Tiger JNP-1800-FL 10-Cup Rice Cooker & Food Warmer, Floral White - Perfect for Family Dinners, Meal Prep & Small Gatherings

I used to have a smaller Krups rice cooker but I couldn't understand why there was a disgusting layer of caked browned rice on the bottom, every time, no matter what I did or didn't do. Well DUH, a really top-notch rice cooker makes all the difference. Who knew?Disclaimer -- I didn't get the cooker from this seller but I did buy it from Amazon. This model is simple to use and has a really huge capacity. In case you're reading this and don't know what the 10-cup part means, it's 10 cups of DRY rice! Egads, when you figure about 2.5-3 times cooked vs. dry volume, that's a bit of rice. Mmmmm, rice!The rice cooker comes with a special measuring cup (don't use a standard kitchen measuring cup for rice cookers), a plastic rice paddle, and a very rudimentary instruction book. The top has a nice handle and it closes securely for cooking. There's also a nice little attachment to hold your rice paddle on the side of the cooker, and something they call a "dew collector," which we Americans would call a condensation collector. The cooking interior is non-stick, which is nice.I've used mine with only good quality short-grained "sushi" rice, specifically the "Koshihikari" rice that was grown in the USA. Other quality Japanese type sticky short-grained varieties are "Sasanishiki" and "Akita Komachi." If you do a web search for "rice cookers" you'll find a wealth of information on what types of rice there are available to use in the rice cookers -- short, medium, long grain, aromatic -- the best quality (including many sold here on Amazon), and how to prepare your rice for the cooker so it comes out perfect every time. There are articles online as well as videos you can watch that teach you what to do. By the way, don't ever try "converted" rice in a rice cooker. You won't like the results, and converted rice is not meant to be rinsed as described below.In the case of sushi, or sticky short-grained, rice the best results are obtained by rinsing and rubbing the rice in a separate large bowl, a process that is sometimes called "polishing." Measure your rice into the bowl using the supplied rice cup. The cycle is: you rinse, drain, swirl with your hand or rub between your fingers, three times, then finally rinse the rice until the water is clear. This is where the videos will show you how it's done. Sounds more complicated than it really is, and the small amount of time to do this will pay off in perfect rice.Many people swear by then putting the now wet but drained rice into the cooker and letting it just sit for half an hour, which is what I do. Now to the cooking process. Add water to the marks on the cooker based on how many cups of dry rice you have. Then flip the button to cook. When the button flips up from cook to warm, unplug the rice cooker and let it steam for 15 minutes longer, without heating. This fluffs it up, but don't worry, it will stay hot. If you want slightly moister and stickier rice, add a little more water before cooking. This is the procedure for sticky/sushi rice, which is all I make. After the 15 minutes of steaming is done, you can plug the cooker in again and it will return back to the warm setting, and will keep your rice perfect for hours. I can tell you that my 3 measuring cups of dry sushi rice cooked about 18 minutes before the switch flipped to warm. Unfortunately, the instruction booklet says nothing about cooking times.Some people might object to the sputtering from the steam vent on the lid, but when you're done with the process it's easy enough to wipe off the spots. The non-stick bowl makes it very easy to clean the little leftover grains of rice. What's not to like?This is a fantastic rice cooker if you don't want to spend the extra money for "fuzzy logic" cookers or you don't plan on cooking brown rice, which may or may not turn out well in this rice cooker -- I've not tried it. I believe this cooker is a winner, and based on consumer reviews here and elsewhere on the web, you'll be happy with your purchase for years.I bought this 8 years ago because my mom has similar Tiger brand that's older than me, I'm 42 yrs old and her is still working! Only one minor complain is the lid no longer snap in place so occasionally I'd bend the hook. No biggie. Don't waste your money on American brands despite them made in China, which is Asian, but they are all equally bad. At one point, I went through 40 of them. I have yet to find a single one that will keep rice warm beyond 12hrs. Rice is such a simple food medium yet no one outside of Asia can figure out how to keep rice warm without spoiling it. Unbelievable. This model works like charm, 5 cups cooked in 10mins and stays warm for 5 days! Even with my messed up lid that will pop loose once in a while, I still get 5 days. Yeah you heard me right, 5 days! You'll get a little brown top but that's expected. I no longer throwing away rice like I used to when using American junks. Stay away from all the bells, whistle, and complex features ...first of all you're wasting more money, secondly advanced electronic tends to break down prematurely and lastly they don't even work. This thing comes with ONE push button for cooking. Once cooked, it automatically goes to keep warm. Using the cup provided, you fill up with X count. Then you fill up with water to X marker. Not too much thinking is involved here. Sure it's not sexy but it'll last a lifetime and perhaps to the point where you can pass it down to your children and their grand children. I used this every day. I hand clean it once a year. Remember, I bought this 2014. The box that I received back then has a "Made in Japan" stamp. If your box said made in China I'd return it immediately - you just received a counterfeit. Don't open the box until you've verified "Made in Japan" label is present!I already owned 3 rice cookers before getting this, one of which is a 10 cup Panasonic that I purchased in 1980 for 130$. Two of the 3 are Japanese, like this one. One is electronic for brown rice, and one is a neat smaller Zoji 5.5 cup. All are in fine working condition, all are top line rice cookers, and so I have a decent base knowledge to compare the Tiger. The Tiger impresses me as a quality unit, and with only one cook session to go on it cooked great gohan rice. That's not going to be a problem, I know already. The pot, inner lid, and even the drip catch are ultra nice. The inner lid mechanism is spring loaded in a heavy duty fashion that I've not seen before. The latch on the outer lid seems strong, but the hinge is a bit weak. I compared it with my other cookers and they are a bit weak too, but not quite as weak as the Tiger. I would like all quality rice cookers, regardless of brand name to step it a few notches up in this regard. My old Panasonic has a metal vent opening, and I'd like to see that on all top of the line cookers, but none have that now it seems. Not a deal killer by any means. It would be a nice touch to see it shiny metal instead of plastic. I would like to advise anyone considering a nice cooker like this to observe a few precautions, to avoid damage and enhance longevity.----The first thing is to never pick up a rice cooker by the handle, even if empty. Always grab it from the bottom. The handle is only a grip to open the lid.----Another thing is how to close the lid. To extend the life of the lid lock, push the lid button down before you close the lid, then release it once the lid is seated. This Tiger has a metal catch on the lid which engages a plastic part to lock. You can reduce the wear of the lid lock by not forcing the metal catch through the plastic part. Holding the button will relieve the pressure as it engages.----Always treat the pan with care, dry before use, especially the outside bottom. This cooker could be a 35 year rice cooker for you so familiarize yourself well with it and go to Tiger website and read the general FAQ's for rice cookers:http://www.usa.tiger-corporation.com/support/faq/rice_coockers#77 (I did not misspell cooker in the url, that's how it is :)I also would advise that once you've checked it out and it's not faulty or damaged, then go ahead and buy a replacement pan now and put it up in storage. If taken care of very carefully the only wear item will be the pan. My Panasonic pan is worn but it's too late to get a replacement pan. I hate that because it's still a great cooker and a part of the family. I can see that this Tiger could wind up the same for someone too. For this Tiger I have already purchased a replacement pan, and that should tell you how I really feel about this cooker.Bottom line for me is, I wanted to get another one button, made in Japan rice cooker that hopefully will last a real long time before these babies become extinct. My children will inherit the Panasonic, that's for sure, and maybe this Tiger too! This cooker has a slight, a very very slight blue color to the area around the side of the cooker. It's almost white, and I wanted the classic white but this is ok. Kinda nice actually.The first cooker received was defective. As shown in photos, the base was pushed up into the cylinder on the right side of cooker. This wasn’t just an aesthetic issue it was unbalanced and didn’t close properly due to this. I returned for an exchange and received a new cooker with no issues. I’m happy with the service.I absolutely love this product. Very easy to use, and always the best results... everytime. No regrets with this rice cooker. Tiger brand rice cooker Baby!so far so good, let see its reliability.That's my second one in 15 years for a gift, and not because the 1st one doesn't work anymoreBest rice stem I bought