FAQ Rice Cookers | Zojirushi.com (2024)

A: Replacement parts including replacement inner cooking pans, measuring cups, spatula holders and spatulas may be ordered from our online Zojirushi Parts & Accessories page or by calling our Customer Service Department at 800-733-6270, M-F, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. PST. Please have the model number ready when calling.

A: Please see a list of our Authorized Service Centers to find your nearest Service Center. Please have the model number ready when calling.

A: The rice measuring cup is nestled into a hole in the Styrofoam packaging sitting on top of the rice cooker. The rice measuring cup is clear and translucent, so it may be difficult to see at first glance. If you can’t find it, please reach out to our Customer Service Department for assistance.

A: Yes, all of our rice cookers' nonstick coated cooking pans are PFOA-free.

A: Unfortunately, rice cooker parts and accessories are not dishwasher safe.

A: Parboiled or converted rice will result in mushy and overcooked rice if cooked in a rice cooker. Zojirushi rice cookers are optimized for regular rice. Our extensive testing ensures the best cooking flow for each setting, delivering the tastiest and fluffiest rice. Parboiled rice is not recommended for use with rice cookers.

A: The film that can be seen on the surface of freshly cooked rice is caused by excess starch left in the rice. Rinsing the rice until the water runs clear will prevent the film from forming on the rice when cooking. Please see Q16 “Why should I rinse rice” and Q17 “How do I rinse rice?”

A: The keep warm feature in our rice cookers is designed to keep cooked rice warm, fresh, and ready to serve and enjoy. However, we don’t advise keeping rice in the keep warm setting longer than recommended in your instruction manual as we are not able to guarantee the freshness beyond that point. For most rice cookers, 12 hours is the maximum but check your instruction manual for the accurate recommended maximum time. For longer storage take a look at our blog for tips on how to store rice.

A: Cooking rice is done largely in three parts: Soak, Cook, and Steam. Every cooking menu setting has its own cooking flow, but they all follow this general rule. In order to cook rice to tasty perfection, rice must be soaked for about 30 minutes (longer soaking time is needed for brown rice), cooked, and steamed for about 15 minutes. Micom rice cookers will perform all these steps automatically and let you know when the rice is perfectly cooked. For conventional rice cookers, these steps must be done manually since it will only perform the cooking portion for you.

A: Zojirushi rice cookers come preprogrammed with a 24-hour clock and don’t offer an option to switch formats. We apologize for any inconvenience. Reading the 24-hour clock is straightforward with this tip! Simply subtract 2 from the second digit from the left. For example, if the display shows 18:30, subtracting 2 from 8 gives you 6, so the current time would be 6:30 pm.

A: While our rice cookers excel at perfectly fluffy rice every time, they are specifically designed for rice. Cooking beans involves different times and soaking requirements, making the rice cookers' settings unsuitable for beans.

A: Welcome to the Zo family! Getting started is a breeze. Check out our instructional videos on How to Use Your Zojirushi Rice Cooker, consult your instruction manual for detailed guidance, and feel free to reach out to our Customer Service Department for any extra assistance. We're here to ensure you make the most out of your Zojirushi rice cooker experience. Happy cooking!

A: The rice cooker is an efficient and time-saving kitchen appliance that cooks perfect rice every time. Many people have difficulty cooking rice on the stove because the burner cannot be turned down to a low enough simmer for the steaming portion of cooking rice. The result is rice that is scorched or burned. With a Zojirushi rice cooker, rice will be fluffy and delicious. Plus, you won't have to stand over the stove while it cooks. Just set it and leave. All Zojirushi rice cookers have durable nonstick inner cooking pans for quick and easy cleaning.

A: Since Zojirushi has been making rice cookers for over 50 years, we offer different types of rice cookers to suit everyone's needs. To learn more about the different types of rice cookers, please visit our "A Closer Look" page. To compare the different models we currently offer, please see the Rice Cooker page. Also see Q15 and Q26, "Which is the right rice cooker for me?" and "What is GABA brown rice?"

A: It depends on what you're looking for in a rice cooker. Will you be cooking brown rice? Porridge? Do you need a timer function to ensure your rice is ready when you get home from work or wake up in the morning? If you don't need all those features, a conventional rice cooker is the right one for you. If you are looking for something more sophisticated, MICOM or even an IH rice cooker would be the smart choice with its brown rice and porridge functions, reheating cycle, timer and other features. If you want the most advanced features and the best tasting rice in town, we recommend the Pressure IH rice cooker. See our blog post “Choosing the Best Rice Cooker for You” or our Rice Cooker page to compare the features available on our many models of rice cookers.

A: Present rice milling machines cannot completely polish away bran and residues from the surface of the rice. Rinsing the rice with water before cooking helps remove excess starch, making the rice fluffier, whiter, more fragrant and tastier once cooked. It also helps prevent paper-thin layers of starch from forming inside the pan after the rice is cooked. Also see Questions 8 and 18, "How do I rinse rice?" and "What is rinse-free (pre-washed) rice or musenmai?"

A: Measure the rice accurately using the plastic measuring cup that comes with every Zojirushi rice cooker and add to the inner cooking pan. (For models NS-RPC and NHS series please use a separate bowl to rinse rice.) Fill the pan with plenty of cold water, and drain immediately. Stir the rice in a circular motion about 30 times (without water), pour water and drain. Repeat 2-3 times. Rinsing off the excess starch will result in lighter, fluffier rice. Also visit our YouTube Page to watch a video on how to rinse rice.

A: Some of our rice cookers are also steamers, and many of our rice cookers have multiple settings for different types of rice, such as brown, mixed, sweet, long grain white, Jasime, and porridge. Other models have a cake setting that bakes cakes. Most of our rice cookers are also rice warmers. They keep your rice hot and tasty for many hours (we recommend a maximum of 12 hours). Please see the Rice Cooker page to compare the features available with our many models of rice cookers. Also visit our Recipes Page to see how versatile our rice cookers are.

A: Yes we do! We have a Recipes Page dedicated to our rice cookers filled with a growing collection of delicious and tasty recipes for you to try with your Zojirushi rice cooker.

A: Every Zojirushi rice cooker comes with a plastic measuring cup. This cup is about 6-ounces, or about 3/4 of a U.S. measuring cup, which is based on a traditional Japanese measuring vessel called “masu” that is still used today. The capacity of the rice cooker is stated in these 6-ounce cups of uncooked short grain white rice. One 6-ounce cup of raw rice will double in volume once cooked.

A: This is how a basic rice cooker works. At sea level, the boiling temperature for water is 212°F or 100°C. As soon as all the water is absorbed by the rice, the temperature inside the cooker immediately rises. The appliance has a thermostat that detects when the temperature rises above 212°F and turns the heater off. More advanced rice cookers have micro computers to automatically adjust the cooking temperature and cooking time depending on the amount of rice cooked, the type of rice being cooked, and many other factors.

A: Fuzzy set theory, or fuzzy logic, originally introduced by Lotfi Zadeh in the 1960's, mimics human reasoning. Zojirushi coined the trademark Neuro Fuzzy® to designate their advanced micro computerized rice cookers. Micom means Micro Computerized. The temperature and cooking time are controlled by a micro computer chip. Neuro Fuzzy® is a registered trademark of Zojirushi.

A: It depends on how much and what type of rice you cook in which model rice cooker. Please refer to your instruction manual for more information. The more advanced rice cookers have QUICK cooking cycles that reduce cooking time by up to 20 minutes! Remember, Micom rice cookers are pre-programmed to soak the rice before cooking, and then steam it after cooking, so they may take longer than cooking rice on the stove, but the rice will be cooked to perfection.

A: This is not a new variety of brown rice, but a newly different way of cooking brown rice to "activate" it and increase natural occurring gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), an amino acid in brown rice believed to have health giving properties such as lowering blood pressure, improving kidney function and relieving stress. The brown rice is "activated" by soaking it at 104°F for 2 hours before the actual cooking begins. This feature is available in select rice cookers (see the Rice Cooker page).

A: Rinse-free rice is a new type of rice that does not require rinsing. A new milling technology was developed in Japan, which eliminates the bran, excess surface starch, and residues from the rice without sacrificing the quality of the rice. It is energy-saving and friendly to the environment since rinsing is not required. All Zojirushi rice cookers will cook rinse-free rice. Some Zojirushi rice cookers have "Rinse-Free Rice" settings that automatically adjust cooking time and temperature (see the Rice Cooker page). These models also come with a special green rinse-free rice measuring cup. With those rice cookers that do not have rinse-free rice functions, remove 1 heaping teaspoon of rice for each rice measuring cup you plan to cook. Due to this new milling technology, the grains of rinse-free rice are smoother and more slippery, so more rinse-free rice fits in one cup than regular rice. If this small adjustment is not made, your rinse-free rice may cook up too hard. Also see Q16, "Why do I have to rinse the rice?"

A: The best sushi rice is cooked in a rice cooker. Visit our Recipes Page to learn how to cook sushi rice and other types of rice in Zojirushi rice cookers.

A: All Zojirushi rice cookers are tested to function at an altitude of up to 5,000 feet above sea level. Pressure rice cookers are also not designed to cook at altitudes higher than 5,000 feet, but can cook the rice better at high altitudes (below 5,000 feet), compared to non-pressurized rice cookers.