Aroma Housewares ARC-363NG Rice Cooker: Full Review

The Aroma Housewares ARC-363NG is a 6-cup, pot-style digital rice cooker. This compact and economical model is designed for cooking white rice, brown rice, jasmine rice, and other types of rice perfectly every time. With one-touch operation, specialized cooking functions, and convenient features like keep warm and delay timer settings, the ARC-363NG makes home rice preparation easy and hassle-free. Its updated, user-friendly digital interface ensures even beginner home cooks can quickly become rice cooking pros. Though simple in design and function, Aroma has packed all the essential functions of a quality entry-level rice cooker into the ARC-363NG.

Design

The Aroma Housewares ARC-363NG rice cooker has a sleek, modern design with a white metal exterior and black accents. It has a simple, rounded shape with a lid that locks in place. The lightweight body weighs under 5 pounds, making it easy to move around.

On the front panel are two knobs - one for cooking functions and one for the timer. The buttons have clear markings for common rice settings like white rice, brown rice, steam, and keep warm. There is also a delay timer that can be set up to 15 hours in advance.

The interior cooking pot is surgical-grade 304 stainless steel with a nonstick coating. This allows rice to cook evenly and prevents scorching on the bottom. The inner lid has a steaming tray that sits on top, providing the ability to steam foods while rice cooks below.

Overall, the Aroma rice cooker has a sleek, modern look and intuitive controls suitable for any kitchen décor. The simple design focuses on ease of use.

Another excellent option is the DASH DRCM200GBAQ04 rice cooker, known for its compact and stylish design. Available in a variety of colors, it weighs just over 2 pounds, making it perfect for small kitchens or individuals on the go. This model features a single button for easy one-touch cooking and an indicator light that shows when your rice is ready. Its nonstick pot is easy to clean, and it includes a measuring cup and serving spatula.

Capacity

The Aroma Housewares ARC-363NG rice cooker comes in 3, 6, and 10 cup capacity options. This gives you flexibility to choose the size that best fits your household needs.

The 3 cup version is ideal for 1-2 people. It's compact and won't take up much counter space, while still having enough capacity to make up to 3 cups of cooked rice. This is a great option for singles, couples, and small families.

The 6 cup size can cook 3-6 cups of rice, perfect for families of 3-4. With its mid-range capacity, it's versatile enough for everyday use or when cooking for a few extra guests.

For larger families or frequent entertaining, the 10 cup option cooks 4-10 cups of rice. With its generous capacity, you can make rice for a crowd without needing multiple batches. Even with the larger capacity, the cooker maintains a similar footprint as the smaller sizes.

No matter which size you choose, the Aroma rice cooker can deliver fluffy, restaurant-quality rice for your household. The capacity options let you scale up or down to meet your specific needs.

Another excellent choice for rice enthusiasts is the TOSHIBA TRCS02. Known for its advanced fuzzy logic and induction heating, this model provides precise temperature and cooking time adjustments. The TOSHIBA TRCS02 offers multiple cooking functions, including settings for white rice, brown rice, porridge, and more. With its intuitive touch control panel, you can easily navigate through its features to prepare perfect rice every time. This rice cooker combines efficiency with innovation, making it a must-have appliance for any kitchen.

Features

The Aroma 6-Cup Pot Style Rice Cooker comes with several useful features that make cooking rice simple and convenient.

• Keep Warm Function: This rice cooker has an automatic keep warm function that kicks in after cooking is complete. This keeps the rice heated and ready to serve for up to 12 hours.

• Steam Tray: A steaming tray is included which sits on top of the cooking pot. This allows you to steam vegetables, fish, or meat while the rice cooks below.

• Delay Timer: The delay timer is a handy function which allows you to set the rice cooker to start cooking at a later time. You can delay cooking up to 15 hours in advance.

• One-Touch Operation: Cooking is started with just a press of a button. Once cooking is complete, the cooker automatically switches to keep warm mode.

• Non-Stick Pot: The cooking pot has a durable non-stick coating for easy cleanup. The pot and lid are also dishwasher safe.

• Measuring Cup: A rice measuring cup is included to get perfect rice-to-water ratios. Cup markings are inside the pot for convenience.

Overall, the Aroma rice cooker provides versatile cooking functions beyond just rice, while still being easy and convenient to use. The keep warm, delay timer, and steam tray are handy extras not found on basic models.

Ease of Use

The Aroma 6-Cup Rice Cooker has simple, intuitive controls that make it exceptionally easy to use. There is only one button on the front of the cooker - the power switch that turns it on.

To cook rice, simply add rice and water to the inner cooking pot, place the pot in the cooker, close the lid, and press the power button. The cooker will automatically switch to warm mode once the rice is finished cooking. There are no complicated modes or settings to deal with.

The see-through glass lid allows you to monitor the cooking process without releasing steam. The lid locks in place during cooking for safety.

Inside the lid is a steam vent that can be opened or closed to let steam escape or keep it in. Opening the vent will result in drier, fluffier rice. Keeping it closed results in softer, moister rice. Adjusting the vent provides flexibility for your preferred rice texture.

Overall, the simple single-switch operation combined with the viewable cooking pot and adjustable steam vent makes the Aroma Rice Cooker remarkably easy to use for great rice every time. No programming or experience is required.

Rice Quality

The Aroma 6-Cup Rice Cooker produces excellent rice quality for most types of rice. The cooker uses a pressurized steam heating element that allows the rice to absorb water evenly, resulting in properly moist rice that isn't mushy or overly wet.

Long grain white rice comes out light and fluffy with nice separated grains. The rice cooker does a good job cooking basmati rice as well, with fluffy and fragrant rice. Short grain rice turns out sticky and tender, which is ideal for sushi rice.

Brown rice can be tricky for some rice cookers, but the Aroma handles it nicely. The brown rice setting provides extra time for the grains to soften, resulting in chewy and wholesome brown rice. Other hearty grains like quinoa, farro and barley also cook up well in the Aroma rice cooker with their intact texture and bite.

Overall, the Aroma rice cooker produces fantastic rice texture and taste for all varieties of rice. The consistent results make it a reliable appliance for cooking fluffy, delicious rice at home.

Other Cooking

One of the benefits of the Aroma Housewares ARC-363NG rice cooker is its versatility beyond cooking just rice. This cooker's capacity and steam functions allow you to prepare a variety of healthy one-pot meals.

You can cook other grains like quinoa, barley, and oatmeal in this cooker. The 6-cup capacity gives you room to make a hearty grain bowl or breakfast. Simply adjust the water ratio for the specific grain following the package instructions.

Steaming vegetables and seafood right in the rice cooker is also an option. Use the steam tray to place vegetables, fish fillets, or shrimp over the rice as it cooks. The steam will infuse flavors into the rice and lightly cook the items on top. Steaming produces tender, bright results without losing nutrients like when boiling. It's an easy, mess-free way to get your protein and veggies alongside the rice.

With the Aroma rice cooker, you aren't limited to just rice for dinner. You can produce well-rounded, one-pot meals made from a variety of ingredients. The versatility expands your options for quick, healthy household cooking.

Accessories

The Aroma Rice Cooker comes with several handy accessories to help you get the most out of your appliance.

The paddle is used to stir and mix the rice as it cooks to ensure even cooking and prevent sticking or burning on the bottom of the pot. It's made from durable plastic that won't scratch the nonstick inner pot.

There's a steam tray included that sits on top of the rice as it cooks, allowing you to steam vegetables, fish, or other foods simultaneously. This is perfect for completing an entire meal at once.

You also get a rice measuring cup that is sized specifically for the 6 cup capacity of this cooker. Following the lines inside ensures you add the right amount of rice and water for perfect results every time. No more guessing!

To strain and serve rice easily, a plastic rice serving spatula is provided. It helps scoop rice out of the pot without sticking or clumping.

Finally, there's a decorative steam vent on the lid that not only allows excess steam to release during cooking but adds a bit of style to the cooker's appearance on your countertop.

Overall, the accessories that come with the Aroma Rice Cooker are very useful for preparing great rice dishes and full meals with ease. Everything you need is included right in the box.

Pros

The Aroma Housewares ARC-363NG rice cooker has several great benefits that make it a top choice for many home cooks:

• Large capacity: This cooker can make up to 6 cups of cooked rice, perfect for feeding a family. The inner pot is removable and nonstick coated for easy serving.

• Consistently delicious rice: The cooker has specialized technology and settings for cooking white and brown rice, ensuring fluffy, restaurant-quality grains every time. Users say it makes rice taste fantastic.

• Budget friendly price: Given the generous capacity and performance, this rice cooker is very reasonably priced under $30. It delivers features and reliability consumers expect in more expensive models.

• Other handy features: The cooker has a steam tray for cooking veggies and meat alongside rice. It also has handy delay timer and keep warm functions.

• Simple to use: Just add rice and water, select your setting, and let the cooker do the work. The buttons are straightforward and it plays a tune when done. Cleanup is easy too thanks to the nonstick inner pot.

Cons

The Aroma 6-Cup Rice Cooker has a few drawbacks to consider:

• Small capacity - With just a 6-cup capacity, this rice cooker is best suited for 1-3 people. Larger families may want a model with a bigger capacity.

• Mostly plastic body - While common for rice cookers in this price range, the plastic housing is less durable than higher-end models with stainless steel bodies.

• No delay start timer - You can't program the rice cooker to start hours later. It begins cooking as soon as you press the switch.

• Basic features - There are no fancy features like pressure cooking or slow cooking. This is a simple rice cooker suitable for basic rice cooking.

• No interchangeable inner pot - The nonstick inner pot is permanently fixed to the heating element, so you can't remove it for easy cleaning.