Japanese rice cookers are seriously pricey. They can cost you up to hundreds of dollars—which is a fraction of the cost of the basic rice cookers. The vast price difference has brought up why Japanese rice cookers are so expensive compared to other types of rice cookers and whether they’re worth the price.

In this post, we’re going to dig deeper into the Japanese rice cookers to bring out what’s so special about them that makes them costly and whether you should invest your money in them or get a cheap one for your rice cooking needs.

Reasons why Japanese rice cookers are expensive:

Japanese rice cookers

They’re made of quality materials

One of the reasons Japanese rice cookers are costly is the choice of quality materials used for their construction. It is in the blood of Japanese manufacturers to not compromise the quality of materials for their products to reduce the price.

Top manufacturers like Zojirushi and Aroma Housewares usually utilize stainless steel for the skeleton of these rice cookers. This material has an excellent reputation for making cookware resistant to physical damage and high tolerance to heat and temperature fluctuations which means maximum longevity!

Their interior usually features non-stick aluminum to ensure not a single grain sticks inside during cooking. Since the interior is easily detachable from the rest of the cooker, cleaning these cookers is a breeze for you.

Advanced features

Japan is always at the forefront when it comes to innovations. The Japanese researchers contribute highly to many world technological development, including the cookware industry.

When you order a Japanese rice cooker, it comes with advanced technology to make cooking rice hassle-free and fun, but it’s also another reason behind the high price tags on these cookers.

For instance, these futuristic cookers come with technology optimized for cooking different grains and other food types to your expected consistency. Most of them come fitted with a microchip that automatically adjusts the cooking temperature and cooking time for perfect cooking results.

Japanese rice cookers

You can also count on the delayed cooking function for safer rice cooking to help you prepare your meal a couple of hours in advance. In other words, this feature lets you wake up to a cooked delicious meal or find a ready meal when you return home after a long day at work.

They even feature a keep-warm function that you can easily extend to ensure your food stays warm for as long as 24 hours.

A highly versatile kitchen equipment

Another thing that sets this rice cooker from the basic models is its ability to prepare different meals and food items.
Most of these Japanese cookers feature various grain buttons that enable you to make white rice and cook sushi rice, brown rice, and quinoa. The fancy rice cookers even incorporate a porridge function that lets you quickly cook steel-cut oats.
In Japan, people use cookers not just for making rice. They also use them to make onion soup, boil chicken legs, make meat burn, roast pork, and even bake a cake!

Why are Japanese rice cookers so expensive

You’ll be hard-pressed to come across a standard rice cooker that goes beyond cooking white rice. Some rice cookers that claim to make brown rice might not do a good job as these Japanese cookers.

Safety comes first for Japanese rice cookers

The computerized Japanese rice cookers also come designed with your safety in mind. The manufacturers add a couple of security features to this cookware to ensure you have a safe cooking experience with them.
You can leave your Japanese rice cooker on without worrying about overheating issues.

Japanese rice cookers

With these cookers, you get to set the timer when you start cooking your rice and how long you want it to boil. The Automatic shutoff will put off the device when done, so you don’t have to keep it on the cooker until it’s done cooking.

Is it worth buying a Japanese rice cooker?

If you consume rice regularly, spending more money on a Japanese rice cooker is worth it. Why? Because you’ll most likely be taking rice alongside side dishes such as meat, fish, veggies, etc., and you want rice preparation to be easier for you.
A high-quality Japanese rice cooker is super-easy to use. It has its cooking pot and markings to ensure you pour in the right proportions of rice and water.
Every time you want to cook rice, you’ll need to put in rice and water, close the lid, key in the settings, and then wait for your cooker to beep when it’s ready. What could be an easier way to cook rice?

a Japanese rice cooker

You also won’t need to keep checking your rice’s cooking temperature and time for your rice as they’re all automated!

However, if you don’t eat rice often, you might not want to spend all the money on this fancy cooking device. After all, why spend hundreds of dollars on cookware that will just be lying around your kitchen and hardly used? It just doesn’t make sense. You can opt for a more affordable standard rice cooker to step in for the few times you’ll be making a rice dish.

Final verdict

Japanese rice cookers make the best rice you’ve ever had. They offer great versatility compared to other cooker models and will let you prepare different types of rice, whether it’s brown rice, long-grain, and more.

The only issue with these cookers is that they come at 2x more cost than standard rice cookers. But keeping in mind the high-quality construction, advanced features, and safety features they offer, these cookers are worth every cent.

Whether to buy this cooker will depend on your rice cooking habits. If you cook rice more often, getting a Japanese rice cooker is a long-term investment for you. If you rarely cook rice, you might not need to invest in this cooker.