Review of the Best Cuckoo Rice Cookers

Rice cookers seem like simple devices. Cooking rice is the only thing they do, so it’s easy to think that they’re all the same basic tools. Nothing could be further from the truth, though. 

Rice comes in long, medium and short-grain varieties, and each of these has different characteristics. Long-grain rice should be dry and fluffy when cooked. Short and medium-grain rice should be slightly sticky and much more moist than long grain rice. 

None of them should be overly soft or clumped together. The grains should be distinct and easy to separate. Achieving perfectly cooked rice with multiple varieties every time is no easy feat, and not every rice cooker is up to the challenge.

In addition to different varieties of rice, different cultures have different preferences for how they like their rice cooked. This review is focused on Cuckoo rice cookers. These are Korean rice cookers, and they will gelatinize the starch in rice to a greater degree than most. That leads to a somewhat stickier finished product. This is ideal for making rice to serve alongside Korean food.

Things to Consider in Choosing a Rice Cooker

Buget

When selecting a rice cooker, the first consideration should be your budget. Rice cookers can vary widely in price and, while the cheapest models generally don’t perform as well, they do still get the job done. The most expensive models don’t necessarily cook rice any better than mid-range models, but they usually include a range of extra features that can make using them easier or more enjoyable.

Cooking Capacity

Next, you must think about how much rice you cook. 6 cup and 10 cup cookers are some of the most common sizes. A 6 cup rice cooker can hold 6 cups of uncooked rice, while a 10 cup rice cooker can cook 10 cups of uncooked rice. The rule of thumb is that 1 cup of uncooked rice per person is an appropriate amount. 

Aesthetics

Finally, you should consider the appearance of the rice cooker. It may seem superficial, but rice cookers tend to sit on the countertop permanently, and a good rice cooker should look nice since it will always be visible.

Why do I need a Rice Cooker?

Rice is easy to cook and can be done simply and quickly in a pot on a stovetop, so you may be wondering why you should bother with a rice cooker. The answer is: if you don’t eat a lot of rice, you shouldn’t. Rice cookers are really for households that are eating rice every day. If you eat rice that often, then a rice cooker is a must-have device.

The reason is that it takes all the effort out of cooking rice, and it will cook rice perfectly every time. All you have to do is add rice and water in the proper amounts, push a button and walk away. 

How We Selected the Best Cuckoo Rice Cooker

The features we used to determine the best models were capacity, extra features, overall rating, and price.

Product Reviews

Cuckoo CRP-P0609S Rice Cooker

Features:

• Voice command
• 6 cup capacity
• Automatic steam cleaning
• Nonstick coating

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This Cuckoo Pressure Rice Cooker is really a multi-cooker, much like other well-known brands of multi and pressure cookers on the market today. The biggest difference between this Cuckoo rice cooker and other multi-cookers is that it will cook much better rice than others since the Cuckoo is designed first and foremost as a rice cooker.

The built-in water drainage system collects the excess water vapor after cooking so that you don’t end up with soggy rice. In addition, the auto steam cleaning function is a great way to keep your cooker clean.

If your hands are dirty or you’re busy with other cooking, you can control this rice cooker through voice commands. The best part is that it recognizes English, Chinese, and Korean. 

The inner pot is coated with a special nonstick coating to make clean-up easier than it is in stainless steel models. It has a total capacity of 6 cups uncooked, and the sleek black exterior looks nice in any kitchen.

Pros

• Easy to clean
• Voice commands in multiple languages
• Prevents soggy rice

Cons

• Only comes in one color

Cuckoo CRP-P1009SW Electric Heating Pressure Rice Cooker

Features:

• Voice command
• 10 cup capacity 
• Automatic steam cleaning
• Nonstick coating

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This is the bigger version of the CRP-P0609S. It has a total capacity of 10 cups instead of 6, so this might be the better choice if you regularly feed a crowd. As a rule, 10 cups uncooked will feed 10 people. 

Other than the great size, these two models are identical. They have the same x-wall diamond non-stick coating on the inner pot, the same voice command capability, and the same ability to double as a pressure cooker and a slow cooker.

Pros

• Easy to clean
• Voice commands in multiple languages
• Larger capacity for larger families
• Comes in two colors

Cons

• Might be too large for the average family

Cuckoo CMC-QSB501S, Q5 Premium 8 in 1

Features:

• Multicooker capability
• Preset cooking modes
• Non-stick
• 6 cup capacity

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This Cuckoo pressure rice cooker can slow cook, pressure cook, brown/sear, steam, warm, and make soup and yogurt. For each of those cooking modes, it has a pre-programmed button to handle the temperature, pressure, and time settings. 

The inner pot is made of a combination of aluminum and stainless steel. Stainless steel provides one of the best cooking surfaces there is, and the aluminum ensures even heat transfer for perfect cooking, every time. It also features the x-wall non-stick coating, which can save you a lot of time when you’re cleaning.

This model does feature the water drain system that removes excess water vapor from the cooking chamber, along with the auto-steam cleaning feature. 

In addition to the 8 cooking modes already listed, this cooker features different preset cooking modes for short-grain, long-grain, and mixed grain rice. This way you’ll know that no matter which kind of rice you use, it will be cooked perfectly, every time.

Pros

• Preset modes for different types of rice
• Easy to clean
• Even heating for even cooking

Cons

• Some users report issues with the timer

Cuckoo Electric Induction Heating Rice Pressure Cooker

Features:

• NFC technology
• 10 cup capacity
• Induction heating
• Nonstick

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This Cuckoo rice cooker model is a 10-cup rice and pressure cooker that uses induction heating rather than a hot plate. This means it generates heat from the bottom and the sides, rather than just the bottom. The advantage of this is faster cooking that’s still perfectly even.

It has built NFC for Android devices so you can control it with a phone or tablet. The whole thing is built out of high-quality stainless steel for a beautiful finish and high durability. 

In addition to Android control, this cooker also has a menu with 19 settings and the same voice control options as all of the other cookers we’ve reviewed. As with the other Cuckoo rice cookers, the inner pot is lined with an x-wall stainless steel coating to make cleaning easy.

Pros

• Can be controlled with a smartphone
• Induction heating is safe and efficient
• Easy to clean
• Lots of preset modes

Cons

• Expensive

Conclusion

Best Cuckoo Rice Cooker

Cuckoo Electric Induction Heating Rice Pressure Cooker

It may be the most expensive Cuckoo rice cooker we reviewed, but it’s also the one with the best build quality and the most features.

It has all of the features that every other cooker listed here offers, plus it includes NFC technology to allow you to control it with your smartphone. The stainless steel construction also makes it more durable than the others. 

It does this without sacrificing any cooking capacity, as it can still hold 10 cups of uncooked rice. The LCD display menu has more settings than the other cookers too, which means you have more options when using this cooker as opposed to the others. 

The induction heating is what really sets this cooker apart, though. Providing even heat from all sides is a great way to speed up the cooking time even more, while still ensuring that the rice cooks evenly every time. It’s also a safety feature because induction can only create heat in metal. There’s no risk of fires or burns with an induction-based cooker.

If you take your rice seriously, this could be the cooker for you. It will produce perfect rice every time no matter what type of rice you’re cooking. And it would look nice on the kitchen counter, too.

Best Value Cuckoo Rice Cooker

Cuckoo CMC-QSB501S, Q5 Premium 8 in 1

This cooker is lacking some of the more exciting features of the other models. For the most part, though, those features are purely aesthetic.

The bottom line, this cooker can make rice every bit as good as the other three can, and it’s a lot cheaper. It has all of the same safety features, all of the same cleaning features, and the same cooking technology.

The difference is that the build quality is a little cheaper, and the menu doesn’t have as many pre-programmed settings. As far as its actual functions go, there is no difference between what this cooker can do compared to the other three. It’s just a matter of how quickly and easily they can do it.

While it lacks the induction heating technology, this cooker still creates perfect rice no matter which type of rice you’re using. It has preset cooking modes for different types of rice, and it has all the cooking modes you would expect a multi- and pressure cooker to have.

It does this all while keeping the price low. There’s no question that, of these four, the CMC-QSB501S offers the best value.