DASH Mini Rice Cooker Steamer with Removable Nonstick Pot, Keep Warm Function & Recipe Guide, .5 Quart, for Soups, Stews, Grains & Oatmeal - Aqua

Dorm essential; a small rice cooker. This is VERY small however. If you have only one person, it's suitable but if you are dealing with two or more, a 5 cup minimum would be better. The size of this unit is compact enough to toss into a suitcase or store in small quarters.This is a simple rice cooker with a press-down button for turning it on, a keep-warm function and an automatic shutoff. It works by thermostat; as the temperature rises when the water has boiled off and been absorbed by the food, the temperature spike makes the spring contact drop back, and the heat shuts off. No "fuzzy logic" here. Simple operation.Because the unit is small, cooking things like porridge will mean it possibly boils over. I had to put a kitchen towel under it to cook one serving of steel cut oats (they foam up) and it was a bit messy on the lid. The instructions do warm about boiling over. If you're using this, I'd put a towel under it as a matter of course.Cooking:I did regular Japanese short grain rice, steel cut oats, mixed grain porridge and a "Dutch Baby" pancake. The recipe for the pancake is included in the booklet, which has a number of recipes. All of them came out ok; the rice was slightly more wet and less cooked thoroughly than in my regular, large fancy rice cooker but it was fine to eat. The porridge boiled over (as I mentioned) and the Dutch Baby was really good. It's a large recipe requiring several batches to be poured in and cooked for two cycles. I'd halve the recipe next time, but it was a nice little breakfast made with milk, egg, flour and sugar, with a dab of jam or some fresh fruit,powdered sugar or syrup for extrasThe unit comes with a booklet including recipes (useful), a paddle for scooping the rice, and a measuring cup. My cup was cracked (thin plastic) but I already had a standard measuring cup for rice. This cup was a bit on the thin side and didn't survive the packaging.Dash doesn't make a mid sized (6 cup) rice cooker, only a family sized large one, so if you have need of more food than single servings, I'd get a different brand model that can do 5-6 cups of rice, which will feed two or three easily. But for dorm cooking, single person, tiny kitchen or traveling and cooking say, because you need to be gluten-free while traveling, this is perfect and very compact.

Out of the box it is a rice cooker. Yes, it can cook other things but there are some things to watch out for before you can use it like a regular cooktop for everyday use.I made sunny side up, over easy, scrambled eggs, poached eggs, pudding and more in minutes. Takes only 200 watts and holds the heat in the pot efficiently and effectively to cook most foods to food safety temperatures within 5-20 min cook times. Compared to 1000 watt+ electric cookers taking about the same time to cook a meal for a small nuclear family (mom, pop, and kid), you will save money.Things to watch out for before using it as a regular cooktop:First is cooking temperatures. It is only a 200-watt cooktop (which is a blessing) but you have to make sure that you keep a lid on it at all times to make sure food cooks properly. Which means no open sauté or frying. it is not a fryer or a deep fryer. Don't try to grill a steak on it. But you can certainly cook thinly sliced pieces. Be sure to check food temperatures for safety if you cook meat pieces. It can cook a fish filet, shrimp, bacon, or thinly sliced chicken tenders as well. Just make sure to use meat thermometers to check food temperatures when cooking non-vegetarian foods.Second, it has a pressure sensitive switch so you can't turn the device on unless there is enough weight in the pot. Which normally will not let you cook things that are light (for example a piece of bacon, poached egg or green beans or other thinly sliced stuff). To make it work, you will need to press the lid down lightly by hand, then push the cook button down to turn on the heat.Thirdly, at times you will need to open the lid to stir or flip things. Opening the lid will stop the cooking and move the switch back to 'warm'. You will have to push the lid down manually and press 'Cook' again. Make sure you use a mitt or a silicone glove to touch the pot because it will be hot. The pot does not have a handle, so use a mitt to pick up the pot to take things out of it. Usually, it will simply slide out. Always follow safety procedures while cooking in general.Enjoy your energy saver cooktop!The best part. I use solar energy for many things, ranging from lighting, to cooling and refrigeration. I can now add cooking to the list of things that can briefly run on my solar setup without draining my battery too much.TLDR: must have for every kitchen, saves on your bill, can cook many things and run on Solar Generators

I purchased this item on May 7th, 2021. Today, May 12th 2025, I am writing to say you can’t go wrong with this cooker. For context, I have used it once, sometimes twice, a week for four years now and I have no complaints. Still works great, hit the heating element with a little scrub here and there and looks brand new! For the price point, you can’t go wrong. Would I recommend this to someone who cooks rice daily or sometimes multiple times a day? Sure, however I don’t know if it would last as long. But a cup of rice twice a week for four years for $20 is not bad at all. Plus look how cute it is, and it’s easy to store anywhere because of the size!

So far I have only made regular long grain enriched white rice in it. I plan on trying Basmati rice next.Pros: The size is perfect for one person in a small place although it can serve two people as well.It doesn't burn the rice. I have had a few of these types of rice cookers and they usually burn rice.Cons: It is not as fast as claimed (it is claimed it can cook rice in less than 25 minutes). It takes about 35 minutes to cook one cup of regular rice ad about 25 minutes for half a cup. However, it's main functions is "set and forget" I think so one can do other things while it is cooking rice.No matter how much you rinse the rice, it still foams up when cooking to the point it comes out of the lid, but doesn't spill over.Getting rice out after cooking is a challenge. The pot is extremely light and moves a lot when trying to scoop out rice. It is also very hot so you can't hold it from moving with one hand unless you use an oven mitt or something.I have a new induction burner that would cook rice faster, but not worry-free as with this unit.