Tiger JNP-S15U-HU 8-Cup Rice Cooker and Warmer, Urban Satin

✔️ retractable cord✔️ cooks nicely✔️ easy to clean✔️ perfect, single function❌ easy to see inner pot markingsof the dozen or so 3 qt rice pots I’ve bought over the past 25+ years I like this one the best. I’ve been using a 10 qt pot for the past 45+ years, and in spite of signs of use, it still works nicely.Since I’ve been slowing down and my kids all have kitchens of their own, I’ve been taking shortcuts. One of them is putting rice in the pot with its water, seasoning, something green and a protein.But 3 qt isn’t quite big enough for all-in-one-pot rice meal so I just ordered the 5 cup, so this 3 ccup can find a happy home.

Needed to size up to an 8-cup in Tiger's classic model. No frills and no problems.

Stylish look, small footprint that fits in almost any cabinet. And it makes great rice! :)

I used to have a smaller Krups rice cooker but I couldn't understand why there was a disgusting layer of caked browned rice on the bottom, every time, no matter what I did or didn't do. Well DUH, a really top-notch rice cooker makes all the difference. Who knew?Disclaimer -- I didn't get the cooker from this seller but I did buy it from Amazon. This model is simple to use and has a really huge capacity. In case you're reading this and don't know what the 10-cup part means, it's 10 cups of DRY rice! Egads, when you figure about 2.5-3 times cooked vs. dry volume, that's a bit of rice. Mmmmm, rice!The rice cooker comes with a special measuring cup (don't use a standard kitchen measuring cup for rice cookers), a plastic rice paddle, and a very rudimentary instruction book. The top has a nice handle and it closes securely for cooking. There's also a nice little attachment to hold your rice paddle on the side of the cooker, and something they call a "dew collector," which we Americans would call a condensation collector. The cooking interior is non-stick, which is nice.I've used mine with only good quality short-grained "sushi" rice, specifically the "Koshihikari" rice that was grown in the USA. Other quality Japanese type sticky short-grained varieties are "Sasanishiki" and "Akita Komachi." If you do a web search for "rice cookers" you'll find a wealth of information on what types of rice there are available to use in the rice cookers -- short, medium, long grain, aromatic -- the best quality (including many sold here on Amazon), and how to prepare your rice for the cooker so it comes out perfect every time. There are articles online as well as videos you can watch that teach you what to do. By the way, don't ever try "converted" rice in a rice cooker. You won't like the results, and converted rice is not meant to be rinsed as described below.In the case of sushi, or sticky short-grained, rice the best results are obtained by rinsing and rubbing the rice in a separate large bowl, a process that is sometimes called "polishing." Measure your rice into the bowl using the supplied rice cup. The cycle is: you rinse, drain, swirl with your hand or rub between your fingers, three times, then finally rinse the rice until the water is clear. This is where the videos will show you how it's done. Sounds more complicated than it really is, and the small amount of time to do this will pay off in perfect rice.Many people swear by then putting the now wet but drained rice into the cooker and letting it just sit for half an hour, which is what I do. Now to the cooking process. Add water to the marks on the cooker based on how many cups of dry rice you have. Then flip the button to cook. When the button flips up from cook to warm, unplug the rice cooker and let it steam for 15 minutes longer, without heating. This fluffs it up, but don't worry, it will stay hot. If you want slightly moister and stickier rice, add a little more water before cooking. This is the procedure for sticky/sushi rice, which is all I make. After the 15 minutes of steaming is done, you can plug the cooker in again and it will return back to the warm setting, and will keep your rice perfect for hours. I can tell you that my 3 measuring cups of dry sushi rice cooked about 18 minutes before the switch flipped to warm. Unfortunately, the instruction booklet says nothing about cooking times.Some people might object to the sputtering from the steam vent on the lid, but when you're done with the process it's easy enough to wipe off the spots. The non-stick bowl makes it very easy to clean the little leftover grains of rice. What's not to like?This is a fantastic rice cooker if you don't want to spend the extra money for "fuzzy logic" cookers or you don't plan on cooking brown rice, which may or may not turn out well in this rice cooker -- I've not tried it. I believe this cooker is a winner, and based on consumer reviews here and elsewhere on the web, you'll be happy with your purchase for years.

I got my first rice cooker/warmer 27 years ago, and have used Tiger and Zojirushi brands with good results. However, I had problems with this particular Tiger rice cooker/warmer. The first one had to be returned (thank you, Amazon, for a pain-free return system!), because it gave off an unpleasant odor during the cooking of the rice, and this smell was infused into the rice. The only way I can describe the odor is that it is like the smell of the old-fashioned "transistor" radios when they were brand new and turned on for the first time. All of the circuitry and components would heat up, and give off a very distinct odor during the "breaking in" process. I could not get rid of that odor from the rice cooker/warmer, and after several days of cleaning and several batches of ruined rice, I gave up and returned it for a replacement.The second cooker/warmer did not have that "transistor radio" odor, but it did give off an odor similar to the smell of new plastic/rubber, like an inflatable beach ball when it is first taken out of its packaging. I was able to get rid of the odor, but it did take some effort and a few days, including a thorough cleaning, and boiling about half a dozen batches of water. Eventually, the odor went away, and we were able to cook a batch of rice, with good results. The cooker/warmer kept the rice warm and in good condition for 48 hours, which is about what we have come to expect from rice cooker/warmers now days.I gave this rice cooker/warmer 4 stars because it eventually met our expectations, and we are now happy with our purchase. This is, however, the very first cooker/warmer that I have had to "break in" before making my first batch of rice. I did not find any mention about a "break in" process in the instruction manual.If you purchase this rice cooker/warmer, I would suggest testing the cooker by washing the removable rice pot and inner lid thoroughly, and then boiling some water. We just filled the inner pot with water, up to the 4-cup line, and turned the cooker/warmer to the "Rice Cooking" setting. After about 10 to 15 minutes, there will be a steady stream of steam coming from the vent on the lid. If the steam smells clean, you're good to go.If you get the "transistor radio" odor, my experience is that this won't go away. More importantly, the facts that the odor persisted, and that the second rice cooker/warmer did not have this odor, suggest that the "transistor radio" odor may be due to a more serious problem, even though I didn't see any smoke or signs of a fire hazard.If you get the "new beach ball" odor: We cleaned everything thoroughly, including the removable rice pot and the inner lid (the part attached to the handled lid). We also wiped down all internal surface areas exposed when the rice pot and inner lid were removed. We were careful to wipe with a cloth dampened only with water, and with excess water wrung out. We then filled the rice pot with water up to the 4-cup line, turned the cooker/warmer to the "Rice Cooking" setting, and set a timer for 30 minutes. We changed the water after that, and repeated this procedure until the smell was gone. Then we removed and washed the pot and inner lid, and allowed the unit to "air out" as it cooled The next day, the odor was back, but significantly less, so we repeated the procedures again. The following day, the odor was finally gone.Based on our past experience with Tiger rice cooker/warmers, we fully expect that this particular cooker/warmer will last us for years to come.