On the plus side - the pan heats well and is teflon coated; does white long grain and Japanese medium and short grain very well.

Be aware that the water markings on the interior of the pan correspond to cooking Japanese rice which uses a different ratio of rice to water than other varieties such as, wehani or short grain brown.

This machine has to be played with to do shorter grain varieties of brown. It can handle long grain brown fine.

I would make the suggestion of looking at (all) the rice cookers there and find one that has the following things for the money:

1) stainless steel pan or aluminium pan lined with teflon; 2) retractable cord; 3) warming function;

An on/off switch is NOT standard on an Asian rice cooker. It is due to the fact that in Japan and Australia there is an on/off switch right in the wall plug area. The manufacturers did not take into account that Americans with their different outlet styles would be rice junkies (silly them).

Do not cook anything less than a cup or try for more than 3 cups. Too little rice cooked comes out a bit odd while too much means your pot lid will pop up due to too much steam.

Oh yeah, that's another thing - the lid can make noise due to the steam lifting it during the cooking process (bubbling pot lid kind of stuff). It is not dangerous so don't freak from the noise.

This machine is fine for the dorm or home. But do examine the cost of the machine, the amount of rice you eat and the cost of the machine to features.

This machine is good but it is not great.

66 of 67 found the following review helpful:

Bad lid, inferior design  Aug 20, 2004
By TokyoVince "miso man"
I purchased two of these (large size and smaller one) for my family in the US. I use it when I am home for a visit. I have never been able to use this cooker w/o it spraying water all over my countertop. In short, I regret the purchase.

I now live in Tokyo and realize that Zojirushi is just pushing an inferior product on the US market. You cannot even purchase a thin-lid rice cooker here, especially one w/ a blowhole in it that lets turns the cooker into a steady spray of boiling rice water every time it is used. Not good.

If you are serious about cooking rice often, and not having to clean up your kitchen after each use, I suggest that you invest a little more and get a better designed product.

53 of 53 found the following review helpful:

Does not match specs  Jul 10, 2003

Specs say it keeps rice warm for 5 hours. True of higher priced models, not true of this one. Instruction book clearly states the it shuts off when cooking is complete.

Specs and instruction book say a cookbook comes with it. It does not.

124 of 141 found the following review helpful:

One significant drawback...  May 04, 2000
By Srikanth Meenakshi
...is the lack of an on/off switch. We bought this a few weeks back and the cooking is generally good and even. The heavy glass lid was a vast improvement over the thin metallic one of our panasonic cooker.

But the lack of on/off means you have to plug and unplug it from the socket whenever you want to turn the system on/off. That sucks.

32 of 33 found the following review helpful:

Not what it's cracked up to be  May 04, 2003

First off, it does not keep the rice warm, according to the owner's manual. Second, I defy anyone over 35 to read -- or find -- the measurement markers on the rice tin. I purchased it for my mother who lives alone. Very disappointing. You can find the same qualities in a 14.99 rice cooker/steamer.

See all 48 customer reviews on Amazon.com