# We Tested 39 Rice Cookers. Here's What Won

> After 120 cups of rice and years of blind taste tests, the $70 machine beat almost everything.
- Title: We Tested 39 Rice Cookers. Here's What Won · Bon Appétit
- Summary: After 120 cups of rice and years of blind taste tests, the $70 machine beat almost everything. You don't need to spend $400 for great rice. The $70 Hamilton…
- Keywords: rice cookers, kitchen gear, product testing, cooking, appliances, food, lifestyle, Tested, Rice, Cookers, Here's, Won
- Source: Bon Appétit — https://bonappetit.com/story/best-rice-cookers
- Author: Alaina Chou
- Published: 2023-05-23T21:30:00+00:00
- Read time: 3 min
- Topics: rice cookers, kitchen gear, product testing, cooking, appliances, food, lifestyle
## The roommate's rice cooker
A college roommate brought one home, then graduated and took it across the country. Back to the stovetop method that never quite worked.
## Why it earns the counter space
Rice that comes out fluffy every time frees you up to handle the rest of the meal. Worth the price and the storage hassle.

> There's nothing as humbling as cooking a big pot of rice for company only to find it's turned into a pile of mush.
## 41 cookers, 120 cups
Years of testing in the Test Kitchen, plus long-term use at home by several editors. Prices ranged from $25 to $750.
## The winner is $70
The Hamilton Beach 7-Cup Digital Programmable Rice Cooker. It makes up to 14 cups cooked, costs under $70, and beats machines many times its price.

> You don't need to spend hundreds of dollars to make great rice.
## It came in second by a hair
In blind white rice tastings, the Hamilton Beach ranked right behind the Zojirushi. It nailed brown rice too, with intact grains and real bite.
## And it's much faster
White rice in 35 minutes versus the Zojirushi's 50. Brown rice in an hour versus 90 minutes.
## Features at a budget price
Six presets, delayed start, a cook time countdown, and a beep when it's done. Most $70 machines skip all of that.
## Where it falls short
The thin inner pot scorched a layer of rice in some tests. The lid opens sideways and needs a button held down, and water ratios don't change by rice type.
## The best rice, full stop
The Zojirushi NP-HCC10 has won every blind taste test staffers have run. Grains never too soft, never too hard, never mushy.

> Zojirushi is to rice cookers what Vitamix is to blenders.
## Two technologies doing the work
Micom sensors adjust heat and time in real time, covering for sloppy water ratios. Induction heats the whole pot evenly instead of just the bottom.
## The $400 problem
The NP-HCC10 has climbed steadily and now sits near $400, which is why it lost the top spot. Testers could still taste the difference every time.
## Slow is the point
White rice can take an hour, brown up to two. Start it before you cook anything else, or use the timer.

> That's not a shortcoming. It's part of the reason they work so well.
## Small and PFAS-free
The GreenPan Advanced has a ceramic nonstick pot, a tiny footprint, and dishwasher-safe cleanup. Brown rice was excellent, white rice slightly uneven.
## The stainless steel option
Tatung's cooker nests an inner pot inside an outer one filled with water, steaming the rice from the outside in. Done in half the Zojirushi's time.
## Tatung's tradeoffs
The lid gets hot enough to burn your hands, it rattles as it cooks, and the steel pot needs soaking and scrubbing. At $210 with no presets, that stings.
## How the testing ran
Every model cooked Nishiki medium-grain white rice first. Anything that passed moved to short-grain brown, then long-grain basmati.
## Rice quality beat everything
No feature list rescued a machine that made gummy rice. Testers scored evenness, bite, and whether grains stayed individual.
## Worthy runners-up
The $140 Cuckoo CR-0655F scored nearly as high as the Zojirushi but its lid flies open hard enough to knock the machine off the counter. The $99 Tiger JBV-A10U is the cheapest good Micom.
## The $750 AI one
Zojirushi's NW-JEC10 learns your preferred texture from feedback after each batch, and it works. It won its taste test, but not by $450 worth.
## Rinse, and know your cups
Wash rice until the water runs clear so it doesn't turn gummy. Capacity numbers use 180-ml rice cooker cups, not 237-ml US cups, and rice roughly doubles when cooked.
## Key takeaway

You don't need to spend $400 for great rice. The $70 Hamilton Beach gets you most of the way, and the Zojirushi NP-HCC10 is the splurge only if rice is the thing you care about most.