Instead of a bimetallic switch like discussed earlier in this same HN thread, there's a lump of metal in contact with the pot, which stops being responsive to a magnet at a certain temperature (past its curie point) and that's what triggers the switch from "cook" to "keep warm" (and yes, of course it all works due to the huge latent heat of water).

So they came up with an alloy whose curie point is just above water's boiling point, and thanks to that, the circuit, nah, the whole thing is comically simple - just a shunt, a spring, a big resistor and the heating element (and ok a led or 2). The weight of the pot is also acting against the spring, ensuring you can't actually select "cook" if the pot isn't there. This is so brilliant.

in india, people don't even measure the temperatures as you mentioned.

we just boil the milk (to sterilize it), let it cool some amount, put in the curd (indian english term for yogurt, dahi in hindi, thayir in tamil) starter (which is just curds from a previous batch), mix, and leave it covered for a while, typically overnight, anywhere in the house, or in a cooler or warmer part, depending upon your location and ambient temperature. the milk automatically sets, by the action of the bacteria, and becomes curd.

nothing to it. even kids can make curd.

>One of the key differences between the Japanese and Chinese rice cooker is that the latter has a glass lid, which Chinese cooks demanded so they could see when to add sausage.

The average Chinese rice cooker looks exactly like the Japanese ones. Cookers with glass lids exist but are uncommon in China. In fact if anything, I've most often come across those glass lid ones in the West, not in East Asia. Also the sausage part is so random, lol.

The article is badly researched. A couple of years ago I'd have said I'm shocked a university professor wrote this, but frankly at this point it's to be expected.

If your rice is buttery I think they're doing something wrong.

https://www.amazon.co.jp/s?k=%E5%9C%A7%E5%8A%9B%E7%82%8A%E9%...

Instant Pot was sooo much easier. Safety interlock, unambiguous timer, much better.

(Rice Cooker calrose recipe: Weigh the rice. 1.1 times the mass of the rice is the amount of water you need.)

Now soups, veggies, artichokes, enchiladas, ... For those things, the instant pot is awesome. =)

I thought the circuit that powers the cooking was broken because, when the water has boiled away, heat rises and a magnet holding the circuit closed is weakened by the heat, which allows a spring to pull the magnet away and break the heating circuit. (Magnets are weaker when hot.)

https://users.ece.cmu.edu/~koopman/lectures/ece348/22_contro...

There is a difference between waiting for one cup in the outer reservoir to boil completely away for 20 minutes, and waiting for the rice+water mixture to come to a certain temperature.

Edit: I ended up down a rabbit hole about why Taiwanese rice cookers more commonly use indirect heat and found this great article:

https://www.taiwangazette.org/news/2021/10/23/thinking-outsi...

[0] https://onefromnippon.com/rice-cookers/

hopefully the "large volume ice cube" is something like a saturated salt or sugar solution so that the ambient temperature it tries to hold is colder than the melting point of the popsicles.

I am not saying rice is the only reason. My point is if rice is so bad, we would not see Japan or Korea or Singapore dominate the life expectancy charts. Compared to the extremely greasy and highly processed food being sold widely in the US for example, rice is extremely healthy.

I mostly eat long brain brown rice which contains more contaminants in the bran and so this purification method is important to reduce one's intake of bad s*t.

Eating organic rice is good but doesn't mean it's uncontaminated.

I still use rice cooker though these days, even more trivial to operate, can't mess up things if I miss the final part, and it will keep it warm for hours. Extremely practical. Its also baby trivial, at least the device we have (which is not pure rice cooker rather some multi stuff with rice as one of many options, but we basically just do rice and yogurt).

Also, paella may be a fine food (if eaten in Spain or affiliated countries), but that type of rice has nothing to do with usual type of rice used as side dish. I actually don't know how to cook that type of rice well.

As for today? Well, too hot on the stove or a phone call comes in, and poof, there goes all the water and the rice burns. If you're making rice 3 times a day, it's easier and safer to cook in a machine that guarantees perfection every time.

Rice cookers can generally make a pretty large volume and they're still rather efficient at doing so. If you get the water and rice ratio to your liking it will make nearly perfect rice every time at the press of a button. The best ones have multiple markings for white and brown rice on the bowl so you don't even need a measuring cup to do this.

It has a little countdown timer so you can get your sides ready on time. It plays a little song when it's done. It covers and seals up well and can keep rice warm and good to eat for a few hours.

There are only two parts that you have to wash, the bowl itself and the detachable lid seal, and one you have to wipe down, the steam vent cap.

I generally don't like special purpose tools in my kitchen. The rice cooker has been a part of it for 20 years anyways. It's simply too useful without any additional hassle that it has easily earned it's place.

If you're eating a more western diet with rice only a handful of times a week, it's probably overkill as a single-tasker.

Is it really that hard to grill bread? Nope, but you have to pay attention somewhat to stop it burning.

Once you hit a certain volume of usage, an automatic device makes a lot of sense.

I would prepare rice the way it is commonly prepared through out the world. Eat white rice as the bran contains some of the arsenic. Wash the rice thoroughly before cooking.

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC1241574/ https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4772235/ https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9603767/ https://www.pbssocal.org/food-discovery/food/fda-finally-ban...

I cook the rice in a microwave oven in a covered glass vessel (preventing the escape of water) and it is very good with this ratio.

For most other cereals that are either coarsely ground or whole grains, e.g. cornflour, semolina or wheat grains, the same 4 to 1 by weight ratio works fine when boiled in a closed vessel.

Most other kinds of starchy seeds absorb less water when boiled, so the ratio must be lower.

I assume that a dedicated rice cooker is useful only for those with numerous family members, who might want to cook large quantities of rice at the same time.

For smaller quantities, e.g. suitable for a couple of people, a microwave oven is very fast and reproducible, so there is no need for dedicated equipment.

I learned about this trick only a few years ago and when I tried it, I basically got a perfect result. Which was not what I was expecting.

How would the rice cooker know when to start the clock? It needs to be started only after the water reaches a boil.

"It isn't often" doesn't mean "it has never happened".

If anything, only listing 8 only proves their point. To disprove their point you'd need to list hundreds of housewives. Possibly thousands given the number of patents out there.