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If you don’t have a rice cooker, go buy one now! Really, the new fuzzy logic rice cookers are amazing. I’ve used mine 12 times in the 13 days I’ve owned it. And no, I haven’t been constantly eating rice. You can prepare all sorts of dishes in the rice cooker. Here are some of the things I’ve made:

-Sushi
-Polenta
-Shitake brown rice casserole
-Rice pudding
-Morning oatmeal
-And yes, lots of rice!

The Ultimate Rice Cooker Cookbook has even more options. Recipes for applesauces, beans, every type of whole grain and entire rice cooker meals are included in this comprehensive cookbook.

I bought a 3-cup Tiger Fuzzy Logic rice cooker and couldn’t be happier with it. When you’re buying a rice cooker make sure to get one with a non-stick bowl. The timer function is also very helpful. You can use it to start breakfast while you’re asleep or start dinner while you’re at work. A keep warm feature will probably be standard on any Fuzzy Logic cooker you buy. I’ve found it works well keeping both rice and porridge warm. However, the best feature is the great rice. Long or short-grain, brown or white, my rice comes out perfect every time. Polenta and oatmeal are stellar, too.

I can really only think of two disadvantages to a Fuzzy Logic cooker: long cooking time and an inability to cook vegetables.

Long rice cooking times:
Rice takes a little longer when using the cooker because the normal cycle includes a soaking period along with the normal rice cooking period. This is the case in all except in the Quick cycle. However, since you can easily overcome long rice cooking times by using the Quick cycle this shouldn’t count as a strike against the Fuzzy Logic cooker. With the Quick Cycle you are again down to 20 minutes from start to finish for your rice.

No vegetable cooking:
If you get the Ultimate Rice Cooker Cookbook you’ll note that you cannot prepare the vegetable dishes in the cookbook using a Fuzzy Logic cooker. However, you’ll also note you can’t prepare the porridge dishes in the regular on/off cooker. Each type of rice cooker offers different functionality. Personally, having freshly cooked oatmeal when I get up is more important than being able to steam green beans. You choose your priorities.

The rice cooker has definitely helped me increase my intake of whole grains. Though I am tracking how much the rice cooker costs me per use it’s really just for fun. Helping me eat whole grains is priceless. I have longer lasting energy and feel more alive and healthy with an increasingly whole grain diet. My next experiments with the rice cooker will include creating a quinoa pilaf and germinating brown rice so I can use the “germinated brown rice” setting on the cooker. After that I may move into more “hard-core” whole grains like wheat berries.

With a few techniques/settings you can create an endless number of dishes. Here’s how I’ve been using my cooker.

Pilaf dishes:
These are dishes where you first saute aromatic ingredients (e.g. garlic and onions) in oil. You then saute the grain for a few minutes. Only after it becomes toasty do you add your water and other seasonings (salt and pepper). In the final dish, the grains are usually separate (though not dry) and you end up with a very flavorful dish. Shitake brown rice casserole is an example of a pilaf dish.

Porridge:
These dishes result from slow and low cooking of grains. In a fuzzy logic cooker these dishes will take about an hour. One advantage of cooking porridges in the cooker is the lack of stirring necessary. This make polenta, risotto and breakfast cereals a million times easier to prepare. Puddings also fall into the porridge category.

Regular rice:
The important thing to remember when preparing “regular” rice (or similar grains such as quinoa) is you must rinse the rice before cooking so it comes out fluffy. By rinsing rice you wash off the extra starch surrounding the grains and your finished product is less likely to scorch. You end up with a dish composed of separate grains instead of one gloppy mess.