KitchenAid 8 Cup Grain and Rice Cooker, Integrated Scale, Black Matte

I seldom write reviews, but this cooker has been a game-changer in the best possible way. I wanted to write a review after the first day with it, but I held off for over a month so I could give you a fair review. I have not had it for years, so I can't speak to its longevity, but I can say confidently that it's far more than a gimmicky expensive gizmo that I used once and forgot. With this little jewel, I can have steel-cut oats for breakfast whenever I want, fried rice is now a prep-cooked staple in my house and much better than any restaurant version, and bean dishes from red beans and rice through baked beans and hummus appear frequently on the menu around here. The problem: So what does this little baby solve? We all need more fiber in our diets. However, getting said fiber isn't always the easiest thing for busy cooks to do. Cooking whole grains and legumes takes time. One solution is the Instant Pot / pressure cooker, but here's the other one. Spoiler Alert: this isn't going to totally replace your IP / pressure cooker. The pros: 1. Variety of cooking - this puppy will cook rice, grains and legumes. They call it a rice and grain cooker, but they should also mention that it will cook peas and beans. 2. Ease of Use - the touch screen is super easy to use, with one exception that will be addressed in the Cons below. Whatever kind of rice you want, there's a program for it. Most grains have their own program, too, as well as many legumes. It has a minimum / maximum capacity shown in the owner's manual. I read it, smiled sweetly and proceeded to ignore it. The machine will tell me if there's too little or too much. You make sure the tank has enough water, switch the unit on, use the touchpad to select the food you want, and follow the instructions. Hint: The instructions will be: leave the unit alone for a sec to let it zero the weight (tare) -> scoop in as much dry ingredient as you want - it will tell you how much you've added -> remove the pot and shake it to level the ingredients -> (close the lid - the instructions don't tell you to do this, but you're smart -> choose from some options and touch either Start or Delayed Start. Delayed Start is a bit unusual which will be listed in the cons. Walk away and forget it. 3. Ease of clean-up - This is amazingly easy to clean. If you're a total minimalist, you don't even have to use a scoop on the dry ingredients. To clean, remove the inner pot and the snap out the lid insert. I believe they're both dishwasher-safe, but they're so easy and quick to clean by hand that I never bother with the dishwasher. After years of using a first-generation Japanese home rice cooker that insisted on scorching the rice at the bottom of the pan, this was a game-changer. 4. Delayed cook - okay, the setting is a bit unusual, but it works very well. I wake up in the morning to perfectly cooked, hot steel-cut oats. Instant fiber! 5. Keep-Warm - It will keep my perfectly cooked food warm for me until I want it. 6. Custom cook, if desired - if you don't want to cook the ingredients in water, you can use the cooker as a traditional cooker and add the grains / legumes and liquid yourself. I almost never bother with that. You can also store custom recipes, but again, I never bother. 7. Set it and forget it - I love this feature. I can start the cooker going or set it on delay cook and walk off. It handles everything itself. 8. Customizations - I'm not picky about how I want my grains cooked. I pretty much always leave it on medium and go happily about my business. However, my sister is a steel-cut oats gourmet. Every grain has to be perfectly cooked and separate, not mushed together. She saw mine cook once and ran out to get one. She swears by the firm option. The cons - there are a few, but I don't find any of them to be show-stoppers. 1. The price - okay, Elephant-in-the-Room time. It's expensive. There's no getting around that. Watch for it on sale. If you're not picky about the color, you can usually snag it for a good price during Amazon Days. I've noticed they frequently put one of the colors on sale, but not the other. To me, it would have been worth full price. I use it about every other day for something. My three biggest uses are steel-cut oats, garbanzos, and brown rice. I've never had it cook me a bad batch. 2. Time - If you're looking for a quick meal, haul out the IP or pressure cooker. That's what I've used most of my life for cooking dried beans. However, balance the time it takes a pressure cooker to come up to pressure and release. They take longer than you might think. 3. Capacity - One day I decided to cook enough garbanzos for both hummus and curried veggies. This probably came out to about a pound of dried beans. That much went over its limit. Okay, I cooked two batches. It wasn't any big deal. However, if you typically cook for big crowds or prep cook large amounts of grains or legumes, you may want to haul out the IP or pressure cooker. 4. Counter space - Yep, it's one more thing on the counter. I find it as indispensable as my mixer or food processor (it sits on the counter with them), but if you're tight on space, it may not work for you. 5. Delayed Start Programming - Most delayed start appliances have you enter the time you want the job to be finished - or the food to be ready. This one doesn't have a clock. It was an interesting design decision and I'm not sure why they made it except that you can shut the unit completely off when it's not in use. So to tell it that you want your steel cut oats at 6am, you have to calculate the time between the time you set it and 6am. For example, if I'm closing down the house at 9pm and getting my oats ready for the morning, I make sure the tank is full or at least has enough water, add the oats and all as mentioned above and then (I'm not ashamed to admit it) count on my fingers how many hours between, say 9:15 pm and 6:00am. Between 9pm and 6am is 9 hours, but it isn't 9:00pm anymore, it's 9:15. So I deduct 15 minutes and enter 8 hours and 45 minutes. Got that? Yeah, a clock would be SO much easier, but again, it's not a show-stopper. Alexa or your friendly electronic home assistant will happily tell you, but I also use the good ol' digital calculator. (Fingers... digits... got it??) So yeah. As my sister says, my favorite small appliance is still my coffeemaker, but it's getting nervous. VERY nervous!

I think there's been a quite a few times in my life that I would get something expensive only to think once I got it that I never really needed it. I would say this is not the case with this rice cooker. I found myself cooking a lot more and using this for Rice, Quinoa, and couscous quite often. It really is for me, an investment into me eating at home and eating healthier. The interface for the rice cooker is really easy and straightforward. It's efficient for my time and for me being a beginner cooker and it cooks everything correctly. I don't have to add time adjust anything. I can't express enough how amazing it is to dump a random amount of rice in the cooker and have it calculate how much water is needed, without guesswork or asking what the water to rice ratio is (because I forget every time) Things to know: You cannot steam and cooked rice together. The steamer attachment that goes over the rice cooker bowl does not leave much room to stuff veggies to steam. I also found that steaming used alot of water compared to cooking rice/quinoa.

Honestly I am a kitchen gadget kind of girl so of course I had to try this machine and honestly I love it! It does almost everything from steel cut oatmeal to sushi rice, quinoa etc.... If you are busy, which most of us usually are, this takes no effort at all. Just turn it on, choose the grain, put the grain and ensure the water tank is filled and voila, it will figure out the amount of water needed and the time it needs to fully cook, without you having to ever check on it or stir! As you pour your grain, it measures the weight and adapts to the type of grain and amount of water. You can even specify whether you washed your rice (wet vs dry) so it adapts the cooking accordingly! Fluffy rice ready to go whether it's short, long, sushi, brown etc.. Basically, throw it in there, let it do its thang and if you forget it, it will keep it warm for you up to 5 hours. I mean what more is there to love? Could it wash the rice for me? I would love that and maybe the second version will but otherwise everything else is on par and I've tried almost all the options. Even cooked bulgur on farro mode and it comes out perfect everytime.

This is a great machine when you read and understand the instructions. I have made every kind of rice and quinoa in it so far, I haven tried beans or steaming because we don't eat beans and I tend to steam my vegies with my meat. The price is crazy but I managed to get mine on a flash sale at about 30% off so that was a little better. Now the main reason I bought this machine instead of others is because of the delayed cook. We work 2 ND shift and want our rice ready when we get home, especially brown rice with a longer cook time of 1hr and 35 min average. The rice can go in dry or rinsed with out turning into glue when it comes time to cook since the machine adds the water at the start of cooking unlike my old one that the rice had to sit in water for 6.5 hours before it started. Also the simplicity my husband can actually manage to make the rice if I rush out for work and forget. The size is perfect for us (3 adults with left over for the dogs in the morning. I am impressed with the taste and texture of the rice being on point each time. I have yet to find a rice I can't cook in it even flavored rice's like zataran's dirty rice and taco rice with beans. I am gluten intolerant and rice has been my substituted for pastas and bread, I am going to try the steam eggs next just to see how it works.

I couldn’t be happier with this KitchenAid grain and rice cooker. From the very first use, it was clear how thoughtfully designed and easy it is to operate. The interface is simple and intuitive, no guessing, no complicated setup, just add your ingredients, select your setting, and let it do the work. What really impressed me is the quality of the rice. It comes out perfectly cooked every single time, fluffy, evenly textured, and never mushy or dry. It’s also incredibly convenient for everyday use. Whether I’m making a quick side or prepping meals for the week, it takes all the stress out of cooking grains. If you’re looking for something reliable, easy to use, and capable of delivering consistently great results, this is absolutely worth it. Highly recommend!

I’ve had this for a couple months now and I’m kicking myself for not returning it when I had the chance. I’ll start out by saying I do like the steamer setting. In fact I exclusively make hard boiled eggs using this steamer and they come out perfect every time. I’ve used it to steam veggies as well. For making rice, however, I’m quite disappointed. You cannot adjust the water level using the pre set rice setting and for some reason it seems to use a 1:1 ratio. It comes out all dry and gross. You have to use to custom setting to control the amount of water used which defeats the purpose of having the auto dispense water reservoir. For brown rice, it takes somewhere around an hour and a half to cook which is just crazy. The reservoir itself is a good idea but it’s a terrible design. There is no where to grab it so it’s a pain getting it on and off the stand. I was super excited to get this but it is extremely over priced for what you get.

I've just used it a few times and just for rice. It's the best thing since sliced bread! I'm very happy I bought this machine. It's pricey yes, but the ease of use and convenience can't be beat. Over the years I've had simple/cheap rice cookers that worked but did not give consistent results. So far this KitchenAid beats all of them by far. I've been making long grain Basmati rice because I love the taste and aroma. Start with a good brand of rice! The old saying is true, you get what you pay for. Using good quality ingredients will result in good results. I rinsed the rice a few times in a bowl to remove the excess starch. Put the rinsed/wet rice in the cooking pot, close the lid and follow the on screen prompts to start the cooker. It couldn't be easier. I then walk away to do other things until I hear the sound that the rice was done. It's been perfect every time just using the regular setting. I'm in my mid 60s and I've become a rather lazy cook. Having perfect rice is wonderful without watching a pot. Really is a "set it and forget it" kind of thing. After my first time using the rice cooker I put some rice in a bowl and added a little butter and S&P. It was excellent. I could eat rice like that every day. Next time I used it as a base for a slow cooker chicken curry and I felt like a chef, LOL. The keep warm feature works very well too. I'm not someone who wants the keep warm feature to work for 10-12 hours. I read one review that thinks that's a deal breaker but I'll say I think the average person wouldn't need a 10 hour keep warm feature. This rice cooker/steamer is a game changer for me. Perfect rice without measuring anything and clean up is a breeze. The interior pot is non-stick and I hand wash it quickly and easily. After using I dump out the leftover water from the tank as a personal preference but you could certainly leave the water there for next use. Overall this was worth the price for me and the machine will be on my countertop to use often. Very happy with this purchase.

I highly recommend this product. Everything comes out perfect and it’s easy to clean. The most amazing part is the self measurements. Just pour in the dry ingredients and it automatically knows how much liquid is needed. Worth every penny.

I’ve been very happy with this KitchenAid rice cooker. It’s simple to use, cooks rice evenly, and consistently delivers great results with minimal effort. The removable pot is easy to clean, and the keep-warm function does a good job of keeping rice ready to serve without drying it out. It has become a regular part of our kitchen and has performed reliably every time. Highly recommended for anyone looking for a dependable rice cooker.

El producto en España con el adaptador de voltaje que me mandaron no funciona ya que el que mandan es americano 120v y en España son 240w. Tube que devolverlo pero la atención del proveedor fue excepcional.

This rice cooker has been such a game‑changer in my kitchen! I absolutely love how effortless it makes cooking rice — I never have to measure water or watch the pot anymore. I just add the rice, press start, and it comes out perfect every single time. The convenience is incredible — whether I’m making a quick dinner or prepping multiple meals, it frees up so much time and mental energy. There’s no guesswork or stress about overcooking or undercooking anymore. It’s also really easy to clean, and the pot itself is nice and roomy for family‑sized portions. If you want consistently great rice with zero fuss, this rice cooker is worth it. I’m honestly so impressed! Highly recommended ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I did a lot of research before buying a rice cooker & I liked this one for the fact that I like eating a variety of different kinds of rice but that it takes all the guessing out of making rice and has feature you can use to make other grains. The fact that this investment come with a year warranty plus another additional year if you purchase it with certain visas, I feel full covered in case anything goes wrong with it :)

Love my rice and grain cooker, it figures everything out for you, display setting is wonderful. Perfect rice or grain every time!