Reddit reviews Zojirushi NHS-06 3-Cup (Uncooked) Rice Cooker
We found 10 Reddit comments about Zojirushi NHS-06 3-Cup (Uncooked) Rice Cooker. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.
Easy-to-use single switch controlSee-through glass lid with stay cool knobStay cool handles for easy transportDurable nonstick inner cooking panEvery Zojirushi rice cooker comes with a plastic measuring cup. This cup has a capacity of 6-ounces, or about 3/4 of a U.S. measuring cup. The capacity of the rice cooker is counted in these 6-ounce cups of uncooked short grain white rice. One 6-ounce cup of raw rice makes about 2 to 3, 6-ounce cups of cooked rice
Cheap tips...
Rice Cooker, Slow cooker, Food Processor, Blender.
Zojirushi Rice Cookers are consistent and long lasting - I had one of these for 12 years, and it always got the job done right. When I moved in with my wife, she had a rice cooker that was old, but still worked (another Zojirushi). We recently splurged and got a really high end one. It's AMAZING, 10-15 minute perfectly cooked rice.
Cuckoo CRP-HV0667F IH Pressure Rice Cooker - For reference.
Anyways...
Get the simplest cheapest crock-pot - Less things to go wrong when it's as simple as this.
Get a cheap food processor
Get a decent blender - Don't go too cheap on blenders, you really get what you pay for in a quality blender. Blenders and mixers are the two things KitchenAid does best.
Now... The reason why I said get cheap stuff? Because you said you know nothing about cooking, and you might destroy a nice piece of equipment in your ignorance. It's bound to happen. Since you are going to be living on your own, if family gives you free stuff, don't feel bad about getting rid of it if the equipment sucks. They didn't want it anyways. Good tools? And you'll do a good job.
Watch this for other equipment...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-av6cz9upO0 - Gordon Ramsay may be a celebrity, but his kitchen knowledge is definitely high-end.
Personally don't skimp on the saucepans, frying pan, and the knife (honestly for 99% of jobs you just want a really good chef's knife, other than a pairing knife can do most everything). They will make your life easier if you have quality equipment. I disagree with him about the cutting board for 2 reasons (10 years in restaurants in the past here)... One, you are a beginner and might ruin a wood board. Two, wood boards can accumulate bacteria from meats if not taken care of properly. I advise this one...
OXO Grips Utility Cutting Board
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHRXUeVsAQQ - Great video showing you some good techniques in cooking.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJy1ajvMU1k - Another video along the same vein, great techniques for cooking.
As others have said Budgetbytes is great.
Raw beans and raw rice are always going to be significantly cheaper than buying pre-made/pre-cooked. Use a slow cooker to cook beans overnight. Use google for a recipe.
Chicken skin-on, bone-in is always going to be significantly cheaper than not. Breast is usually drier/tougher but lower calorie per oz. Thighs are juicier/softer, but higher calorie per oz. Remove the skin if you want to be more calorie efficient. Keep the skin on for flavor. Personally? I always leave skin on, remove the bone (but use it for cooking to extract the flavors), and I always use a chicken thigh. Personal preference. A cool tip is to remove the skin, coat in olive oil, and fry by itself. Try that out, see if you like it. Fry till like crispy bacon. If you don't use the skin in cooking, you can use it like this as a snack later.
Seasoning things is really important. Don't over-season, less is more. Because you can always add more seasoning later. When I make chicken, I always put a pinch of salt on each side, grind some pepper (use a pepper grinder, it's always superior to that pre-ground pepper crap), slap that into it. Olive oil, don't skimp out on this either. Get stuff actually from Italy, larger bottles are usually a better deal. Chicken with salt, pepper, olive oil is simple and tasty.
Get some kinda meal prep containers...
https://www.amazon.com/Freshware-15-Pack-Compartment-Bento-Lunch/dp/B01IIINCRS - These should work great. I like having a separation point in the container.
Some simple recipes I like...
http://luckypeach.com/recipes/miso-claypot-chicken-no-claypot/
https://www.budgetbytes.com/?s=slow+cooker - Anything here.
https://www.budgetbytes.com/?s=easy - Again, using the search function at budgetbytes is huge.
One thing that helps is to develop your palate. If you will be doing okay for money, the occasional outing to a restaurant to try something new can be really beneficial. When you eat food out, imagine what possible technique they could have used to achieve a certain texture or taste.
I'm just rambling, but hopefully this will help a little.
Doesn't get much more simple than this thing. I've never used it but Zojirushi is the gold standard when it comes to rice cookers so it'll probably work great. I'd save up and go for a digital model instead.
This one is very similar to the zojirushi cooker link that I've been using for the last few years.
However, looking at yours it seems like the B&D one is way superior to mine :(. And cheaper. Oh well, mine is still pretty amazing.
I have this little guy (1.8L) http://www.amazon.com/Zojirushi-NHS-06-3-Cup-Uncooked-Cooker/dp/B00004S575/ref=sr_1_3?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1462935796&sr=1-3
And it's simple and does its job well, for around $60.
EDIT: Size matters, I guess.
I've used this rice recently as it's been easy to find at my local supermarket. Nishiki brand seems to be fairly prolific.
Can you cook rice without an appliance cooker? Of course! Can I tell you how to do so and have it come out perfectly? No :)
Zojirushi really makes damn good rice cookers. Personally I recently picked up this model for a little over $100 on Amazon. They also have a less expensive model but I don't have experience with that.
In any event, the rice comes out perfect every time. Perfect. Rinse the rice in 4-5 baths of water, set the final water level, press a button and away it goes. No scorching on the bottom - everything nice and uniform. It's stupid easy and IMO absolutely worth it. Incidentally, each cup of uncooked rice I would say is good for 2-3 rolls... so for me personally, the 3 cup (can do as little as 0.5) rice cooker is perfect either for myself or making a bunch of rolls for entertaining.
Beyond that, once it's cooked... just spread it out gently in a non-reactive bowl, add a little sushi vinegar (store bought is fine - I use a couple table spoons per cup of uncooked rice), fold it together, and you're set.
Simplifying the rice-making process to a button push has me making sushi way more often. Another thing that I feel like makes doing sushi vastly easier and better is doing so with poly food prep gloves. With the rice being so sticky it's just way easier, in my experience, than constantly dipping your hands in water.
I have one from the 80s. It has a single button that pops up when the rice is ready. I helped a family friend move and they gifted it to me. I would recommend looking on eBay and craigslist or going to a thrift store and perusing their kitchen appliances from time to time. You might get lucky!
This is very similar to the one I have. It's bare bones; but it does the trick. You might have trouble with overcooking the rice when it is on "keep warm" mode since the basic models are not as "smart" as the more expensive ones.
Access to no microwave:
Go Japanese style bento: Rice Onigiris : rice balls with tuna in them (I use calrose rice, and switch the filling with leftovers meat sometime). Tamagoyaki : egg omelets with a sprinkle of sugar. the square pan is not mandatory, just make things easier. Add to that steamed veggies like cauliflowers, carrots, broccoli and you got an easy and fast japanese lunch. The secret to make it quick or even in a dorm room is to use a rice cooker. I have the same model and it comes with a lid you can add on top of the rice. In 20 mins you get steam veggies and white rice cooked perflectly without looking. plus it's super easy to clean.
For cold food for lunches you can also make cold pasta salads with less then 5 ingredients, like this cowboy salad or this chickpea-avocado-feta salad
If you have access to a microwave :
for warm an easy meals your slow cooker would be your best friends : stews, chili, spaghetti sauce. anything put in there will break with just a fork so you wont need to have a knife.
My boyfriend started to used those black meal storage everybody shows on mealpreap (the three containers one). The biggest container is for veggies, the two smalls are for carbs and meat. He's been using it religiously for 8 weeks now and he combined with a bit of cardio everyday, has lost over 20 pounds.
A decent basic rice cooker is pretty inexpensive for how much easier it makes cooking rice.
Rinse rice, add to pot, fill to water mark, press button.
There's even a cheaper one- $50
https://www.amazon.com/Zojirushi-NHS-06-3-Cup-Uncooked-Cooker/dp/B00004S575