HomeSmall AppliancesToaster Ovens / ToastersZojirushi NP-HBC10 5-1/2-Cup Rice Cooker and Warmer with Induction Heating System, Stainless Steel |
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254 of 259 found the following review helpful:
 Best in class rice cooker--long term use update Feb 20, 2007
By Mark S. R. Williams
We purchased this rice cooker last week, and have used it twice for brown rice. The rice came out better (and with less effort on our part) than any other cooking method we've ever used. It was, in short, the best brown rice we'd ever had anywhere.
We also tried out the warming function, in which the machine keeps rice warm for up to 12 hours on normal warm mode--there's also an extended warm mode for up to 48 hours. After about 8 hours on warming mode, the rice was virtually the same as when it had just been cooked.
The machine could not be easier to use. Build and material quality appear first rate. The rice pan is heavy duty--same for the non-stick coating. Very quiet in operation, very easy to clean. All sorts of little details that suggest many cycles of refinement in the design. Aesthetics are delightfully Japanese. The stainless steel side and top panels appear as an afterthought designed to fit Western tastes.
One thing I haven't seen anyone else mention about Zojirushi rice cookers. On the last page in the owner's manual there's a footnote which suggests vaguely that this rice cooker may not function well at high altitude. Since I live in Santa Fe at 7,000 feet, I called Zojirushi USA and asked about this. They told me that their rice machines do not function well above 3,000 feet, and that I should return the machine I purchased. Well, instead, we tried it at better than double its supposed elevation limit, and as mentioned above, it worked perfectly--so it's hard to imagine that it might work MORE perfectly below 3,000 feet. Suffice it to say that if you live in Denver, Albuquerque or Santa Fe, you can ignore Zojirushi's disclaimers about poor function at higher elevation.
All in all, this is a superb product that combines the otherwise mutually exclusive benefits of perfect rice with set and forget automation. The folks at Zojirushi USA (aside from their apparent ignorance about cooking rice at altitude) are informative and friendly. We tend to buy the best kitchen equipment we can find just to avoid the hassles of unreliability. Accordingly, we're difficult to please, and this machine meets our (very high) standards.
LONG TERM USE UPDATE (January, 2009):
This machine has continued to function flawlessly. Apparently Zojirushi induction rice cookers aren't well known in northern New Mexico, since whenever we have a dinner party and rice is on the menu, our guests are always intrigued by this thing, and regularly end up buying one of their own.
One clarification: the cooking bowl is stainless steel, as is the inside cooking bowl cover. Apparently these parts tend to be aluminum on the vast majority of computerized rice cookers, even those from Zojirushi. The bowl is coated in some sort of very heavy duty anti-stick coating--after a year or two of use, the coating still looks new--it hasn't started flaking off at all. I would guess that boiling water (which is basically what rice cookers do) isn't too hard on the coating, and we're probably not poisoning ourselves, the way we might be if we used non-stick pans (which we don't).
Reference my comments above about Zojirushi rice cookers working perfectly at high elevation (which was news even to Zojirushi), I've since heard that high elevation performance may be better with induction rice cookers than with computerized rice cookers with standard heating elements. Who knows. What is definite, however, is that as of this writing this machine has functioned perfectly at 7,000 feet for almost two years.
96 of 98 found the following review helpful:
Love the clock timer and cooking ability Apr 06, 2007
By D. Hunneyman
I was expecting this machine to cook rice very well based on previously owning a neuro fuzzy logic rice cooker made by zojirushi, which I've worn out after many years of use. I'm very happy with the new induction heating style of cooking. It cooks brown rice better.
Pro's
--Exceptional rice results, almost foolproof.
--Multiple menu settings account for most types of rice, including GABA brown (which is supposed to make brown rice even healthier)
--Easy to operate. Select menu setting, add cups of rice to bowl (rinse the rice), fill to applicable mark in bowl, and hit cook button.
--Battery backup. A lithium battery means the cooker will remember its last settings even if you unplug it. If you're a creature of habit, this feature makes it even easier to operate.
--Clock timer with 2 time settings you can set based on the clock's time. Like previously stated, the cooker remembers the timer settings until you change them. I leave my cooker set to have rice ready at 6:30a.m. (to pack for lunch at work) or 5:30p.m (dinner).
Con's
--Water level markings in pan are based on the 6.2 oz cup provided (~3/4 cup). Don't lose the cup!
--Expensive (my justification is it saves me $5 every time I pack rice for lunch instead of eating in the cafeteria)
--Takes longer to cook rice than the equivalent stove method (baking or stovetop)
--Timer is military time only (so when I said the timer was set to 5:30p.m., it's actually 17:30)
In summary, buy this machine if you want to use the timer function. If you're the type of person who only remembers things at the last minute or don't like to plan meals ahead, keep your money and get a pressure cooker or a good pot instead.
It fits my needs perfectly, so I give it 5 stars. I also recommend a Zojirushi lunch jar system if you want to use this to make rice for lunch at work. A lunch jar will keep the rice warm and moist, so you don't have to microwave it.
61 of 64 found the following review helpful:
 Great rice cooker its last about 1.1 years Nov 12, 2009
By Hong H. Liu
The rice cooker is best in class ie five stars.
The only negative thing about this rice cooker is that it last about 1 year before it fails. I have just recently had my second rice cooker fail and this time it lasted about 1.1 years similar to the first rice cooker. After contacting Zojirushi they gave me a repair place for the rice cooker. I have already purchased my 3rd zojirushi rice cooker and the repair for the second one will cost $136 dollars.
The nice thing is that you can get it repaired and the customer service was really nice on the phone.
Both failures caused the digital display to lock up.
30 of 30 found the following review helpful:
Excellent grain cooker Jun 15, 2008
By Lee Partin
The cooker has done excellently. All of the rice types have been great. I'm using it for other grains. After some experimenting, here are my methods so far:
Steel-cut oats for breakfast: add 1/2 cup oats to bowl; wash a few times until the water is mostly clear; add water to slightly above 1 brown rice mark; press timer button; select porridge setting. Great oats are ready in the morning. Adjust the water addition to your personal preference. I add spices, fruit and ground flax later so I need it wet enough. Some residue gets on the top plate and into the steam vent. I set the top plate in water while eating to make it easier to clean.
Quinoa + oats: add 1/2 cup of each into bowl; wash a few times to get mostly clear water; add water to 1 white rice mark; cook as regular white. We enjoy this grain mixture at meals. It saves well in the refrigerator. Saute some onions, etc and add the grain at the end to heat it.
Hulled Barley: cook as brown rice. I like it with slightly extra water. I cook 1 cup barley at slightly above the 1 brown rice water mark.
Amaranth: I've haven't tried it enough to make a recommendation as yet. The regular white rice setting overcooked it.
26 of 26 found the following review helpful:
 Really great - perhaps more than you need, though? Sep 30, 2008
By Kisa
Reliable, easy to clean, and nicely sized for 2 - 4 people. We've done everything from rice to buckwheat to millet to the best oatmeal I've ever had in my life. The induction cooker really does make a difference and we get wonderfully evenly cooked rice. And the timer function is a lifesaver, especially in the morning.
The only reason it gets 4 stars instead of 5 is because I wish there were cool-touch handles on the bowls, but the rice is easy to extract and this is a minor complaint. Also, one reason we got this instead of a cheaper Zoji was because of the GABA rice capability, but if you want to save the $$ there are directions on how to make GABA rice just by soaking the rice ahead of time.
Do buy it with the Ultimate Rice Cooker Cookbook if you're planning to do anything more than rice - in addition to recipes, the book is great for giving water-to-grain ratios for just about any grain or legume.
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