Best Rice Cooker - Fuzzy Logic or Basic Cookers?

Provides reviews of the best rice cooker types along with discussing the advantages a fuzzy logic rice cooker has over basic "rapid boil style" single switch rice cookers. Please use this insight to help aid in your selection.

Fuzzy Logic Rice Cookers

We will mention now that for obtaining the best textured and highest quality rice, the best rice cooker to go with is one that comes equipped with fuzzy logic technology (also known as micom rice cookers).

What fuzzy logic technology does is monitor how the rice is cooking and makes fine changes to cooking time and temperature along the way resulting in above average quality rice.

Some of the more expensive micom cookers also use induction heating and variable pressure control cooking along with fuzzy logic to produce the highest in rice quality...especially when cooking the challenging brown rice variety. Most units will also pre-soak the rice before starting the cooking process as well.

Fuzzy logic rice cookers also allow the user to select from a pre-programmed range of rice settings with the more common being white rice, brown rice, mixed rice, and sushi. Some cookers also offer steaming, slow cooking, porridge, and cake baking features in addition.

They may be expensive, usually ranging from $100 to $350+ depending on bells & whistles, but remain some of the best rice cooker types currently on the market for the best in guess-work-free rice cooking.

Good brands to consider are: Zojirushi, Sanyo, and Panasonic.

Basic Rice Cookers

For folks who do not require advanced fuzzy logic and only need a rice cooker to prepare a regular cup of white rice on occasion, there are a nice range of basic cookers to consider as well...most between $25 to $100 dollars.

As stated, basic rice cookers remain just basic and will not use monitoring technology. Instead these rice cookers will simply boil the rice until a sensor automatically switches the unit into a keep warm mode.

The quality of white rice is average and close to the way one will prepare it in a pot on the stove; but for brown rice there is more of a learning curve with decent results at best.

True they are not the best rice cookers out there, but they remain budget friendly and also offer some additional features such as simultaneous food steaming.

We have found that several folks do complain about rice crusting issues on the bottom when using most basic cookers, but this varies and is quite common. It does not ruin the entire batch of rice either and for the most part remains mild (see "help & tips" tab).

Some good affordable basic rice cookers to consider are those made from:

For more top of the line basic cookers, research: Tiger & Zojirushi cookers.