Lotus Foods Gourmet Stainless Steel Rice Cooker and Steamer, 12 Cup Capacity

I bought this because I needed to be able to cook up larger batches than my other rice cooker an Aroma 3 cup model. I was and am still very happy with that model. The Lotus steamer is basically a larger version of that one. It's operation is very simple, add rice, water and flip the switch. I've used it a few times now and it performs perfectly. The only time I had rice foam up and bubble out the steam vent was with a batch of long grain rice, that I didn't rinse long enough. With the short grain sushi rice which I primarily use, I have had no problems at all. Any reviews for this or any rice cooker where the reviewer complains of rice foaming up and boiling over isn't rinsing the rice first. It makes a huge difference.The stainless steel pot is very easy to clean. While I do sometimes get a layer of rice stuck to the bottom if I don't have time to let the rice sit after it finishes cooking, the rice isn't burnt and soaking in hot water to loosen and scoop with a bamboo spatula I have and the pot looks as good as new.I had tried to find a large capacity cooker with stainless but without the warming feature after cooking is done. I was worried that the warming feature would cause the rice to be too soft if i didn't watch the time closely after cooking was over. This hasn't been the case.If you can follow basic directions, you can steam perfect rice with this. The day I got this steamer I ran 3 full 12 cup batches through it, not a bad batch in the bunch and have since run numerous 4 and 6 cup batches with no problems.

As of today it's been 8 years since I've owned this rice cooker. On average I use it once a week. I haven't come across any issues so far regarding the unit, but trial and error was necessary to perfect what's being cooked, like all things cooking. 😆 I suggest when cooking rice use the following steps to insure a tasty end product.1: Measures out rice by weight (Grams) and cold water (milliliters) for optimal results.2: WASH RICE WELL to clean and remove starch. Be sure to use cold water, I like distilled water for how it washes more efficiently but regular filtered water is fine. Be absolutely gentle when washing rice because its fragile husk will be damaged and or removed causing a change in texture and not in a good way. Refrain from using a mesh strainer while rinsing, instead use a bowl, filled a quarter way, while using your hand in a gentle circular motion till it appears cloudy.... rinse and repeat the process until it's clear(ish).3: Coat all rice with oil. I prefer using butter or leaf lard instead of any type of vegetable oil.4: Add your water. It's best to start with really cold water when cooking rice.5: Add salt and any other seasoning you wish to use.6: Start cooking process making sure lid is properly seated on cooking pot. Be sure not to remove lid while cooking.That's it for rice tips. Remember that all methods will undergo change based on knowledge and experience. Enjoy

I abandoned my old rice cooker after reading some research on aluminum coated or based rice cooker pots causing an adverse chemical reaction that is not good for your body. This is the only purely stainless steel rice cooker I've been able to find, that doesn't use any additional coating.I've been using this for a few weeks now, and have cooked brown, jasmine, wild, and japanese rice on it. Also have steamed a few dim-sum related foods and this rice cooker / steamer works fantastically, and takes just the right amount of time. A few older rice cookers I've used take an offensively long time (on the order of 30-45 minutes, I mean, c'mon!) - and this one is delightful in comparison.The only complaint I have is that the rice sticks although they advertise it as non-stick. But that's the tradeoff to using stainless steel with no coating, I guess.

Rice cooker was fine until it suddenly stopped working. I used it about 5 times the first year, and this past year about 20x. All of a sudden it just stopped working. Warm light is on, plugged in, but when I press the lever for cook, nothing happens. Tried troubleshooting, etc., with no change. A rice cooker like this should give years of service. I replace my old, inexpensive one because I wanted a stainless steel pot. My old one was in use for 25 years & still works!!

I like the fact that it is stainless, but there are no measuring lines inside so it makes it difficult to be exact. Rice tastes ok.

Was really excited to find this SS rice cooker. Until now (4 months) it has been working nicely. Then all of a sudden, it just stopped. The indicator light no longer comes on and the push-lever to start the cooking just uselessly stays in the "cook" position. The only way to unstick it is to unplug the unit and then try and flip it. Needless to say, it's all useless because it is no longer serviceable. I noticed that some other folks have had breakdowns after a short period of time, sounds like some type of random defect to me. I wonder how much QC testing is done on the unit? I hope we can get a refund. It's not inexpensive but if it works, it's worth it. But if it doesn't, it's way too much $$$.