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A rice cooker is an essential appliance that will serve you well in providing delicious meals for your family for a long time if used correctly.
1. 9 essential tips to prolong the lifespan of your rice cooker
Rice cookers are indispensable appliances that will faithfully serve your family with delicious meals for a considerable time if handled correctly.
I've spent 4 years of my life selling kitchen appliances at a store. My job is to sell and explain, advising customers on how to use various rice cookers. From elderly women to those who need to use a cooker daily. For every rice cooker I've sold, my greatest joy is advising them on how to avoid coming back to buy the latest model. Because that shows my successful guidance, and my products are being well-maintained by customers.
Interesting and helpful insights from a seasoned rice cooker sales advisor.
I'll provide detailed insights for those who haven't had the chance to meet me, ensuring you understand that a rice cooker will cook delicious meals and remain durable mostly due to your usage habits.
1. Avoid rinsing rice inside the cooker
My first and most important advice to you is to avoid rinsing rice inside the cooker. This practice may not affect high-end cookers much. However, for mid-range or cheap models, it's quite risky. Rinsing rice inside the cooker frequently will quickly damage the inner coating.
Avoid rinsing rice inside the cooker, instead, rinse rice with a sieve or stainless steel pot.
2. Avoid using supplied salt
Every rice cooker comes with its own salt. It's amusing how many families don't use this salt and replace it with another. The difference lies in the fact that the manufacturer has researched the suitable material and design of the salt for the cooker. Therefore, if you want your cooker to last, respect the manufacturer.
3. Don't wipe the outside of the inner pot
After removing rice and water, do not wipe the outside of the inner pot dry. This means you are contributing to damaging the heating mechanism, affecting the cooking temperature, resulting in less tasty rice.
4. Keeping the cooker warm for too long
The main function of a rice cooker is to cook rice. The keep warm function should not be excessively used. Some people keep the keep warm function on for up to 5 hours. This not only makes the rice less tasty but also quickly leads to sending the cooker for warranty or repair.
5. Incorrect cooking capacity
You should estimate the regular number of people eating to buy a suitable cooker. Many of my customers come to me because they bought a rice cooker supposed to cook for 5 people but regularly only cook for 1 person, or buy a 10-cup cooker but only cook 3 cups. This practice easily leads to the cooker malfunctioning sooner due to mode misalignment.
6. Reheating leftover rice
Using a rice cooker to reheat leftover rice by putting cold rice from the fridge, adding a bit of water, and turning on the cooking mode. This method is not recommended as it creates a strange equilibrium reaction between cold rice and water. I suggest reheating rice in the microwave instead of choosing this damaging method.
7. Cooking various other dishes
With a rice cooker, if you want to use it for long-lasting use, you should only use it for cooking rice. Don't think of it as a multi-purpose cooker and comfortably boil chicken, cook soup, or even make cakes... Your 'experiments' might succeed but these liquids if not adjusted in time will spill and leak and the internal elements can damage the cooker.
8. Soak brown rice before cooking
Many people have the habit of soaking brown rice for a few hours to cook faster. However, do not soak brown rice in the rice cooker to avoid scratching and damaging the cooker.
9. Scrubbing with a stiff brush
Stiff brushes or metal utensils are not suitable tools for rice cookers because the inner coating is enamel. Don't try to scrub it clean at all costs. Use a sponge or soft cloth to clean the pot.
Source: giadinh.net.vn
