As a kitchen tool, rice cookers are somewhat hit and miss. Some people absolutely love them and can’t imagine life without them. Other people see the whole process as a waste of time. After all, cooking rice normally doesn’t tend to be a particularly difficult task. Despite this, rice cookers tend to free up more time for other tasks and they also offer more flexibility in the kitchen by letting you keep rice warm for extended periods of time. Additionally, they have a much better impact on the quality of rice than people expect.

If you are trying to pick a good rice cooker, choosing one from a Japanese brand like Tiger Corporation is an appealing option. After all, rice is a much larger part of the Japanese culture and many of the Japanese rice cooker brands tend to produce high-quality products that are exceptionally good at making perfect rice every time. In most cases, these companies produce models like the ones on this list, which are targeted at an American audience. As such, rice cookers like these can be a great way to get the rice you are looking for.

Some kitchen tools are a logical addition to the kitchen but others are a little more questionable. Rice cookers tend to fall into the latter category. In many cases, people who have rice cookers absolutely swear by them and can’t imagine their kitchen without one. Yet, people on the outside often find themselves wondering about the point of rice cookers. After all, cooking rice tends to be a fairly simple task once you get used to it.

Rice cookers are a fantastic addition to the kitchen, even if they are often overlooked. One of the most important things to realize is that these kitchen tools aren’t simply a way to cook rice right each time. Instead, they also offer the ability to keep rice warm over an extended period of time. This lets people cook rice that will be used later in the day and makes it easy to have perfectly cooked warm rice, regardless of what time dinner ends up being.

For a fairly simple product, there is a surprising amount of options when it comes to choosing a rice cooker. For example, you have to consider whether you want something that simply cooks and warms rice, or a product that has additional features, such as the ability to steam food at the same time. With all of those options, it’s no wonder that people get overwhelmed.

If you’re shopping for a rice cooker, then the models that we highlight in this list are the perfect place to start. At this price, all of the options are affordable for just about any budget. At the same time, that price makes it worth picking up a rice cooker and trying it, even if you aren’t convinced that you need one.

Rice cookers might seem like a lazy approach to making rice but they are actually a pretty useful tool in the kitchen. One of the biggest reasons is that they offer the ability to make rice ahead of time and keep it warm for when you need it. In some cases, people even end up cooking a large amount of rice and using it over the course of a day or two. The keep warm feature alone makes rice cookers incredibly popular and that feature can majorly change the way that people use rice and even how they plan their meals.

Having a separate appliance just to cook rice might seem a little bit odd but rice cookers have actually become a common and popular addition to the kitchen. The simplest reason for this is that they let you cook rice without having to worry about watching it, which can be perfect if you’re cooking a complex meal or have a busy household.

If you’re trying to make fast and easy meals or simply have a lot to pay attention to around dinner time, rice cookers can make a lot of sense. These tools do exactly what the name suggests, leaving with more time to worry about the rest of their meal preparation. Rice cookers also mean that you don’t have to worry about accidently burning the rice or undercooking it. In fact, you don’t have to pay any attention to the rice at all.

Rice cookers are one of the most inexpensive kitchen appliances that you can buy, yet despite this, they are often less popular than you might expect. One reason for this seems to be that people underestimate just how useful rice cookers can be. For one thing, they are incredibly convenient tools and they provide a way to cook rice without having to pay attention to it. This also means that your rice tends to be consistently good, which often isn’t the case when you cook it yourself.