What size rice cooker to buy? Zojirushi NP-HBC10 or 18?

Question

Hi - We're a couple - two people - with kids "out of the house." We both LOVE to cook and enjoy leftovers. I don't want to go overkill buying a cooker that is too large; however, I want to be able to use if for recipies, etc. Sometimes kids are over for dinner and entertaining. Will the 5.5 cup be sufficient? Both sizes are the same price. Thanks for any advice!

Answer

Several people here have 10-cup Zojirushi rice cookers ("-18", or 1.8 liter), and successfully make small quantities of rice without any quality issues.

It's always nice to have the extra capacity when the need arises...

Answer

If you have the space or don't mind leaving it out on the counter go for the larger size. Especially if you entertain, which it sounds like you do.

Enjoy!

Answer

i had the 5.5 now i have the 10. quality is the same, and i can make bigger pots of rice soup!

Answer

I have the 10 cup model. I have actually never made more than 4 cups in it, and usually I make 3 cups (and still have leftovers). While I don't really need the 10 cup model, if they are the same price, then it's nice to have.

Answer

I use a 3 cup cooker. 90% of the time its just me and the wife. Even then we are using 1 1/2 to 2 cups of rice which is plenty. We have a 10 cup cooker that we seldom use. cooking smaller amounts of rice in large cookers will work but it is not the best. IMO rice cooked to the maximum capacity taste and looks better. I suggest that you get a good 3 cup and a basic 10 cup cooker like a NHS -18. which runs about $55.00

 PS a 5.5 cup cooker will feed about 4 people. You will need a bigger one for entertaining.

Answer

I agree with an earlier poster who suggested that you consider getting two rice cookers - a 3-cup for regular meals and a 10-cup for entertaining. To me, having rice cookers of different sizes is like having saucepans of different sizes. Sure, you could cook everything in a 20-quart stockpot, but it's nice to have a 3-quart saucepan for daily use.

Answer

I too am trying to decide between a 10 and 18. I had just about settled on the ZCC-10 when I read on another forum (Gardenweb): "I discovered that the 5.5 capacity seems to only be for white rice. Brown rice is more like 3 cups dry." 

Can anyone tell me if that is true? While we feel strongly that 5.5 cups is plenty for us, we'd like that to be brown rice.

Thanks for your help,

Birmingham

Answer

I have a ten cup Zojirushi and never regretted getting that, even though there are only three of us here, now. It cooks smaller amounts just fine (and with the "keep warm" function, you can leave it a while if you have a rice nibbler in the house, like my daughter...) and with the larger pot, you don't have to worry about "boil overs" should you decide to cook steel cut oats or the like in there, as well. Go for it!

Answer

I have a 3.5 cup Sanyo, and 99% of the time, it's more than enough for 2 people + leftovers to freeze. I would think the 5.5 would be more than adequate. While I do know some people who have used the 10 cup Zojis successfully for small amounts of rice, I have heard of people having problems with small amounts of rice in some small rice cookers. Also, unless you're making brown rice, you can always make two batches in a row, should you need to make more than ~ 5 cups of rice (unlikely).

BTW, unless you're making fried rice, store your leftover rice in the freezer. We put them in little saran wrap balls called "hamsters".

Answer

For two peopler, 5.5 cup is ennough. Rice cookers normally include a small measuring cup, and a plastic paddle for serving the cooked rice. The rice cup measure is normally 180 ml, approximately 25% smaller than the American measuring cup of 8 (US) fluid ounces / 240 ml. You can check their types here: http://www.ecvv.com/product_directory/Rice-Cooker.html

Answer

Hi, I think 5.5 cup would be the best size for your family. As I know, 1 cup of raw rice can make 2 bowls of rice.

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If they're the same price, go for the big one if you have the space. You can cook 4 cups of rice in the 10 cup, but you can't cook 8 cups of rice in the 5.5 cup. I got the exact model you're looking at in the 10 cup and absolutely LOVE it. I make steel-cut oatmeal in there all the time. It does an incredible job with polenta, too (two times through the Porridge cycle, stirring whenever you think about it during the second cycle). And yes, I do rice in there too.

Answer

Personally I would choose the 5.5 cup. In my case, I just downsized from a Zojirushi 5.5 cup to a Zojirushi NP-GD05 (Japanese model of NP-GBC05). Admittedly it is a higher end product but cooking just one cup of rice does not feel "too little" as it used to in my 5.5 machine. If you are only going to be cooking a few cups then in my experience, less is more. The 5.5 can still cook enough rice for up to 10 people.

To those of you who make 1 cup of "perfect rice" in your 10 cup cooker. Have you tried making one cup in a 3 cup machine? It's perfecter!

Answer

A timely post--I was coming to ask a similar question. We're 2 adults, 2 small children. I like to make more than just rice in the rice cooker (add meat, vegetables, etc). If I do that, am I better off going for the bigger model? My concern is that a 5.5 cup model will be just enough now, but in a couple of years time (with bigger children, bigger appetites, and maybe another baby too) it will be too small. OTOH, I am notorious for overestimating how much of something we're going to eat, so I'm not sure I want to trust my judgment.

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What size rice cooker to buy? Zojirushi NP-HBC10 or 18?

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