Check the last Secret Santa thread. @ArmandoPenblade gifted me a pizza steel. Highly recommended. Thanks again, Armando!
I use a baking steelā¦ works extremely well. I used to have a stone a long time ago, but it cracked.
One of these days, Iām gonna trundle my way down to Hurricania and beg your kindness for a steeled pizza, Rich :-)
Does it really work so much better than a stone? Because I actually have a functioning stone, and I while I could see the steel being great, Iām not one to trade things of equal functionality.
Ya, Iāve found the steel makes better pizza. Whether itās worth the investment, thatās up to you, but itās a big ass slab of steel and will literally last forever, since thereās nothing that could possibly harm it.
Jessica Jones begs to differ.
Would owning a rice cooker be redundant, if you already have an Instant Pot?
My Zojirushi rice cooker died today, and I discovered that I can actually make a decent pot of rice in the Instant Pot. More to clean up because of the non-nonstick pan, but otherwise it works well. I only used my rice cooker for rice.
The consensus earlier (I think in the āwhat did you cook recentlyā thread) seemed to be that rice cookers make better, more consistent, more controllable rice and that that was worth a dedicated device. I remain skeptical, but Iāve never had a dedicated rice cooker. If you have, and still think the Instant Pot does acceptably, youāre probably fine sticking with that.
FWIW, I havenāt replaced my rice cooker and just use my multi-cooker.
Itās slightly annoying when I want to make two things with it for dinner. But thatās kinda rare and I just suck it up and make rice on the stovetop.
It depends on how often you make rice.
If you make it several times a week, I think it makes sense to have a dedicated appliance. I also have never had rice out of an instant pot that was as good as even a cheap dedicated rice cooker, but that could be a question of dialing in the technique. But, if you like the product from the instant pot, it might make sense for you to just use the one.
Rice cookers are genuinely useful. I love being able to throw a cup of rice and some water in a machine, press a button, and know that Iāll have perfect rice at X time without having to even slightly monitor anything, turn down a temperature gauge, etc.
Is it necessary? No. But it is pretty nice to be able to just say, āAt six p.m., there will be perfect rice - I pressed the button.ā
Yep, that is the use mine is getting, and it is an enormous relief for my style of cooking (which is to prepare 4-5 dishes all at once once or twice a week).
Thanks for the rice cooking feedback. Yeah, since my rice cooking needs are fairly predictable and simple these days, Iāll probably just stick with the Instant Pot for now. Only issue is fine-tuning the proportions (1:1 is not quite right, despite what Iāve read ā a bit more water seems better) and the non-nonstick pan (adding a little olive oil is said to help).
Regarding the old rice cooker, itās a 4-year-old Zojirushi NS-TSC10 5-1/2-Cup and not under warranty as far as I know. Issue is that the buttons are unresponsive, while the digital display still shows the current time. This suggests that the clock battery is still functioning and has not lost power ā Iāve read that a dead clock battery can sometimes cause the device to stop working, or something. (The manualās troubleshooting section does not list this specific issue.)
Only thing I can think of that I might do, short of shipping it to Zojirushi and paying for a repair, or just throwing the thing away, is to remove the four screws from the bottom and replace the clock battery, which may require some light soldiering. Not sure if Iāll feel like doing that, but I might. Until I muster up the energy to give that a shot, Iāll just toss it in the closet and use the Instant Pot instead.
Have you called Zojirushi? Even when things are not technically under warranty, reputable companies (and Zojirushi is such a a company) will sometimes help you out if you ask.
Hmm, good suggestion. I asked, and they could only refer me to an authorized repair center and the nearest is in a different state. Total cost would likely be equivalent to or exceed the cost of just buying a new rice cooker.
Awwww, Iām sorry to hear that. :(
Yeah, the beauty of the rice cooker is it frees up range space, and allows you to juggle one less thing while cooking, and it comes out perfect each time. I hate stove top rice cooking, I always worry about fucking it up, even if it is extremely idiot proof. I also hate timing multiple things while cooking, and the spacious rice cooker eliminates timing as the rice is good for a while after cooking in the cooker.
Rice cookers are great, I just canāt dedicate the space on my counter to one, and I hate gadgets that I need to take out and put away.