Here at the Strategist UK, we like to think of ourselves as crazy (in the good way) about the stuff we buy, but as much as we’d like to, we can’t try everything. Which is why we have People’s Choice, in which we find the best-reviewed products and single out the most convincing ones. (You can learn more about our rating system and how we pick each item here.)
And while we’ve written about kitchen accessories before — including the best-rated slow cookers and the best-rated kettles — here, we’ve rounded up the best rice cookers as praised by the most enthusiastic reviewers on Amazon.co.uk.
Best rated overall rice cooker
Judge’s mini rice cooker ticks a lot of boxes — it’s highly rated (331 reviews, 65 percent of which are five stars), and it’s also one of the lightest models, too. The size frequently came up as a selling point in reviews — 24 people said they liked how compact and lightweight it was, including an elderly customer who wrote that it was easy to get in and out of a cupboard in her small kitchen. A total of 76 people remarked on how easy it was to use thanks to its simple analogue settings. Despite its size (eight inches tall), it can still cook enough rice for two people; one couple said it made exactly enough rice for their curry night, with no waste leftover.
Best analogue rice cooker
With 107 reviews and an average review of 4.4 out of 5, Reishunger’s minimalist rice cooker was one of the best rated analogue models. Reviewers found the one-button functionality simple to use — 20 people in total said it was a breeze to make a perfect pot of rice. One reviewer said the German model was a hit with the Chinese family she has lived with for 16 years, who had found traditional Japanese rice cookers hard to source in the U.K. In total, it can cook six portions of rice, but several students wrote that it’s perfect for one-person meals, cooking a single portion in 15 minutes.
Best digital rice cooker
Yum Asia’s Panda cooker uses “fuzzy technology” — which cooks the rice at seven different stages to achieve the best texture and consistency. It has 192 reviews, 83 percent of which are five stars, and 22 reviewers said their rice was perfect every time, in no small part thanks to the smart technology behind it. One five-star review mentioned that, while being an expensive model, it was absolutely worth it for the quality of the rice. And 11 people wrote that they’d recommend the pricier model to friends. According to reviewers, the ceramic bowl is a hard-wearing alternative to the Teflon or non-stick bowls often found in rice cookers. Despite the name, this can cook eight portions at once. [Editor’s note: This product is currently out of stock.]
Best rated large rice cooker
Yum Asia also does a rice cooker for big crowds — this model can cook up to eight portions of rice at a time. It has 104 reviews, 74 percent of which are five stars. Like the Panda model, it uses smart tech to cook the rice through seven different stages and features a ceramic bowl. Despite the larger capacity, reviewers say it’s easy to carry to the table thanks to the handles on the site of the bowl.
Best rated rice cooker with steam basket
This cooker comes in five different sizes, from 0.6L all the way up to 2.8L. And though it’s a basic model compared to the digital ones, the steaming insert was highly reviewed positively by 11 of the 185 reviewers, with one saying it helped save energy usage. Another wrote that broccoli, cauliflower and courgette easily steamed to tenderness in the time it took the rice to cook, and someone even said they successfully steamed a salmon fillet in the top tray. At under £20, one customer said it was great value for money and easy to clean — she bought it to make healthy meals for her grandson.
Some other rice cookers we like
When we asked professional chefs, food writers, and recipe testers for their rice cooker recommendations, this (affordable) option by Russell Hobbs was the most popular. Three out of seven experts said it was brilliant, including Emily Chung, who with her sister Amy wrote The Rangoon Sisters: Recipes From Our Burmese Family Kitchen. ““To this day, I’m yet to be convinced of the benefits of a new-fangled device with digital display and multiple options,” she says. “I’ve used this inexpensive Russell Hobbs cooker at various friends’ houses, and it works a dream.”
Keith Squires, of the Dru Yoga Centre in Snowdonia, particularly liked this Tefal model because it cooked other grains just as well. “My favourite is a risotto like dish made with lentils and rice called kitcheri, which works perfectly in this device.”
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