Zojirushi Ns ZCC10 Neuro Fuzzy Rice Cooker and Warmer (White)

Why it's worth it

The Zojirushi NS-ZCC10 is a 5.5-cup fuzzy logic cooker that handles white, brown, sushi, sweet, and porridge without you thinking about it. Its extended keep-warm holds rice for the better part of a day without turning the bottom layer into a crust.

This is the cooker most people should just buy and stop researching. Zojirushi's Neuro Fuzzy system has been in production for a long time, and the reason it hasn't changed much is that it works. Published reviews of this model land in the same place year after year: fluffy, well-separated white rice, and brown rice that's actually soft rather than chewy. You add rice, add water to the line, pick a menu setting, and walk away.

The menu list is deeper than most. White rice comes in regular, sushi, softer, and harder versions, and there are separate settings for mixed, sweet, semi-brown, brown, rinse-free, and quick cooking. That sounds like feature bloat until you actually cook brown rice on the brown setting and see the difference. The spherical inner pan heats the grain more evenly than a flat-bottomed pot, which is why you don't get a hard ring around the edge.

From our review of 9 fuzzy logic rice cookers, by David Sinclair, Managing Editor

What we like

• +This is the cooker most people should just buy and stop researching
• +The menu list is deeper than most
• +Keep-warm is where this one separates itself from the budget field
• +It's small, which is easy to overlook

What to know

• –It uses a conventional bottom heating element, not induction
• –Cleaning is a small chore