Stainless Steel Rice Cooker Reviews

Which Stainless Steel Rice Cookers are Worth it?

For folks who prefer a non Teflon rice cooker and are concerned with the possible unhealthy side effects, these two cookers below are worth considering.

Miracle Stainless Steel Rice Cooker

This is one of the most popular stainless steel cookers since the unit offers a true stainless steel inner bowl along with a stainless steel steaming basket.

The unit offers simultaneous food steaming, has an 8 cup bowl capacity that can prepare up to 24 cups of cooked white rice, and is easy to use with its one lever set and forget design.

Rice cooks at a nice pace and an entire batch is usually done in around 20 to 25 minutes. Once complete, the cooker switches into a keep warm mode until folks are ready to serve.

There are a few little cons and complaints that have been reported with this cooker, but overall many seem pleased to own it. Full Miracle Stainless Steel Cooker Review

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Sunpentown Stainless Steel Cooker

Another great stainless steel rice cooker to consider is this small Sunpentown cooker.

Like the Miracle cooker, this unit also sports a true stainless steel cooking pot, but does not offer simultaneous food steaming, although folks can still use the unit to steam cook along with preparing soups, stews, and even oatmeal.

From what we understand, this Sunpentown cooker uses steam to cook and folks need to first fill the permanent inner pot with water before placing the cooking pot inside the unit. We will confirm this as more information is gathered from our visitors.

This stainless steel rice cooker has a 3 cup capacity that can make up to 9 cups of cooked white rice. Many owners report that the quality of the rice is good, but there tends to be sticking that occurs as with the above Miracle model.

It cooks rice fast and has a keep warm mode that will hold the rice at a ready-to-serve temperature. Full Sunpentown Stainless Steel Rice Cooker Review

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About Stainless Steel Cookers

As a great alternative to non-stick rice cookers, a stainless steel rice cooker is a great healthy way to prepare good quality rice dishes without the concerns of Teflon or other non-stick materials.

The only cons we have found is that stainless steel cookers are not by nature non-stick, and rice does have a tendency to stick to the bottom of the pot. This results in some wasted rice.

However, this is not as bad as the older aluminum pots and if folks allow the rice to steam for several minutes (which also improves rice texture), some owners state the rice scrapes off with more ease.

For cleaning up, soaking the pot in warm water for 5 minutes helps remove any excess stuck rice more efficiently.

Both the Miracle and Sunpentown models are the only true stainless steel steamer cookers that come with a stainless steel bowl. Others like the Cuisinart models have a stainless steel outer shell, but the bowl is made of non-stick material (Cuisinart does not specifically state this is Teflon).

Hopefully in the future, more elite Fuzzy Logic computerized rice cooker brands like Zojirushi, Sanyo, Panasonic and Tiger will offer folks stainless steel replacement bowls or perhaps ship all new units out with stainless steel inner pots and do away with the non-stick material.

However, during our research Teflon material only proves as a possible health hazard if over-heated (exceeding 500 degrees Fahrenheit) or when scratched or flaked into food.

Since rice cookers do not exceed 230 degrees when cooking or when in "keep warm" modes, the non-stick materials do not come close to those dangerous levels. So, for the most part, so long as they are not scratched and cared for, Teflon rice cookers should not be dangerous.