Zojirushi NS-YAC10 Umami Micom Rice Cooker and Warmer, Pearl White, 5.5 Cup Capacity

Umami Rice Cooker NS-YAC10/18
i love my Zojirushi's top of the line Induction Heating Pressure Rice Cooker (NP-HTC10). But i couldn't resist Zojirushi's new Umami rice cooker that was released earlier this year, which is a mid-line model that costs about half of the premium pressurized model. The main difference between this Umami model and the premium model would be the lack of induction heating technology and the pressurized system. However, after trying every setting on this rice cooker, the cooked rice is every bit as good as rice cooked in the premium model. I would definitely recommend people on tight budget to buy this model because it is almost $250 less expensive than the premium model. Th Umami model uses only 610 watts of power, as compared to the premium model that uses 1,230 watts of power, yet it produce similar quality rice as the premium model. The premium model uses considerably more energy to cook due to the induction heating technology.

Delicious rice that keeps for a very long time
Zojirushi sent me this cooker to review a couple of months ago and after cooking with it several times a week for two months, I can honestly say that I am extremely happy with the cooker's performance. Coming with loads of settings for quick cook, GABA brown, no rinse, porridge, mixed, slow cook, etc, what sets this cooker apart is the new Umami setting, which cooks the rice slower to give you a more savory pot of rice.

Cooking on the Umami setting will take longer, approximately 1 hour for 2 cups of rice. It does, however, taste better than if you use the Quick Cook function, which does well when you're in a hurry for dinner. The difference is in the aftertaste of the rice. When eaten plain, there is a distinctly sweeter taste in your mouth after chewing and it brings one dangerously close to just standing by the cooker eating gobs of plain, hot rice.

The downsides include a thick and unwieldy power cord that isn't retractable, a cover that doesn't easily snap...

Excellent Rice Cooker
I have been cooking rice in this for a couple of weeks now and have found it to be an excellent rice cooker. I was a bit skeptical at first in regards to the umami setting, but thought that it would be worth a try. I can now say that I am glad that I decided to wait for this rice cooker to come out. As Crystal Watanabe mentioned in her review--the umami setting does add a slightly sweet aftertaste to the rice as opposed to the regular white or quick cook setting--which lacks the 'umami' flavor. Also, the sweet rice setting does cook sweet rice very well without needing much pre-soaking.

I do agree with the previous reviewer--Crystal Watanabe--that the power cord is a bit unwieldy and the 'non-stick' rice paddle isn't quite non-stick; though that is a minor inconvenience. I didn't find the lid to be hard to snap shut--it closes very easily for me. Perhaps the lid in her's is defective.

Overall, I would definitely recommend this rice cooker. Also, for anyone...

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Zojirushi NHS-06 3-Cup (Uncooked) Rice Cooker

You can do better for the price and features
This machine is designed to give baseline service in a rice cooker. It uses a design and technology over 15+ years old. For the amount of money being charged you might want to consider getting a machine that at least has a retractable cord.

On the plus side - the pan heats well and is teflon coated; does white long grain and Japanese medium and short grain very well.

Be aware that the water markings on the interior of the pan correspond to cooking Japanese rice which uses a different ratio of rice to water than other varieties such as, wehani or short grain brown.

This machine has to be played with to do shorter grain varieties of brown. It can handle long grain brown fine.

I would make the suggestion of looking at (all) the rice cookers there and find one that has the following things for the money:

1) stainless steel pan or aluminium pan lined with teflon; 2) retractable cord; 3) warming function;

An on/off switch is NOT standard on an Asian rice cooker. It is due...

Bad lid, inferior design
I purchased two of these (large size and smaller one) for my family in the US. I use it when I am home for a visit. I have never been able to use this cooker w/o it spraying water all over my countertop. In short, I regret the purchase.

I now live in Tokyo and realize that Zojirushi is just pushing an inferior product on the US market. You cannot even purchase a thin-lid rice cooker here, especially one w/ a blowhole in it that lets turns the cooker into a steady spray of boiling rice water every time it is used. Not good.

If you are serious about cooking rice often, and not having to clean up your kitchen after each use, I suggest that you invest a little more and get a better designed product.

Does not match specs
Specs say it keeps rice warm for 5 hours. True of higher priced models, not true of this one. Instruction book clearly states the it shuts off when cooking is complete.

Specs and instruction book say a cookbook comes with it. It does not.

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