Rice Cooker VS Microwave Rice Cooker
Rice is a staple for most people across the world. If we cook it right, we can serve a delicious meal of rice with stews, soups, vegetables, and other dishes. Cooking rice is more than just boiling it for a few minutes. If we do not cook it at the correct temperature or add the right amount of water, then the rice will turn mushy or become too hard to chew. Investing in a good rice cooker vs microwave rice cooker is important as it helps to save time on food preparation.
Rice Cooker VS Microwave
WHAT IS RICE COOKER?
A rice cooker is a kitchen appliance that is designed to cook rice to perfection. It is an easy and convenient way to cook rice and comes really handy cooking the rice to perfection in just 10 – 20 minutes. Especially when you are having a party or a get-together at your house, the following appliances really work like a charm.
It is a multipurpose appliance that can cook rice and steam veggies too. The rice cooker consists of a heat source, a cooking bowl, and a thermostat that shows the cooking bowl’s temperature and helps in controlling the heat.
However, there are different types of rice cookers with different price category, and the expensive ones mostly hold the new features and things that assuredly make things more reliable.
There are two types of rice cookers that need gas to cook rice, and on the other hand, there are electric ones. However, the electrical ones are more convenient as they come with various features and advanced technology.
IS IT WORTH BUYING THE RICE COOKER?
If you ask us, then we would assuredly recommend you to invest the money in the rice cooker as it is one of the most basic needs when you have a busy schedule and it’s hard to get time for cooking. Eating from the restaurants might not be a solution and as the advanced rice cookers contain newer features that allow you to cook different type of things in it (i.e., steaming meat, fish, veggies and even cakes too)
If you have a get-together and different parties at your home, this might be the finest product as it can cook many cups of rice in a lot less time than cooking on the stove. It is indeed a time-saving and convenient appliance.
Also, cooking the rice in the rice cooker tastes a lot better than the stove as the rice cooker keeps the temperature maintained and does not overcooks it to keep it healthy and nutritious along with the good taste.
HOW ARE RICE COOKERS BENEFICIAL?
The rice cooker contains plenty of beneficial features that assuredly comes in handy in the kitchen. Let’s dig deep and find out the useful advantages.
COOKS A HOT BREAKFAST
As you know that you can steam a different kind of things and veggies in a rice cooker as well. However, you can easily make a hot breakfast in the mornings (i.e., porridge, cereals). It will assuredly save a lot of your time as the following kitchen appliance is convenient when it comes to cooking.
STEAMS VEGETABLES
If you are a person that is conscious about health and wants to eat food that has good nutritional values and no oil at all, then the rice cooker is a great option for you. You can easily steam the veggies to perfection without losing the nutritional values. Cook the tasteful and healthy food with the rice cooker.
AUTOMATIC SENSORS TO COOK FOOD
However, some rice cookers have sensors that allow you to put the food in the appliance and cooks the food itself. The finest part about this sensor feature is that you don’t even have to keep an eye on the rice cooker to avoid overcooking. The sensors automatically switch to keep the food warm once the cooking process is done.
YOU CAN EASILY MAKE RISOTTO WITHOUT STIRRING
As you might know, cooking the risotto on the stove requires a lot of stirring, but if you cook the risotto in a rice cooker, you absolutely need to put the ingredients without standing there and stirring it for hours. The finest part is that you get the dish ready in 20 – 25 minutes max.
COOKS EVERYTHING TO PERFECTION
The rice cooker users have always given positive reviews about the cooking factor of the rice cooker. The rice cooker has the sensors and advanced technology to cook the dish to the perfect amount of cooking time it needs to preserve the finest taste along with the freshness.
WHAT ARE THE SPECIAL FEATURES OF THE RICE COOKER?
Different rice cooker products consist of different features, and the feature factor depends on the technology the rice cooker has. Let’s cover both advanced and basic features to know more about the features factor of the rice cooker.
- The advanced features consist of keeping the food warm automatically once the cooking time is over. The sensors help in automatically switching the mode to prevent overcooking.
- The basic feature that all rice cooker contains is that the equipment that comes with the rice cooker. A spatula, a rice measuring cup, and some advanced rice cookers also have a removable bowl that allows you to clean the rice cooker easily.
- Another basic feature that every rice cooker has is the looks. The following kitchen appliance works impeccably and looks exquisite at the same time.
- The rice cookers come in different sizes, and the size is totally dependent upon the capacity of cooking rice. However, they are portable enough to carry anywhere and also not much bigger in size. You can easily store them with your other kitchen appliances.
- Some advanced models of rice cooker contain non-stick coated cooking bowls to prevent damage and increase the durability of the products.
- The one feature that everybody loves is the capacity size. Different sized rice cookers cook a different amount of rice, and that is what allows you to get the one according to your capacity and portion size.
WHAT IS MICROWAVE RICE COOKER?
The microwave rice cooker is a special plastic container designed to cook rice. It comes with a cooking pot and lid, although some models come with a measuring cup and rice spoon. It can cook rice in half the time that it normally takes. Comparing to cooking rice on the stove, the microwave rice cooker is easy and convenient to use. It can cook a pot of hot fluffy rice within minutes.
The microwave rice cooker is suitable for students living in the dormitory who want a convenient way of cooking rice and other dishes. It is also suitable for working mothers who need to whip up a meal quickly after work.
Some cookers come with a steamer basket which makes it easy and convenient to steam vegetables and other food.
BENEFITS OF MICROWAVE RICE COOKER
Convenience
We just need to place the pot in the microwave oven and press a button.
Time-saving
A microwave rice cooker requires lesser time to cook than the conventional way of cooking rice in a pot.
Easy to clean
It is very easy to clean the microwave rice cooker as it is dishwasher safe.
Safer
The rice is in a sealed pot, so there is little chance of boiling water spillage.
Energy efficient
As a microwave rice cooker uses lesser time to cook rice, it is more energy efficient.
Act as a storage container
The plastic container can be used as a storage container to store excess food.
FEATURES OF MICROWAVE RICE COOKER
Versatile
Besides cooking rice, we can use a microwave rice cooker to cook pasta, vegetables and others.
Dishwasher safe
We can use the dishwasher to clean the microwave rice cooker. This helps to save time, efforts and energy.
Lockable lid
It comes with a lockable lid. This will reduce the chances of splatters inside the microwave oven.
BPA-free
The plastic bowl and lid used in the microwave rice cooker are BPA-free. It does not contain the chemical BPA, bisphenol A. Exposure to BPA is a concern as it poses health hazards.
COOKING OTHER MEALS
Besides cooking rice, we can use the microwave rice cooker to cook many other dishes. Below are two ways to use the cooker.
Potato salad
It is a delicious side dish that we can make easily. Place some potatoes in the container and add enough water to cover them—Cook for around 10 minutes. Drain the water. In a separate bowl, mix the boiled potatoes with mayonnaise, salt, pepper, vinegar, butter, sour cream.
Use steamer basket to steam vegetables
We can place the vegetable on the steamer basket and add water to the bottom of the cooker. The steamer basket is suitable for steaming potatoes, carrots, greens, corn, asparagus, and others. It is better to boil pasta than steam.
The microwave rice cooker is a very useful and budget kitchen appliance that one cannot do without it.
CONCLUSION
Trying to know more about the rice cooker vs microwave rice cooker and whether you should purchase one or not? Then you are reading the right article. In this article, we have explained what is a rice cooker and what a microwave rice cooker really is along with the benefits and the features. We have also mentioned why you should get the rice cooker vs microwave rice cooker and how it will make your cooking more reliable and convenient.
Read the entire article and know more about the features, benefits of the rice cooker as well as microwave rice cooker so that you can get the finest rice cooker according to your desires.
