HomeSmall AppliancesRice CookersAroma ARC-1266F 12-Cup (Cooked) Rice Cooker and Food Steamer |
|  | | | Customer Reviews: | | | Average Customer Review: ( 110 customer reviews )
Write an online review and share your thoughts with other customers.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
45 of 45 found the following review helpful:
 Great rice cooker Jan 21, 2010
By C. Holmes
This thing works great, and it steams veggies at the same time!!!! Just read the instructions thoroughly. If you are cooking brown or wild rice the water measurements are different. Rice comes out fluffy and moist every time. And, it stays moist on the warm setting too. I had it in there staying warm for over an hour and you wouldn't have known it, seriously. Buy this!
57 of 59 found the following review helpful:
Great for the price Apr 11, 2010
By dana
This is a really cheap rice cooker, so naturally it's very simple and isn't as versatile as the more expensive models. However, if all you're interested in is the basic functionality, it does the job almost perfectly.
If you've ever used a rice cooker you probably already know everything there is to know about it, they all follow the same pattern. It's got a non-stick pan, a warming function, a spoon and a cup and a steam tray. Basic stuff so i won't go into that.
I'm not sure if there is any real difference in cooking times between different rice cookers (i would assume not since rice can only absorb water so quickly), but this does the job well. A cup or two of white rice takes 15 or 20 minutes to finish; if it's brown rice it'll be more like 30. It seems slightly faster than boiling, but not by much. (Definitely way more convenient though.)
Some things i did notice:
1. When you plug it in, it automatically goes into 'cook' mode, even if the lid is open and the button isn't pressed. This is kind of annoying, i don't understand why it does it.
2. As far as i can tell, you can't just leave it plugged in all the time like a toaster. It's always running as long as it's got power, so when you're done with it you have to unplug it. This is a minor irritation, because i'm lazy. :(
3. The manual comes with cooking directions, but in my experience so far they've been off. If i follow the manual's instructions, my rice always comes out a too dry, kind of with a fried-rice consistency. This is especially the case with brown rice (which requires more liquid obviously). Their water measurements are just too conservative. But this of course depends on what kind of rice you're using, whether you add any extra ingredients, and so on, so it'll vary. You'll figure it out after one or two attempts though.
If you're interested in a rice cooker but you're wondering if it's worth it to get one, i'd definitely recommend it, especially since this one is so cheap. I myself had not personally owned a rice cooker before (although i was familiar with them), so i was sceptical about whether it'd get enough use out of it to justify the cost.
But i do! It's much easier to make it in the rice cooker than it is on the stove; i can dump the rice in when i wake up, and go do what i need to do to get ready for work (without worrying about whether it'll burn), and then shovel it all out right before i leave. I eat a lot more rice now than i did before.
36 of 36 found the following review helpful:
Great buy -- doubly so, for the price! Jan 27, 2010
By K. D. Talley
Wanted to make some great sushi -- and this pot turned out fabulous rice, couldn't have been better for the task! Also, since getting this Aroma, I've done several one-dish dinners in it, steaming meat & veggies right with the rice. Its done a dynamite job -- almost like having a cook in the house, finishing off dishes for me. Easy to clean, quick to store, and absolutely as represented -- an inexpensive yet faithful piece of equipment with nice range of skills. Plus -- you can cook -- and transport -- hot food in it to a potluck dinner, easily -- and without getting burned. How's that for the price?!!!
23 of 24 found the following review helpful:
 Makes good rice Mar 24, 2010
By Tiger Tail
"wapiti"
I bought the Aroma 6 cup Cool Touch Rice Maker to replace a Wolfgang Puck rice maker that spewed steam and rice water all over the counter while it was cooking. The Aroma makes good rice like the Wolfgang Puck rice maker, but water collects on the top of my Aroma rice cooker and has to be poured off during the cooking process. It is also much larger than the Puck rice cooker so you have to have ample cabinet space to store it. Other than that the Aroma 6 cup cool touch is a good rice cooker at a very reasonable price, especially with Amazon Prime.
17 of 17 found the following review helpful:
Inexpensive, multi functional, and makes great rice Jan 17, 2011
By Katie Batterman
"AKA: Vegan Katie"
I love this little rice cooker. I have thus far made a couple types of brown rice and white sushi rice with it and have been pleased with the results every time. The brown rice has been perfectly cooked, and the sushi rice has been even better than I expected. Sometimes the bottom of the rice does get a little bit browned (seriously, only a tiny bit), but I like it that way. It certainly doesn't burn like other reviewers have said. Maybe they weren't following the directions? Or just following them badly.
There are some interesting little design features about this model that I didn't expect. The steam valve pops right off so you can clean it. I just run hot water through it when I think it needs it. There's also a little drip cup positioned under the hinge. When you lift the lid after cooking rice, the collected steam tends to drip down the lid. It won't puddle on the counter because the designers put a little drip cup right underneath the hinge. I think it's kind of ingenious. That, too, pops right off so you can empty it and rinse it out. Also, there's a little loop on the back, left side of the rice cooker where the rice paddle can rest. You don't have to set it on the counter after it's been covered in sticky, sticky rice.
Other reviewers have said they've had problems with rice water sputtering through the steam vent. I have not had that problem at all. The only time I had water sputtering out of the steam vent was when I made steel cut oats in the rice cooker. That took a little adjusting, but they did come out absolutely perfect. I ended up leaving the lid unlatched and I popped out the steam vent and the boil-over problem with the oats was solved. But steel cut oats boil over on the stove too, so I wasn't really surprised.
I'm sure other people have had problems because they didn't follow the directions. You have to wash the rice to get the excess starch off the grains before you cook them, otherwise they will boil over. This would happen in any rice-cooking method if you didn't wash the rice. You also have to dry off the inner pot before you put it into the rice cooker. Dripping water on the heating element can damage any rice cooker. Also, all the pieces have to be hand washed. Which I know can be a pain, but the rice pot is completely nonstick, so usually wiping it out with hot water and a sponge or a scrub brush gets it clean. The steam tray scarcely needs more than a rinse. The rice paddle often needs to be scrubbed pretty well, especially after being used with sticky rice.
I think the best thing about this rice cooker is the steam tray. You can use it to steam vegetables or proteins while you're cooking rice. This little gadget makes whole meals for one or two people in about 45 minutes (if cooking brown rice) with little to no tending. I don't eat meat, so I can't tell you how well it works for that. But I can tell you that it worked brilliantly for steaming tofu and tempeh while cooking rice. The key with steaming most vegetables along with rice is to put them in during the last few minutes of the rice cooking. So when I see the water level has gotten pretty low, I'll put the veggies in. Then everything gets done quickly and at the same time.
All in all, I'm giving this cooker five stars because it's inexpensive, it works really well, and the added steam tray feature makes it really easy for cooking healthy weeknight meals. I've used this little guy almost every day since I got it and it preforms beautifully. I definitely recommend this product if you're looking for an easy-to-use, inexpensive rice cooker.
See all 110 customer reviews on Amazon.com
|
| |
|
|
|
