Dash Mini Rice Cooker Steamer with Removable Nonstick Pot, Keep Warm Function & Recipe Guide, 2 cups, for Soups, Stews, Grains & Oatmeal - White

Dorm essential; a small rice cooker. This is VERY small however. If you have only one person, it's suitable but if you are dealing with two or more, a 5 cup minimum would be better. The size of this unit is compact enough to toss into a suitcase or store in small quarters.This is a simple rice cooker with a press-down button for turning it on, a keep-warm function and an automatic shutoff. It works by thermostat; as the temperature rises when the water has boiled off and been absorbed by the food, the temperature spike makes the spring contact drop back, and the heat shuts off. No "fuzzy logic" here. Simple operation.Because the unit is small, cooking things like porridge will mean it possibly boils over. I had to put a kitchen towel under it to cook one serving of steel cut oats (they foam up) and it was a bit messy on the lid. The instructions do warm about boiling over. If you're using this, I'd put a towel under it as a matter of course.Cooking:I did regular Japanese short grain rice, steel cut oats, mixed grain porridge and a "Dutch Baby" pancake. The recipe for the pancake is included in the booklet, which has a number of recipes. All of them came out ok; the rice was slightly more wet and less cooked thoroughly than in my regular, large fancy rice cooker but it was fine to eat. The porridge boiled over (as I mentioned) and the Dutch Baby was really good. It's a large recipe requiring several batches to be poured in and cooked for two cycles. I'd halve the recipe next time, but it was a nice little breakfast made with milk, egg, flour and sugar, with a dab of jam or some fresh fruit,powdered sugar or syrup for extrasThe unit comes with a booklet including recipes (useful), a paddle for scooping the rice, and a measuring cup. My cup was cracked (thin plastic) but I already had a standard measuring cup for rice. This cup was a bit on the thin side and didn't survive the packaging.Dash doesn't make a mid sized (6 cup) rice cooker, only a family sized large one, so if you have need of more food than single servings, I'd get a different brand model that can do 5-6 cups of rice, which will feed two or three easily. But for dorm cooking, single person, tiny kitchen or traveling and cooking say, because you need to be gluten-free while traveling, this is perfect and very compact.

Out of the box it is a rice cooker. Yes, it can cook other things but there are some things to watch out for before you can use it like a regular cooktop for everyday use.I made sunny side up, over easy, scrambled eggs, poached eggs, pudding and more in minutes. Takes only 200 watts and holds the heat in the pot efficiently and effectively to cook most foods to food safety temperatures within 5-20 min cook times. Compared to 1000 watt+ electric cookers taking about the same time to cook a meal for a small nuclear family (mom, pop, and kid), you will save money.Things to watch out for before using it as a regular cooktop:First is cooking temperatures. It is only a 200-watt cooktop (which is a blessing) but you have to make sure that you keep a lid on it at all times to make sure food cooks properly. Which means no open sauté or frying. it is not a fryer or a deep fryer. Don't try to grill a steak on it. But you can certainly cook thinly sliced pieces. Be sure to check food temperatures for safety if you cook meat pieces. It can cook a fish filet, shrimp, bacon, or thinly sliced chicken tenders as well. Just make sure to use meat thermometers to check food temperatures when cooking non-vegetarian foods.Second, it has a pressure sensitive switch so you can't turn the device on unless there is enough weight in the pot. Which normally will not let you cook things that are light (for example a piece of bacon, poached egg or green beans or other thinly sliced stuff). To make it work, you will need to press the lid down lightly by hand, then push the cook button down to turn on the heat.Thirdly, at times you will need to open the lid to stir or flip things. Opening the lid will stop the cooking and move the switch back to 'warm'. You will have to push the lid down manually and press 'Cook' again. Make sure you use a mitt or a silicone glove to touch the pot because it will be hot. The pot does not have a handle, so use a mitt to pick up the pot to take things out of it. Usually, it will simply slide out. Always follow safety procedures while cooking in general.Enjoy your energy saver cooktop!The best part. I use solar energy for many things, ranging from lighting, to cooling and refrigeration. I can now add cooking to the list of things that can briefly run on my solar setup without draining my battery too much.TLDR: must have for every kitchen, saves on your bill, can cook many things and run on Solar Generators

I always thought all rice cookers were huge. Decided to search for 'small' and low and behold this came up. Reason for buying: Mr. Wonderful schooled me years ago that you can cook rice like pasta, i.e.: a method where the pan/rice is never scorched. I won't use 'microwavable' rice packets as that can kill nutrients in the rice, and started to ponder what we were doing draining all that water the rice boiled in. That prompted my search.This thing is pretty great. Comes with a recipe booklet and measurements for various types of rice, and adds quinoa. The one thing missing for instructions wild rice, which I love.Don't be confused like I was with the 'bouncy' action of the pot when it's empty. Once you add the rice and water the until sinks into place. The times noted in the booklet are on spot. The rice doesn't come out over-cooked, or under-cooked. Added bonus: it's perfect if you intend to use the rice in a casserole or fried rice dish.The unit is very quiet. Over all, I recommend and if I had to I'd purchase again. Perfect for a household of 2.