The best rice cooker for 2025

By all accounts, I am a good cook. Yet in all my years, I don't think I've ever made a wonderful batch of rice on the stovetop. Overcooking, undercooking, scorching; you name it, I’ve done it. Those of us who grew up watching Alton Brown's insightful Good Eats cooking show may cling to the rule against bringing " ">unitaskers" into our kitchens, but I've decided that in order to more optimally enjoy my katsu, curries and burritos, it's time to bring in some specialized help.

A rice cooker frees up your attention to do the rest of your food prep instead of babying your grains or abandoning them to a crispy, crunchy fate. I tested several options to find the best rice cookers that deliver delicious, fluffy rice every time, because life's too short to settle for disappointing food.

Since rice is a foundation for so many different cuisines, I placed a high value on a machine’s ability to cook different grain types well. I started testing each rice cooker by making a Japanese style, sushi-grade white rice. The appliances that delivered tasty results moved on to the brown rice round, then the top performers made long-grain white basmati as a final challenge. Some models I tested included a steamer basket, but I didn't try all of them out. This is a rice-only party. Multi-cookers and steaming functions are merely a nice bonus in these, although if that's a feature you want, an instant pot might be more your jam.

While I weighed rice tastiness and texture as the most important criteria, I also assessed how easy the machines were to use and to clean. Because a cool piece of gear that sits in your cabinet gathering dust is a cool, but ultimately useless piece of gear. I limited my testing to models retailing for less than $300, which felt like the most I could recommend investing in a specialized appliance, and value for cost wound up being the distinguishing point for my top picks.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/home/kitchen-tech/best-rice-cooker-120015478.html?src=rss https://www.engadget.com/home/kitchen-tech/best-rice-cooker-120015478.html?src=rss
Created 3mo | Apr 28, 2025, 1:30:16 PM


Login to add comment

Other posts in this group

What to read this weekend: When the world spins out of control

These are some recently released titles we think are worth adding to your reading list. This week, we're diving into Alex Foster's futuristic debut, Circular Motion, and the return of

Jul 19, 2025, 10:50:14 PM | Engadget
OpenAI's experimental model achieved gold at the International Math Olympiad

OpenAI has achieved "gold medal-level performance" at the International Math Olympiad, notching another important milestone for AI's fast-paced growth. Alexander Wei, a research scientist at OpenAI

Jul 19, 2025, 8:40:04 PM | Engadget
Corning avoids EU antitrust fine by ending exclusive deals with phone manufacturers

Corning, the US-based glass manufacturer behind Gorilla Glass, has

Jul 19, 2025, 6:20:16 PM | Engadget
EA's big reveal for its next Battlefield game may already be spoiled

Looks like we can skip the drum roll for the next Battl

Jul 19, 2025, 6:20:15 PM | Engadget
Neon Abyss 2, a prison-break RPG and other new indie games worth checking out

Welcome to our weekly roundup of the goings on in the indie game space. It's been quite the busy spell, with several notable games debuting or landing on more platforms and some intriguing upcoming

Jul 19, 2025, 11:20:12 AM | Engadget
What the hell is going on with Subnautica 2?

If I had to describe the status of Subnautica 2 in just three words, it would be these: messy, messy, messy. That’s not to say the game itself is in terrible shape — this is actually a piv

Jul 18, 2025, 11:40:14 PM | Engadget
Netflix is already using generative AI in its original shows

Netflix admitted during its

Jul 18, 2025, 9:30:25 PM | Engadget