Rice-to-water ratios vary As you'll find from reading the instructions, rice cookers have varying requirements for rice-to-water ratios. Several of the models we tested had different ratios for the same types of rice. We assess how simple each rice cooker is to set up for the first time, how helpful the instructions are for assembling it, and the advice it gives on capacities and water-to-rice ratios. Advice on cooking times is also a plus.

A rice cooker allows you to leave the rice cooking unattended and also keep your rice warm, meaning you can leave it covered for a little while without the worry it will go cold or need reheating.

We cook supermarket own-brand white basmati rice and wholegrain rice in each rice cooker, always following the rice cooker's instructions on water-to-rice ratios (where given). Some rice cookers can also be used to steam meat and vegetables. Those that can will come with a steamer tray that sits above where your rice and water sits during cooking. Plenty of rice cookers come with recipes for steamed meals you can enjoy with your rice. Other rice cookers can double up as pans or sauté pans.

Most cheap rice cookers can only cook long-grain rice and even then only to a basic standard of quality. Basmati, the curry house staple we’re all familiar with, is a long-grain rice. Pricier rice cookers can handle other types – notably short-grain rice, the type used in risotto as well as Thai and Japanese dishes, and more unusual rice-based dishes using presets chosen from a control panel on the front of the rice cooker. What’s the best feature on a dedicated rice cooker? One feature that every rice cooker has – as everyone will use it – is the “keep warm” feature. Once your rice has finished cooking, the rice cooker will keep it warm for you so you can top up your plate or have a hot dinner on standby for anyone coming home late. Useful indicator lights for when the rice cooker is cooking or on the keep-warm setting are a plus, and the more straightforward it is to switch on, the better. Lots of people search for answers to this question. However, all the rice cookers we tested seemed safe after we used each one four times and followed the instructions.

Your cooking options in a rice cooker can really be expanded if you're able to set it to cook for specific times, though. There are plenty of recipes online on how to cook rice pudding in a rice cooker, for example, but you'll need to be able to program it to cook for a set time. If you can't, your rice cooker won't be smart enough to know that there's milk, sugar and other extra ingredients in there, so it won't be likely to cook for the right amount of time. When using a rice cooker, take care to avoid steam vents and avoid touching any part of the cooking pot that might be exposed. The best rice cookers can produce consistently great high-quality rice in a way that even those skilled with a saucepan couldn’t manage. Though a rice cooker may not be a staple kitchen gadget, for anyone who eats rice regularly – or wants to try cooking a wider range of Asian dishes – it’s an essential item.

If you're unsure about what to expect from using a rice cooker, we've listed some handy tips below that we discovered during our testing to help you cook your rice the way you like it: Some cheap rice cookers will turn off the heating element once the boiling point has been reached and maintained for a set period; others will cease boiling once the weight of the bowl’s contents has decreased past a certain point, due to the rice absorbing some water with the rest boiled away as excess steam. At this point, your rice should be ready to eat.Where rice-to-water ratios are absent in the instructions, we default to using a 1:1 ratio for basmati rice and 1:2 ratio for wholegrain rice, as these are the most widely accepted ratios for these rice types that we could find. All of the rice we cook is rinsed thoroughly before cooking.