# Rice Cooker Size



## ghodur (Jun 23, 2013)

i'm so confused! i know I want a medium rice cooker, which is supposed to be a 6 cup machine. However, there seems to be a conflict on what exactly a six cup machine is. do they mean 6 cups of raw rice or 6 cups of cooked rice? I think I want the Zojirushi Micom 3 cup machine  Which I'm assuming makes 6 cups of cooked rice. I have no stores I can go to to actually see this model. Does anyone have this, and does it make 6 cups? i'd like to make the recipes in The Ultimate Rice Cooker Cookbook, most of which call for a 6 cup machine.


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## michaelga (Jan 30, 2012)

Don't freak out... a cup in the USA is different from a cup in Japan.

What do you want?

How many 'servings'?

Also that cook-book is hella out-dated...don't bother with it.

If you are cooking for 4 servings....

NP-HBC10 

If  you are cooking for 8 servings...

NP-HBC18

The rest are in the comercial range.

Each of these will leave you with some leftover rice... you can leave it on warm or use it in another fashion.


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## ghodur (Jun 23, 2013)

I know about the US/Japan difference. My question is about how much rice that particular rice cooker makes. If it has a capacity of 6 cups that's what I want. I'm going to be cooking whole grains, as well. I'll have to buy online, since no stores here carry it.


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## michaelga (Jan 30, 2012)

Zojirushi products are all measured in 'cups' that are 180ml and they always refer to uncooked rice.

(every type of rice cooks differently so a cooked volume would be meaningless - most close to double but some will vary a lot)

I would strongly suggest you get an IH model - induction heating - they are much better than just the Micom ones when it comes to holding cooked rice.

===

I just dug out my copy of The Ultimate Rice Cooker Cookbook they refer to

small as 4 USA standard cups (uncooked) 960ml

medium as 6 USA standard cups (uncooked) 1440ml

large as 8 USA standard cups (uncooked) 1920ml

All the receipes are written using standard USA cups 240ml (unless otherwise noted) because i'm in canada the book was maddening because we use 250ml... The book should just write all the recipes using 'a rice cooker cup' ie. 180ml until they come out with a new version I won't recommend it to anyone.

To compound things Zojirushi doesn't follow this books size recommendations.

They use:

Small is 3 rice cooker cups 540ml

Medium is 5.5 rice cooker cups 990ml

Large is 10 rice cooker cups 1800ml

http://www.zojirushi.com/ourproducts/how_and_chart/comparison_pdf/Zojirushi Rice Cooker Chart.pdf

If you absolutely want to use the book you need to buy the Large NP-HBC18 (ie. 1800ml) it works fine with smaller amounts.

You won't be able to use the Zojirushi 3 cup rice cooker at all - it is really tiny. The zojirushi Medium 5.5cups will do most receipes but will fall short on capacity for a few.

Remember you need much more capacity than just what the rice uses as the Mixed ingredients will foam and boil over making a mess and possibly destroying your machine if you don't give them enough room.

Just to be super clear - the book calls for an uncooked rice 6 USA cup machine (1440ml) - which doesn't exist if you want fuzzy logic.


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## ghodur (Jun 23, 2013)

I think you've answered my question. I believe I need the 5.5 cup size. It looks like it's impossible to find a 6 in the computerized ones.


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## petemccracken (Sep 18, 2008)

Google shows: https://www.google.com/search?q=6+c...s=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a a whole bunch of 6 cup rice cookers


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## michaelga (Jan 30, 2012)

PeteMcCracken said:


> Google shows: https://www.google.com/search?q=6+c...s=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a a whole bunch of 6 cup rice cookers


Did a quick look - they don't appear to have any that use fuzzy logic / Micom computers.


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## ghodur (Jun 23, 2013)

OK, for better or for worse I bought one. A 5.5 cup Zijirushi. Can't wait til  it gets here on Thurs. I noticed that many of the recipes in the Rice Cooker Cookbook use only 1 cup of grain, so I should be fine on modt of them. It will be fun to experiment!


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## michaelga (Jan 30, 2012)

Glad to hear!

It is great fun experimenting and just plain handy to have rice on hand at all times.


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## kokopuffs (Aug 4, 2000)

Do these rice cookers make 'dry' rice, like what's served with Indian and Iranian cuisine - as I've never used one?


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## ghodur (Jun 23, 2013)

I guess I've never had 'dry' rice, I don't know what that is. I never noticed any difference in the rice when we went out for Indian food.


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## michaelga (Jan 30, 2012)

kokopuffs said:


> Do these rice cookers make 'dry' rice, like what's served with Indian and Iranian cuisine - as I've never used one?


Yes they do and they do it very well, although you won't get 'Tahdig' or 'Guoba' - the highly browned crispy bit on the bottom of the pot.

They all have settings for adjusting the cooking method of white rice - harder - softer etc.

The computer technology that controls the cooking is so advanced now that unless you are an absolute master rice cook, you won't do any better.


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## kokopuffs (Aug 4, 2000)

Ghodur said:


> I guess I've never had 'dry' rice, I don't know what that is. I never noticed any difference in the rice when we went out for Indian food.


To me, rice served in asian (chinese, japanese) restaurants is sticky, as opposed to my interpretation of dry.


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## petemccracken (Sep 18, 2008)

Ah, Kokopuffs, now I understand, you are talking the difference between long grained (Mahatma, Jasmine, etc.) rice and medium to short grained (Cal Rose, Sushi, Glutinous) rice.

It is the variety more than the cooker that makes it "sticky", check out http://busycooks.about.com/od/howtocook/a/ricescience.htm


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## michaelga (Jan 30, 2012)

One of the main reasons to buy a rice cooker that uses fuzzy logic (micom) etc. is because they do exceptionally well with any type of rice as they rely on calculations determined by temperature and how fast the temperature changes.- not based on time.

Makes for great rice of any style / variety.

Even really good to get a custom combination - basmati and jasmine are particularly good.


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## raibeaux (Dec 21, 2012)

I once bought a Panasonic rice cooker, probably 15 years ago.  An employee dropped it the second day.  Destroyed it.  Never bought another one.  Now I'm wondering just how good they are nowadays for use in a restaurant kitchen.  Do they make rice as good as you can by normal methods?  Just seems to me that the product would be sticky or dry or wet or something.

Do they really work well?

Thanks much for any information.


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## ghodur (Jun 23, 2013)

Oh I've loved both of mine and I've used one for years. The new fuzzy logic ones are especially good, but I also got great results with a simple on/off one. It does make a difference if you fluff the rice at the beginning of the keep-warm cycle and then close the lid and let it steam for 10-15 minutes. The only times I've had soggy rice were when I decided to dish it up without letting it steam.


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## michaelga (Jan 30, 2012)

Raibeaux said:


> I once bought a Panasonic rice cooker, probably 15 years ago. An employee dropped it the second day. Destroyed it. Never bought another one. Now I'm wondering just how good they are nowadays for use in a restaurant kitchen. Do they make rice as good as you can by normal methods? Just seems to me that the product would be sticky or dry or wet or something.
> 
> Do they really work well?
> 
> Thanks much for any information.


They work incredibly well.

Unless you are a complete 'master' at cooking rice - then it will likely cook rice way better. Where it excels is cooking a batch of rice that you've never cooked before... no more messing around figuring out the perfect timing and water ratios - only to end up running out of that batch.

The product comes out perfect every time - there are programs for every type of rice and the logic (programming) is very well honed.

Just to be clear I'm talking about the ones that use 'fuzy-logic' or 'micom' processors.

Induction heating is very nice to have as it can really hold a precise 140F that won't harm the quality of the rice over a long period of time. The induction models are also way more accurate as they don't have to deal with coasting or thermal mass as much and the temp isn't simply on/off it can be varied by the computer.

If you can spend the extra get one that uses pressure also.

As you can probably tell I'm a big fan.


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## raibeaux (Dec 21, 2012)

Hi.  Any suggestions as to brand or model?  Anything new on the market you've heard about?  I'm gonna check into this.  Thanks for the input.


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## raibeaux (Dec 21, 2012)

The one I'm looking at on Amazon is this: 
How many actual US cups can be correctly cooked in this? Is this the one you're talking about? I can't find a fuzzy-logic, induction cooker in a larger size than this. Do you know of one?

Thanks again for the information.


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## michaelga (Jan 30, 2012)

The NP-NVC18, will cook 1,800ml of uncooked rice.  (that is 10 japanese cups or 7.5 USA cups)

180ml = japanse cup

240ml = USA cup

I'm sure they make larger but you'd have to check with a commercial seller - doubt they are listed at retail as not many people would cook even  7.5 cups of rice at a time!


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## petemccracken (Sep 18, 2008)

This one, http://www.webstaurantstore.com/ham...lectric-rice-cooker-warmer-120v/41037560.html, is listed as a 60 cup rice cooker, not sure what size cup.

If it is the Japanese Rice Cup, 180mL, that's equivalent to 45 U.S. Standard (240mL) cups or 43.2 U.S. Legal (250mL) cups.

The same web site also lists a 90 cup one.


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