Versatility of the Rice Cooker
By alaskanray
@alaskanray (4636)
United States
August 17, 2012 2:58pm CST
I know, I know, you are not surprised at all, right? I mean, I do love my rice cooker and I use it every chance I get.
One of my favorite things to do is to just throw stuff in there. I'll take some rice, some stew meat and a few odd seasonings, throw them in there and forget it until it beeps at me. Then I'll add some chopped fresh veggies like bell peppers, onions, tomatoes and celery...stir that all up and let it cook a little longer and voila! A delicious, complete one-dish meal.
Of course, you could use your rice cooker for just plain rice but I much prefer to put more into it than that. Use your imagination and you can come up with some really awesome dishes. I've found that my rice cooker always cooks my meats to perfection. It also uses a lot less electricity than my oven/range. I'm always wanting to save on electricity. 
1 person likes this
6 responses
@Canellita (12029)
• United States
17 Aug 12
What a coincidence, I started a discussion recently about my rice cooker. I have only been using it for about a week and I have been curious about what other things I coud use it for besides rice. I am planning to try making a dish with a lot of other ingredients besides rice soon.
1 person likes this
@alaskanray (4636)
• United States
18 Aug 12
I use mine for almost everything. Have not tried to cook pasta in it, though. But it does work well with potatoes, pot roast, any kind of meat dish, really, as well as rice dishes. I prefer it to the crock pot. In fact, I got rid of my crock pot and now only use the rice cooker. 
@Canellita (12029)
• United States
20 Aug 12
This is very interesting. How do you use it to cook potatoes?
@alaskanray (4636)
• United States
20 Aug 12
Just cut up the potatoes and add them with your pot roast with the other veggies. I imagine you could do it other ways, as well.
@courtknee525 (3742)
• United States
18 Aug 12
Interesting, I never knew you could do all that with a rice cooker. I just got one a few months ago and I've only used it a couple times. Lol I'm not great with cooking and so far I've only used it to make small amounts of rice for myself. Maybe one day I'll be brave enough to try making other things in there!
1 person likes this
@alaskanray (4636)
• United States
18 Aug 12
I have a few recipes on my blog that you may like to try:
http://alaskanray.wordpress.com/
Let me know how it turns out.
@wilsongoddard (7291)
• United States
17 Aug 12
Surprisingly, I don't have a rice cooker. I have a crock pot that I make a bit of use of, but I have been thinking that I should add a rice cooker to my kitchen as well. It seems like it would be a good thing to do, since it would take less counter space and, likely, less electricity.
1 person likes this
@alaskanray (4636)
• United States
18 Aug 12
Yup, I chucked my crock pot after having my rice cooker for a few months. I stopped using the crock pot altogether and have been using my rice cooker so much, it is invaluable to me!
@asdomencil (4265)
• Philippines
18 Aug 12
When we unexpectedly run out of gas in our stove, we used our rice cooker in cooking not only rice but other meals, I do used in cooking soups, boiling eggs, sometimes I used to fry meat and fishes too. I think, rice cooker is not the right term but mutli-cooker.
1 person likes this
@alaskanray (4636)
• United States
18 Aug 12
LOL...you are probably right about that. It's almost like a pressure cooker but not quite. I remember when pressure cookers were all the rage when I was a kid. But the rice cooker is so much easier to use and less prone to mishaps.
@RitterSport (2451)
• Lippstadt, Germany
20 Aug 12
hi dear alaskanray, thats really amazing. Got to admit that the last time I saw a Rice Cooker was about 30 years ago when I studied and one of the Asian Girls on the floor of the Students boarding house had a rice cooker. She never cooked anything else than rice in it. So I am amazed as you cook complete meals in the Rice cooker even using raw meat....... sounds great.
1 person likes this
@alaskanray (4636)
• United States
20 Aug 12
Well, the rice cooker will last longer if you keep it reserved for rice alone...it doesn't get as dirty, either...but I like the way it makes my meals so easily so my rice cooker gets used for all sorts of things. I even make a killer picadillo in my rice cooker for my nachos. 
@tetris15 (539)
• Philippines
17 Aug 12
I also use my rice cooker to steam some fish or vegetables. Sometimes, I just put about 2 cups of water in there, let it boil then add the instant noodles I have. I guess rice cooker is a must in every household because you could use it in many different ways.
@alaskanray (4636)
• United States
18 Aug 12
Oh, yeah! I love my rice cooker. In fact, the last time we moved, the only small appliances I brought with me were my food processor, my toaster oven and my rice cooker. Between the three of them, I can basically do all the cooking I need for a long time.
