Crock Pot or Rice Cooker?

[Mia]

I'd like to have a little bit changes in my kitchen. I have never used a slow cooker or a rice cooker as I cook with traditional methods like many of us...pots and pans

But I've heard that those gadgets make cooking more easily and effective.

And here I'm thinking of buying either a slow cooker or a rice cooker but don't know which one to choose.

I am not familiar with either of them. For instance, can a slow cooker prepare rice? How much time does it need to prepare rice or soup? (if it cooks rice)

Can a rice cooker prepare other dishes except rice, e.g., soups, or pasta (though pasta I guess, yes, it's something close to rice, same texture (almost)? E.g., can it cook potatoes, or fish, or boulgur, or dolma, or stuffed eggplants, peppers...?

I want to buy a cooker which can prepare everything but not for hours, but more easily and avoiding burning at all, if possible (sometimes it happens to even master cheffs, but can a small gadget avoid that?) And yes, I don't have a dishwasher, so I want something which can be easily washed up, with less small appliances inside.

So which one is worth money to spend? Do you use any of them? How is your experience?

[Chantel]

I'm not sure about rice cookers, but I would definitely go with a crockpot. It's much more versatile. You can cook other stuff in rice cookers, but the heat starts off warm and gets very hot at the end. Plus they have a really good seal on them.

Wolfgang Puck makes a product I saw on the home shopping channel, the Wolfgang Puck Digital 10 Cup Deluxe Multi Cooker. They made tons of stuff in that, maybe worth checking out.

[Zonny]

I too would go for a crockpot, I use mine very regularly. But it is designed to cook things for hours. The thing I like about it, I can toss the things into it in the morning and when I get home, supper is ready. Things like chicken (especially breasts) tend to cook much more quickly, you can't leave those all day, so those might be an option for you.

I made potato soup in mine the other day, so yummy and easy!

[LovelyLaeticia]

While I love my rice cooker, the crock pot gets a lot more use! You can cook almost anything in it, put it into the crock pot in the morning and forget about it until dinner

[kasha100]

cooking rice in microwave take large corining ware type dish (no lid)

1 c of rice to 2 cups of water (not sure about brown rice)

microwave for 15 minutes at power 7 with no lid on

can stir once (may have to play with this for your microwave
and your done!

[sweet sparrow]

We *love* our rice cooker. It's a pricey one that had all the options we wanted, but I haven't heard of anything like pasta made in it!! Ours only makes rice, but it makes brown rice, white rice, sushi rice, .....etc., and you can cook meats in it like a congee. Ours is programmable a day in advance and finishes at the exact time you want dinner ready (learnt that the hard way).

Lovely to just make extra rice for the next few days and already have a carb to go with whatever we want. In the last 15 minutes of cooking or so (ours has a countdown), you can easily steam pre-cooked meats or vegetables. Besides the oven and microwave, our rice cooker gets used a few times every week.

I'd be lost without my rice cooker, (never owned or used a crock pot) but it may be more useful for you, depending on the recipes you cook.

[macw1960]

I would definately go for the crock pot as it is much more versatile. Rice cookers work great for rice but I found it just took up space in my cupboard...just another kitchen item that you think you need in my opinion.

[G.P'S MoM]

Crockpot! As far as I know a rice cooker only cooks rice,and while I use mine,the crockpot gets almost daily use in the winter. I also have cooked rice in the oven in a corning wear lid on 1 part rice to 2 parts water. Butter and salt if you like. You can alos throw frozen veggies in there to cook with the rice!

[Big Pink]

As sweet sparrow said, at the end of the day it depends what you like to cook. Each method cooks completely different. I like steamed veggies and chicken/fish, so I'd be lost without the rice cooker. It can take some experimenting though.

If you are single, and don't have a lot of room for leftover storage, the rice cooker is also a good choice. You can just throw in your ingredients and get a one or two serving meal in 20 minutes with easy cleanup. I wish I had had one when I was a student.

My first cooker I bought at Zellers for $10. It wasn't programmable and didn't have a steamer basket, but was fas fantastic. Might be worth trying an inexpensive one to see how you like it.

For some reason I've never been a fan of the slow cooker.

[sweet sparrow]

I should also explain that my mom worked in a restaurant where she was self employed. The industrial ovens were always on, so she had a regular pot in the back or something in the oven. I suppose that acted like her crock pot? She was there for eight hours or more, so she could stir and add things throughout the day. The rice cooker made the rice dishes since she didn't have anything else that made rice and needed the free space on her ovens and stoves for orders.

[Dominiquer]

While I love my rice cooker, the crock pot gets a lot more use!

+1

[bargain_hunter_lola]

I'd also go with the crock pot. More versatile.

We have both and dont use the rice cooker near as often - we actually only use it for steamed veggies.

[Mia]

Thank you so much!

Can a crock pot cook rice? Or pasta?

I saw on Amazon that there is a crock pot whcih can cook in 4 hours (it is programmable from 4 to 10 hours).

http://www.amazon.ca/Crock-pot%C2%AE...270760&sr=1-22

What do you think about this?

[Zonny]

Thank you so much!

Can a crock pot cook rice? Or pasta?

I saw on Amazon that there is a crock pot whcih can cook in 4 hours (it is programmable from 4 to 10 hours).

http://www.amazon.ca/Crock-pot%C2%AE...270760&sr=1-22

What do you think about this?

It depends on what you're cooking in the crockpot. A roast for example, wouldn't cook in four hours. The ones with timers, I think they're mostly so you won't overcook things.

I've read conflicting reviews on putting pasta in the crock, sometimes it ends up mushy. I've never tried it.

[screamy]

I've used both and have to say crockpot, all the way. I add rice to whatever I'm cooking, with the correct amount of liquid to ensure it doesn't stay hard and crunchy, but also not too mushy. There are millions of slow cooker/crockpot recipes on the web and surfing around for a while will give you a good idea of what it can do.

Having said that, if I was making a meal for a crowd and was serving rice and/or steamed veggies, I would drag out the rice cooker; it's pretty "set it and forget it".

Make sure you get a crockpot with removable stoneware (which must be allowed to cool before you put it into a cold sink, or it can break). The ones attached to the heating portions are much more difficult to clean.