Instant Zest 8-cup vs Zojirushi Micom Rice Cooker & Warmer NS-LHC05

Awesome decision on my part! It cooks my rice (jasmine and basmati) sooo perfectly. I like the pot in this rice cooker way better than the one that was in my Aroma. The Aroma would almost overcook the rice sometimes, and even if it was just nicely cooked, the rice stuck. The Instant Pot does not stick! It's a much better coating

Thankfully the quick setting, at under 40 minutes, is available for rice emergencies, but that's still longer than our old Tiger. Now for our preferences. For all that extra cook time, and the extra cost for the Zojirushi name, I don't think the rice comes out any better than with the much cheaper Tiger. I kept seeing 'restaurant-quality' in the reviews and, looking back, I should've realized that I've had worse rice in restaurants, and often very good rice, but never better rice than what we make at home

The keep warm setting though I don't think you should use for long periods cause it will keep cooking the items in the pot, so be careful with that.

I have owned a couple of the pot style rice cookers sold in the $20 to $50 US range and found they had problems with boiling over, scorching the bottom of the rice and did not hold rice at temperature for any length of time, making them hard to use for a person with no fixed time to get off work. My Asian friends told me Zojirushi or Tiger rice cookers were the way around these issues and they were spot on. I have had this for about a week now, have made one batch of sushi short grain rice that rivaled any I have had in sushi houses, have had fresh, hot rice jook (rice porridge) two mornings this week, oatmeal one morning (check the Zojirushi website for cooking compatiblity on machines that don't have the specific functions) and fresh, hot white or brown rice ready for me when I got home, one time at 17:00 and twice after 21:00, so I can definitely say that the keep warm function works. My only regret is not buying one of these machines five years ago!

My 20 year old rice cooker bit the dust and I needed a replacement. I own an instant pot, but didn't care for the way rice came out of it and when I'm cooking my meal in the instant pot, I wanted a second machine for rice. I also wanted a smaller machine since my family eats grain in small portions.

She loves it as much as I knew she would! I first purchased a Zojirushi while living in Japan in 2002 and it lasted up until recently. Very well made products and I hope my Daughter and I get many years of usage from these as we did with my original purchase. We've never had a problem with rice getting scorched and it comes out perfect every time. Whether you use white rice, long grain rice, jasmine, sticky rice, sushi rice or even soups

You can make mixed greens and saute slow cook and keep warm now this one, the 8 cup instant pot zest only has the option go ahead and show you guys up...

Previously I had a super cheap rice cooker that was like $25. I decided to step up and get something nicer. At roughly $130 I was expecting this thing to make some amazing rice. I was rudely awakened to first learn it takes AN HOUR to make rice versus the 20 or so minutes with my cheap one

That a big range! The cooker also comes with a steaming basket. Somewhere in the materials it says you can steam "veggies and fish!" YAY! Again, for how long? Can I steam it with rice or only with the Steam button, which requires you to set time manually? Can I steam chicken? Should the veggies be frozen or defrosted or fresh? The booklet says, "We have partnered with chefs, authors, and bloggers to compile a collection of recipes that we hope you enjoy!" I can find any Instant Pot Zest Rice cooker recipes online! In short, the machine seems fine, but not user friendly for a first time rice cooker owner who would like to use all the advertised features (other than cooking rice).

3. You feel it's premium. From the bowl inside the rice cooker that is heavy and sturdy, to the machine itself. They did not compromise any of its parts

Don’t waste your time downloading the app as suggested in the guide. It has recipes for a few other Instant appliances, but NOT for the Zest. The lid doesn’t come off for cleaning and there are NO cleaning instructions in the guide that comes with the cooker. A more complete guide is available online, but it’s just unacceptable to have to search for such basic information

This cooker, the moisture collects into the holding cup under the outer steam cover, see pic, just remove the cover after cooking and soak up the water with a sponge. They don’t seem to make the traditional cooker with the quick removable moisture basket any more. It bubbles over the steam cover, but the steam cover is easily removable to clean. The inner top 2 lids, only the bottom one easily pops out to clean, see pic, which is the one requiring regular cleaning anyways

I have had no troubles with liquid sputtering from the steam vent but I usually use this to cook 2 cups of rice or quinoa and it's been perfect every time. I wouldn't cook more than 2 cups of quinoa though since the pot is basically full when the quinoa is cooked. You might be able to get away with 2.5 cups but you'll be pushing it

We thought this smaller NS-LHC05 was going to be ideal for our second home yet saddened to learn that for brown rise, two cups is max. Too small for our family! If you don’t do brown and like Jasmine, I recommend it. Zoji should make the diminished brown rice capacity farmore clear when marketing this rice cooker.