Zojirushi Micom Rice Cooker & Warmer NL-BAC05

After doing a lot of comparing between Tiger and Zojirushi for a new rice cooker, I ended up deciding on this 3-cup rice cooker. It is the perfect size when cooking for just 1 or 2 people. I liked the features of the rice cooker - the different cooking modes...although I haven't used any other than white rice and quick...but I like having the options. The pot is non-stick and we'll made, so it is easy to clean and keep clean. I also like that it came with a rice paddle (shamoji) and measuring cup (Japanese rice measuring cups are smaller than 1 cup in the US. I am used to measuring the water to rice ratio 1:1 for white rice (with my old rice cooker), and I tried using the inner markings on the inside of the pot...but I felt it was a little mushy for my taste...so I went back to measuring the water I put into the pot. It is seriously easy to use and easy to disassemble to wash. For some reason...I really want to try the cake recipe...making cake in a rice cooker is intriguing to me. Pros: easy to use, easy to clean, good cooking modes, cooks my japanese short grain rice just the way I like it, great price, good size for 1 or 2 people Cons: none (except maybe measure your water instead of using the lines on the inside of the pot) (not a deal-breaker for me) Next recipe: kamameshi!

I've been using this cooker for several weeks. Fantastic cooker for rice, oatmeal and quinoa. In fact the quinoa turns out truly amazing. I bought this before I truly knew all my rice-cooking options, so am a bit jealous of Induction Heating... but not sure there is a huge difference beyond shaving a few minutes off the cooking time and a 75% increase in unit cost. It would be interesting to understand differences in electrical costs over the course of a year. I'm still experimenting with water quantity. My short-grained white rice from California ends up with a sticky sushi-like consistency following the cooking bowl water-mark, whereas my Basmati rice ends up more light and fluffy. My Oatmeal (which I use the timer to have ready for me each morning) is a bit thicker consistency using bowl water-mark... I may try making with a bit more water. The quinoa is light and airy. If my family members have a staggered arrival home from daily activities and we cannot eat dinner together it is pretty cool that food in the cooker warmer will keep food like-freshly-cooked for hours. It does not get dried out or burnt. I hand clean the unit after each use because I don't want the pieces to degrade, but very easy to clean, just a couple of minutes. For the price, I think it is a good value.

Bought this is a buy it for life item for my sister for her 40th birthday. She loves it and her husband and kids love it. She says the rice comes out perfect every time.

This is the greatest rice cooker I have EVER used without comparison. It’s a touch pricey but we eat a lot of rice and different sorts of rice. For us it’s a perfect size - we often cook 1c uncooked for a meal and a big cooker just doesn’t suit us. What’s great is that it makes perfect short, medium, long grain place brown and other grains. Long grain bagged isn’t our most common, medium grain Arroz Rico is our preferred and it cooks it up to perfection. It also does porridge (oatmeal) exceptionally. A huge plus is the timer that lets me set a finish time on my rice so I can worry with other meal details and just let it do it’s thing. Compared to my old pop-up, there’s no comparison. Compared to a pot on the stovetop - it’s just way convenient, perfect cooking, and doesn’t use a burner. I think of all of the rice(s) I’ve ever cooked and wonder now why I never made the leap. If you cook rice with any regularity, you want a Zojirushi. If you eat rice every couple months it’s probably not cost effective. Super easy to clean and doesn’t take as much counter as the toaster. Bust kitchen investment I’ve made this year!

I bought this because we needed to replace my terrible single temp rice cooker. It was one of those cheap college student appliances, and I really just wanted a rice cooker that sang to me. This doesn't have a slow cooker function like the big boys do, but I have a small galley kitchen, so I can't buy the gigantic one. I've literally never had any problems with any kind of rice. This works for literally any kind of rice. It keeps the rice warm, almost hot for several hours. So I sometimes make rice at breakfast and eat the rest at lunch if I'm feeling lazy. It also has steelcut oatmeal, quinoa and CAKE functions. I've not cooked any of those, but I'm definitely interested in a cake out of this bad boy. It comes with a pretty detailed instruction manual including some recipes. Cleaning is easy, the little bowl is non-stick, so just wait for it to cool, wash it like you would any other non-stick pan and put it back in for storage. The top of the lid is also removable and should be cleaned after every use. It comes with its own rice scoop and rice cup. Do not use any other cup, and don't use an actual measuring cup, because this thing is NOT a full cup. It's roughly 3/4 cup, so if you are the sort to misplace stuff in your kitchen, either buy another one (they're about $8) or just use 3/4 cup as your measurement until you find the right one. Also use the measurement in the bowl, it's there for a reason. You don't have to make this complicated, ignore the directions on the bag, use the bowl. Once it cools, make sure to wipe out any rice that escaped from the bowl, because it will burn. It takes about half an hour after you turn it off to be fully cool to the touch. And yes, it does sing to you when you turn it on, and when it's done, there's a different song. You cannot change it. Listen to the song of the rice cooker. Love the song of the rice cooker. Do a little dance when it sings, and eat rice.

Our old rice cooker finally died after 20 years of solid service. After slogging through terrible reviews on the current batch of low-cost offerings, I finally came across this Zojirushi Micom. It was about 2.5x the price of the cheaper items. In today's market, finding quality is often difficult and it's not always certain that paying more will get you more, but the reviews were solid and I decided to take a chance. Here's the thing. Back in the day, I used to laugh about fuzzy-logic in appliances, but I'm not laughing now. It is absolutely NOT a joke or hyperbole to say that the rice made in this cooker is better than any I've ever had. And the oatmeal. Steel-cut oatmeal comes out insanely perfectly, really full of flavor and excellent texture. I know, it sounds like I work for their marketing team but this is a completely honest review from a real customer. This model is perfect for one or two people. No more wasteful leftovers from cooking too much rice. It makes insanely simple but profoundly delicious one-pot rice meals. Simple menu interface, flexible operation modes, very well made. We call it "Zo-chan". No, really. Anthropomorphizing it helps remind me to treat it with respect and keep it clean and perfectly maintained for many years of anticipated use, like the other important kitchen tools.

Jan. 05, 2020, MY 5-Month UPDATE: I broke it by trying to scrub off the crud in the heating unit: don’t try to wash out crusted on stuff from the base because liquid gets trapped inside and the coating will come off of the heating unit. So sad! :( Yet, the broken machine inspired me to master basic quinoa and rice cooking—with some help from Youtube, of course. Expensive loss aside, it was still worth it for me as a newbee on a journey to cook healthier at home. Rice was reliable, but the quinoa was sometimes mushy, overcooked, because 40-60 minutes is way too long for fluffy quinoa—which really needs to be rinsed and toasted before it’s cooked. Forget about the oats: it was a sticky mess. Tips for new buyers: Cook small batches that won’t overflow. Don’t put any seasonings or stuff that can bubble over the little rice pot and get scorched below it. Instead of buying a second one, I decided it would be a better investment to learn how to cook short-grain rice and quinoa on the stove top in an All-clad stainless steel pot—which does not have unhealthy non-stick coatings. It was great while it lasted, but I don’t regret mastering simple sushi rolls. It also inspired me to just learn the timing and ratios for cooking small pots of sushi rice on the stove top. JULY 2019: 1st MONTH UPDATE, Pros: After triple rinsing rice in a pyrex glass with strainer, add to rice pot. Easy measuring water lines marked for sushi. Preset includes soak time: 60 minutes. Perfect consistency from top to bottom. Easy lunch for busy beginners, like me. I have no rice-making skills and got tired of hit and miss pots of rice on the stovetop and with other steamers and pressure pots. Cons: Plastic-chemical smell during 1st few uses; pricey, yet worth it for making lunch rolls that cost $6 - $15 depending on seafood ingredients End of week update: quinoa sushi rolls with scrambled egg and sweet pepper were easy to cut and not mushy! Seasoned sushi rice is easier to roll than quinoa for me; tried marinated artichoke hearts, sauteed bell peppers, yellow carrot, and cucumber on the 5th day. Prep is getting getting faster.

I have been in the market for a small rice cooker for a while, and Zojirushi is the one everyone says is worth the money. This one hit two features I was looking for in a rice cooker I was going to spend this much money one: A timer function and a small minimum amount to cook. The timer function is perfect. I don't know how it understands that the rice or oatmeal has soaked over night but I have perfect rice ready the exact time I set the cooker for. This is amazing because I *love* tamago gohan for breakfast. Since I've owned this cooker, I've had brown rice ready to go right after my workout every day of the week. The small minimum for cooking rice let's me cook 60mL of dry rice, meaning I don't have any left over rice after breakfast. The inner pot's nonstick is amazing and wipes clean with a soft sponge. I guess I've only bought crappy nonstick all my life because I've never been able to dry wipe away the leftover oatmeal goop. The keep warm function is black magic! 😂 On the first day I left half the rice in the cooker because I cooked too much. I had meant to clean it up but I got distracted with work. I came back around lunchtime 4 hours later and my rice was nearly as perfect as it had been that morning. In fact, I had to change my lunch plans because I had thought it would have been dried out enough to fry up, but it wasn't. This cooker is worth every penny. It's just me and my husband, so the 3 180mL cup limit is not a problem for us and the smaller minimum amount makes it perfect for my single serve breakfast needs.

This is my second Zojirushi rice cooker. My first, a large, family-sized six-cup unit, is fifteen years old and still going strong. When our remaining child left home, he took the unit with him, which is still being used daily. Being empty nesters, we opted to buy a smaller rice cooker to allow cooking smaller portions and to take up less counter space. The ZOJI NL_BAC05SB suits our needs precisely. This Zoji has a three-cup capacity, and while smaller than others in the line, nothing is omitted in the design. The cooker has a tried-and-true triple heating unit and a thick non-stick cooking pot to ensure uniform cooking. Cleaning is easy, with all parts easily accessed. Keeping your rice cooker spotless is essential for uniform cooking. I found the steam vent on my older model challenging to clean, but this newer unit has a removable steam vent that can be cleaned easily. This versatile cooker makes various kinds of rice, quinoa and the best steel-cut oatmeal you will ever wake up. Mix a batch before you go to bed, set the timer, and your Goji will whistle you a tune telling you your favourite breakfast food is hot and piping and ready to eat. One thing to remember with the smaller-sized unit is that most cookbooks offering one-pot meals base their recipes on the 6-cup models. The three-cup model is too small to hold the different ingredients. The ability to cook a family meal in one pot was convenient when juggling work and family, but it is not a big deal now that I am retired and have time to enjoy cooking. Some are concerned that the Zoji has an internal battery that has to be replaced by the factory in Japan. While that is technically true, the battery in my first machine lasted almost ten years, and anyone with basic soldering skills can replace the battery in ten minutes. I’ve been asked why buy a dedicated rice cooker when you can purchase a cheaper, more versatile pressure-based cooker that cooks faster. I’ve tried those, and they do a great job at certain meals. But none of them come close to delivering the quality of the rice, oatmeal and quinoa I get from my Zoji. It is reliable, simple to operate and consistently provides high-quality hot rice, oatmeal, or quinoa every time. And yes, the Zoji will make you a cute little mini cake for dessert.

Produto muito bom. Já conhecia e utilizava uma panela desta marca .

Es un muy buen producto. Trae un manual de instrucciones escritas y con códigos QR donde te enseñan a usar el aparato paso a paso, desde enjuagar y lavar el arroz hasta revolverlo una vez preparado, aunque realmente la operación es muy sencilla. También dan tips acerca de las cantidades que debes usar dependiendo del grano que quieras preparar y cómo conservar mejor tu arroz ya preparado para que no se eche a perder. Se puede notar que han hecho muchas pruebas con este aparato y por ello tienen muchas recomendaciones. Trae taza medidora para el grano, una palita de plástico para sacar el arroz cuando está listo e indicadores de niveles para los distintos tipos de grano que se pueden preparar: Arroz blanco (dos tipos), para sushi, arroz integral y avena cortada. Se supone que se puede condimentar el arroz durante la preparación pero no he probado hacerlo así. Ah sí, también puedes programar el aparato para mantener el arroz caliente o para recalentarlo. Este es el de capacidad más pequeña que son 3 tazas que para mí es suficiente como guarnición para 4 personas. Si piensas hacer banquete o arroz en grandes cantidades, recomiendo una com mayor capacidad.

Excelente producto, antes de comprarlo tenía dudas si funcionaría correctamente porque vivo en una ciudad a 2500 metros sobre el nivel del mar y el voltaje de mi localidad es de 127 V. Funcionó sin ningún problema.

I have used several times now, in the short time we've owned it, all with great success. It is incredibly easy to operate. The results are perfect. The body of the machine feels solid, the bowl is quite thick, the water levels are shown very legibly for the type & amount of rice. The whole unit very easy to clean. I did purchase The Best of the Best Rice Cooker Cookbook by Beth Hensberger for more recipes ideas & tips. I would recommend especially for a couple or a small family. It has a small footprint which is a real bonus when space is at a premium. I may purchase another to have at the summer cabin as we will miss this small appliance. Overall, I am vey pleased with my purchase although I originally balked at the price, I am glad I went ahead with the purchase.