****** - Verified Buyer
4.5
I'm Asian American, and my family has been using Panasonic rice cookers since as far back as I can remember. The SR3-NAL is the perfect size for me, living alone. I actually own two of them, one for home, and one for the office.As with all rice cookers, its capacity is stated based on the Japanese gō, a 180 mL equivalent measuring cup that is the standard serving size. So, this "1.5 cup" rice cooker is designed to make up to 270 mL of uncooked rice in a single batch, but I find that for middle-aged me, 120 mL is a more reasonable serving size, so I can get two full servings if I make 240 mL rice. I normally use Japanese "Japonica" medium grain rice, because I got tired of stocking so many different kinds of rice in my house (long grain, medium grain, Jasmine, Basmati, etc, etc).I have heard this model is very popular with Japanese flight crews, since it can fit easily in a suitcase and be used to make fresh rice when overnighting overseas in places where Japanese food might not be easily available.Perhaps someday, I will invest in a fuzzy logic rice cooker, but the simplicity and much lower cost of the basic type of rice cooker is very appealing, and has been used successfully by Asian families since it was invented in the mid-1950s.I actually own two of these, the newer one is now over 7 years old and still working fine. I keep one at home and one at the office, so I can make fresh rice for lunch. If you have the time, your rice will cook best if you allow it to soak for 30 minutes before draining and rinsing until the water is more or less clear, before adding your cooking water and cooking. With japonica medium grain rice, this is really easy, as the ratio is 1:1 rice to water. Measure your rice, soak it, rinse it, drain all water, then add as much water as your original rice measurement, and cook.If you are careful, you do all this right in the pot. You can drain all the water (or enough not to make a difference) from the pot without needing a colander or strainer, and without accidentally dumping the soaked rice out. Just go slowly.
