My Single Serve Rice Cooker

I chose to buy a single serve rice cooker a few weeks ago and it is working out to be one of the best kitchen appliances I have ever owned. The reason I wanted to get a small rice cooker was that my previous Zojirushi machine was actually a 5 1/2 cup rice cooker. And for someone living alone, this is a little bit too big. Admittedly, my previous machine was not broken and did make good quality rice. However I was finding that to get the best results in this larger machine I would have to make a minimum of 2 cups of rice. However with the smaller machine I can make just 1 cup and it comes out perfectly. So my own personal rule is that to get the best tasting rice, you have to make at least 1/3 of your rice cooker’s capacity.

Just to be clear, there is no rice cooker that only cooks a single serving. But if that is what you want, then a 3 cup rice cooker is your best bet. The reason for this is that you can make as little as 1/2 cup of rice. Using larger machines, the minimum amount is 1 full cup.

I chose to get a Zojirushi NP-GBC05 and it is definitely the best rice cooker that I have ever owned. The reasons for this are simple. It is just the right size for my requirements. I can prepare a single serving of rice and it comes out perfectly or make a bit more and have enough rice for another time. It is a good idea to freeze rice that you do not eat straight away. The you can just microwave it for perfect rice at any time. The NP-GBC05 is more than just a small rice cooker, it is the best you can get at this size range. It is a Micom cooking device and it is also the only 3 cup machine that has Zojirushi’s Induction Heating technology. The way this works is very different from most rice cookers. It does not have a heating element. So in order to heat your rice it generates a magnetic field. This has an effect upon the metallic cooking bowl which becomes the heat source within the rice cooker.