Electric cooker vs electric pot.

[6pack]

Want to just cook rice or steam idlis or momos.
I have an induction cooker but coming rice on it is possible but bothersome. When the rice cooks 3/4 and close to cooking completely, it starts spilling all over the induction cooker. Then i have to remove the vessel and cook it on gas.
So i was searching for rice cooker with steamer and saw these cost around 3.5k and there are some unknown branded electric pots going for that save 3.5k price for around <3L cooking capacity which i want.
So is instant pot better buy vs just the rice cooker?

 

[ssslayer]

Want to just cook rice or steam idlis or momos.

If so then why are you even looking at anything other than rice cooker?

 

[6pack]

Because i don't have any idea how the rice cookers will cook rice. Don't want to spend money on something and not use it.

Besides, Having something extra for money is nice bonus. Apparently these rice cookers can't cook below some minimum volume and need extra water for cooking. I've seen some reviews mention that the bottom part of cooked rice is a sticky mess.

 

[sriharsha_m]

Want to just cook rice or steam idlis or momos.
I have an induction cooker but coming rice on it is possible but bothersome. When the rice cooks 3/4 and close to cooking completely, it starts spilling all over the induction cooker. Then i have to remove the vessel and cook it on gas.
So i was searching for rice cooker with steamer and saw these cost around 3.5k and there are some unknown branded electric pots going for that save 3.5k price for around <3L cooking capacity which i want.
So is instant pot better buy vs just the rice cooker?

Trying to understand your requirement here?
Are you looking for a cooker to avoid the spill, then you have spill proof rice cookers with small residue collectors.
Like these >> https://www.panasonic.com/in/consum...ll-appliances/automatic-cooker/sr-ka18fa.html

Instant Pot/Multi cook pots are more than just rice cookers and can be used to stir fry/saute/slow cook/pressure cook etc.

 

[Kloud]

Get a pressure cooker mate. It saves gas, electricity. The cost of the pressure cooker will pay itself in 1-2 years.

 

[solo_wing]

Okay.
What you need is exactly what I need some time back.

Buy Panasonic electric cooker that comes with momo thing too
Panasonic SR-W18GH 660-Watt Automatic Warmer Cooker Combo Pack (Gold, 4.4L) https://amzn.eu/d/bJmvMUD

Though the price seems to be high right now as it should cost about 3k -3.5k

It has been one of the best purchase for me. Almost using for few years now and not a single issue.

Rice comes out very nice. Many friends have gone impressed with the rice cooked when invited for dinner.

Just find a good deal and go for it.
Try to check with croma and get extended warranty for cheap too.

I cannot comment on other brands but I will personally always go for Panasonic now for most kitchen appliances specially their rice cooker .

Get a pressure cooker mate. It saves gas, electricity. The cost of the pressure cooker will pay itself in 1-2 years.

My skills with cooking has improved but initially I had major problem with getting rice cooked in pressure cookers.
I cannot guess the number of whistles and sometimes it overcooked and sometime undercooked but that maybe just me.
This electric cooker is no such jhamela. It will cook itself and go to stay warm automatically.

 

[ssslayer]

I cannot guess the number of whistles and sometimes it overcooked and sometime undercooked but that maybe just me.
This electric cooker is no such jhamela. It will cook itself and go to stay warm automatically.

Pressure cooking is NEVER done by counting the number of whistles.

Food cooking is always a function of temperature and time. I don't know how number of whistles is ever going to help you understand the two.
Typically pressure cooking (done at 120 deg C) vs atmospheric pressure cooking (done at 100 deg C) cooking time gets reduced to 1/3rd.
This means if chicken takes 15 minutes to cook, it will be done in 5 minutes in pressure cooker.

Rice while boiling is done between 5-10 minutes. In pressure cooking it takes around 3 minutes.
You need to time the cooking after the whistling starts (that is when the temperature has reached 120 deg C).

Also for rice, you need to add 2 times the water. 1 cup rice = 2 cups water. (This varies slightly depending on variety and personal preferences, but the ball park is always right)
No reason why you should use any other metric for adding water. Does rice cooker allow you to cook while adding less or more water and still guarantees perfectly done rice?

 

[solo_wing]

Pressure cooking is NEVER done by counting the number of whistles.

Food cooking is always a function of temperature and time. I don't know how number of whistles is ever going to help you understand the two.
Typically pressure cooking (done at 120 deg C) vs atmospheric pressure cooking (done at 100 deg C) cooking time gets reduced to 1/3rd.
This means if chicken takes 15 minutes to cook, it will be done in 5 minutes in pressure cooker.

Rice while boiling is done between 5-10 minutes. In pressure cooking it takes around 3 minutes.
You need to time the cooking after the whistling starts (that is when the temperature has reached 120 deg C).

Also for rice, you need to add 2 times the water. 1 cup rice = 2 cups water. (This varies slightly depending on variety and personal preferences, but the ball park is always right)
No reason why you should use any other metric for adding water. Does rice cooker allow you to cook while adding less or more water and still guarantees perfectly done rice?

All that science is interesting to know but after a long day i just wanted a quick warm meal and for me electric cooker was best option as it would go to warm automatically and even if I was bit late to start dinner my rice would be still be warm.

As for your question about less or more more water . In the intitial days of my cooking I use to not get it right but now I don't even have to measure . I can always guess it right between quantity of rice and water.

Also I find cleaning bit easier for electric cooker compared to pressure cooker.

 

[6pack]

Get a pressure cooker mate. It saves gas, electricity. The cost of the pressure cooker will pay itself in 1-2 years.

Took your advice and bought a 6 liter electric cooker.
Got the wellspire model which was@4999 compared to rice cooker with stand etc @3.5k i think.

The 6 liter is just enough to fit a standard idli stand imo. I'm doing rice and dal at same time now. Rice came out bit sticky like sticky rice but dal came out really nice. It finished cooking in about 20 minutes. Takes 5-6 minutes to heat up to pressure and then about 12 minutes to complete. Thanks.

 

[Kloud]

Took your advice and bought a 6 liter electric cooker.
Got the wellspire model which was@4999 compared to rice cooker with stand etc @3.5k i think.

The 6 liter is just enough to fit a standard idli stand imo. I'm doing rice and dal at same time now. Rice came out bit sticky like sticky rice but dal came out really nice. It finished cooking in about 20 minutes. Takes 5-6 minutes to heat up to pressure and then about 12 minutes to complete. Thanks.

Yeah, it takes a few tries to get water:rice mixture right. Sticky rice usually means more water was added. For idlis, you cook them by removing the whistle. 5k seems like a lot for a cooker. But what do I know, I haven't bought one in ages.

 

[Emperor]

Took your advice and bought a 6 liter electric cooker.
Got the wellspire model which was@4999 compared to rice cooker with stand etc @3.5k i think.

The 6 liter is just enough to fit a standard idli stand imo. I'm doing rice and dal at same time now. Rice came out bit sticky like sticky rice but dal came out really nice. It finished cooking in about 20 minutes. Takes 5-6 minutes to heat up to pressure and then about 12 minutes to complete. Thanks.

product link & how much electricity it consumed per cook/day?

 

[6pack]

Yeah, it takes a few tries to get water:rice mixture right. Sticky rice usually means more water was added. For idlis, you cook them by removing the whistle. 5k seems like a lot for a cooker. But what do I know, I haven't bought one in ages.

It was the cheapest in 6L category. Rest all of them cost 7k+.

product link & how much electricity it consumed per cook/day?

It's selling at 1k extra now. Got it on 20th during the sale. Max current consumption is 1KW but i doubt it takes that much at all times. It switches on and off to maintain pressure. In 20 minutes cooking time, probably it is on for max 4-5 minutes i guess. This is basically an induction cooker. The bottom of the inner steel vessel is induction bottom. And the heating thing looks like induction coil.

Limited-time deal: Wellspire Instant Pot (6 Litres) with #304 Stainless Steel Inner Pot, Pressure Cook, Sauté, Steam and more (NOW WITH CUSTOMISED INDIAN RECIPIES) https://amzn.eu/d/2oUi5Io

 

[ssslayer]

As for your question about less or more more water . In the intitial days of my cooking I use to not get it right but now I don't even have to measure . I can always guess it right between quantity of rice and water.

Thanks for confirming that Rice cooker is not fool-proof device with respect to rice to water ratio. I had heard from someone (who has zilch knowledge and experience of cooking anything except maggi) that you can add any amount of water to the rice cooker, and the cooker "intelligently" consumes only the required amount!

 

[solo_wing]

Thanks for confirming that Rice cooker is not fool-proof device with respect to rice to water ratio. I had heard from someone (who has zilch knowledge and experience of cooking anything except maggi) that you can add any amount of water to the rice cooker, and the cooker "intelligently" consumes only the required amount!

Actually if I be honest to small extent it does perform "intelligently" like if the water is even 10-20% more also I have noticed my rice cooker still giving well cooked rice.


Less water has resulted in uncooked rice though.

Now for pressure cooker more water made the rice little soft and sticky for me but I left pressure cooking for rice long back and was never good at it so can't comment either.

I have cooked pulao and borscht also on my electric cooker and it has always come out well so don't see any need to go back to pressure cookers.

But i still use pressure cooker for dal and chana etc as that I feel electric cooker wasn't not too good and took quite a long time.

 

[6pack]

Just posting some small updates. Got electric bill. Was expecting 10 to 15 extra units per month but it was just 5 units extra. I only use it once a day so it will be different for different usage. Did idli etc in this month in it. Idlis came out bit soft since i didn't keep it for enough time in the cooker.

Had an incident the next day to using this cooker after i made the idlis in this. During preheat stage the cooker was making loud noises like empty plastic bottle expanding. Turned out that while making idlis in this some water vapour had got inside the outer part where the induction coil is present and it had turned to water droplets after cooling off. So next day when it gets heated up into steam, there's no way it can go out since the inner pot is blocking it and the only way is it started expanding the plastic bits at the edges. I was really worried and was wondering what the h was happening hearing those noises. Shut it off quickly and used gas cooker to finish cooking my food. Kept it open the whole day and night. Next day it was working properly without any weird noise. Tried to call and WA the company helpline and got no response. Avoid this company i say. Apparently even the costly Instapot brand has very bad after sales support. This cooker looks like a Chinese clone of it.