3 Comments on “Aroma 20-Cup (Cooked) Digital Rice Cooker and Food Steamer, Stainless Steel Review
  1. 148 of 162 people found the following review helpful
    5.0 out of 5 stars
    Beyond my wildest expectations, December 9, 2012
    By 
    studioprod. “Roberts” (Haverhill, MA United States) –

    Verified Purchase(What’s this?)
    This review is from: Aroma 20-Cup (Cooked) Digital Rice Cooker and Food Steamer, Stainless Steel (Kitchen)
    Although always learning, I’m pretty skilled in the kitchen and, with a ten-burner stove you might say I’m a bit overboard. One of the skills that’s eluded me is making outstanding rice, especially as I try to cook with a wide variety of rice. About 70% of the time it came out well but there was a 30% failure rate — usually from being distracted with other things.

    For the past few years, I’ve been interested in a rice cooker. Naturally, there are those expensive ones appealing to a certain segment of the population but, for me the technology of the rice cooker seemed simple enough. Being satisfied with another Aroma appliance, a twin-basket deep fryer, I felt emboldened to purchase their rice cooker (I also knew it comes with Amazon’s iron-clad guarantee).

    I expect the $200+ cookers come with a nicely printed color brochure, but using this is so straghtforward that we can dispense with the glossy photos of ecstatic models. In truth, this has all the bells and whistles of the expensive ones. Most important seems to be the ‘fuzzy logic’ that drives the timing. It’s only natural that i should be somewhat fuzzy about what Fuzzy Logic is but here’s my take on it. Somehow, the machine figures out the perfect cooking time for the particular type of rice you are cooking.

    There is a difference between the cooking of jasmine, basmati, gold canilla and short-grain sticky rice. Evidently, the fuzzy logic chip figures this out and all I needed to do was put in the rice (pre-washed, as I always do it) and the water, close it up, turn it on and press the White Rice button. It beeps when ready and will hold the rice at an ideal heat for hours after, so there’s none of the last minute rushing. Hot, perfectly cooked rice is there when you need it.

    And trust me, the rice is always PERFECT.

    There’s another button…Brown Rice. Lundberg’s makes a mix of wild rice and brown rice which has always been my bête noire. I’ve never gotten it right. But using this rice cooker and pressing the Brown Rice button, it’s as though it figured out the optimal average for those very different types of rice. For the first time I understood how that mix was supposed to taste.

    There are provisions for steaming foods in a basket, but I have a flawless steaming rig for the stove, so I’ve yet to try it. Cleanup is easy. Of course you have to use care and not treat it as though you’re scrubbing down a tractor. I suspect that’s the reason the coating peeled but, a simple sponge and water and that’s it. There’s also a clever little container that catches condensation from the lid. That pops out and is easily emptied.

    I have a three-room kitchen/pantry so I can make room for something like this. The only con would be for those with a smaller kitchen. Still, it’s well worth the effort of finding the space for it. I think, like me, you’ll be finding more use for this appliance than you originally thought and, at less than forty bucks, there’s little reason to hesitate.

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  2. 196 of 228 people found the following review helpful
    5.0 out of 5 stars
    Great Rice Cooker! (Soak brown rice first!), August 10, 2011
    By 
    Paul F (Michigan, USA) –

    This review is from: Aroma 20-Cup (Cooked) Digital Rice Cooker and Food Steamer, Stainless Steel (Kitchen)
    We bought this rice cooker from a store whose name rhymes with “Halmart”. Thinking that we knew how to cook rice, we loaded it up and fired away, only to get a tremendous mess of starchy goop that flooded the top of the unit and flowed down the side, collecting underneath. (It stinks and the stink gets worse if you forget that it’s there…) [UPDATE: You can place the rice cooker on a large Corelle dish to catch goopy overflow. It’s a close size-match.)

    After reading reviews for other Aroma rice cookers here on Amazon, I discovered that soaking the rice fixes everything. And very fortunately, this unit comes with a delay timer. Just load the cooker with rice and water (measured, of course), press “Delay Timer” for the number of hours you’d like to delay (the number is the number of hours when the rice will be finished), and choose “white rice” or “brown rice” (brown rice was giving us the most mess). I’ve set the timer as little as 2 hours, and the mess is eliminated even then. I believe that more delay is better. I’ve set it as long as 12 hours. I don’t know the maximum number of hours you can delay.

    CONS for this rice cooker: there’s a plastic valve inside the lid that needs to be cleaned often, and the underside of the lid needs to be cleaned as well. It doesn’t detach, so you’ll have to scrub with a wet paper towel.

    I haven’t tried to steam anything yet (fish, veggies).

    Bottom line: I recommend this product.

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  3. 28 of 29 people found the following review helpful
    5.0 out of 5 stars
    Use & Clean Up a Breeze-Excellent Rice Everytime! Multiple Uses!, March 4, 2015
    By 
    Cmex84 (Michigan) –

    Verified Purchase(What’s this?)
    This review is from: Aroma 20-Cup (Cooked) Digital Rice Cooker and Food Steamer, Stainless Steel (Kitchen)
    Was skeptical at first but truly pleased with my purchase. Stopped cooking rice after years of it sticking to the pan or coming out over done or undercooked. Healthier eating brought on less bulky pastas and wanted to try to incorporate more rice into our meals. Also, since this appliance is not only a rice cooker but also acts as a crock pot and veggie steamer as well…it’s easy on the pocketbook as well as the counter space. Reviews were kinda half and half with many saying that they either couldn’t figure it out (hard to follow directions) or the rice was not coming out well when they used it. After using this for two-three months now, I’d have to say that either those people are either not understanding the directions (which are very easy in my opinion to follow) or it’s simply operator error. I LOVE my rice cooker. I can set it and leave it (unlike the pan on the stove) and it’s come out perfect every time!

    Extras:
    1. The wide spoon that is included for the rice is wonderful and stores inside the cooker when not in use.
    2. The cup included has measurements on the side, stores inside cooker while not in use.
    3. The inside metal bowl of the cooker is easy to clean (literally a damp cloth will do ya-nothing sticks, burns etc!), removes for easy cleaning without worries of water damage to unit AND has measurements on inside of bowl so you know you’re getting the right amount of water and rice evertime! Takes the guess work out.
    4. Manual is very easy to read. Separated into sections “Cooking Rice”, “Steaming veggies while cooking rice” etc etc. Has a handy insert that is removable with “Quick cooking tips” for amounts to use and hangs on my fridge for quick referencing.
    5. Steamer tray is removable, stores in unit when not in use and gives ample space. I can usually fit two 10-12oz frozen veggie bags in it with a bit of room to spare. This tray does seem to take on some of the color of the more colored veggies (such as carrots with an orangish tint) but otherwise not a huge deal. Easy clean up.

    Only Downside that I can think of:
    The cord for this unit is somewhat shorter than my usual appliances. However, this also means that I can bring it up through the handle once, and have it dangle while not in use-rather than have a wad of cord flopping around the cabinet too. So, take that as you will.

    I added photos for better viewing-since seller does not post for much to see. This was one of my biggest issues when comparing these to other brands/models. I wanted to see inside and how it all comes together or comes apart. So, I’m hoping this helps someone out. Coffee can in photos is a large coffee can from Sams club-for size comparison.

    One thing to note, the lid on this unit does NOT come off completely. It is attached by a hinge on one side. Grab onto handle, push in large button with thumb to release door and it opens easily (light weight lid also). Lid does stay open without dropping down hard when ready to serve rice OR metal bowl can be removed during serving.

    Bottom Line: WORTH THE MONEY! Great price, excellent rice-every time! Takes the hassle out of multiple pans, can be used for full meal dishes (crock pot type use) & veggie or food steamer tray. Would definitely recommend this to anyone.

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