Nowadays, few families still use an open flame to make rice, so the rice cooker is a must-have kitchen appliance for every household. Although the rice cookers are similar in appearance, the internal differences are not small. The capacity, heating method, inner pot technology, and additional functions are different, and the taste of the cooked rice is also different, which makes it a bit difficult.

1. Choose from the size of the capacity

When choosing a rice cooker, the first thing to look at is the capacity of the rice cooker. If it is too small, it is not enough, and if it is too large, it is a bit wasteful. The common rice cookers on the market are mainly divided into 3L, 4L, and 5L in capacity. As for larger capacities, such as 6L and 9L, they are mainly for commercial use, and ordinary families do not need to consider them.

Capacity 3L, suitable for family of three

The capacity of 4L is suitable for a family of 4 to 5 people

The capacity of 5L is suitable for a family of 5-7 people

Of course, this is for reference only, and it also depends on the appetite of family members.

2. Choose from the heating method

If the capacity determines how much rice the rice cooker can make, then the heating method determines what kind of rice the rice cooker can make. At present, the rice cookers on the market are mainly heated in two ways, one is the new type of IH heating (electromagnetic surround heating), and the other is the traditional chassis heating. Let's take a look at the advantages and disadvantages of the two.

2-1. IH heating

IH heating is to connect the alternating current through the electromagnetic coil to directly heat the metal liner. Because of the heat conduction process across the heating plate, the heat loss is reduced, so the temperature rises more quickly. Because the electromagnetic principle is used, the power can be made larger, and the speed of cooking rice is naturally faster.

And more than that, using the electromagnetic principle of heating, it can also achieve precise program control of the rice stewing process, set different processing firepower according to the needs of each heating stage of the rice, and make rice with a variety of tastes. However, this kind of rice cooker has high technical content, so the price will be relatively expensive.

2-2. Chassis heating

Compared with IH electric heating, the heating of the chassis is much simpler and cruder: first use electricity to heat the chassis, then the chassis heats the bottom of the inner pot, and the inner pot transfers the heat to the ingredients. Since the heat will naturally decay after two transfers, the cooking speed is relatively slow, and only the bottom of the inner pot is heated, which is easy to cause uneven heating, and it is not as accurate as IH heating.

However, chassis heating also has advantages, that is, the technology is very mature, the production process is not high, and the price is naturally cheap. If the economic conditions are limited, you can choose a rice cooker heated by a chassis. If the requirements for the quality of life are higher, then the rice cooker heated by IH will be a better choice.