I bought this to replace another Aroma rice cooker, which had been bought to replace an old one that had fallen, and suffered a big dent. It still worked, but I wanted a new one so when I was cooking for people, it didn't look so bad.
The original model was an out-of-manufacture model which only had cook and warm settings. The replacement model was much higher-end, but it was 2-3 times slower in cooking rice. My old model could cook an entire pot of rice in 25 minutes, and the newer one took 50 to cook two cups.
I returned that model, and decided to go with a higher model. That was this one.
It still isn't as fast as cooking rice as my old one (I contacted Aroma and asked about the previous one, they said their newer rice cookers prioritize optimally-cooked rice over speed, and if I wanted fast rice, that many of their rice cookers had a "quick rice" setting. This rice cooker does tend to do better rice, my old one occasionally burned rice on the bottom, where this one has only burnt the bottom of rice once, and I think that was my fault, I didn't stir the rice after adding water.)
I didn't realize until after I had it that it's Aroma's highest-end consumer rice cooker model.
This rice cooker can do so many things. Not only is its rice-cooking capabilities great (does white rice great, makes perfect brown rice) but can also do soups and stews, and steamed things. Aroma's website even has a recipe for a perfect omelet made by this rice cooker in about 5 minutes on the steam setting.
The Saute then Simmer function is really nice. You can make soups, stews, and chilis with it. You place your ingredients in the ricer cooker, then press the Simmer then Saute button. The rice cooker will heat the liquid, until it's simmering. Then it will simmer it for about an hour. If you need to simmer it longer, you just press the power button to clear it off of keep warm, then press the Saute then Simmer button again.
The delay function works well. You can delay rice up to 15-hours. I do wish it could be used for all functions (Steam, Saute then Simmer) but it only works for white rice, quick rice, and brown rice.
The steamer function has a max of 30 minutes.
The rice cooker will also keep food warm for hours. Even without using the keep warm function, it is well-insulated and will keep the food warm. I have had soup stay hot for hours after cooking.
The lid opens front-to-back, unlike my previous two rice cookers, which opened from left-to-right. This is much more convenient because it means you don't have to turn the rice cooker sideways to open it if it sat just barely under a cabinet or something while cooking. The lid is also spring-loaded, so pressing the button will make it open by itself, whereas my other two didn't do that.
Aroma's website has many recipes that you can use this rice cooker for. You would be surprised at some of them. But the burgers just don't look good. Steaming instead of frying doesn't give them the correct color. The pictures of pink-grey burgers do not look appetizing.
I DO wish they had a deeper steamer tray available. If you aren't cooking anything along with steaming, you could use a deeper steamer tray. The current tray isn't small, but if you're doing lots of vegetables, you will have to do several batches to do them all.
The steam vent on the back of the lid is integrated into it. It cannot be removed. I kind of wish it could like my old model. This lets you wash the entire thing. The bottom part can be removed to be washed, however. But the top grate cannot.
The condensation collector on the back is larger than my previous model, but it does not connect as securely. The old model snapped in, and didn't come out unless it was pressed. The one on this one fits in very loosely, and has popped out several times just for being lightly touched by something behind it.
The power cord is not detachable, unlike my original rice cooker model. It would be nice if you could, for storage.
The rice cooker comes with a steam tray, a rice cup, a rice paddle, and a soup ladle. If you use the rice paddle or soup ladle with soups, they will likely stain. Tomato-based soups will permanently stain the plastic red. This doesn't affect their use, and no residue remains after washing, but the color will be permanent in them.
This appliance can replace so many other ones. It can be used as a rice cooker, steamer, a sauter, a small stove for liquids, even baking (according to the recipes provided by Aroma) and would make a great thing for small spaces.
The price is very reasonable for its versatility.
Enjoy easy home cooking with the aroma sensor logic 20-cup digital rice cooker and food steamer. It’s advanced sensor logic technology thinks for itself to flawlessly prepare 4 to 20 cups of cooked rice. The patent-pending sauté-then-simmer technology allows the rice cooker to sauté foods at a high heat and automatically switches to a simmer once liquid is added; perfect for the easy preparation of a wide variety of stovetop classics. The included steam tray allows for meats and vegetables to be steamed while rice cooks below for easy, one-pot meals. The programmable 15-hour delay timer allows for rice and water to be added in the morning and programmed to have it hot and ready when it's needed at night. When the cooking is done, the nonstick inner cooking pot removes for quick and easy cleaning. Includes recipe booklet, steam tray, measuring cup, serving spatula and soup ladle.
- Enter your model number above to make sure this fits.
- Aroma is the #1 rice cooker brand in the US.
- Capacity: Yields up to 20 cups of COOKED rice (approx. 20 servings).
- Easy-to-use functions: white rice, brown rice, Sauté-then-Simmer, smart steam, delay timer and keep-warm.
- Quick tip: Sauté-then-Simmer reaches a high heat for sautéing/browning and automatically switches to a simmer once liquid is added.
- Included accessories: recipe booklet, steam tray, measuring cup, serving spatula and soup ladle.
- NOTE: Please ensure to measure rice in the cup that comes along with the product ONLY
