Rice Cookers, an essential buy for College Students

One of the most useful things that a student who is about to go away to college should buy is a rice cooker. I realized this my first year in college, when I experienced my first few all-night cram sessions on an empty stomach! Rice cookers are convenient, easy to use, affordable priced, and more flexible than you might think! Although they were primarily designed to cook rice, in fact, they can be used to prepare many other foods.

Some foods that can be cooked well by a rice cooker include noodles, hot cereal, soups, and eggs. These are just a few of the foods that can be prepared – all you need is a little imagination to fill a whole menu and your stomach.

One great benefit of using an electric rice cooker is that it is safe. Most will come with an automatic timer. This eliminates the hassle of having to “mind the pot” and you won’t have to worry about leaving the oven on and burning down your apartment. This wonderful appliance can pretty much run on auto-pilot.

You might be wondering how much something like this will cost you and you may be surprised to find out that they are not expensive at all! The one I have is a     Panasonic SR-G10G 5.5 Cup Rice Cooker. It only cost me $27.31!

Of course, higher-end models with more functions are also available. The Zojirushi NS-LAC05 Micom 3-Cup Cooker and Warmer, for example, is made of stainless steel and boasts 5 different settings specifically for making white rice, sushi, porridge, brown rice, and quick-cook items. A quick search online puts it at a retail value of about $123.00.

Lastly, one of the absolute best things about having a rice cooker at your disposal is that they are highly portable! If you are going to be traveling or changing apartments frequently, you’ll find it very easy to bring your cooker along. Try doing that with a microwave or toaster oven!