the lid, made sure white rice was selected and pressed the "cooking" button. After a while it played a happy tune to let me know the rice was done. I fluffed the rice and set the cooker on extended warm. (You have two settings for keeping rice warm - regular and extended.) It was many hours later that we actually ate the rice and it was still perfect. Last night we made a brown rice pilaf and used the brown rice setting. Again, the rice came out perfect. I used filtered water again. It is recommended in the instructions that you don't use tap water, especially if you have very hard water like I do. The tap water can cause the steam vents to clog up.

Clean up is a breeze. You pluck the inner lid from the lid and wash it with a little warm soapy water, dry it and put it back. The cooking pot/bowl is nonstick and a little soapy water and a rinse and it's clean too. Finally, just wipe down the other surfaces and your done. I wish everything was that easy to clean.

I suppose you get what you pay for. This thing takes "making rice" to the next level. Really, how much you value something like this depends a lot on how much you value rice. If you're the kind of person that thinks... "Hmm. Rice? I can take it or leave it." --well, don't waste your time. A $20 rice-maker will do you well and last forever. They're about as complicated, technologically, as toasters.

But if you think you might have inclinations to rice-snobbery... well, you can't do any better than the Japanese. This thing *plays music* when it's finished. It is the ultimate in lazy cookware: it keeps your rice fresh and warm *days* after you've made it. Heck, it makes BROWN rice taste decent. That's rice-voodoo. But it will cost you.

I've had this rice cooker for almost a year and it has been the best kitchen-tool investment I've ever made. I use the rice cooker almost every day for a wide variety of grains. I'm now contemplating getting the 3-cup model in addition because the rice cooker is so versatile and essential to our daily meals that there are times I could employ two of them.
I've been delighted to find that I can make no-hassle (and fantastic) polenta, any kind of hot breakfast cereal (ready to eat when I get up), excellent rice (which my kids love because "its just like the Chinese restaurant rice"), and perfect grains every time - quinoa, spelt, barley. The only thing I haven't tried yet is amaranth.
I wasn's sure I'd use the timer function, but it has become essential, especially as I pre-soak and ferment all my grains now (a la Nourishing Traditions.) The porridge setting, too, has made busy mornings that much easier. It takes a little experimentation to find the right proportions of water-to-grain for porridges (I recommend getting The Ultimate Rice Cooker Cookbook : 250 No-Fail Recipes for Pilafs, Risottos, Polenta, Chilis, Soups, Porridges, Puddings and More, from Start to Finish in Your Rice Cooker for a handy reference guide for all grain/water ratios) but too little water is easily remedied by opening the lid when the timer goes off, stirring to mix water that hasn't been fully incorporated, and adding water to the desired consistency. The porridge will stay on "Keep Warm" until you're ready for breakfast. I make oats, steel cut oats, cream of wheat, cream of brown rice, and others using the porrodge setting.
Other reviewers have mentioned that having the wipe the inside lid after every use is a pain, but I've found it takes just a moment. Unlike other rice cookers I've had, there is almost never an explosive mess of cooked-on grain schmutz on the lid, so cleaining is fast and easy. The no-stick pot is great, too.
If you are cooking for 4 or more regularly, I recommend the 5 1/2 cup size; you'll have leftovers, but not too much. Porridge for one (which is what I use it for) comes out just fine, despite the small amount of grains in the pot (hence, the need to stir after cooking.) If you are cooking for 1 or 2, then the 3 cup size should be adequate