Steam rice cooker

Panasonic’s SR-SJ1/SK1 rice cooker series feature a new continuous high-temperature system of steaming rice, enhancing the distinct sweetness and flavor of rice by approximately 10% compared to the current model. Four versions, price to be determined. On sale June 1.

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some14some at 11:04 PM JST - 26th April

i am sure not too many people will want to pay the price. if it is not mentioned i am sure it will be very high

true, the price will take away the steam i.e. whatever strength left in ordinary family's budget.
GW at 11:57 PM JST - 26th April

At our house we have been using a dounabe for making rice, mostly the over polished white stuff but genmai is fine as well, after using this baby for the last several years I have no need what so ever for any electrical rice cooking suihanki thingamajig, no thanks!
AlffromWapping at 02:23 AM JST - 27th April

I reckon Japanese rice is horrid. Me daughter bought some and when it were cooked it was like semolina, and didn't have any nice taste.

I reckon this rice cooker is a rip off like. I'll stick with me Uncle Bens rice thank you.
Badsey at 04:23 AM JST - 27th April

The Uncle Ben's instant microwave in a pouch (pre-cooked) rice meals are very good and the SteamFresh (steam in a bag) are also a good choice.

The knock on the Panasonic ($100-150 3 sizes rated in cups) has been that there was no steam/water drain = more clean-up. You may want to get the bigger models with the basket on top (steam veggies and rice at same time)

Steam is very powerful and can even soften up broccoli stems (good for fiber). Fish with small bones (bones will turn liquid). Slow cook soups.
soldave at 04:26 PM JST - 27th April

How the hell can you say something tastes 10% better?! You've got to love the press releases on here for their comedy value.
likeitis at 06:12 PM JST - 27th April

How the hell can you say something tastes 10% better?! You've got to love the press releases on here for their comedy value.

You have 100 people eat the two and they rate them from one to ten. One gets an average score of 75 percent, and the other 85 percent. The other is 10 percent better. Next!
likeitis at 06:17 PM JST - 27th April

AlffromWapping: I reckon Japanese rice is horrid. Me daughter bought some and when it were cooked it was like semolina, and didn't have any nice taste.

If you cooked it like Uncle Ben's, I bet it was horrid. I think you should accept the fact that from the isolation of your Appalachian mountain hut there might be a great many things about the world you simply will not be able to suss out for yourself. Other cultures have done a great many little things you should have some more reverence for, and an appreciation that you may not know it all after all.

Next time you want to know about Japanese food, ask a Japanese to make you some. And no, the local Japanese restaurant knock-off run by Chinese will NOT do.
Richard_the_First at 07:39 PM JST - 27th April

Comparing boiled rice is like comparing the 'taste' of mineral water in my opinion. Both tasteless.
likeitis at 07:48 PM JST - 27th April

RichardtheFirst: Comparing boiled rice is like comparing the 'taste' of mineral water in my opinion. Both tasteless.

I am thinking it is not so much your opinion as your lard laden diet. A lot of Westerners seem to have their tongues so coated with fat that they cannot taste anything but fatty foods that exceed the layer already on their tongue. This is part of Ebisen's theory I believe:

Ebisen: Unfortunately, I think it takes more than 5 years of daily rice eating for one to be able to distinguish the difference between properly cooked expensive rice (Niigata's Koshihikari for ex.) and ordinary rice cooked in a cheap cooker.
JeffLee at 09:09 PM JST - 27th April

A lot of Westerners seem to have their tongues so coated with fat

True, mine is "coated" by the fat from tonkatsu and tempura.
Patrick Smash at 11:58 PM JST - 27th April

I love this thng about westerners not appreciating the flavour of rice because their tongues are too coated in fat. Try walking down a road in Japan and have a look at what the Japanese eat. Every station area has a mass of hamburger bars, cake shops, ice cream parlours, donut shops and so on. The supermarkets are full of high-salt fatty rubbish and the Japanese adore their tonkatsu and tenpura. I reckon the average Brit has a healthier diet these days.

My in-laws have eaten rice every day for nearly 70 years and to them rice is rice. They can't tell one brand from the other, and even if you can, this idea that something tastes 10% better than something else is total nonsense. You can't decide on foods that way; only nutters and culture-vultures think anything different.

Varying the amount of water you use in a rice cooker is the main thing, not the actual rice. Different types of rice need slightly more or slightly less water, so if you change brands you can notice the difference ever so slightly. The age of the rice (how dry it is) has probably just as big an effect, but we're still talking about rice and guess what; rice tastes of rice.
bdiego at 04:29 AM JST - 28th April

Wow, all the rice experts here don't sound like they eat much rice to begin with. The key with cooking rice is water, whether you heat it by contact or infrared, and the breed of rice you use. Saying that there's no such thing as good or bad rice is like saying there's no such thing as good or bad BBQ technique. Saying that without ever having BBQ'd means you're a JT troll.
bdiego at 04:31 AM JST - 28th April

Hey Patrick, go to Japan, then go to the US. When you land at the airport, tell me the people don't look fatter.

A few weeks later this effect wears off. Interesting.
motytrah at 04:47 AM JST - 28th April

I'm going to assume the folks posting the Uncle Ben's comments are having a laugh. The whole rice in a pouch craze is just horrid. There's a lot of off "flavors" get from that junk.

That being said, a good rice maker really does matter. But only to a certain point. A nice 3-cup Zojirush in the $100 range does a fantastic job for all kinds of rice. Certainly better than some of those cheap no-name Chinese brand rice makers. Beyond that price point the law of diminishing returns starts to apply.
ironchef at 10:54 AM JST - 1st May

I reckon this rice cooker is a rip off like. I'll stick with me Uncle Bens rice thank you.

HAHA Uncle Ben's?? rice in a box?! what a joke..and who uses "reckon"?