Iwachu 410-718 Japanese Cast Iron Gohan Nabe Rice Cooker, Black

I bought this as an alternative to an electric rice cooker and I am glad I did. I have never been a rice afficionado and my cooking attempts of rice were very amateurish. After experimentation with this pot I am making incredible rice and never realized how good it could be.The construction of this rice pot is absolutely flawless...truly a work of art. I highly recommend this. A bit of advice on seasoning is in order. The lid and exterior of the pot can be seasoned in the oven like any cast iron pot. The pot interior, if seasoned in the oven, will flake off. All I do for the interior is after washing the pot I wipe it with a paper towel with a light coat of oil.How I cook white rice - works great with 1/4 cup dry rice or more...1. Rinse the rice until water is clear - 4 times. Soak the rice 30 minutes - japonica varieties, jasmine, or basmati2. Drain the rice 30 minutes3. 1:1 ratio dry rice to water...example, 1 cup water to 1 cup dry rice4. Place water in pot on high heat and bring to boil5. Put 1/4 teaspoon salt in water and stir (for 1 cup dry rice)6. Place drained rice in pot and bring to a boil7. Put lid on rice and reduce heat to low8. Set timer to 10 minutes9. When 10 minutes are up turn off heat, remove lid, place 2 paper towels on top of pot, replace lid, set timer for 10 minutes and remove pot from the stove eye.10. When timer expires remove lid and stir rice. Either replace lid to retain heat or serve.Enjoy! You will like the Iwachu products.

I got this as a replacement for my electric rice cooker which had an aluminum inner pot that’s seen better days .....it’s worth it and it does make tastier rice compared to the Electric rice cooker. The rice comes out fluffier and the cooking is more even.It took two tries to make the perfect jasmine rice And get the water to rice ratio right .For Jasmine rice: I do a 1 part rice: 1&1/2 part water . I don’t presoak and just cook right away for convenience . Bring rice and water to a boil in high setting ...as soon as it boils give it a stir / scrape the bottom to free up the rice that’s starting to stick ( once you do this once , there will be no burnt rice crust Later ) ....lower the Heat to the number 1 Or low Setting ....cover with the heavy lid and set timer to 20 minutes .....easy piecey

Cooks really good rice. Unlike the guy reviewed above, it's pretty simple to use if you follow my procedures.1. Riinse rice(no less than 1 cup) 3-4 times.2. Soak in 1:1.25 water for 30 minutes.3. cook for about 5-7 minutes using high heat on a gas range until rice water running out.4. Immediately turn to low heat(while keeping the inside boiling ) for 15 minutes(may vary depending on the power of your gas range, you could try it several times).5. Remove from heat, let it stand covered for 15 minutes and fluff the rice to let moisture escape.

This rice cooker is only for those who have experiences cooking rice on the stove. It might not suitable for those who have no experiences at all. I suggest you better used the electrical one that has already been programmed for cooking different kind of rice.

Very good product, and will buy more nanbu and iwachu products in the future.