Lotus Foods Gourmet Stainless Steel Rice Cooker and Steamer, 12 Cup Capacity

I bought this because I needed to be able to cook up larger batches than my other rice cooker an Aroma 3 cup model. I was and am still very happy with that model. The Lotus steamer is basically a larger version of that one. It's operation is very simple, add rice, water and flip the switch. I've used it a few times now and it performs perfectly. The only time I had rice foam up and bubble out the steam vent was with a batch of long grain rice, that I didn't rinse long enough. With the short grain sushi rice which I primarily use, I have had no problems at all. Any reviews for this or any rice cooker where the reviewer complains of rice foaming up and boiling over isn't rinsing the rice first. It makes a huge difference. The stainless steel pot is very easy to clean. While I do sometimes get a layer of rice stuck to the bottom if I don't have time to let the rice sit after it finishes cooking, the rice isn't burnt and soaking in hot water to loosen and scoop with a bamboo spatula I have and the pot looks as good as new. I had tried to find a large capacity cooker with stainless but without the warming feature after cooking is done. I was worried that the warming feature would cause the rice to be too soft if i didn't watch the time closely after cooking was over. This hasn't been the case. If you can follow basic directions, you can steam perfect rice with this. The day I got this steamer I ran 3 full 12 cup batches through it, not a bad batch in the bunch and have since run numerous 4 and 6 cup batches with no problems.

I just got this steamer a couple days ago and have used it twice. It's pretty simple to use. I haven't cooked any rice yet (although I plan to). I have used this to steam vegetables, and it does a terrific job. It starts producing steam in what seems to be a fairly normal amount of time (maybe slightly faster) when compared to steaming on a stove. The steaming tray holds enough for a couple people to eat a hefty amount of vegetables (or whatever you are steaming). I eat a lot of vegetables, so you may disagree and say that it holds enough for the whole family. As far as cooking time is concerned it seems like it takes just a tad bit longer than boiling. By the way the unit is constructed well and looks pretty good. The stainless steel parts are NOT cheap pieces of crap either! If I end up having problems with this I'll update this review, but at this point I do not expect that to happen. ***UPDATE*** 08/24/2013 I have been using this for over a month now, and I still haven't had any problems. I use it a few times a week if not more. I have cooked rice in it a handful of times now, and it has turned out just as well as cooking it in a pot.

I abandoned my old rice cooker after reading some research on aluminum coated or based rice cooker pots causing an adverse chemical reaction that is not good for your body. This is the only purely stainless steel rice cooker I've been able to find, that doesn't use any additional coating. I've been using this for a few weeks now, and have cooked brown, jasmine, wild, and japanese rice on it. Also have steamed a few dim-sum related foods and this rice cooker / steamer works fantastically, and takes just the right amount of time. A few older rice cookers I've used take an offensively long time (on the order of 30-45 minutes, I mean, c'mon!) - and this one is delightful in comparison. The only complaint I have is that the rice sticks although they advertise it as non-stick. But that's the tradeoff to using stainless steel with no coating, I guess.

I looked high & low for a rice cooker with an inner pot made of stainless steel. Most rice cookers say they are stainless steel, but they are referring to the outside of the pot. And since I didn't want aluminum leeching into my rice, and I'm not a big fan of teflon, this rice cooker was the perfect choice for me! I've only used it once so far, and made jasmine rice with coconut milk and fresh ginger. I thought cleaning the stainless steel pot would be a nightmare, but to my surprise, cleaning was a breeze! And the rice was so fluffy and delicious! Not hard to use, just hold the cook button down, and it automatically pops up to warm when the rice is done....only took about 20 minutes. I didn't want to pay such a high price for a rice cooker, but it's exactly what I wanted and seems to be high quality, so I'm pretty happy with my splurge! :)

Rice cooker was fine until it suddenly stopped working. I used it about 5 times the first year, and this past year about 20x. All of a sudden it just stopped working. Warm light is on, plugged in, but when I press the lever for cook, nothing happens. Tried troubleshooting, etc., with no change. A rice cooker like this should give years of service. I replace my old, inexpensive one because I wanted a stainless steel pot. My old one was in use for 25 years & still works!!

I would like to give a 5-star rating, but the the inner pot has 4 hit marks (dents)!!!!, the marks are not caused by shipping or transportation, since it is packaged with 2 boxes, in the inside box, there are styroform to set the cooker in position. The hit marks are possibly from the original packaging or from the manufactuer. The inner pot is stainless steel, a little stick for rice, but not hard, difficult-to-crape kind of sticking. The vent hole is wrapped with rubber, it would be better to wrapped with stainless steel, otherwise, it would be a 5-star product. When put final product into packaging, do a good QC, manufacturer or distributor!

DO NOT BUY THIS RICE COOKER!!! Yes, it makes rice well, it is versatile and easy to clean, but after going through three of them, their quality is not worth the expense. We bought our first one and it lasted 15 months. When it broke it was outside the warranty period, but like I said, it made rice well and was versatile so we re purchased it. The next one lasted about 8 months, but since it was within the warranty period it was repaired. We paid for one way shipping and had to wait about 2-3 weeks, but it came back working fine. Today it broke again, less than one month outside the warranty period. Unless you are willing to pay $80 per year for the privilege of using this rice cooker, I'd search for a better quality product. I hate having to send appliances like this to the dump, it is wasteful in all aspects of the word and I will no longer waste any money, natural resources, or time on this product.

I can't live without it! Healthy affordable meals are as easy as 1,2,3~ Literally! 1. Just add water. 2. add rice. 3. add veggies. In less then an hour you'll have a HOT, HEALTHY, AFFORDABLE, meal that will feed your whole hungry family! This is a winner! Love it! It will take a little figuring out to get it just right, all rices are different and so not over cooking veg or even under cooking may take a little practice, but we have it down to a science now at our house because eating healthy this way is just in the budget! We use frozen vegetables because they're more affordable and they're fresher usually than the ones that are supposedly fresh in the produce section. (do your own homework on this, it will save you money and offer more nutrients for your buck!) anyway if you do decide to go with frozen veg as we do, you may end up wanting to wait, and add your rice after your veggies. Here is how I've learned to do it. First I add 1 1/3 cup of water per cup of dry rice I plan to cook, into the rice cooker. Than I fill the steamer VERY full, I mean as full as it can get! (I have very hungry family and we're vegetarian so this is our meal) I put all the different vegetables that we like into it. Than I turn it on cook. After a half hour, I add my rice and than when the whole thing turns off because the rice is done, I have a complete healthy meal to serve my family! Again you will have to kinda see what works for you. Many things can very, from the type of rice you use to how many veggies etc. all that can change how long you want to leave them in there. I think because I fill the steamer SO FULL of frozen veg, it takes awhile, and than the veggies come out crispy and fresh at the same time as the rice, when I do it the way I shared with you. Anyway we love it! I think you will too! Worth every penny!