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The inventor of the automatic rice cooker
- AStonesThrow 2y agoTechnology Connections covered rice cookers: https://youtu.be/RSTNhvDGbYI?si=PxZYi4YYs9nixATv https://youtu.be/RSTNhvDGbYI?si=PxZYi4YYs9nixATv
- JoeDaDude 2y agoCame here to point folk to this video. The article seems to gloss over a lot of how modern rice cookers actually work. It involves latent heat of water, magnetism, and the Curie point, as explained in your link.
- ChrisClark 2y agoAlways with the latent heat. :)
- gruturo 2y agoTechnology Connections is generally awesome, but this particular video was even more fascinating than its usual. 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.
- ww520 2y agoThat's an excellent video. Before watching it I didn't realize there were so much physics involved in making the rick cookers.
- ninalanyon 2y agoOff topic but I can't let this go by: > yogurt requires a constant temperature over a specific length of time. No it doesn't. I make perfectly good yoghurt in an old glass vacuum flask by heating a litre of milk to 80 C, allowing it to cool to 50 C, adding 60 g of live yoghurt, pouring it into the vacuum flask, putting the lid on and leaving it overnight.
- profsummergig 2y agoIs it necessary to heat it to 80c, can one heat it to 50c only, instead? Also, do you use a thermometer to measure the temps?
- toothrot 2y ago80c is a convenient temperature for activating naturally occuring enzimes in food for breaking down complex sugars. Similar, but food specific, holding temperatures are used for beer brewing, french fries, and other foods with complex sugars.
- hinkley 2y agoIn fermentation the initial heat is usually to harm any microbes other than your preferred ones so the selected microbes have time to make the environment inhospitable to other microbes before they can do the same to the selected microbes. Vinegar and alcohol in grape juice are two factions fighting for supremacy by trying to poison each other to death.
- GauntletWizard 2y agoI loved my automatic rice cooker, but I have given it up for a new love - The Pressure Cooker, in my case from Instant Pot. It does as good or better of a job as my rice cooker, but about 33% faster, and has several other useful functions. It's better at steaming dumplings; With the trivet set they also sell that's perfectly sized I can make a meal's worth of dumplings in twenty minutes with zero effort. The Instant Pot recipe Pulled Pork is almost as good as my local BBQ place, and it cooks in an hour. On the other hand, one of my friends has a Zojirushi rice cooker, and swears by it. He describes making perfectly fluffy and buttery rice every time.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- ngneer 2y agoThis reads like an ad.
- imp0cat 2y agoIt's true though. Another great thing is that the IP will have regular white rice done much faster (~15 minutes for perfect rice).
- navigate8310 2y agoZojorushi cookers are definitely the Bentley of rice cookers
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- stephenr 2y ago> He describes making perfectly fluffy and buttery rice If your rice is buttery I think they're doing something wrong.
- Suppafly 2y agoYeah, buttery seems at odds with fluffy, unless you're describing a croissant.
- hilux 2y agoI enjoyed reading the story, AND for most Americans, an electric pressure cooker (e.g. Instant Pot) cooks rice perfectly (12 minutes, 1:1 ratio of rice to water), rendering the rice cooker an unnecessary "single use device." Bonus: instead of rice, use chicken broth, previously made in the IP, and frozen. Bonus2: add some coconut milk. freeze the rest of the can in ziploc baggies.
- itchyjunk 2y agoHmm, if I use chicken broth instead of rice, isn't the end product just chicken soup instead of a rice dish? :D
- GordonS 2y agoNot if all the liquid is absorbed. I cook rice like this on the stove all the time, and it's really tasty. Works well with various grains, pltho probably pearl barley is a favourite - cooked with good stock, it reminds me of risotto.
- Frenchgeek 2y agoIf between rice and water, you replace the rice with chicken broth, I'm pretty sure you don't get to cook much rice...
- Agingcoder 2y agoIf all of it is absorbed, then it’s a risotto ( you just need onions and white wine as well…)
- walthamstow 2y agoAll absorbed? That's a pilaf, or a terrible risotto.
- internet101010 2y agoYeah I use Instant Pot, sometimes replacing water with broth or if I am feeling fancy I'll add some saffron. Good to go.
- ngneer 2y agoThis is known as bang-bang control, a very basic form of negative feedback. The key insight, which may not be emphasized enough in the article, is that the vessel can only rise to above 100C once all the water has changed phase (boiled). I think this is the same principle explaining why beach popsicle vendors can carry many items on a hot summer day without them all melting right away. There is insulation, for sure, but in addition the temperature of what is effectively a large volume ice cube block must rise above 0C before the popsicles can begin to change phase (melt). In the rice cooker, this property is harnessed while a "bimetallic switch measured the temperature in the external pot". The bimetallic component means that one metal heats and expands faster than the other, eventually breaking the circuit. If memory serves, this same trick is used in older car model turn signal lights, to produce the periodic on/off switching. I am not asian but enjoy my rice cooker every day. I love simple robust engineering.
- l33t7332273 2y agoI think the popsicle example may be backwards - they must change phase before they can begin to rise above 0 degrees, and the phase change is a tipping point that takes a ton of energy
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- m463 2y agoIf they used dry ice, you would have 3-ish phase changes... 2-ish phase changes when dry ice sublimates, then later for the ice in ice cream
- Etheryte 2y agoThe same bimetallic break was used in old circuit breakers. You would literally have to wait for the metal to cool down before the connection could be restored. Not sure if it's still used or we use something fancier these days?
- delsarto 2y ago
- fallinditch 2y agoUsing a rice cooker is not the healthiest method due to the arsenic and other carcinogenic substance that rice plants can contain. Dr Michael Mosley studied the science of this for his BBC program Trust Me I'm A Doctor [1]. The advice is to soak rice overnight, parboil and discard the water, change water and bring back to boil again and change water again, etc. [1] https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/2F1MDzyW55pg97Tdpp7gqLN/should-i-be-concerned-about-arsenic-in-my-rice https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/2F1MDzyW55pg97Tdpp...
- tomohelix 2y agoIt is funny to me that any time an article or claims regarding rice being unhealthy appear, it would be from some far West country whose diet barely contains any rice. Meanwhile, Asian countries whose populace exclusively eat rice every day, multiple times, in humongous amounts, consistently rank higher in life expectancy than a Western country with the same level of development. 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.
- hedgehog 2y agoArsenic content is also highly variable depending on where the rice was grown.
- schiffern 2y ago>claims regarding rice being unhealthy The claim isn't that rice is unhealthy. The claim is that rice can potentially contain high levels of arsenic, which is easily avoidable by modifying the cooking method slightly. As you say, measurable health effects from arsenic are confounded by the alternatives being largely "greasy and highly processed." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EIM_zjCmQ5Y https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EIM_zjCmQ5Y
- tomohelix 2y ago
- SoftTalker 2y agoI just use 2:1 water to rice ratio, boil, reduce to low heat/simmer covered for 15 minutes, generally perfect.
- narag 2y agoI've had no luck with that devices, moreover the instructions advised against broth, just water. But found out that with the right proportion of liquid and rice, a regular pot, six minutes on the vitro and ten minutes after switching out the power, gives perfect paella. So simple that I wonder how people spends money on widgets or are watching the whole process to add water.
- jajko 2y agoI learned how to cook rice properly in India, just pot, water, some salt in right quantities and timing. Did that for decade at least. 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.
- floating-io 2y agoI learned how to cook rice properly from my Mom. Pot, 2x water, boil then turn to low, add rice, 18 minutes, done. My only gripe is that I'm still trying to find a good rice pot with the little steam vent in the lid. The rice cookers I've seen take twice as long to make rice that is by no means twice as good. To each, their own. My Mom loves the rice cooker I gave back to her because it took too long to cook rice. =)
- dhfuuvyvtt 2y ago[dead]
- narag 2y agoThe same method works for any type of "dry" rice cooking. With "dry" I mean that all the liquid ends in the rice, no soup. The main advantage over cookers is that you can use chicken or seafood broth and add any other ingredient before the rice. You can still use it for white rice, just rice and salt. My favourite recipe is to sauté chopped onions and peppers, a little garlic and black pepper, add shrimp, cuttlefish and clams, and then top up the water to the required amount and add the rice when it boils. Six minutes with the vitro on and, in ten more, it is delicious. Change the seafood for mushrooms, chicken or whatever you like.
- 0898 2y agoThis is an interesting mechanism, but is it really that difficult to boil rice for 20 minutes? I'm not exactly Gordon Ramsay, but I don't think I've ever failed to make decent rice.
- tdeck 2y agoThe article is very thin on details. For example, why not use a mechanical timer like many other appliances did and still do? That's the kind of detail an IEEE reader might appreciate.
- rawgabbit 2y agoThe 20 minutes is for ideal conditions. The article explained the goal was to boil away the water and then reduce the heat. The time needed may change with different ambient temperature or humidity.
- walthamstow 2y agoA timer doesn't work because it takes longer to boil three cups of water compared to one. The bimetallic mechanism is agnostic of the amount of rice being cooked.
- tdeck 2y agoIn the design being described there is an outer water reservoir where the water is being boiled away specifically as a timer. An alternative would be to have a bimetallic strip detect when the rice pot comes to temperature, lower the temp, and start a mechanical timer that could be set by the user. The advantage would be a significant energy savings vs. boiling water away as a kind of crude timer.
- miltonlost 2y agoIt's very difficult when you only have a wood or charcoal stove that needs to be fanned for 20 minutes at a constant rate or else the rice will burn. Which is why the electric rice cooker was such an amazing creation. It's in the article about the inventor of it. 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.
- tionate 2y agoA few people mentioning pressure cookers as an alternative. A heavy claypot is the ideal manual alternative for those with a gas stove. Probably the most popular is “kamadosan”. It makes beautiful rice and you have control over it so eg it is easy to create a crust on the bottom if you like. Unfortunately I have an induction stove now so a bit hard to use, but I occasionally cook rice on a small charcoal stove when enjoying the slow life. Review: https://thejapanesefoodlab.com/kamado-san/ https://thejapanesefoodlab.com/kamado-san/ Recipes: https://toirokitchen.com/blogs/recipes https://toirokitchen.com/blogs/recipes
- nogajun 2y agoFumiko Minami(三並風美子)'s knowledge and contribution to the development of the rice cooker is greatly appreciated, but she is rarely mentioned in Japan. I think it deserves more attention.
- markhahn 2y agoImagine a rice cooker (perhaps with pressure) that gives you data and control. Modulate the applied power (pwm), read a few thermocouples, pressure sensor, release solenoid. Make it all programmable, let people program it. I speculate that the usual strategy would be full power to get things warm while extracting an estimate of the specific heat of the contents. oh, maybe add a scale, so you can estimate the water content. I guess that once you get things hot, the specific heat of a rice-water mixture changes, so you want to ramp down the power. Validate that by looking for an increase in pressure. Heck, maybe different kinds of rice (or different rice dishes) would benefit from different heat-pressure schedules. Think of it as a Decent (espresso) machine, but for rice. And open-source, please.
- TaJonkla 2y agoI too love my rice cooker, but peeps should defo be soaking rice overnight before using or something: BBC News - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-38910848 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-38910848 Should I worry about arsenic in my rice? - BBC News
- TaJonkla 2y agoI love my rice cooker but people should defo be soaking there rice overnight or something.. (before use) BBC News - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-38910848 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-38910848 Should I worry about arsenic in my rice? - BBC News
- dhfuuvyvtt 2y ago[dead]
- rawgabbit 2y agoThe research about arsenic in rice is all over the place. Some claim that rice in India and Pakistan has the lowest level of arsenic. I would question that claim as India/Bangladesh has a problem with arsenic in groundwater causing skin lesions. Meanwhile in the USA, we used to put arsenic in chicken feed. 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/PMC1241574/ https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4772235/ https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4772235/ https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9603767/ https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9603767/ https://www.pbssocal.org/food-discovery/food/fda-finally-bans-most-arsenic-in-chicken-feed-oh-by-the-way-theres-arsenic-in-your-chicken https://www.pbssocal.org/food-discovery/food/fda-finally-ban...
- utdiscant 2y agoI found the ratio of rice and water to be the main issue - and the rice cooker didn't fix that. I stumbled upon a recipe with a different approach that I use now. Take plenty of water and get it to a boil. Add any amount of rice to the boiling water, and let it boil for 8 minutes. Then drain the water, remove the pot from the stove and put the lid on for a few minutes. Reduces the need for measuring quantities.
- adrian_b 2y agoI always use a ratio of water to rice (by weight) of 4 to 1 (e.g. 500 g of water for 125 g of rice). 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.
- will5421 2y agoWhat wattage is your microwave on?
- adrian_b 2y agoIt is controllable, but for rice and other cereals I use the maximum of 1000 W. Small powers are needed for things like meat or eggs, but very seldom for vegetables. The time depends on the quantity. For around 125 g of rice + 500 g of water, the time is between 12 and 15 minutes. An advantage of using a microwave oven is that no stirring is needed during cooking, unlike when boiling rice or other cereals on a traditional stove.
- 2y ago
- FrojoS 2y ago> But how would an automatic rice cooker know when the 20 minutes was up? How about a clock? Now, I understand that in 1955 the required components might have been deemed too expensive, or actually the problem is more complex than that. This article is so poorly written. Like almost everything I've read in the last 20 years from IEEE Spectrum.
- jeffalyanak 2y ago> How about a clock? How would the rice cooker know when to start the clock? It needs to be started only after the water reaches a boil.
- FrojoS 2y agoWell, I would have thought that once a temperature sensor reads 100 deg Celsius the clock would start. I'm sure there are good reasons why this wouldn't work well or is overly complex, but I would expect the article to discuss them. From the article: > Fumiko found that heating the water and rice to a boil and then cooking for exactly 20 minutes produced consistently good results. That knowledge about the ideal timespan of 20 min seems to be completely irrelevant to the implemented solution.
- fkyoureadthedoc 2y ago> That knowledge about the ideal timespan of 20 min seems to be completely irrelevant to the implemented solution. Partially. They also mentioned that it was generally believed that you needed to vary the temperature during cooking to get fluffy rice. Fumiko's discovery is just as much about the fact that you can use a straight boil the whole time as it is about the duration.
- rty32 2y agoI had the same question, and this article definitely could have discussed other potential engineering approaches and why they didn't work to provide the full context. To be honest, I learned very little from the article -- I already know how rice cookers work, so I want to learn much more when I decided to read the article
- austin-cheney 2y ago> It isn’t often that housewives get credit in the annals of invention * https://www.fastcompany.com/3047428/how-two-bored-1970s-housewives-helped-create-the-pc-industry https://www.fastcompany.com/3047428/how-two-bored-1970s-hous... * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Rudkin https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Rudkin * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harriet_Tubman https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harriet_Tubman * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roberta_Williams https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roberta_Williams * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susan_B._Anthony https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susan_B._Anthony * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Sutherland_Bissell https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Sutherland_Bissell * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Blackwell https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Blackwell * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercury_13 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercury_13 - Not housewives, but absolutely worthy of more praise and attention, especially Jerrie Cobb. And many more
- freddie_mercury 2y ago8 names doesn't disprove "it isn't often". "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.
- austin-cheney 2y agoDefine often... This feels like an argument only for the sake of hearing one's self out loud, a poor man's denying the antecedent fallacy.
- AStonesThrow 2y agoEntire books have been filled with home remedies, sewing ideas, and cooking methods. You could, perhaps, cite the editors of those books, but the "individual housewives" who contributed them would not have traceable identities. The ideas and methods were shared among communities, church groups, in schools, and handed down in families. Often by oral tradition and by illiterate people. In modern times, you could check the archives of Heloise, and magazines such as Good Housekeeping and Sunset. Columnists would usually receive hints and tips from readers, and give credit at that point.
- throwaway4220 2y agoI have a Philips fully automatic coffee machine that goes feom beans and water to espresso. Is there such a thing for rice? (Yes im that lazy/disorganized)
- ivvve 2y agoFunny to see the discussions of instant pot vs rice cookers in the comments. We use one of each, often in conjunction with each other. Cheap and easy way to make a curry, for example. Never had any problems with the 3rd hand Zojirushi we have. Just follow the instructions and it gets the rice bang on each time.