The Humble Rice Cooker
By alaskanray
@alaskanray (4636)
United States
July 23, 2010 4:47am CST
Do you use your rice cooker for just rice? I don't. I like to use it to make my own picadillo for nachos and just this week found that it makes Swiss steak beautifully! I just threw in the steaks, add a can of tomatoes, some sliced celery and carrots and hit the cook button. Voila! Twenty minutes later I have a lovely tender steak with savory veggies.
I do have a crock pot but don't use it nearly as often as I do my rice cooker. I love that I can just throw something in there and forget about it. It's self-timing and maintains the perfect temperature for cooking meats as well as rice. Mine came with a bin for steaming veggies but I never use that. What do you use your rice cooker for, other than rice?
6 responses
@alaskanray (4636)
• United States
24 Jul 10
lol...well, believe it or not, my celery comes out very tender along with the carrots. The rice cooker is timed so that it brings liquid to a boil and then cooks on low temp for twenty minutes, just like when you cook rice on a stove. This is why I slice my veggies very thin...with my food processor. I don't really care too much for raw celery, either.
1 person likes this
@alaskanray (4636)
• United States
26 Jul 10
The food processor comes with a wheel that sits on top of the spindle. One side of the wheel grates (I use it to grate my cheese up) and the other side slices. Just have to make sure the puree blades are removed before using the wheel or you'll get puree regardless of the wheel. heeheeheeeee (furby laugh) 
1 person likes this
@Theresaaiza (10487)
• Australia
23 Jul 10
You are right! It actually has a lot of use than just cooking your rice.
I cook noodles in them and it's much easier with a rice cooker. Like you said, you can just dump it in and leave it!
Sometimes I boil eggs, steam hotdogs and leftovers.
1 person likes this
@Theresaaiza (10487)
• Australia
24 Jul 10
I was referring to instant noodles where a little heat could cook it. Even hot water from the dispenser could do the job but it felt more right cooking it somehow.
1 person likes this
@alaskanray (4636)
• United States
24 Jul 10
How does that work for noodles? I would think that noodles would be one thing that it wouldn't work for since they have to have a rolling boil. 
@santosmarichris (1849)
• Philippines
23 Jul 10
Wow, that's sounds delicious. I'll try that! Well, I used rice cooker in cooking meals as well. It is also good in boiling meats w/ veggies. It always cooks just right.
1 person likes this
@alaskanray (4636)
• United States
24 Jul 10
Yes, I slice my veggies very thin...using my food processor...and that way they turn out nice and tender and the juices blend to make them very savory. Yummy!!!
@jonnifc (1017)
• Philippines
23 Jul 10
I've never tried that! I never knew it would be effective in cooking meat. Mine comes with a steamer tray so I use it for steaming fish, vegetables and dumplings. Thanks for sharing your experience. I just might try that. We have several rice cookers because my sister received 3, I think, when she got married. lol!
1 person likes this
@alaskanray (4636)
• United States
24 Jul 10
LOL...well, at least you can use one for the rice while using the other for the entree, right? One can never have too many of these versatile appliances.
@shiquitatw (442)
• Jamaica
26 Jul 10
I have a Rice cooker and even though we eat rice a lot, I only tend to use it when I am busy and need to cook without looking over the stove. Rice steamers allow you to prepare light and fluffy rice every time with huge amounts of comfort and impressive results. Rice cookers are great for anybody who eats rice more than once or twice a month. Also it is great for those that don't know how to make rice and use the boil and bag brand. Once you have one, you won't imagine that it was doable to cook with out one. Having a rice steamer will cause you to search for a lot more rice dishes because you'll love the final results.
@alaskanray (4636)
• United States
26 Jul 10
I agree, I never want to have to go back to cooking without my rice cooker, even though I don't use it for rice as much as for other things. By the way...I fixed my Swiss steaks for dinner again tonight. My daughter heard me moaning in ecstasy and decided to try a bite. As soon as I gave her one, she insisted on more! She's so funny. You should have seen her dig in with gusto!
