****** - Verified Buyer
4.5
Before you buy: search on Cuckoo CR-0351F manual and download the PDF. It has very clear pictures of all the parts and features (don't be put off by the somewhat idiosyncratic text, it's clear enough once you get used to it).Update: two years and a bit down the road and I like the Cuckoo better than ever. I use it almost daily and even added my favorite thick rolled oats or rye for breakfast to the repertoire, though the cooker's too busy to do non-rice breakfasts often. The non-stick finish is still non-stick -- unless I've used butter or broth the pot has never needed more than a quick rinse (mind you, I've been careful when I HAVE needed to wash it: unscented dish detergent and a soft cloth). I only hope the quality hasn't deteriorated over two years and that the new ones will perform as outstandingly as my Cuckoo has.I've had this cooker for more than two years now: it's the 4th I've had (not counting a $300 Zoji that made such horrible studge of every type of rice that I concluded it must be defective and returned it), and in many ways the best. I've cooked brown and white long, short, and medium grain rices in it, from organic brown or white Basmati to Japanese-types Nishiki and Kokuho Rose, Turkish short-grain (pudding) rice, Mochi glutinous rice, Thai sticky rice, wild rice, you name it -- plus two sizes of bulghur (Near-Eastern parboiled cracked wheat) and congee ("porridge" in rice cooker language) with never a failure. For some reason I can't figure out, rice from this cooker often has a trace of sweetness, and occasionally even a slight golden lining on the bottom, not the crust of stone-cooked rice but tasty nevertheless. Our rice consumption has increased by about half since I've had my Cuckoo. I usually make one rice-cup worth (enough, cooked, for the two of us with possibly some left over), but the half-cup batches I've made have been just as good, which is unusual. Larger batches are always perfect too.Granted, the menu and cooker designations were a bit mysterious, as are some parts of the manual, but once I figured out that any kind of rice that wasn't brown was "glutinous" I was home free. (Two things to note: I very seldom rinse rice, considering it unnecessary with modern super-cleaned rice, just dump measured rice in the bowl and add water, and as a rice lover I've had some decades of practice figuring out when I need a tablespoon more or less of water.) The regular (glutinous) cycle takes about 35 minutes, the mixed/brown cycle 5 to 10 minutes more. The turbo cycle usually takes 15 to 20 minutes (less than it takes me to poach a pan of chicken breast tenders & toss a salad, is a better way to put it-- ). The preset is easy to set and change (and seems somehow to adjust to the soaking times whether an hour or 10 hours), and the keep-warm part of the cycle keeps the rice nice and hot for many hours without drying it, so one of my favorite breakfast dishes is ready when I am: hot leftover brown rice with milk and a touch of maple sirup.The bowl is heavyweight compared to many, and the measure marks and lettering are stamped into the metal, not onto the surface to disappear in a few washings. Some people are bothered by the idea that something might stick in the indentations but it doesn't seem to be a problem -- the soft brush I use for dishes leaves them clean to my eyes with little effort. The nonstick coating is remarkably nonstick -- I don't even always wash the bowl, just wipe it out once it's dried. (It will be sterilized by the next batch of rice, right?) When I do wash it or accidentally get the outside wet, I enjoy the semi-matte outer surface which towel-dries without leaving beads of water to crackle disturbingly when the cooker heats up.There is a condensation-water cup in the lid which is supposed to be dried out every time the cooker is used. Once my fingers figured out how to put it back together it takes so little time I actually do it. There is seldom more than a tiny bead or two of water, if that in the cup. (The Zoji, by the way, had a cup that was full of water every time I used it -- and if there was one word in the manual about its existence, much less about dumping it, I never found it--)It seems the lids on all the newer-style cookers are a bit touchy. The latch on this one is perfectly adequate (so far) but won't close if there is -- for instance -- a dried-up grain of rice from when I fluffed the rice (the usual culprit) in the sunken place the lid fits down into, and there are some tricky hiding places for that grain of rice, too.Trivia:The manual is actually quite good (unlike that of the returned Zoji which contradicted itself on every other page), though the phrasing can be enigmatic and the grammar and spelling idiosyncratic. There are recipes in the back -- in Korean only-- I found translations online and they're only for the pressure models, so not to worry.There are directions for setting the steam cycle but no indications as to how to use it (what to steam, what to steam it in or on... etc.) and so far I haven't found any recipes for steaming in a non-pressure-cooking rice cooker on the web.It can be hard to see what the settings window says if the light is indirect or weak.The manual says the battery "should be replaced" when it dies -- after 3 years according to them-- but no instructions for doing so. (Possibly not so trivial...)The chime is brief and innocuous.The liner inside the top cover is easy to take out, clean, and replace, and it is thick enough so a finger won't dent it when removing (unlike the Zoji). The manual is particularly enigmatic here and I concluded that the dire warning just means don't put it back upside down.My first cooker lasted more than 20 years, the next a few less, the next a few less, the next (a now discontinued made-in-Japan Zoji) about 5... I wish this one would last forever but the timeline seems to be against it...
