Zojirushi NP-GBC05XT Induction Heating System Rice Cooker and Warmer, 0.54 L, Stainless Dark Brown

This is my first review and I'm writing it in case it helps anyone out there similar to me ... so first a little background: I recently decided to change up my diet - I had been on a mostly wild salmon / some-type-of-vegetable diet. I weight train a bit so I've tried to keep my protein high and carbs low, but I decided to totally shake it up after reading a lot of research on vascular health. Despite my carb / low protein fears, I switched to a more/less vegan diet: grains & legumes for fats/protein + vegetables - zero added fat of any type, zero animal protein including dairy and whey protein powder. Well, some surprising things happened within 1 week: I lost some of my stubborn belly flab! No amount of cardio, diet, lifting has made a budge in that for 10 years, but this mostly carb diet did! Bro-trition did NOT predict that. But there was a problem, and so on with this review: cooking steel cut oats, spelt, barley, brown rice and other grains just for 1 day's meal is a real pain in the butt. Sure you can make extra ahead of time but that's not very tasty re-heated, at least for me. And, yes, you can use a slow cooker for steel-cut oatmeal, but that also has mixed results. I began researching solutions and came across rice cookers ... a dedicated appliance just for rice? really? and, holy crap HOW MUCH? I skipped it and kept on with my pots and pans ... But I couldn't shake the notion that as odd as it sounded, a dedicated appliance might actually make sense, mostly because a few years ago I bought a Zoji hot water thermos Zojirushi America Corporation CV-DCC40XT VE Hybrid Water Boiler and Warmer, 4-Liter, Stainless Dark Brown which also seemed ridiculous but has turned out to be a real luxury ... that's another story. So I did a lot of rice cooker research: Zoji, tiger, cuckoo ... and I researched all of the features: size, fuzzy logic, timers, modes, heat type, pressure, clean up, et al. With all of that I settled on this one because I've had a good Zoji experience, I like the looks the best, and I couldn't find any data showing that other brands with more features were marginally better for my needs. However, I did struggle with which size ... if you buy from other retailers, I found the next size up for $10 more once you adjust for no taxes. I decided to go with amazon and this size but it felt like a mistake. Ok, so with that, and adding that I have zero other rice cooker experience, here's my 2 cents review: LOOKS: As others have mentioned, it's very dark brown trim over a slightly tinted stainless. It more/less matches all my other stainless stuff and looks great, so unless you're particular about an exact match I'd say it'll fit in with just about any decor. SIZE: I mostly use this for just me, but it could easily work for 2 people and probably 4, but that's probably a stretch; so if you routinely cook for more than 3 people I'd go with the size up. If you're usually cooking for 3 people or less and want the counter space get this one - it's a great size and I only use about 1/3 of it's capacity on a per-meal basis ... having the larger one would really bug me, so I'm glad I got this size. FUNCTIONS: As others have mentioned it's about as easy as it gets: dump in the grain, dump in the water/broth (and mix-ins) and go. I use either 1/2 or 1 zoji cup per meal. I don't eat white rice, but I use the mixed setting for quinoa, freekeh, barley, etc and the porridge setting for steel-cut oats. I've tried using most of the modes and broadly they don't seem to make much difference, but the modes above work best for the grains listed. I love the GABA rice feature ... I don't know if GABA helps me, but I use it daily as a hacked timer: if you want hot food in 3 hours, dump-n-go, when you return hot stuff. Speaking of the timer - 2 timers! perfect for my weekday/weekend oatmeal. FOOD: Many have mentioned ... this thing makes some killer grains! No comparison to my stove-top technique. Not only does it make the cooking easy, the food comes out PERFECT. and every time. I use this thing about 4-5 times/day, and it's perfect every time. Some examples: * Steel-cut oats - the night before I dump in 1 zoji cup of oats, 1 cup of water, some cinnamon and it's perfect. I also put a tbs of fresh ground flax over the top and yeah I like it a bit thicker and am off dairy so no milk ... but I did try oat milk both before and after. I guess I'm a traditionalist but I like just water best. The oatmeal is perfect, and really the best oatmeal I've had as with all the other grains I've tried. * Freekeh, wheat berries, barley, etc: half-zoji-cup of freekeh, 1 zoji cup of veg broth, some soy sauce, a bunch of fresh or dried shitakes - perfect! * Spanish Rice: 1 zoji cup of brown rice, 1 zoji cup of hot salsa, 1 zoji cup of water - perfect! SUMMARY: If you cook grains often, it's a game-changer. Yes, it's also an expensive luxury, but it's such a daily (hourly) luxury that it makes it actually cheap given the usefulness. It's very simple to use, easy to clean, and makes perfect food. and,oh, who would've thought one could lose fat by going all carb??? Dreams do come true.

I had the basic frumpy Zoji NS-KCC05 that I got as a hand-me-down around 20 years ago. Worked fine and still does, but the coating started flecking off the pan and the internal battery died so it was time for an upgrade. I got the NP-GBC05XT because it has a brown rice setting, has 3 cup capacity, and looks good. The first batch of brown rice was superb with no learning curve. Plump individual grains, a bit chewy and not mushy. Perfect. Long grain white rice was also excellent. I tried the GABA setting on brown rice. It takes twice as long and the cooked rice was identical to the regular brown rice, but if there's any chance of lowering my cholesterol I'll take it. I like the brown tones of the exterior. I can leave it out on the counter and it matches my Zoji boiler. Hope it lasts 20 years like the old one.

Expensive, yes, but its a high quality item that is made in Japan and cooks rice quite well. I recommend adding more water than what the manual tells you to. If you're a family of four it may be too small for you, however. It is great for just the wife and I.

I give 5 stars because it makes me five stars happy, almost no imperfections for my needs. i have had it going on 4 years, i use it every morning to make oatmeal with steel cut oats. i have never made rice with it!!! i had wanted to and intended to, but i have been putting it off after learning about arsenic in rice. But i am sure if i did make rice with this cooker, it would make great rice. Taking into account, compared to some other reviewers i read, i wouldn’t know how to make it exactly right if i tried, and as long as it’s not dried out, i would be happy with it. As for oatmeal, even after using it for so long, i often think to myself how glad i am that i got it. it’s one of those really good things i’ve done for myself, though it wasn’t cheap. My daughter asked for one for her wedding in 2012 and she said it had to be induction heating, so when i got one in 2014, i stuck with that after enjoying the rice hers made so much. what i love about it is--- super easy to use, preparing breakfast takes seconds when i put the oatmeal and water in the cooker and set the menu to Porridge setting. i use, as per the instructions, one near full measuring cup ( the clear one, not the turqois blue one, it comes with two, the blue one is for rice), and then put in two of those cups with water. i don't set the timer because i always wake up once during the night, so i just go and push the start button then and sleep 2 or 3 more hours. It makes a little musical sound to let you know it's on, so you don't accidentally forget. That's all there is to that. Just eat the oatmeal. When i eat the oatmeal, i don't clean the rice cooker at that time, i have found that when i wait until later, usually at night, the cooker is still so easy to clean, that too takes seconds, less than a minute. When they say nonstick, they mean NONstick. Once is a great while, i forget to turn the rice cooker off after getting my oatmeal out to eat, and once in a while it's still on (lid closed) hours later before i notice the little orange light is on. This does not matter--when i go to wash the rice cooker bowl and cover thing later, the small amount of oatmeal debris in it does not stick and isn't even dried on, it's still kind of moist, or soft. Less than a minute and it's clean. Also, even if i leave the lid open and the oatmeal debris is exposed to air, it doesn’t dry on. it stays soft. always easy to clean. As user manuals go, the one that comes with this is good enough, no aggravations. It comes with a long detailed user manual and also a short quick start guide. The only imperfections for how i would have designed it are, one, it can only be set to 24 hour time, no 12 hour time. It doesn't matter to me, but if i were cooking something where it's relevant what time it is, it would be inconvenient. i would not even take a small fraction of a star off for this. The other thing is that the little screen with the settings on it is really hard for me to see and to read, it's a strain, takes some patience for me, to make sure i don’t make a mistake because i'm reading it wrong, easy to do, so it's not as carefree for me as everything else about using this is. There is a more expensive model on Amazon which shows a very nice orange back light which gives contrast to the digits and setting names, but it says it's a 1 Liter size which i think is 4 cups. When and if i replace this, and i will definitely replace it if it stops working, i will get the one with the back light. It's model number NP-HCC18XH. i would pay more. i just like to save space on my counter so i don't want one that is much bigger than the one i have. i don't take a star off for the poor visibility of the little screen. i don't take a star off because if this is the only one of these i can get, i will gladly buy it again, it's that useful and that easy to use, other than the poor light, i love the rice cooker. Some reviewers have complained about the battery going out and costing $70 to replace and others have complained about the nonstick coating on the bowl chipping off or peeling, and replacing the bowl is $60-$70. I agree, that is annoying, but it would not stop me from replacing those parts ASAP. i’m even thinking of buying back ups of both of those so as not to be without my daily breakfast.

I've only had this unit a few days and I'm impressed. It made mahogany rice better than I can do in a pot. All other rice cookers that I tried left mahogany/wild rices hard and without flavour. The mahogany rice was fluffed up to more than double the volume I started with - each and every kernel was completely cooked and soft! There was no scorching or harder layer next to the pot. Oatmeal made with milk (not water) was always burnt in previous rice cookers. Not here. When we got up, I opened the unit and added more milk and sweetener as all the milk had been absorbed. After my shower, the additional milk had been heated through. Spoon the oatmeal into a bowl and serve. Can it get any easier?? This unit does not take up as much counter space as other cookers that I've tried. You can tell from the start that it is a well made unit. The inner pot has the weight of a good quality pot - not some light aluminium thing. This helps even out the heat and the food doesn't start to cool down right away. The cord is short as most good appliance cords are so you don't have to coil it up on the counter. It is a heavy weight cord which shows the quality involved but also means that it is a little stiff. Clean up is a breeze. The pot rinses out with a quick pass through the soapy water (even dried on oatmeal). The inner lid easily removes for cleaning. In fact, the inner lid dropped out with the press of the tab and was just as easy to snap back in place. A quick wipe inside and out is all that was needed. I like the timer. You set the time that you want the food to be done and which type of cooking (white rice, etc) and walk away. I'm no longer figuring out how much time until supper. A nice touch is the music instead of another beeper when finished. The only con - This is the perfect sized rice cooker for us but it may not make enough rice when we have company. Per the chart included with the unit, the minimum amount of uncooked rice is 1 cup (0.5 cup for short/medium grain rice)to a maximum of 2 cups (3 cups for short/medium grain rice). This may not be enough for 4 adults (depending upon appetite) for most types of rices that I use. Switching to the 5.5 cup machine is not an option as the minimum oatmeal you can cook is 2 cups which would be way too much for just the 2 of us.

Muy fácil de usar. La textura del arroz deliciosa

Zojirushi es uno de los mejores nombres para cocinar arroz. Esta máquina es un buen ejemplo de esto. Este tamaño es perfecto para una a tres personas. Bueno para arroz blanco y arroz integral también.

I bought this one to replace a 10-cup induction rice cooker from Zojirushi. I had the old one for over 15 years. The rice cooker still works, but the coating has started to peel off. I decided to get a new one instead of getting a replacement pot. I'm very glad I bought a smaller version of pretty much the same model. For everyday use, I rarely cook more than 2 cups of rice. Two Japanese cups of rice make two meals worth of steamed rice for two people. (Note that 1 Japanese cup is about 180 ml.) Also, I think the rice tastes better when I cook 2 cups in a smaller pot rather than a large pot. I am guessing that it must be something to do with how the heat is transferred. I love that it does not take as much space in my tiny kitchen. I cannot comment on the warming function, as I never use it. In my opinion, the warm function makes any good rice taste stale, regardless of the rice cooker model. I prefer microwaving cold rice. They taste better. Apparently, cold rice is better for blood glucose control, as well. (Read articles about resistant starch on this issue.)

this uses japanese cups as measurments or smt its smaller than normal cup