At this point, you might ask, “Can rice cooker be used as slow cooker or crock pots? Will you be able to cook your favorite slow-cooked meals in a rice cooker”
The answer will indeed make you feel happy. Yes, you can use a rice cooker instead of a slow cooker. Rice cookers and slow cookers both use steam circulation methods to cook food. It’s possible to use the rice cooker in place of the crock pot.
Nonetheless, you must know a few facts, such as heat difference and cooking time. So, let’s see it.
Can Rice Cooker Be Used As Slow Cooker
You can use a rice cooker to prepare meals if you need a slow cooker. A slow cooker will circulate the steam at higher pressure inside the pot. Thus, the highly pressurized steam will evenly circulate and cook the dishes you want to prepare. Thankfully, a rice cooker also uses a similar method to cook rice. With highly pressured steam, it cooks the rice faster.
As you look at the crock pot and rice cooker, they share many similarities. It makes it possible for you to use the rice cooker for a crocks pot.
Sharing similar cooking mechanisms:
As we have mentioned, both crocks pot and rice cookers have identical cooking mechanisms. They use high steam circulation for cooking food. However, there’s a striking difference in how these two kitchen appliances use steam.
Slow cooker, following its name, will cook slowly at low heat. It receives low heat from the bottom and distributes it slowly across the crocks pot interior. As a result, the food inside will be simmered, which maximizes the taste. Slow cooking will also intensify the cooked food’s juiciness and yumminess.
On the contrary, rice cookers use high heat at high pressure to cook the food inside them faster. When you need fast-cooked rice, this pot will be perfect. Many people also use it to boil beef, mutton, and fish for food preparation.
Set and walk away feature:
The best thing to use about the Japanese rice cooker and the crock pot is their easiness of use. You don’t need to wait beside the cooking appliance to see the cooking completion. Instead, you can put all the ingredients inside, close the lid and go away. These cooking appliances will prepare your food perfectly. Then, they will shut off on their own. As a result, there’s no chance of your rice and meal getting burnt in the appliances.
Also, these two cooking appliances will keep the rice and prepared food warm and ready to serve for hours. So you can quickly open their lid and serve the rice and food without worries. Nonetheless, you can always warm the food for better serving and tasting.
However, you will need to set the cooking appliances to warm mode to allow them to prepare the food. Therefore, you may choose the cooking appliances to work just the way you want. It will boost your cooking easiness.
Tips on Using a Rice Cooker Instead Of a Slow Cooker:
Did you purchase a rice cooker? And now you are considering getting a slow cooker? You can follow our suggestions to use the rice cooker as a crock pot. This way, you can save a considerable amount of money and still enjoy the perfect cooking fun.
Place all the ingredients in the rice cooker:
As with the slow cooker, you can put all the cooking ingredients in the stainless-steel rice cooker. You can use it for cooking meat, vegetables, fruits, etc. Add spices and other stuff to the rice cooker depending on your meal preparation and recipe.
As you add the ingredients to the cooker, ensure it has enough moisture. The moisture comes from the water. So, use enough water and ensure that you add oil to bring the perfect taste. Also, too much water and moisture will lower the yumminess of the cooked meal.
Therefore, be careful in using the water to ensure it is at a perfect level. If you use too much water, it will reduce the taste. Conversely, using too little water will burn the food.
Boil the food ingredients usually:
Look at the different settings of your rice cooker. It should include high, medium, and low heat settings. First, set the rice cooker at high heat and allow the pot to simmer the ingredients for 20 to 30 minutes. This boiling of the ingredients at high heat will boil them properly.
Set the rice cooker on low or medium heat:
After simmering the ingredients at high heat for 20 to 30 minutes, lower the heat setting. It retains the moisture and heat inside the pot for an extended period. So, it allows you to mimic the slow cooking process of the crock pot.
As you set the rice cooker on low or medium heat, ensure it simmers continuously after a couple of minutes. Plus, it should stay in warm settings until you finish the cooking.
Keep changing between the high and low medium heat settings:
You should increase the rice cooker setting at high heat every 15 minutes for the next couple of hours. Or else, the moisture inside the cooker will reduce, and the food won’t be cooked perfectly. After the rice cooker simmers the food at high heat, lower the temperature again. You should continue this interchange between the high and medium heat a few times.
As you do it, you should maintain the consistency of the cooking. Otherwise, the cooked food will be challenging.
Conclusion
As the discussion suggests, using a rice cooker instead of the slow cooker is possible. You will enjoy similar tastes following our suggestions. Also, you may prepare various foods in the rice cooker. You may try cooking pancakes, boiling an egg, mashed potatoes, hot soup, meat, veggies, and whatnot!
So, it’s time you practice a few popular slow-cooked recipes in the rice cooker. And remember to share your experience with us.