1. What a disappointment! The rice tastes just like any $20 rice cooker, and what is that dreadful smell towards the end of the cooking cycle? It smells like burning plastic.
2. 10-cup rice cooker is too big for us. I rather have the 5.5 cup with heat induction function. Maybe that model works better.

I've been using my machine for about 3 years, and it has been through one move, but it is still working like a champ. I've made rice with many of the different settings- though I mostly use sushi and brown, but we've done porridge as well. We cooked steel cut oats and other breakfast cereals in it. If you don't eat a lot of rice, this probably isn't worth getting- but if you are like us, and eat rice several times a week, then you should spend the extra money and get this. The machine has a flexibility that other machines lack, and it just cooks better than anything else. Before my mom gave me this we'd been through 2 other rice cookers- but I will only own zojirushi from now on.

Rice dries to a brown crisp overnight now, original purchase on June 2010. Starts happening after about 6 months.

The very first batch we made was fabulous. And every once in a while the cooker makes great pearly rice, but the cooker is inconsistent; and its perfomance drops gradually over time.

Cooker was used daily, usually 5 cups white rice. I've used the regular, softer, and quick cooking settings. We clean the pot and inner lid before cooking, per the instructions.

I've tried the brown rice feature a few times but the cooker cooks it for so long the flavor is obliterated. It was soft as we all read about but I prefer pressure-cooking (using a regular pressure cooker) brown rice as it retains flavor.

LAST, huge problem if the cooker is interrupted (eg, reset is pressed or cooker is unplugged) in the middle of cooking. The entire batch is wasted because the cooker does not know how to continue where it left off - it only knows how to start it - unlike traditional cookers.

You'll find this out the "hard" way when you cook rice using the "softer" setting - which takes longer, so when guests suddenly arrive you are tempted to stop the cooker and restart it on "quick."

Expensive waste of money; We should've gotten a simpler, less expensive Tiger traditional cooker (but we always get the Made in Japan rice cookers).

I purchased this rice cooker quite some time ago. It makes perfect rice. My problem with it is that after a few months it quit heating up. My husband took it apart and found that the thermostat needed to be re-soldered. Perfect rice once again. BUT, about once every 3 months or so it had to be re-soldered again. Finally, after this last time, it just wouldn't work anymore. It would get lukewarm at best. So I tossed it and, after spending so much money on this, it is doubtful I will purchase another like it. I'm actually really torn, partly thinking maybe I bought a lemon and partly thinking I don't want to take another chance. If you do get one and it doesn't have this problem, you will be well pleased.

I think this is the best rice cooker I've ever had!! rice can be cooked very nice and taste great!! Also I love the other functions, like the porridge. IT's amazing

I love this rice cooker! Growing up, my parents always had a rice cooker, and when I got married 13 years ago, I got one as well. Over time though, I've come to love brown rice more and more, and my basic rice cooker just didn't do a fantastic job of cooking it. When my old rice cooker died last year, I began a frantic search for a replacement, and came across this one. I took a chance at the higher price tag with the great hopes that it would live up to my dreams of perfectly cooked brown rice, and it did NOT disappoint! I've had and been regularly (3-4 times a month at least) using this rice cooker for 13 months now, and I've never been anything other than happy with it. It cooks up brown rice like a dream, and does a fantastic job with white and mixed rice as well. The bowl in it still looks brand new, without any scratches, but that may be because I've always made sure that it gets hand-washed. My mom has even been hinting that she wouldn't mind if her rice cooker died so she'd have a reason to replace it with this one as well. If there was ever a need to, I'd definitely buy it again without a second though.

I'd like to start this review by saying that I used to live in Japan. (4 1/2 years in the military) I also traveled to Korea while I was there. In those cultures rice is eaten two to three times a day by most people. One typical greeting in Korea can be literally translated to mean, "Have you eaten rice today?" The rice I had in both places was delicious. Needless to say, I aquired a great fondness for the stuff when I was there.
When I came back to the states I decided that I had to seek out alot of the foods that I enjoyed overseas and, have even had some success. Even so, sometimes the rice just isn't the same or as good as it should be. There is that one Thai place in town where it actually compares to the rice made overseas, but most other places don't even come close. I think that the one thing missing is this rice maker.
I bought this 10cup Zojirushi about a month and a half ago and was blown away with how good the rice is. In my kitchen it comes out as good as any place in Japan! What's even better is that it could not be easier to make. The instructions tell you everything you need to know. I was under alot of pressure the first time I made it because I had just spent $169 on a rice maker and my wife thought I was crazy. Now she thinks I'm a genius. She says that she never knew how good rice could be until she tried that first batch of mine. As a matter of fact, it was brown rice that first time and I'd never made it before in my life. I hated brown rice until now.
I could go on and on. I've made brown, white, basmati rice and steel cut oats. Everything has been perfect. The 10 cup can easily feed 4 people and have enough left over for lunches. Just go ahead and get it!

Zojirushi makes the best rice cookers hands down: better than Sanyo, Tiger, or Panasonic. Don't believe me? Go into a Korean or Japanese speaking house and take a look in their kitchen.

This one is great! The thick, non-stick pan consistently cooks the rice nice and even, but the best feature is that it will keep the rice perfectly warm for a couple of days. Most non-Japanese made rice cookers will not even keep your rice warm for a couple of hours without creating excess condensation, browning on the bottom, or gluttonous rice.

People who complain about paying this much for a rice cooker must not have grown up eating sticky rice, or must not have ever been to an Asian grocery store. This isn't made for cooking Uncle Ben's. Even the most frugal Asian families don't skimp on their rice cooker.

A rice cooker is not a slow cooker and shouldn't ever double as one. Crappy American, Chinese made brands advertise this as an added feature. Don't be fooled. If you want restaurant quality rice, buy quality rice and use a Japanese made rice cooker that is dedicated to cooking rice.

The only reason I'm giving this 3 stars is because most Asian grocery stores sell this particular model for much less. I bought mine for $119.

Another piece of advice, do not use an abrasive sponge with heavy detergent to clean the pan. Read the instructions. Soak and wipe.

I grew up in an Asian family and my parents always had a one-button rice cooker. So when I saw this one, I said to myself "what's the big deal, a rice cooker's a rice cooker, right?" Wrong! This rice cooker makes rice 10 times better, if I could put a numerical value to it, than any of the one-button cookers we have used. Now rice has become one of my husband's favorite things to have for dinner. Considering that he's white and wasn't brought up on rice, it says a lot. : )

Tips on making Cantonese style porridge: cook the porridge as instructed with water / stock. When the porridge is done, add boiling hot water / stock to bring it to the desired consistency. It's important to add the liquid as the last step. If you add extra liquid at the beginning, the porridge will not cook properly. I've tried it.

I've made rice all my life. I learned from my first cook book -- Julia Child.

But a few years ago, I moved to a new climate area and it's been hit and miss ever since. I made pots of rice turned to mush and pots of rice so hard and uncooked they were inedible.

In desparation, I read all the descriptions, online reviews, evaluations by "America's Test Kitchen" -- all the resources I could find -- and this 10-cup Neuro Fuzzy seemed to offer the most consistant results to people and testers.

And you know what? They were right.

Every pot of rice since I got this machine over 6 months ago has been perfect. Also perfect with broccoli added on top of the rice in the last 10 minutes. Also perfect in the "mixed" mode with chopped veggies added with the rice and water. Also perfect for rice pudding. Also perfect for breakfast hot cereal.

And the "keep warm" function is sooooooo useful when people are in and out at meal time -- or when folks are sitting up late working and need a second helping of something warm and good.

who knew? Not me. Now I do.

We've had this for about five years. The battery went dead but THERE IS NO WAY TO CHANGE THE BATTERY. The battery is soldered to the circuit board! They expect you to ship it back to the factory which will probably cost $20 each way! I opened it up, cut out the old battery, and duct-taped a new battery in there but it just comes loose every few months. Cooks rice great, though.

I purchased one of these cookers after reading many glowing reviews about them. I have been using an old switch cooker for several years, and eventually I learned to make plenty extra so I'd have some "good" rice above that crunchy brown layer (yeah I know some people love it). Even so, sometimes it would turn out too dry or too mushy.

So after buying this cooker, I read quickly through the manual and tried my first batch...it was perfect! No, really! People have said that there is a huge difference between rice from this (and other zojirushi) cooker and their old ones, and were they ever right! No more gummy, starchy-tasting mess. I've tried two different kinds of rice so far and they both came out perfectly, with no brown crunchy layer. (If you like that layer, keep your cheap cooker!) It's really foolproof. Just make sure to wash your rice thoroughly, add water up to the line and poof! you're done.

It does take longer than my old cooker. From 45 minutes to an hour for the rice I've cooked so far. But the results are well worth the wait, and the timer function almost makes this a non-issue. Set your rice in the morning to be done at 7pm, and it'll take care of the rest. Very easy, and foolproof. Hey, even I could do it.