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Oatmeal In A Rice Cooker For Christmas Morning? Why Not!

November 19, 2015
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Digital Simplicity™ Rice Cooker and SteamerBy Tara Richter

I love to cook, but one thing is certain – I absolutely hate making rice. It requires such careful measurement for the appropriate rice to water ratio, and such vigilant attention to prevent it from either boiling over, or (as is often my case) cooking to the bottom of the pot. I’ve also never been very good at getting that light and fluffy rice at the end of cooking. Mine usually resembles some type of sloppy rice mash.

Hamilton Beach has a great product to solve these rice predicaments in the Digital Simplicity Rice Cooker and Steamer. This little appliance is perfect for making all kinds of rice, beans, pasta, soups, steamed fish, steamed vegetables and much more. The rice cooker has a 4 to 20 cup food capacity meaning that its great for small meals for one to two people, but is even great for larger groups too!

Once I opened the box I decided to make a great big pot of Jasmine rice (my favorite). I added the water, pushed the button for the setting and waited for the timer to beep. Expecting to find beautiful light and fluffy rice when I opened the lid, I was unfortunately confronted with a big pot of rice “goo”. Baffled at why it didn’t turn out as I had expected, I turned to the instruction manual. (Which yes, I realized I should have read FIRST). This handy little manual does a great job explaining how to use all the features on the rice cooker, as well as how to make the proper measurements for perfect rice.

 

My error, as it turns out, was in assuming that a rice cooker used the exact same measurements of rice to water as stove top methods. I had simply added far too much water, and had the wrong cook time setting that inadvertantly turned my rice into a goopy paste. As it is explained in the user manual, there is a small plastic measuring cup that comes with the unit and is key in getting the perfect water to rice measurement.

I was really impressed at the versatility of this small appliance. Not only can it make every kind of rice, it can also be utilized to steam fish, vegetables, as well as pots of soup, pasta, and rice mixes. The user manual has some great little recipe ideas too including one I wouldn’t have originally thought of making in a rice cooker – Oatmeal.

oatmeal made in rice cooker

I simply LOVE having nice hot oatmeal first thing in the morning, but (like rice) I hate having to wait for it to cook. One of my favorite things about this Hamilton Beach product is that it has a delay setting on it which means you can combine all the ingredients the night before and hit delay (between 1 and 15 hours), making fresh oatmeal a reality each morning. Not only does the delay setting provide a hot breakfast, but its also great to set in the morning just before work and have ready to eat when you arrive home for supper. It even has a ‘keep warm’ function so that once the food is done cooking, it won’t get cold! I also found that I locks in the moisture of the rice (or oatmeal) so that it doesn’t dry out as its on the keep warm function.

jasmine riceAfter playing around with the different settings, and taking some time to read the manual, I attempted a second round with my Jasmine rice. This time it was absolutely cooked perfect, and was even light and fluffy as I scooped it out of the pot and onto my plate. While the jasmine rice was cooking, I tried out steaming some vegetables too! Not surprisingly – they were also cooked absolutely perfect. As a busy parent with lots to do around the house, I really value the ability to simply toss the ingredients into a pot, hit some settings and then walk away to have it cook without my constant attention. It really frees up so much more of my time to do other things instead of worrying if the water will boil over or if the rice will be sticking to the bottom of the pot.

I really think I’ve only scratched the surface of what this Digital Simplicity Rice Cooker and steamer can do and I’m excited to try all the recipes included in the book and maybe even come up with some of my own. It definitely has made cooking my favorite side dish an absolute breeze! Its really so easy to use that even my eleven-year-old son who is just learning how to cook some basic things, can use it too. This alleviates a lot of stress for me of him having to cook over the stove for safety reasons too!

This holiday season, give the gift of the Hamilton Beach Digital Simplicity Rice Cooker and Steamer. It makes a perfect gift for those who love to cook but like to have a bit more flexibility with their time. Hamilton Beach is a trusted product and this one is really no different. You can find this product for sale at many local retailers like Walmart (currently on rollback for $32.96!), or online at places like Amazon.ca.
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Tara Richter works full time and is a(2)

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