Harmful Practices That Accelerate the Decline of Electric Rice Cookers

Unforeseen Consequences: These seemingly insignificant habits are actually the reasons why your household electric rice cooker bids an early farewell.

1. Harmful Practices That Accelerate the Decline of Electric Rice Cookers

Unforeseen Consequences: These seemingly harmless habits are actually the culprits behind your electric rice cooker's early demise.

The manner of usage is intricately linked to the product's quality. Many homemakers lament about their electric rice cookers encountering issues like unappetizing rice or unevenly cooked grains after some use. One of the primary reasons stems from improper usage habits. Below are some harmful habits that many users fall into when using electric rice cookers.

Pouring rice directly into the pot
To enhance convenience, many users have the habit of pouring rice directly into the pot of the electric rice cooker, believing it to be harmless. However, whether the pot has a non-stick coating or not, manufacturers provide a protective layer for the pot's surface to ensure safe cooking for users.

Pouring rice directly into the pot of the electric rice cooker is one of the common harmful habits

Directly placing rice into the pot can lead to scratches on the protective surface, not only compromising the aesthetic appeal of the electric rice cooker but also affecting its cooking safety, especially for non-stick pots. The best advice is to use a basket or a small basin to pour the rice into the electric rice cooker and add water before cooking.

Not drying the pot before inserting it
Many people have the habit of inserting the pot core into the cooker immediately after pouring in the rice. This can be harmful because if the exterior of the pot core is wet, it can wet the heating element, posing a risk of short circuit and electrical leakage.

Using one hand to insert the core into the cooker
This method can damage the cooker's main relay. Because the bottom design of the pot is slightly concave, placing it with one hand can cause uneven contact with the relay, resulting in unevenly cooked rice. The correct way is for consumers to hold the pot core with both hands and place it into the cooker, then gently rotate it half a turn to ensure even contact with the relay, resulting in evenly cooked rice.

Hold the pot core with both hands and place it into the cooker

Plugging into the same power outlet as high-power devices
If you plug the electric rice cooker into the same power outlet as high-power devices like microwaves, ovens, refrigerators, etc., it can lead to electrical overload and cause a fire hazard. It is advisable to use a separate power outlet for these devices to ensure safety during use.

Pressing the 'Cook' button multiple times
When wanting to keep the rice warm continuously, create burnt rice, or when slow-cooking/steaming/baking with the electric rice cooker, pressing the 'Cook' button multiple times to adjust the cooker's heat level is necessary. This can cause instability in the cooker's heating relay, leading to premature button jumping (undercooked rice) or delays (overcooked rice).

It's best to minimize the need to press the 'Cook' button multiple times each time you use the electric rice cooker.

Using metal utensils to scoop rice

Be mindful to use wooden or plastic spoons and forks to scoop rice

All electric rice cookers have protective or non-stick layers, so using metal utensils to scoop rice can scratch or peel off the protective/non-stick layer of the cooker. Therefore, to protect your electric rice cooker, pay attention to using wooden or plastic spoons and forks to scoop rice.

Cleaning while the pot is still hot
Sometimes users inadvertently immerse the pot of the electric rice cooker in water while it's still hot right after using it all up or using the pot for stewing, braising for convenient cleaning. This action can damage pots with non-stick coatings because it causes thermal shock, easily leading to damage and peeling of the non-stick layer on the pot's surface. When this happens, the electric rice cooker's cooking becomes unsafe.

Let the pot cool completely before cleaning. If worried about cleaning stubborn food stains or burnt rice, you can soak the pot in warm water and dishwashing liquid to soften the dirt before cleaning.

According to vietq.vn