8 Rice Cookers That Really Are as Good as Redditors Say

I’ve always subscribed to the idea that rice is rice, and it’s just as rice-y whether cooked in a standard pot or something fancier. But I soon learned that rice-cooker people strongly disagree with my somewhat blasé attitude. “A rice cooker will change your life,” they tell me repeatedly. As someone who has nearly every other healthy kitchen gadget, from an air fryer to non-toxic cookware to a Vitamix and a cold-pressed juicer, I finally decided to listen to the rice evangelists. All I can say is, wow.

I thought I knew good rice before, but the set-it-and-forget-it nature of a rice cooker is so much less precarious than hovering over a pot to pluck the lid off at the exact moment before the starchy rice water bubbles up and over the edges, dousing that extremely-hard-to-scrub-off crust onto everything in its path. Rice cooker rice comes out perfect every time—moist in the best way possible, fluffy, and weightless. A far cry from the dense, dry rice I knew before.

If you’ve ever searched for a rice cooker, you’re probably aware that there are hundreds on the market. Of those, one tops nearly every list. I’m talking about the Zojirushi. There are, however, plenty of other brands out there that get the job done, depending on what you like.

And if you think that rice cookers are just for amateurs, think again. Cassidee Dabney, Executive Chef of The Barn at Blackberry Farm uses one for all her rice dishes. “I like very simple models. I bought an Aroma 1.5qt single button at Kmart in Hawaii in 1999. That little low-tech model retired in 2015. I replaced it with the same model, and it still works like a champ. It’s my current rice maker,” she says.

Below are eight of the best rice cookers money can buy, including the ever-popular Zojirushi, and a version of Chef Dabney’s beloved Aroma.

• Best Overall: Zojirushi NS-LGC05XB Micom Rice Cooker & Warmer ($136)
• Best Non-Toxic Rice Cooker: GreenPan Elite 8-Cup Induction Rice Cooker ($290)
• Best Budget-Friendly Rice Cooker: IMUSA USA GAU-00011 Electric Nonstick Rice Cooker ($24)
• Best Multi-Function Rice Cooker: Instant Pot Duo 7-in-1 Electric Pressure Cooker ($100)
• Best Small Rice Cooker: GreenLife Healthy Ceramic Nonstick 4-Cup Rice Cooker ($49)
• Best Large Capacity Rice Cooker: Aroma Housewares 20 Cup Cooked (10 cup uncooked) Digital Rice Cooker ($64)
• Best High-End Rice Cooker: Zojirushi NP-NWC10XB Pressure Induction Heating Rice Cooker & Warmer ($460)
• Best Microwave Rice Cooker: Anyday The Large Deep Dish Microwave Rice Cooker ($45)