The Ultimate Rice Cooker Cookbook : 250 No-Fail Recipes for Pilafs, Risottos, Polenta, Chilis, Soups, Porridges, Puddings and More, from Start to Finish in Your Rice Cooker

5 Comments

1. Scott Collard says:

   May 26, 2010 at 5:21 am

   Review by Scott Collard for The Ultimate Rice Cooker Cookbook : 250 No-Fail Recipes for Pilafs, Risottos, Polenta, Chilis, Soups, Porridges, Puddings and More, from Start to Finish in Your Rice Cooker
   Rating:
   I have owned rice cookers for many years. My latest, the Zojirushi NS-ZAC10, is the best I have ever used. I figured it would be a good idea to branch out from using the rice cooker to cook only rice, so I purchased this highly recommended book.

   While the book is very good, and the recipes I have tried so far have all been quite tasty, there is a major consideration that you should be aware of when making many of the recipes in this book: residual odors.

   Yes, when you use your rice cooker to make the delicious “creamy breakfast oatmeal” with steel-cut oats, bear in mind that your steamed white rice will smell of cinnamon for at least three or four batches afterwards. My 11-year old (a steamed rice ‘purist’) noticed the cinnamon ‘essence’ immediately and complained that ‘something was wrong with the rice.’

   Similarly with any of the dishes which call for sauteing onions in the rice cooker, or adding other strongly aromatic ingredients. If you use your rice cooker primarily for preparing perfect (and I mean PERFECT) steamed rice, you may not want any other flavors mingling in there.

   Just something to keep in mind.

   Otherwise, the book is a great resource. There are a few minor inconsistencies (try finding ‘congee’ in the index), and the resource materials can be a bit confusing (to be fair, the number of rice varieties is quite daunting). And if you are an experienced cook you may get tired of being told the exact procedure for washing rice in every recipe, but all in all, the sheer variety alone is easily worth the price. Also, it is worth noting that if you have a fuzzy logic rice cooker, you will not be able to use it for any of the recipes that employ steaming (which is a fair number of dishes), but you can easily adapt these recipes to any another stovetop steaming setup you may have.

   Just remember to plan your rice cooker experiments around your need for ‘un-tainted’ steamed rice, and you will enjoy “The Ultimate Rice Cooker Cookbook”
2. K. Corn says:

   May 26, 2010 at 6:17 am

   Review by K. Corn for The Ultimate Rice Cooker Cookbook : 250 No-Fail Recipes for Pilafs, Risottos, Polenta, Chilis, Soups, Porridges, Puddings and More, from Start to Finish in Your Rice Cooker
   Rating:
   I bought a rice cooker, learned the basics of preparing rice and then wanted to expand my skills. So I bought a few cookbooks but this is the ONLY one that has recipes my whole family loves, so much so that we use it at least 3-5 times a week and never feel like we’re eating the same thing.
   The recipes aren’t just for rice but for all sorts of grains and vegetables and fruits as well. In fact, I’m ready to throw out my crockpot because the meals prepared in the rice cooker are much better, don’t have that overcooked, stewed taste you can get with a crockpot and have all the convenience and ease that I need with my busy schedule. The directions are clear and the recipes range from the simple (plain cooked grains) to the more complex (rice with coconut and currants… or grits with cheese and spices )
   The ultimate test of a good cookbook, of course, is getting compliments and raves about the food. Every time I’ve made a recipe from this book, the food has been devoured quickly. We rarely have leftovers and my son’s friends even make a point of looking in the kitchen to see if the rice cooker is turned on ( yes, the recipes in this cookbook are THAT good).
3. P. Crowe says:

   May 26, 2010 at 6:51 am

   Review by P. Crowe for The Ultimate Rice Cooker Cookbook : 250 No-Fail Recipes for Pilafs, Risottos, Polenta, Chilis, Soups, Porridges, Puddings and More, from Start to Finish in Your Rice Cooker
   Rating:
   I used to use my rice cooker several times a week. With this cook book and my new fuzzy logic rice cooker, I use it several times a day. It will appeal to cooks of all levels. For cooks experienced with rice and whole grains, the most important part of the book will probably be recipes for the porridge cycle of a fuzzy logic cooker: rice porridge, puddings, custards, and hot cereals. Even for experienced rice cooks, however, this book has excellent information on different varieties of rice and different types of dishes. In addition to many styles of rice dishes, it includes recipes for other grains such as couscous, bulgur and grits. It is well laid out and has commentaries on grains and dishes that will enable creative cooks to invent their own recipes as well as using the very tasty recipes included in the book. Although the recipes suggest the size of the cooker to be used, you need to use some common sense. I have a small cooker and have successfully made recipes suggested for other size cookers. This book is utterly clear and easy to follow. All the recipes work, and all taste wonderful. If you have a rice cooker, especially a fuzzy logic cooker, you need this book.
4. Anonymous5555 says:

   May 26, 2010 at 7:00 am

   Review by Anonymous5555 for The Ultimate Rice Cooker Cookbook : 250 No-Fail Recipes for Pilafs, Risottos, Polenta, Chilis, Soups, Porridges, Puddings and More, from Start to Finish in Your Rice Cooker
   Rating:
   After reading all the reviews of this cookbook, I decided to purchase it. I’ve been looking for a good rice pudding recipe to be made in a rice cooker.

   However, the book is nearly useless to me. Every single recipe in the pudding section calls for using a “fuzzy logic only” cooker. I checked the oatmeal and porridge section as well — and found the same.

   So, it might be a good cookbook for people who own $200 rice cookers, but for the majority of us, the book is just not worth it. There are too few recipes for regular old rice cookers.

   (And I find it disingenuous that, when the authors talk about the differences in cookers in the beginning, they fail to note that the majority of their recipes only work in the expensive machine.)
5. Clara M Pettitt says:

   May 26, 2010 at 7:27 am

   Review by Clara M Pettitt for The Ultimate Rice Cooker Cookbook : 250 No-Fail Recipes for Pilafs, Risottos, Polenta, Chilis, Soups, Porridges, Puddings and More, from Start to Finish in Your Rice Cooker
   Rating:
   While I love this cookbook, I’m going to tell you about the problems so you can get better results from it.

   1. Measuring is a challenge! Depending on your rice cooker, liquids can be measured three ways: using the rice cooker cup, by the marks inside your rice cooker bowl, and by a standard measuring cup [8 fl oz.]. Dry ingredients can be measured by either the rice cooker cup or by a standard dry ingredients measuring cup. Before beginning any recipe, make sure you know what measures are being used, and do not make any recipe for the first time when company is coming over, in case you need to adjust it. Based on numerous recipe failures, I think the writers sometimes mixed up the measurements. They definitely could have made the information clearer in each recipe. How about a revised edition?

   2. Some recipes, polenta for example, have overly long cooking times, such as two porridge cycles back to back, or 90 minutes. Polenta cooks on the stovetop in 20 minutes; even a single porridge cycle is too long. Feel free to cut cooking times short.

   3. When cooking oatmeal, polenta, grits, etc. with the porridge cycle, open the cover up, and leave it up, once the contents reach a simmer. If you don’t, starchy lava will flow out of the vent and make a horrible mess, hot liquid may shoot out, and the recipe may be ruined as a result. If your rice cooker starts to spit, use extreme caution when you open the lid, as the hot contents may splash and burn you.

   4. If a recipe says you can skip pre-soaking for tapioca, beans, etc., don’t. Your final results will be much better using a traditional overnight soak in cold water.

   5. When making risotto, don’t perform the first step, briefly sautéing the rice in oil, in the rice cooker. Because rice cooker bowls are narrow and deep, the rice will be steamed, and your risotto will be mush. Instead, sauté the rice as usual in a large flat frying pan, then transfer the contents to the rice cooker bowl. Also, use the variety of Arborio called Carnaroli, as it holds up the best.

   6. Use an easy to clean rice cooker; mine is the Panasonic from Williams Sonoma. You can avoid lingering odors–even from cinnamon and curry–if you can take the top completely apart and wash it each time. Soak the parts in cool water, not hot, and they should clean up easily. If odors remain, put two or three cups of cold water in the rice cooker and run it through the regular cycle, taking care that it doesn’t cook dry. By cups, I mean 8 fluid ounces. Then let it cool, take it apart as much as you can, and let the pieces dry completely in a dish rack.

   7. No recipe is foolproof! Variances in rice crops, local water, and rice cookers will affect the outcome. If it doesn’t work the first time, make adjustments and try again.