Rice cooker
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A rice cooker or rice steamer is an automated
kitchen appliance A home appliance, also referred to as a domestic appliance, an electric appliance or a household appliance, is a machine which assists in household functions such as cooking, cleaning and food preservation. Appliances are divided into three ty ...
designed to boil or steam
rice Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly ''Oryza glaberrima ''Oryza glaberrima'', commonly known as African rice, is one of the two domesticated rice species. It was first domesticated and grown i ...
. It consists of a heat source, a cooking bowl, and a thermostat. The thermostat measures the temperature of the cooking bowl and controls the heat. Complex, high-tech rice cookers may have more sensors and other components, and may be multipurpose.


Naming

The term ''rice cooker'' formerly applied to non-automated dedicated rice-cooking utensils, which have an ancient history (a ceramic rice steamer dated to 1250 BC is on display in
the British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docume ...
). It now applies mostly to automated cookers. Electric rice cookers were developed in
Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
, where they are known as '' suihanki'' (炊飯器, literally, "boil-rice-device").


Principle of operation

A basic rice cooker has a main body (pot), an inner cooking container which holds the rice, an electric
heating element A heating element converts electrical energy into heat through the process of Joule heating. Electric current through the element encounters resistance, resulting in heating of the element. Unlike the Peltier effect, this process is indepen ...
, and a thermostat. The bowl is filled with rice and water and heated at full power; the water reaches and stays at boiling point (100 °C, 212 °F). When the water has all been absorbed, the temperature can rise above boiling point, which trips the thermostat. Some cookers switch to low-power "warming" mode, keeping the rice at a safe temperature of approximately 65 °C (150 °F); simpler models switch off; the rice has entered the resting phase. More advanced cookers may use fuzzy logic for more detailed temperature control,
induction Induction, Inducible or Inductive may refer to: Biology and medicine * Labor induction (birth/pregnancy) * Induction chemotherapy, in medicine * Induced stem cells, stem cells derived from somatic, reproductive, pluripotent or other cell t ...
rather than resistive heating, a steaming tray for other foods, and even the ability to rinse the rice.


Rice types and rice cookers

Brown rice Brown rice is a whole grain rice with the inedible outer Rice hulls, hull removed. This kind of rice sheds its outer hull or husk but the bran and germ layer remain on, constituting the brown or tan colour of rice. White rice is the same grain w ...
generally needs longer cooking times than
white rice White rice is milled rice that has had its husk, bran, and germ removed. This alters the flavor, texture and appearance of the rice and helps prevent spoilage, extend its storage life, and makes it easier to digest. After milling ( hulling), t ...
, unless it is broken, or flourblasted (which perforates the bran).ars.usda.gov Agriculture Research, May 2002
/ref> Many models feature an ability to cook sticky rice or porridge as an added value. Most can be used as steamers. Some can be used as
slow cooker A slow cooker, also known as a crock-pot (after a trademark owned by Sunbeam Products but sometimes used generically in the English-speaking world), is a countertop electrical cooking appliance used to simmer at a lower temperature than o ...
s. Some other models can bake bread or in some cases have an added function to maintain temperatures suitable for fermentation of bread dough or yogurt. Multi-purpose devices with rice cooking capability are not necessarily called "rice cookers", but typically "multi-cookers". A rice cooker, or
slow cooker A slow cooker, also known as a crock-pot (after a trademark owned by Sunbeam Products but sometimes used generically in the English-speaking world), is a countertop electrical cooking appliance used to simmer at a lower temperature than o ...
, can be used in conjunction with a temperature probe and an external thermostat to cook food at a stable low temperature ("
sous-vide Sous vide (; French for 'under vacuum'), also known as low-temperature, long-time (LTLT) cooking, is a method of cooking in which food is placed in a plastic pouch or a glass jar and cooked in a water bath for longer than usual cooking times (us ...
").


History

Automatic electric rice cookers were first released in 1955 by the Japanese company
Toshiba , commonly known as Toshiba and stylized as TOSHIBA, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Its diversified products and services include power, industrial and social infrastructure system ...
. In December 1956, the Toshiba Corporation placed the first commercially successful automated electric rice cookers on the market. Since then, millions have been sold worldwide. The rice cookers available today are not much different from the original models. The first practical electric rice cooker was invented by .


See also

*
Rice polisher A rice polisher is a machine for buffing (or "polishing") kernels of rice to change their appearance, taste, and texture or for transforming brown rice into white rice. Rice polishers are used after the rice has gone through the whitening process ...
*
Slow cooker A slow cooker, also known as a crock-pot (after a trademark owned by Sunbeam Products but sometimes used generically in the English-speaking world), is a countertop electrical cooking appliance used to simmer at a lower temperature than o ...
* Remoska, small portable oven *
Vacuum flask A vacuum flask (also known as a Dewar flask, Dewar bottle or thermos) is an insulating storage vessel that greatly lengthens the time over which its contents remain hotter or cooler than the flask's surroundings. Invented by Sir James Dewa ...
*
Hot water dispenser An instant hot water dispenser or boiling water tap is an appliance that dispenses water at about (near- boiling). There are hot-only and hot and cool water models, and the water may be filtered as well as heated. Instant hot water dispensers b ...
*
List of cooking appliances This is a list of cooking appliances that are used for cooking foods. Cooking appliances * Air fryer * Bachelor griller * Barbecue grill * Beehive oven * Brasero (heater) * Brazier * Bread machine * Burjiko * Butane torch * Chapati m ...
*
List of Japanese cooking utensils The following items are common Japanese cooking tools used in preparing Japanese cuisine. For a list of general cooking tools see the list of food preparation utensils. Knives *''Deba bōchō'': kitchen carver for meat and fish *'' Fugu hiki'', ...


References


Further reading

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rice Cooker Rice Chinese food preparation utensils Cooking appliances Cooking vessels Cookware and bakeware East Asian food preparation utensils Japanese food preparation utensils Japanese inventions Korean food preparation utensils