Zojirushi NS-LAC05XA Micom 3-Cup(Uncooked) Rice Cooker and Warmer

OMG love this machine! I was shocked at how good it was (I love rice too). Was very wary about getting another kitchen gadget. I make pretty good stovetop rice, but was tired of the occasional boil-over and crusty pan. Went ahead and splurged. This thing is the bomb, SUPER easy to use and makes literally the best rice I've ever had, I now won't even eat the rice that comes with takeout, I start a batch in this then call in my order. I cook white thai jasmine rice 90% of the time. I've tried brown basmati a couple times, and it was ok. I think you have to play with the rice-water ratios to find the texture you like for brown rice, and I just haven't found it yet. This size is sufficient for 1-2 people, or those who don't want rice leftovers (uh, how will you make fried rice if you don't have leftovers??) or eat small rice portions. The jasmine rice is so good though, I can't stop eating it! I should have probably gotten the next bigger size, but this will work just fine for 1-2 people. Looks good on counter, and footprint is pretty small. If you have more than 3 people in your family this is probably not big enough. Crazy easy to clean up, residue slides right off. Have not had any problems with non-stick coating flaking, but I am very gentle with it. You need the plastic paddle btw, do not use any hard or metal utensils in it or you will damage the surface. Don't lose the measuring cup either! Plays cute jingle when starting and when done. Do not buy a rice cooker without fuzzy logic--if you do, you may as well just make rice in your crockpot or on the stovetop. It does take longer to cook, 40-50 mins, but just start your rice before the meal. It makes such good rice, the wait is worth it. Also, the user guide states this model does not make sticky rice, and I kind of wish I'd gotten the bigger one to do that. I almost always make full rice batches in this, sometimes I make less, and have never had a problem with a smaller batch.

I bought this cooker specifically to cook steel cut oats for breakfast at least 5 times a week. When I work from home, I just don't want to delay starting work in order to pay attention to an oatmeal pot on the stove for 20-30 mins. Plus cleaning an oatmeal pot that has been sitting is a dreadful chore. I had tried using a 10 cup rice cooker with no porridge setting and though it worked, it was also bit of a mess inside the cooker. After reading reviews of thie Zojirushi 3 cup cooker, I decided to spend the bucks to try it. For me, it's worth every penny. I use the porridge setting and have determined 1/2 cup steel cut oats with 1-1/2 cups water ends up with the oatmeal consistency I prefer. Exact ratios may vary to taste. I start the cooker just before I grab my 1st cup of coffee and about an hour later, the cooker plays a little tune to let me know it's done cooking. Add brown sugar & dried fruit and my healthy, tastey breakfast is ready. The warm feature is fabulous - I depend on it when I can't break from work immediately. I was surprised to discover it takes an hour (plus or minus) to cook the oats - exactly what the user guide said in its recipe for porridge. Once I learned the timing, it has been no problem at all. Finally, clean up is truly a breeze. No matter how long I let things sit, a little soapy hot water is all that's needed. No soaking required. And one of these days I'll even try cooking rice with it :-) *UPDATE* April 7, 2013 I still use this just as often for oatmeal AND we are now using it 2-3 times a week for rice, both brown and white. My husband went on a stir fry kick 6 months ago and for a while, refused to fix anything but Minute Rice. He kept saying: rice is too hard! I finally convinced him to try one batch of rice in this cooker ... and he was immediately hooked. Not only does the cooker produce wonderful rice every time, it is easy to use, easy to clean up AND is easier than "cooking" Minute Rice! Mind you, it isn't faster than minute rice ... but if speed isn't a concern, the simplicity and quality can not be beat. Sometimes small "specialty" appliances end up on a bottom shelf covered with dust. If you cook rice and/or oatmeal, it will quickly become a must-have appliance. I, for one, can't imagine living without this cooker.

I bought this model a little over a year now and I have absolutely nothing to complain about. This is one of the cheapest Zojirushi fuzzy models and does what it's supposed to do really well: make GREAT rice. I'd like to address a few things that people mentioned in their reviews : 1. The cup size is not the same as what I'm used to! Actually, this is only noticeable for people that are buying a rice cooker for the first time. I've read various "explanations" that it's a metric system cup measurement or a specific Japanese cup measurement.... Actually, the rice cup sizes are universal. I don't know how they came about, but I've used rice cookers my whole life and I know that regardless of brand, they're all the same. 2. Is this big enough for my family? Depends. I personally eat about 1/4-1/2 cup of rice depending on what I'm making. To be safe, I always measure about 1/2 cup per person, and 3/4 cup for those people that tend to eat more. Seeing as that this has a 3 cup capacity, you can technically make rice for up to 6 people! 3. My brown rice SUCKS No. Just no. I personally buy good quality brown rice (Nishiki medium grain) and it turns out PERFECT and soft and sooo delicious I can't get enough. As long as you follow the instructions correctly and use the brown rice feature and water measurements, it should turn out perfectly. I debated between this model and the more expensive model with the GABA feature and honestly will never make the switch. 4. Non-stick pot flaking This is interesting because although my pot does have some scratches, it is definitely NOT flaking. I feel that this may be caused by either temperature shock or using the wrong utensils to scoop out the rice. Either way, it is easily replaceable on the zojirushi webpage for about $33 + shipping. 5. Clock I LOVE the clock. I use it everyday to have my rice ready in the morning to take to work. Military time is used universally, and it easy to pick up if you haven't used it before (I personally have used it since I was little). Overall though, it's pretty easy to figure out even though the instructions aren't entirely clear. 6. Functions I haven't made anything besides white, sushi, and brown rice but I'm going to start experimenting with beans since I eat beans almost as often as rice and I really would rather not buy a pressure cooker. However, I'm a bit skeptical about using strong aromatic foods, though I've heard that the aromas can be removed after one cooking cycle. Stronger aromas like garlic, however, I think it's best to have an extra rice cooker pot (just the insert) for it. All in all , this is a great investment. No more crusty rice at the bottom, no more water boiling over, and I don't need to worry about it while I'm making the rest of the food. It's perfect!!! I think anyone that eats rice needs to have one.

This is a small rice cooker. Depending upon the size of your family and/or how many people you usually feed, this rice cooker might not be large enough for you. Though it’s a 3-cup rice cooker, it all depends upon the type of rice you’re cooking, as to whether you can actually cook 3-cups. Long grain rice, for example, you can only cook two-cups. I’ve had a different rice cooker for 20+ years, and. . . . for the most part. . . I’ve loved it. But after purchasing a Zojirushi bread machine, and loving it, I decided to purchase a Zojirushi rice cooker. The Zojirushi is a lot more “complicated” than my original rice cooker. . . which was either “on” or “warm”. There were no options. The instructions make it sound VERY “challenging” to use this rice cooker. Perhaps because I’m not a “rice geek” I feel this way. But in the end, I kind of just do what I think is the best and it works out. For example, Zojirushi says that jasmine rice (one of my favorites, and I cook often) is a long-grain rice and you need to use more water than “medium-grain” white rice. Not for me. I tried it “their way” and the rice turned out to be too “soft” for me. I used the same measurements as for “white rice” and it turned out just the way I like it. So don’t be afraid to “not follow Zojirushi” if you think your way is right. With my “old” rice cooker, it really wasn’t possible to “add things”, like chicken. If I did, it never turned out well, and there was always a thick “film” on the bottom. The same “thick film” would be there even if I simply used chicken stock instead of water. Not so with Zojirushi. I’ve marinated chicken. . . placed it on top of the rice before it started cooking. . . and it turned-out wonderful. There was no “thick film” on the bottom of the pot either. Zojirushi shows in the instructions that you might have a “light film”. . .and that’s true. . . but I hate to even call it a “film”. It’s hardly noticeable. One thing with Zojirushi is it takes a LOT longer to cook than my “old” rice cooker. With the “old” one, it was done in about 15-minutes. With Zojirushi it takes around 45-minutes. That’s not necessarily a bad thing though. The rice turns out great with Zojirushi, so I’m not complaining. Clean-up is very easy. You must hand-wash the bowl. The only place where I think they could improve is the holder for the rice scoop. I have yet to be able to get it to go in place. So I simply don’t use it. My “old” rice cooker had a nice holder where the “scoop” end fit into a detachable cradle. The Zojirushi is supposed to hold the handle end . . but again. . I’ve yet to be able to make that happen, so I simply don’t use it.

We've been using an Oster Rice Maker that we received as a wedding gift 10 years ago. We never really liked it but didn't want to spend a bunch of money on a nicer one. We finally broke down after 10 years and purchased this one after reading many, many reviews. It has many different settings and the keep warm setting works great. Our old rice maker had 2 settings-Cook or keep warm. On keep warm it always burned the rice-this one doesn't! The rice is nice and fluffy hours later on the keep warm setting. This rice maker is very easy to use and cooks rice perfectly. We have used it for both white rice and wild rice and it works great. I like the little musical announcement that the rice is done. My husband was very concerned about the size but he seems to like it now. (He always makes way too much rice anyway, so I'm glad this one has a reasonable limit.) We are a family of 4 and it works great for us, however I think that is about the max. If we had another family over for dinner, we probably could not serve rice. It takes a very long time to cook so we couldn't just whip up another batch for our guests. If you have a large family or like to entertain, I'd recommend the larger size for sure. That is the only reason I gave 4 stars. For the price, I would expect a much larger capacity. The size on the counter is nice though and it looks pretty cool. I used to hide the rice maker in a closet and pull it out as needed, but since this one is so darn cool looking, I keep it out. Plus it makes us look rich since it is SO ridiculously expensive!! ;-) Overall, I am satisfied with this purchase, but only because I"m sure we'll use it for another 10 years and we eat rice fairly often, so it justifies the price. Now if I could just find a coffee maker that doesn't suck, my life would be complete...

We tried the cheaper model from the same brand and returned it. This one works perfectly, especially for cooking very small quantities of rice. Couldn't be happier, and yes,it does employ fuzzy logic when cooking the rice. Don't buy a cooker without that feature. And everything from this brand is usually very high quality. This one is no exception. If you are a serious cook, this is the entry level. Don't go any cheaper. Note that it only cooks 3 cups. Perfect for those who like rice but may not want so much of it. For two people, we've found that 1 cup is enough to satisfy our craving for rice dishes for two, without pumping up our waistlines. It's very easy to use. They give you a measuring cup and you measure the rice with the lines on the cup (we use 1/4 cup per person, but most will probably want 1/2 cup per person), then dump it into the bowl that is included in the thing. Next, add water (some people will stir the rice with their fingers) and pour the water back out to rinse the rice. Some of the hulls from the rice will float off when you pour the water out. Rinse twice, then fill the water back up to the mark corresponding to the amount of rice you have in there. Yes, you add water to the mark with the rice inside. Put the bowl in the unit and close the lid. Next you push menu to select the type of rice you have (white, brown, sushi, etc., use porridge for steel cut oatmeal) and push start. If you want to use the timer, instead of pushing start, push timer, use the arrows to set the time (it starts with the last time you used) and then push start. The only knock I have is that it takes a *long* time to cook 1 cup of rice. 40 minutes just seems like it's twice as long as it should take. However, because I don't know whether that is longer than other fuzzy logic rice cookers, I didn't take a star away from the product. Just be forewarned, it takes a LOT longer than cooking rice on a stove. Is it underpowered? I don't know. The flip side is that it only takes 450 watts to run the thing, and so it is less likely to pop the circuit breaker if you have something else going. A little off topic, but if you are looking at a rice cooker, you may want to learn about rice. Here is what we have learned so far. There are three basic grain sizes of rice: long grain, medium grain and short grain, also known as sweet rice or sushi rice. Each kind has its place. Long grain rice is best for fried rice and pilafs - where the rice shouldn't stick together because you want every grain to be coated with a flavoring. By itself, long grain rice is not that great tasting. We Americans are used to long grain rice, but wait until you branch out into other types. Medium grain rice is for serving just plain rice, like as a side dish with Chinese dishes. It is easily the best tasting rice by itself. It clumps together to a degree, making it easier to eat with chopsticks. If you want the most delicious rice you can find, and you won't be flavoring it, buy medium grain. It's so much better than that long grain minute rice we grew up with. Finally, sushi rice is very short grain and clumps like mad. It is generally limited to sushi, where you would be willing to sacrifice flavor to get better clumping, and sweet dishes, because of its high starch content. This rice cooker has a special setting for short grain rice. But I find short grain rice to be too artificial tasting, and so even for sweet dishes, I use medium grain rice. Next, there are two basic types of rice: brown rice, which is how all rice starts, or white rice, which is brown rice with essentially all of the nutrients removed. With no nutrients, white rice doesn't spoil like brown rice can. We've found very little difference in taste between brown rice and white rice. If you don't like brown rice, you were probably thinking of an exotic variety that had a deeper taste. Regular brown rice you buy in the store is very nearly the same taste as white, so we've stopped buying white. Find Botan Calrose brown rice in an asian market, look at the health advantages of brown rice on the internet and you'll never go back. Note, there is a special setting on the cooker for brown rice, and different water marks for brown, and brown rice takes about 100 (not a typo) minutes to make one cup. I'm sure you can find more detail on line, but that should give you the basics. Ditch your long grain rice: you'll be amazed at how much better medium grain rice can be. And try brown rice: you'll be shocked at how close it is to the nutrient-less white rice. This cooker makes all kinds of rice really well. I've had it for about three years and we use it nearly every day. It's still working like the day we got it. The nonstick bowl looks and acts like new. The battery keeps all of the settings and the current time, though my understanding is that the battery is not easily replaceable without sending it back.

Received this Zojirushi 3-cup Micom as a self-holiday gift a week ago. Since then, I've made sushi rice, basmati, brown & wild medley, along with various types of dal (basmati and red/yellow lentils with curry) and mujadarah (basmati and green lentils with carmelized onions). I've also used the warming part of things to gently steam scallops on top of rice for a New Year's treat. Yum! Soon I'll try veggies and flavored broths. I first put in too much water, since the directions didn't make it clear that the water measures on the cooking bowl include rice at the bottom. But after I got this right, the results were perfect each time. The rice is as good or better than from a restaurant (plus fresher), and much, much cheaper to make at home, particularly if you purchase rice by the pound. I'm working on my sushi technique, but it's already tasting good if looking funky. I do advise rinsing, rinsing, rinsing the rice before cooking. Soaking the grains doesn't really seem necessary, unless you're using the timer, in which case there is no way around it. Speaking of which, the timer works great. It was wonderful to wake up to the aroma of fresh rice. I fixed dal a few times and then left for the gym. When I came home, it was ready, steaming hot, perfectly cooked and the house smelled divine. I think it gently steams, then cooks just at or below a boil, and then steams again. So it really is terrific with beans, such as lentils, that easily fall apart with too much rough treatment, but that benefit from a long slow simmer. And, of course, that's the way to go for rice too. The Zojirushi is easy to use, doesn't take up much countertop space, is attractive and easy to carry around. I took it over to a friend's house for my contribution to a holiday meal. During the car ride, the rice stayed warm in the bowl and helped keep some bread wrapped in foil warm. Actually the warm function keeps rice warm for hours with no diminishment of the quality. The Zojirushi makes cute sounds when it starts up and finishes cooking. Also it's a snap to clean! No nasty white residue and boiled over starch, or scalding steam or water. It truly cleans up in a minute, which is amazing in itself. What's not to like? Well, the price! But Amazon was offering $25 off with a kitchen purchase of over $125. So, although I also considered the 3.5 cup Sanyo (which costs $99) -- which perhaps has a better, thicker bowl -- there wasn't really any savings. Since this is a newer model rice cooker, probably manufactured to compete with the Sanyo, the Zojirushi is what I went with. It's perfect for me. If you make bigger batches of rice at one time, though, I suppose a larger size would be better. Amazon offered the best deal, BTW, including eBay, shopping locally, etc, since there was no tax or S/H. I considered American rice cookers, hot pot styles, etc. They all looked like junk, and I wasn't convinced that they wouldn't turn out messy, glue-like rice. I'm glad I went ahead and got the best for my uses. The quality of rice and beans has been outstanding. Plus I can't get over how much money I'm saving by not buying take-out, and I get to season the food to my liking. There is hardly any food that is cheaper, more comforting or nutritious than rice and beans, and you can keep the oil and butter to a minimum to keep the calories low while not feeling deprived. I'm going to use it to pack lunches too, which means the Zojirushi will pay for itself in one month. Since it arrived, I've hardly used the microwave and hardly have eaten any meat. And, boy, does food taste better! Totally highly recommended.

This little rice cooker works great. It makes some of the best rice I've ever had. I use it to make small amounts of sushi rice daily, as well regular rice and porridge. 1 cup is about the right amount to make 2 sushi rolls, and is more than enough for 1 person. 2 cups is a good amount to feed 3 people. If you need to feed more than 3 people, you can make a 3rd cup and feed 4 or 5 people. The measuring cup has markings for 1/4, 1/2, and 3/4 of a cup. This product has an excellent design which prevents water from dripping on top of the rice like some rice makers allow. You can really see how well thought out it's design is. It is built from very high quality parts, nothing about it looks cheap, it screams quality. The high quality non-stick bowl is especially nice, as it makes cleanup a breeze, the rice all comes out easily, and wipes clean with almost no effort. The bowl has markings on the side for all the different types of rice you make. This is important because sushi rice, for example, needs less rice than normal rice, because you add vinegar at the end. It also has matching markings on opposing sides of the bowl so you can see if the bowl is level, so you never add too much or too little water on an unlevel counter top. The markings are really visible and are raised up so they wont wear off over time.The rice paddle it comes with is also great. It is non-stick plastic, covered with tiny bumps which help grab the rice, and then let it go. This is a really great design for a rice paddle. Now, for the people who complain it takes too long to make rice. If you start with cold water, it does take a long time to make rice. But if you start with warm water, the rice will be ready much much faster. The same thing applies to boiling water on the stove by the way. It also has a quick cook mode, to make it work more like an automatic rice cooker, and less like the high quality rice cooker it is. If you cook rice everyday, and you make different kinds of rice like sushi rice, this rice maker is a great choice. I was a little hesitant to spend over a hundred dollars on a rice maker, but I'm so glad that I did and I wouldn't want to live without this amazing thing. Several people have commented on how cute it is sitting on my counter top. Personally, I'm not too hung up on the looks of my kitchen appliances, but it is a good looking appliance. Update 9 years later, still good as new

I daily use this device for about two months since November 3, 2014. To be honest I bought this rice-cooker not to cook rice but buckwheat and steel-cut oats. I have buckwheat or steel-cut oat porridge for breakfast every day, but before I bought this device my wife had to cook my porridge at evening and I had to preheat it next morning in microwave. Unfortunately porridge after being cooked looses half of its taste next day, on other hand loosing one hour of morning sleep just to have a freshly cooked porridge is also a bit too much. So, I've decided to take a chance and I bought this rice-cooker. I picked specifically that model because it is the smallest one and the only one that can take half cup of grains (rice, buckwheat, steel-cut oat ....); and it is exactly amount I eat for breakfast. It took just a couple of attempts to learn how to cook buckwheat and steel-cut oats in that rice-cooker. This device has 2 timers, but I use only one of them. Every evening at about 11 pm I fill it either with half cup of buckwheat or half cup of steel-cut oats, then I add water and salt. And I set the rice-cooker to be ready at 6:00 am. For about two last months I have freshly and perfectly cooked buckwheat or steel-cut oats every morning. Two months is too short period of time to tell something about this device's durability, but so far so good. Some reviewers complained about quality of inner Teflon pot. I use only plastic spatula provided with this device to take porridge out of the pot and I try to do it barely touching Teflon surface, I also avoid applying temperature stress on Teflon, namely when I remove porridge from the pot - the pot is still hot and I fill it with hot (not cold) water; later this makes washing the pot much easier. And also I use only soft sponge for washing the pot. So far I do not have any signs of Teflon wearing. Here is one usage advice: when food is ready and you open the lid keep it open until you put already washed pot back. Normally some water condensates inside the lid and if you close it this water will ends up on heating surface and heat sensors. But if the pot is in place this water will end up inside the pot. For those who interested here is the way how I cook buckwheat and steel-cut oats for breakfast. I use only plastic measurement cup provide with the device. For buckwheat: at about 11 pm I clean and wash half cup of buckwheat and I add exactly one cup water and two pinches of salt. I select "white rice mixed" mode and I usually set timer to 6 am. When buckwheat is ready I transfer it to the plate and I add either small piece of butter or small amount of preheated in microwave milk. For steel-cut oats: also at about 11 pm I wash half cup of steel-cut oat and I add one and one quoter cup of water and two pinches of salt. Again I select "white rice mixed" mode and I usually set timer to 6 am. It is also OK to set a "brown" mode but for me it ends up a bit too soft (I like to chew my food). When ready I transfer it to the plate and add some preheated in microwave milk and half teaspoon of sugar (or better whole teaspoon of brown sugar). About cooking rice: I actually cooked rice in that device only three times. It cooked white rice in absolutely perfect way. But brown rice was a bit harder that I would like it to be. I will try to add a bit more water next time when I'll cook brown rice again.

My favorite rice cooker. Always perfect every time. Easy clean and fast cook. Keeps rice on warmer for another 3-4 days no problems.

When I placed this order, I mentioned " Made in Japan", but I received "Made in China". During order something 'ON-LINE', if we have option for any further information about the product, then contact through E-mail or Phone, which it will bring better satisfaction.

This is the second Zorjirushi rice cooker we have had the first one broke after 20 years, we are very pleased with how this one works and If it lasts as long as our last one did it makes it a very affordable in the long run. Our last one was 10 cups so we dropped in size but the size is perfect for for 2-3 people. It's simple to use no matter what setting its on and always cooks the rice perfectly. You have the option to cook quickly or on regular setting although the regular setting time is 50-60 minutes depending on the rice your cooking, this is a bit longer than I am used to so I have had to adjust my cooking time accordingly. I highly recommend this product.

I was looking for a rice cooker for 1-2 people since I live in a small condo, and this seemed like the best value for a higher model rice cooker. The good: 1) super cute and compact 2) it plays music! Not necessary, but I love it 3) the price isn't too bad for the quality you are getting. I used to buy the cheap ones that I had to replace every few years. The design on this one is superior with many programmable functions, and the no drip lid 4) It makes a decent pot of rice that is enough for maybe 4 people. The Bad: 1) I only use the quick cook feature as it does take a very long time otherwise. 2) It is probably a good thing as I love my rice, but I wish the pot was just a little bit bigger as sometimes I want to make a bit more. It is pretty tiny.