But does the fancy rice cooker actually make better rice?
The short answer is yes. And I know this based on a side by side, blind taste test I did comparing rice cooked from the $230,Zojirushi Neuro Fuzzy, a basic $30 rice cooker, and rice cooked on the stovetop. You can see the test in this video:
Both jasmine and short grain Japanese rice came out noticeably more evenly cooked, from the Zojirushi, although the difference was very slight for jasmine rice, which is more forgiving than short grain.
However, I tasted the rice straight up, which is not how I eat rice in real life. When I eat rice in a meal, with curries and stir fries doused in top, this difference is basically gone.
The Zojirushi does, however, cook sticky rice significantly better. Some basic rice cookers can cook sticky rice, others cannot, it really depends on how powerful it is. Sticky rice, when cooked in water, requires very gentle heat, and in my experience it’s kind of a hit and miss which basic cookers can manage the task well enough.
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