On the page where I discussed the equipment needed for Thai cooking, I talked about why buying a simple, one-button rice cooker is almost always a better option than shelling out lots of dollar bills for over-complicated machines that do the same thing.
But when I search for “rice cooker” on Amazon, one product always pops up: the Zojirushi NS-TSC10 Micom. This looks like a complicated machine, and curiosity about it got the better of me. I wanted to figure out why it’s so popular and if it’s worth the money. The result of my experiment is this review.
(Note: this article contains affiliate links).
Amazon’s Choice: Zojirushi Rice Cooker Review
Initial impression
Cooking rice is obviously an important part of Thai cooking. It’s probably the most important part, in fact. As the staple of the cuisine, badly cooked rice leads to dishes that don’t taste right. You can’t eat a delicious bowl of pad krapow without fluffy jasmine rice to accompany and complement it.
Aesthetically, it’s a very well-crafted piece of equipment. Its oblong design is sleek and sophisticated, with curves and sharp lines in all the right places. Now, looks are hardly the most important thing, but it’s always nice to put things in your kitchen that look good.
After switching on my Zojirushi and navigating my way through the options to cook my jasmine rice, I have to say…I was blown away and shocked by the quality!
I can understand the hype. This rice cooker makes rice of a restaurant-quality standard.
It is a cut above any other home rice cooker I’ve tried. It’s the type of machine you need in your life if you want to impress people, whether at a dinner party or a family gathering. It is a rice cooker for people who want the best rice.
You can get this model in either a 5.5-cup or 10-cup version. The size you need depends on how many people you cook for on a regular basis. 5.5 cups should suffice for most small to medium-sized families though.
Multiple settings
One of the things I feared about premium rice cookers with many settings is that it would over-complicate what should be a straightforward process.
I was pleasantly surprised that it’s easy just to cook rice with this machine if that’s what you want.
But arguably what’s even better is that the multiple settings actually make it a better rice cooker. You have options for:
- Standard rice cooking
- Quick rice cooking
- Brown rice
- Porridge
- Sponges
Any appliance that enables you to make both brown rice and sponges in it is a winner for me.
Brown rice is particularly tricky to get right in a bog-standard rice cooker. The cheaper one-switch, one-setting machines tend not to produce good quality brown rice.
I actually don’t eat much brown rice but if you are the type of person that prefers it for its health benefits, then you really do need a more expensive appliance. The cheaper products simply cannot make good brown rice. It just can’t be done, trust me.
Micro computerized fuzzy logic technology
I’m no tech geek, but I am interested in technology. One thing that struck me when I first looked into buying this machine was the funny description that read, “micro computerized fuzzy logic technology.“
To me, that initially looked like a bunch of words spewed out by a random word generator. Or perhaps a novice copywriter given too much freedom. I wanted to figure out what it meant in terms of cooking rice.
It turns out that this seemingly random arrangement of words is the driving force behind why my Zojirushi rice cooker review is so glowing. This micro computerized fuzzy logic technology is what will make you and your guests go “wow, this rice is amazing!”
You see, this fancy and confusing collection of words is actually the mechanism by which Zojirushi’s rice cooker precisely controls moisture and temperature so that the end product is as close to perfection as possible. The rice cooker is able to ‘think’ for itself, making fine-tuned adjustments during the cooking process. The product thinks for itself because it essentially works as a computer.
It’s this smart technology that elevates your rice from merely edible to restaurant-standard. (Fun fact: The word Micom in the product’s name relates to this technology; it’s short for micro computer!)
The small touches
When it comes to any premium product, it’s often the small touches that make a big difference in terms of why it’s worth the extra money.
For the Zojirushi rice cooker, a delightful small touch for me is the detachable power cord. It’s often a pain to store cheaper rice cookers because the power cord gets in the way and you need to wrap it around the cooker and it gets all tangled.
With this smart design, the power cord easily detaches, meaning you can wind it up and store it separately without getting it tangled. Very handy!
Another nice extra touch was that the manual that comes with this rice cooker has lots of recipes in it, using all the different cooking modes on the machines. A free cookbook is always good, especially when it teaches me how to make rice porridge inside a rice cooker!
The ability to steam things is also a huge positive. There’s an included steam basket that allows you to simultaneously steam vegetables and cook rice. If you care about getting your five a day, Zojirushi make it so much easier for you.
Another positive worth talking about is how easy the inner pot is to remove and clean. Because it is non-stick, it typically requires very little cleaning. The residue left in the pot after cooking is typically very minimal compared to cheaper cookers.
Any downsides?
There are downsides to every product in the world, no matter how premium it is. Any review that only focuses on the positives is being disingenuous.
One of the biggest drawbacks of the Zojirushi Micom is the fact that on a standard cooking setting, it takes 60 minutes to cook white rice. This lengthy cooking time is a result of our favorite micro computerized fuzzy logic technology. In layman’s terms, the precision of the cooking process leads to longer cooking times.
Thankfully, there is a quick cook option for when you need quickfire rice for a midweek meal. But obviously, the compromise is a reduction in quality.
One other drawback I feel the need to mention is that the cooker itself is quite bulky. My measurements show a front to back reading on the tape of 14 inches, which is not ideal for compact kitchens.
The Zojirushi despite its visually pleasing design does take up quite a bit of space. You might want to get something more compact if space is really limited in your home. Just a heads up!
Overall Impression
My overall Zojirushi rice cooker review is that I feel humbled and surprised at how good it is. I always advocated getting a cheaper less complicated product, but the quality of the rice this Japanese-made machine cooks has made me re-think that opinion.
I highly recommend getting a Zojirushi if you want to impress people with the best quality rice. You’ll get longevity, sleek design, easy cleaning, and many different settings.