How to Use Zojirushi Rice Cooker: Step-By-Step Instruction

How to Use Zojirushi Rice Cooker

Rice cookers continue to advance and add new features to enhance your user experience. While it’s great to use a rice cooker with up-to-date technology, it might also be difficult, especially for a first-time user. The Zojirushi rice cooker is one of the most popular rice cookers with leading technology but is tricky due to its different cooking features.

If you’re having trouble using this, you should read our guide on how to use Zojirushi rice cooker. After that, you’ll know how to use the different features of the rice cooker, as well as the process for cooking perfect rice with the appliance. Let’s take a closer look.

What is Zojirushi Rice Cooker?

The Zojirushi rice cooker is a versatile cooking appliance made with inductive inference, making it flexible and easy to adapt to any cooking process. On the rice cooker, you will most likely find menu options that help you figure out how to cook rice, grains, and meals. Plus, you can look out for freebies when you buy the best Zojirushi rice cookers, like a steam tray or rice scoop.

Zojirushi is a Japanese company that makes rice cookers and other kitchen appliances like glass bottles, carafes, breadmakers, beverage dispensers, and small electric cookware. The company is reputable and reliable, too, evident in the quality of the rice cooker.

The Zojirushi rice cooker is designed with a thick spherical inner pan that ensures nonstick coating while you cook rice. It comes with a wide range of settings and the ability of the rice cooker to think for itself based on the settings you might have placed previously. This saves time in cooking rice, as you can always use the preset settings.

This is the Micom feature and can even go as far as setting up cooking environments, depending on what you are cooking. When you put a setting, the rice cooker will decide how long it should cook and the right temperature to use.

How It Works

How a Zojirushi rice cooker works depends on the model that you use. The internal part of the rice cooker can be made with stainless steel or aluminum. And to ensure thermal conductivity, the cooker is made with materials like ceramic, carbon, diamond powder, or copper.

Aside from the smart technology, it comes with different settings for cooking more than rice. The cooker is designed with an LCD screen for easy use, and its stylish design makes it a great addition to any kitchen. When you put water and rice into the cooking bowl, you will cover it and press the right settings.

The temperature usually goes up to 100 degrees Celsius when the water is boiling, and once the temperature is above this and the water has been absorbed by the rice, you can be sure that the rice is ready. The rice cooker will shut off when it is done cooking and keeps the rice warm.

Zojirushi Rice Cooker Common Functions

The Zojirushi rice cooker functions make it easy for you to use the cooker and take care of your food while busy. There are several features to look out for when you get a Zojirushi rice cooker.

How to Use Zojirushi Rice Cooker 1

Zojirushi Rice Cooker has several modes to help you cook rice perfectly every time. It is an excellent choice for those who are busy or new to cooking rice and want to rely on a machine to do the job.

Steamer feature

As the name implies, this feature is meant to steam food. The Zojirushi rice cooker does not only make rice but can steam other kinds of food. You can place vegetables, fish, and other kinds of food into the cooker and put it to steam to retain its nutrition content.

To turn on the steamer, you will press Menu on the LCD controls and look for the steamer option. You can set how long it will take for the food to steam and click on the Start button. You will be notified when it is ready.

Delay timer

A pretty cool feature of the Zojirushi rice cooker is the delay timer, which allows you to set a time for your rice to be cooked in the future. You can add rice to the appliance and delay it for a bit, depending on when you’re ready for the rice. You might do this when stepping out or cooking. Based on user reviews, the Zojurishi NS-TSC18 is the ideal choice with two timer settings.

Now, how to use a timer on Zojirushi rice cooker? If you want to use this feature, open the delay timer in the Menu on the LCD screen. You can set the time that you want your rice to be ready and how long you want the rice to boil. Then, click on Start.

Keep warm feature

Sometimes, you’re not eating your rice immediately after cooking it, or you eat a little and leave the rest for the next meal time. This is where the keep warm feature on the Zojirushi rice cooker will come in handy. It will keep your rice warm for up to 12 hours, allowing you to eat it at any time without having to microwave it. It also stops rice from going bad.

If you want to use the keep warm feature on the rice cooker, open the Menu on the LCD controls to look for this option. Then, set how long you want it to be warm with the plus and minus buttons, and then click on Start.

Quick cook feature

You’ll be surprised by the quick cook feature on the Zojirushi rice cooker. As the name implies, it’s the perfect setting for cooking rice quickly. If you’re in a hurry and want to have breakfast quickly or back it with you, you can set the rice to cook faster than the regular cycle and spend that time getting ready.

The quick cook feature is available on the Menu, too, so you can find it when you open the LCD controls. Select it and click on Start, and watch your rice cook really quickly.

Reheat feature

How to Use Zojirushi Rice Cooker 2

If you want to warm up rice you don’t have to take it out and put it in the microwave because the Zojirushi rice cooker has a function to reheat the rice.

If you leave your rice in the Zojirushi rice cooker without keeping it warm, or if the rice has been refrigerated and frozen, you can reheat the rice. The highlight is that it can reheat the rice without making it overcooked.

Like other features, find reheat in the Menu after going through the LCD menu. You can use the plus and minus buttons to set how long the food should reheat before starting.

How to Use a Zojirushi Rice Cooker: Instructions

Now that we’ve covered the settings and features you can take advantage of, let’s answer the question of how to use the Zojirushi rice cooker. It’s pretty easy to use this cooker as it is one of the best Japanese rice cookers you can get.

Measure rice accurately

The first thing you should do is measure rice. Measuring rice is usually difficult for people who are new to making rice because you never know how much you should cook.

Keep in mind that rice will swell up while cooking, so don’t fill up the cooker.

The Zojirushi rice cooker usually comes with a measuring cup for more accurate measurements. If yours doesn’t, you can purchase a rice measuring cup separately. Fill up the measuring cup with rice and then level off the cup. Pour the rice into a container. How many cups you measure is dependent on how many people will eat.

Wash rice in a bowl

You can’t boil rice without washing it because there might be dirt, impurities, sand, and more, in it. So in this step, you pour the measured rice into a clean bowl. Fill the bowl with water above the rice level. You simply need to move the rice around with your water so that any particles and dirt will float to the top. Do this up to three times, and the water will soon be as clear as possible. Now that your rice is clean, you can move to the next step.

Place rice in the inner pot and add water

If you’re not sure how much water to add, you can measure it by placing a ratio of 240 ml of water for every 180 grams of rice or one cup for one cup each.

Keep in mind that the amount of water that you use to cook depends on the type of rice.

You can’t use the same amount of water used in jasmine rice for basmati rice. After adding water, you can put the rice in.

Make sure the rice is spread evenly

When you put rice into a Zojirushi rice cooker, you shouldn’t just dump it in and forget about it.

Stir the rice around and ensure that it is spread evenly. This makes sure that all the grains are well coated by the water. Without doing this, some parts of the rice might be half-done after cooking.

After spreading the rice out evenly, you can take the pot and put it in the rice cooker. When doing this, ensure the cord is not hanging over the counter.

Turn on the rice cooker

You might be expecting a simple on and off switch to turn the rice cooker and start making your food. Although Zojirushi rice cookers are easy to use, you still have to check the LCD controls to make sure that it is in the right setting – you don’t want to be steaming instead of cooking.

You can use the quick cook feature or even the delay timer after this process. This way, you can eat this rice at any time if you’re making mixed rice with the Zojirushi cooker to make jambalaya or bibimbap and other similar dishes. The setting for this and others is in the LCD display.

When cooking is completed

Once the rice is ready, the rice cooker will turn the indicator light on, and the machine will beep to let you know. It will shut down automatically, too, so you don’t have to worry about wasting electricity. After cooking, you should leave the rice for 10 minutes to make it fluffy and absorb all the water.

You can turn on the keep warm feature after cooking if you do not have the food immediately. Also, if you leave the rice there for a while, you can use the reheat feature when next you come. If you’re looking for a wide range of settings, including even porridge, customers have praised the Zojirushi Neuro Fuzzy Rice Cooker.

Cooking Brown Rice in a Zojirushi Rice Cooker

Although you know how to use the rice cooker Zojirushi, cooking brown rice is a bit different. It is one of the best rice cookers for brown rice, keeping it chewy and well-cooked.

Keep in mind that for every cup of brown rice you want to make, you need two cups of water. Another thing to keep in mind is how long it takes to make the rice. Brown rice cooks slower than normal white rice, up 45 minutes.

Some models also come with the brown rice setting that offers you the ideal chewy and soft texture, so you can look out for Zojirushi rice cookers with this.

FAQ

How to cook rice in a rice cooker without sticking?

If you don’t want to make the mistake of cooking sticky rice with your Zojirushi rice cooker, you should regulate the temperature. First, reduce the temperature to the lowest, and use a nonstick pot in the cooker. Those without a nonstick pan can apply butter or pan spray.

How to clean the Zojirushi rice cooker?

You can clean the exterior part with a damp cloth. Before cleaning, you should unplug the rice cooker and wait for it to cool down. If you’re cleaning the inner part, you can simply remove the inner pot, wash it with soap, and rinse it to dry. You can also wipe the inside of the cooker.

How to measure the water amount for cooking rice?

Typically, the water-to-rice ratio is one-to-one, so you can use the same measuring cup to measure the rice. Keep in mind that the amount of water depends on the rice, as jasmine rice is 1 to 1.5 for rice and water, while brown rice is 1 to 2.

Can I use a rice cooker for other foods?

Yes, you can cook other foods on the Zojirushi cooker since it has different options. When using the steaming option, you can cook fish and vegetables. It can also be used to cook mixed rice and oatmeal.

Final Thoughts

Now that you know how to use the Zojirushi rice cooker, you can easily make a delicious meal for yourself, friends, and family. The easy cooker is a delight to use, with a wide range of features and an easy process for making any kind of food. Use the LCD for an enhanced user experience, and cook different types of rice using diverse settings.

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