Tiger JNP-1500-FL 8-Cup (Uncooked) Rice Cooker and Warmer, Floral White

Thank god amazon carried this product. These are carried in asian stores but they are outrageously overpriced by them and the cheapest way to purchase one of these is in LA which is about a 10 hour drive from northern California. I'm 21 years old and my mother has owned one of these long before I was born, This little rice cooker has cooked rice for every single day and fed me for my whole entire 21 years of life, and even longer feeding my mother and grandmother. Unfortunately earlier this year it finally burnt itself out and was no longer working properly, my mom attempted to substitute this Tiger rice cooker by one made by Aroma she purchased from walmart. Those Aroma brands are complete s*** and cannot cook rice. They served better as a veggie steamer than a rice cooker. So for the past few months my mother has been cooking rice in a pot on the stove which is a better alternative to those crappy Aroma brands. So now on with the review The product arrived 1 day before its expected delivery date, shipping was extremely fast. This is our 2nd Tiger Rice cooker and it is absolutely freaking awesome, it cooks and works exactly like our old one it even has the same exact design. Keeps the rice warm and fresh, it has no problems cooking rice what so ever. This rice cooker is perfection, absolute perfection, there is nothing more that can be done to it. It works and functions as it is supposed to; Rinse your rice, throw it in the cooker, press the lever button down to "cook" to cook your rice, and let it do its thing, and when your rice is done the lever button will spring up to "keep warm" to keep your rice warm for the rest of the day until you unplug the cooker. If you need a rice cooker, this is the one for you...no lame knockoff brand by china or some crappy machine by Aroma. This is one of those best life investments you'll ever make, it is worth every penny. You get exactly what you pay for, the price is absolutely perfect, no complaints at all. The next time i'll probably buy one would be two decades from now when im 40 years old since these things are so durably built. Definitely going to recommend everyone I know to purchase from this seller if their rice cooker happens to burn out on them. Hell i might even by myself a personal one just so i could cook my brown rice in for my diet.

I already owned 3 rice cookers before getting this, one of which is a 10 cup Panasonic that I purchased in 1980 for 130$. Two of the 3 are Japanese, like this one. One is electronic for brown rice, and one is a neat smaller Zoji 5.5 cup. All are in fine working condition, all are top line rice cookers, and so I have a decent base knowledge to compare the Tiger. The Tiger impresses me as a quality unit, and with only one cook session to go on it cooked great gohan rice. That's not going to be a problem, I know already. The pot, inner lid, and even the drip catch are ultra nice. The inner lid mechanism is spring loaded in a heavy duty fashion that I've not seen before. The latch on the outer lid seems strong, but the hinge is a bit weak. I compared it with my other cookers and they are a bit weak too, but not quite as weak as the Tiger. I would like all quality rice cookers, regardless of brand name to step it a few notches up in this regard. My old Panasonic has a metal vent opening, and I'd like to see that on all top of the line cookers, but none have that now it seems. Not a deal killer by any means. It would be a nice touch to see it shiny metal instead of plastic. I would like to advise anyone considering a nice cooker like this to observe a few precautions, to avoid damage and enhance longevity. ----The first thing is to never pick up a rice cooker by the handle, even if empty. Always grab it from the bottom. The handle is only a grip to open the lid. ----Another thing is how to close the lid. To extend the life of the lid lock, push the lid button down before you close the lid, then release it once the lid is seated. This Tiger has a metal catch on the lid which engages a plastic part to lock. You can reduce the wear of the lid lock by not forcing the metal catch through the plastic part. Holding the button will relieve the pressure as it engages. ----Always treat the pan with care, dry before use, especially the outside bottom. This cooker could be a 35 year rice cooker for you so familiarize yourself well with it and go to Tiger website and read the general FAQ's for rice cookers:http://www.usa.tiger-corporation.com/support/faq/rice_coockers#77 (I did not misspell cooker in the url, that's how it is :) I also would advise that once you've checked it out and it's not faulty or damaged, then go ahead and buy a replacement pan now and put it up in storage. If taken care of very carefully the only wear item will be the pan. My Panasonic pan is worn but it's too late to get a replacement pan. I hate that because it's still a great cooker and a part of the family. I can see that this Tiger could wind up the same for someone too. For this Tiger I have already purchased a replacement pan, and that should tell you how I really feel about this cooker. Bottom line for me is, I wanted to get another one button, made in Japan rice cooker that hopefully will last a real long time before these babies become extinct. My children will inherit the Panasonic, that's for sure, and maybe this Tiger too! This cooker has a slight, a very very slight blue color to the area around the side of the cooker. It's almost white, and I wanted the classic white but this is ok. Kinda nice actually.

An amazing rice cooker! It cooks perfect rice and it's really easy to use, just make sure you read the instructions. The size is great, the cord is retractable and it's very light.

I used to have a smaller Krups rice cooker but I couldn't understand why there was a disgusting layer of caked browned rice on the bottom, every time, no matter what I did or didn't do. Well DUH, a really top-notch rice cooker makes all the difference. Who knew? Disclaimer -- I didn't get the cooker from this seller but I did buy it from Amazon. This model is simple to use and has a really huge capacity. In case you're reading this and don't know what the 10-cup part means, it's 10 cups of DRY rice! Egads, when you figure about 2.5-3 times cooked vs. dry volume, that's a bit of rice. Mmmmm, rice! The rice cooker comes with a special measuring cup (don't use a standard kitchen measuring cup for rice cookers), a plastic rice paddle, and a very rudimentary instruction book. The top has a nice handle and it closes securely for cooking. There's also a nice little attachment to hold your rice paddle on the side of the cooker, and something they call a "dew collector," which we Americans would call a condensation collector. The cooking interior is non-stick, which is nice. I've used mine with only good quality short-grained "sushi" rice, specifically the "Koshihikari" rice that was grown in the USA. Other quality Japanese type sticky short-grained varieties are "Sasanishiki" and "Akita Komachi." If you do a web search for "rice cookers" you'll find a wealth of information on what types of rice there are available to use in the rice cookers -- short, medium, long grain, aromatic -- the best quality (including many sold here on Amazon), and how to prepare your rice for the cooker so it comes out perfect every time. There are articles online as well as videos you can watch that teach you what to do. By the way, don't ever try "converted" rice in a rice cooker. You won't like the results, and converted rice is not meant to be rinsed as described below. In the case of sushi, or sticky short-grained, rice the best results are obtained by rinsing and rubbing the rice in a separate large bowl, a process that is sometimes called "polishing." Measure your rice into the bowl using the supplied rice cup. The cycle is: you rinse, drain, swirl with your hand or rub between your fingers, three times, then finally rinse the rice until the water is clear. This is where the videos will show you how it's done. Sounds more complicated than it really is, and the small amount of time to do this will pay off in perfect rice. Many people swear by then putting the now wet but drained rice into the cooker and letting it just sit for half an hour, which is what I do. Now to the cooking process. Add water to the marks on the cooker based on how many cups of dry rice you have. Then flip the button to cook. When the button flips up from cook to warm, unplug the rice cooker and let it steam for 15 minutes longer, without heating. This fluffs it up, but don't worry, it will stay hot. If you want slightly moister and stickier rice, add a little more water before cooking. This is the procedure for sticky/sushi rice, which is all I make. After the 15 minutes of steaming is done, you can plug the cooker in again and it will return back to the warm setting, and will keep your rice perfect for hours. I can tell you that my 3 measuring cups of dry sushi rice cooked about 18 minutes before the switch flipped to warm. Unfortunately, the instruction booklet says nothing about cooking times. Some people might object to the sputtering from the steam vent on the lid, but when you're done with the process it's easy enough to wipe off the spots. The non-stick bowl makes it very easy to clean the little leftover grains of rice. What's not to like? This is a fantastic rice cooker if you don't want to spend the extra money for "fuzzy logic" cookers or you don't plan on cooking brown rice, which may or may not turn out well in this rice cooker -- I've not tried it. I believe this cooker is a winner, and based on consumer reviews here and elsewhere on the web, you'll be happy with your purchase for years.

I got my first rice cooker/warmer 27 years ago, and have used Tiger and Zojirushi brands with good results. However, I had problems with this particular Tiger rice cooker/warmer. The first one had to be returned (thank you, Amazon, for a pain-free return system!), because it gave off an unpleasant odor during the cooking of the rice, and this smell was infused into the rice. The only way I can describe the odor is that it is like the smell of the old-fashioned "transistor" radios when they were brand new and turned on for the first time. All of the circuitry and components would heat up, and give off a very distinct odor during the "breaking in" process. I could not get rid of that odor from the rice cooker/warmer, and after several days of cleaning and several batches of ruined rice, I gave up and returned it for a replacement. The second cooker/warmer did not have that "transistor radio" odor, but it did give off an odor similar to the smell of new plastic/rubber, like an inflatable beach ball when it is first taken out of its packaging. I was able to get rid of the odor, but it did take some effort and a few days, including a thorough cleaning, and boiling about half a dozen batches of water. Eventually, the odor went away, and we were able to cook a batch of rice, with good results. The cooker/warmer kept the rice warm and in good condition for 48 hours, which is about what we have come to expect from rice cooker/warmers now days. I gave this rice cooker/warmer 4 stars because it eventually met our expectations, and we are now happy with our purchase. This is, however, the very first cooker/warmer that I have had to "break in" before making my first batch of rice. I did not find any mention about a "break in" process in the instruction manual. If you purchase this rice cooker/warmer, I would suggest testing the cooker by washing the removable rice pot and inner lid thoroughly, and then boiling some water. We just filled the inner pot with water, up to the 4-cup line, and turned the cooker/warmer to the "Rice Cooking" setting. After about 10 to 15 minutes, there will be a steady stream of steam coming from the vent on the lid. If the steam smells clean, you're good to go. If you get the "transistor radio" odor, my experience is that this won't go away. More importantly, the facts that the odor persisted, and that the second rice cooker/warmer did not have this odor, suggest that the "transistor radio" odor may be due to a more serious problem, even though I didn't see any smoke or signs of a fire hazard. If you get the "new beach ball" odor: We cleaned everything thoroughly, including the removable rice pot and the inner lid (the part attached to the handled lid). We also wiped down all internal surface areas exposed when the rice pot and inner lid were removed. We were careful to wipe with a cloth dampened only with water, and with excess water wrung out. We then filled the rice pot with water up to the 4-cup line, turned the cooker/warmer to the "Rice Cooking" setting, and set a timer for 30 minutes. We changed the water after that, and repeated this procedure until the smell was gone. Then we removed and washed the pot and inner lid, and allowed the unit to "air out" as it cooled The next day, the odor was back, but significantly less, so we repeated the procedures again. The following day, the odor was finally gone. Based on our past experience with Tiger rice cooker/warmers, we fully expect that this particular cooker/warmer will last us for years to come.

I've always considered it a point of culinary pride to cook rice by hand in a normal cooking pot. That is until I ended up with a 2-year-old who is a very picky eater, with rice one of the items on her "approved" list. Suddenly making rice went from a couple of times a month event to a couple of times a week. It was time to simplify the process of making rice. I looked at various models, read all the reviews on amazon and opted for the $105 rice cooker rather than the $20 one. I have not been disappointed. Every detail of this device is carefully thought out right down to the little plastic rice spoon holder on the side of the pot. Although purchased for making rice, I was delighted to discover that you can cook virtually any grain to good effect. So far I've made white rice, brown rice, black rice, red rice, quinoa, and barley. I even tried confusing it by cooking mixed rice, but this came out perfectly as well. Prior to cooking black "forbidden" rice in the Tiger, I had no idea that it didn't always turn out mushy and pasty. The result produced by the rice cooker was an entirely different matter; suffice it to say that everyone became an instant black rice enthusiast. And the complexity of the device is astounding: it has exactly one button. You plug it in, add your grain and the appropriate amount of water, close the lid, and turn it on. That's it. It turns itself off (well, to the "warm" setting) when the grain is cooked. The only trick is keeping the lid closed for the appropriate number of minutes after cooking so that the grain can steam properly. The simple approach is to not worry about it and just give yourself plenty of time to let the rice steam (10-15 minutes is always adequate). Cleanup is a snap. I frequently make rice and have the pot cleaned up and put away minutes later. My one confusion was with what "5.5c" means. Did this refer to the dry or cooked grain capacity? The answer is cooked. You can safely cook about 2 cups (dry) of brown rice or barley or 2.5 to maybe 3 cups of dry white rice at a time. It's not a good idea to overfill the cooker; I've done this and it results in a bit of a mess. This is by far the best kitchen gadget I've purchased in a long time -- highly recommended.

Did not like this rice cooker. I bought it to replace my decades old Tiger rice cooker which still works great but whose inner bowl is rusted and cannot be replaced. While I did like the look of this modern finish, the material and craftsmanship seemed much cheaper. It felt plastic and very light. I tried it out once, and the rice did not cook soft, as if the cooker was not strong enough. For the price (even with a Black Friday sale), this Tiger model was lacking in many ways. I ended up returning it.

The best rice cooker ever! It is simple and easy to use. It cooks really quickly. I wished they offer replacement for the pan insert.