Aroma Housewares ASP-610 Rice Cooker: Full Review

The Aroma Housewares ASP-610 rice cooker is a simple yet versatile appliance for cooking rice and other grains. This compact 6-cup model features a stainless steel exterior and nonstick cooking pot for easy cleanup. With its dual-sided design, the ASP-610 can cook white and brown rice simultaneously using different temperature settings. This allows you to have perfectly cooked rice ready in just 20-30 minutes.

The Aroma appliance includes basic functions like delayed start and keep warm, so rice is ready when you are. Its compact size takes up minimal counter space but still has a 6-cup uncooked capacity, yielding 12 cups of cooked rice to feed families or groups. The intuitive interface is easy to operate with options for white rice, brown rice, steam, and delay timer. Overall, the Aroma Housewares ASP-610 is an affordable option appropriate for any home cook that regularly makes rice.

Design and Appearance

The Aroma Housewares ASP-610 rice cooker has a compact and sleek stainless steel exterior that will look nice on any kitchen countertop. It has a simple, user-friendly interface with basic controls for cooking and keeping rice warm.

The rice cooker has a 6-cup uncooked capacity, making it a good size for individuals or couples, and is available in either a brushed stainless steel or white finish. It has a tempered glass lid that allows you to view the rice as it cooks.

The Aroma logo is tastefully displayed on the front. Overall, the appliance has a very modern and minimalist design that will fit in with most kitchen decors. While not overly fancy, it looks like a high-quality and durable appliance.

In comparison, the TOSHIBA RC-5DSTUS(H) rice cooker offers advanced features, including multiple cooking functions and a larger capacity of up to 10 cups uncooked rice. Its stainless steel and black design provides a contemporary look, and the programmable settings allow for convenient meal preparation. The digital interface makes it easy to operate, and with a keep-warm feature, you can enjoy perfectly cooked rice at any time. Both appliances are designed to complement modern kitchens.

Features

The Aroma Housewares 6-Cup Rice Cooker and Food Steamer offers a good set of features for a compact rice cooker. It has a 6-cup cooked capacity, which yields about 2-3 servings. The stainless steel cooking pot and tempered glass lid are durable and easy to clean.

This model provides the basic cooking functions you'd expect in a rice cooker. There are white and brown rice settings that automatically adjust temperature and cooking time. It also has settings for steaming vegetables, making soup, and slow cooking. The digital controls make it easy to select your desired cooking function.

Once cooking is complete, the Aroma rice cooker automatically switches to keep warm mode. This keeps the rice at an optimal serving temperature for up to 12 hours. The keep warm function lets you have tasty freshly cooked rice available whenever you're ready.

Additional handy features include a steaming tray and serving spatula. The tray allows steaming vegetables or meat above the rice. And the rice paddle makes it easy to fluff and scoop out servings.

While it doesn't have some of the advanced features of pricier models, this Aroma rice cooker provides the core functionality most people need for everyday rice cooking. The intuitive digital controls and useful accessories make it a solid value choice.

Another excellent option is the Zojirushi NHS-06, which is known for its superior cooking performance and versatility. This model features a micro computerized technology that ensures precise cooking temperatures, resulting in perfectly cooked rice. It is designed for both beginners and seasoned cooks, offering ease of use and exceptional results every time.

Ease of Use

The Aroma Housewares Rice Cooker is designed to be incredibly easy to use. The interface is straightforward, with simple on/off and cook buttons, along with clearly labeled settings for white and brown rice, steam, slow cook, and keep warm.

Setting up the rice cooker is a breeze - just add rice and water as directed in the instructions, choose your settings, and press start. The cooker handles the rest, shutting off automatically when the rice is done. The see-through tempered glass lid allows monitoring of the rice without having to open the cooker and release steam and heat.

Cleanup is also hassle-free, with a non-stick inner cooking pot that is removable and dishwasher safe. The stainless steel exterior simply needs to be wiped down. Overall, the rice cooker's intuitive interface, hassle-free setup, and easy cleanup makes it a user-friendly appliance for even novice cooks.

Performance

When it comes to actually cooking rice, the Aroma Housewares 6-Cup Rice Cooker performs very well. It uses "Advanced Micro Computerized Fuzzy Logic" technology to cook rice with precision. This allows the rice cooker to make automatic adjustments during the cooking process to ensure the rice turns out perfectly every time.

The cooker excels at making fluffy, tender rice with individual grains that are nicely separated. It consistently cooks the rice evenly with no under or overcooked spots. The texture is never mushy or soggy. The rice also has just the right level of stickiness for most types of rice like jasmine, basmati, white rice, brown rice, etc.

No matter what type of rice you use or how much water you add, the Aroma rice cooker detects the conditions and adjusts itself automatically to produce properly cooked rice with an excellent consistency. You don't have to worry about closely watching the pot or making any manual adjustments during cooking. Just add your rice and water, turn it on, and it reliably delivers delicious results.

Rice Quality

The Aroma 8-Cup Digital Rice Cooker performs very well in terms of the quality of rice it produces. It consistently cooks fluffy, delicious rice without any sticking or burning.

The rice comes out with a perfect tender yet firm texture every time. It's neither mushy nor undercooked. The grains stay separate and intact rather than clumping together. You can really taste the subtle flavors and aromas of different rice varieties like jasmine, basmati and brown rice when using this cooker.

It does an excellent job cooking all types of rice from white and brown rice to sushi rice. The rice turns out light, fluffy and moist without being sticky or starchy. Adding a rice rinse before cooking helps further reduce any stickiness.

The digital controls let you select precise cook times and temperatures to perfectly tailor the texture of the rice to your liking. Whether you enjoy softer, stickier rice or perfectly fluffed separate grains, this cooker can accommodate your preferences.

Many reviewers mention how the Aroma rice cooker makes the best rice they've ever had, even better than some expensive restaurant rice. The consistency and taste of the rice makes this an excellent choice for rice lovers and frequent rice eaters who want restaurant-quality rice at home.

Versatility

The Aroma Housewares Rice Cooker is not limited to just cooking rice. Its versatile cooking functions allow you to prepare a variety of healthy grains and cereals like quinoa, steel-cut oats, and more.

The machine comes with a steaming tray that can be used to steam vegetables, fish, meat and more while the rice cooks below. This allows you to prepare a complete meal with protein and vegetables at the same time.

You can cook soup by using the steam function. Add chopped vegetables, stock and seasoning to the inner cooking pot and simply press the Steam button to cook soup.

For breakfast, this cooker makes excellent steel-cut oatmeal. Just add the oats and water in a 1:4 ratio and press the White Rice button. In about 30 minutes you'll have deliciously creamy oatmeal ready to eat.

With the Aroma Rice Cooker's versatile functions you can cook far beyond just rice for easy, healthy meals any time of day.

Durability

The Aroma Housewares ASP-610 rice cooker is built to last thanks to its durable stainless steel exterior housing. The inner cooking pot is made of thick, non-stick coated aluminum which is designed to avoid scratches and resist staining or corrosion over time.

Reviewers report this rice cooker holding up well after years of frequent use without any cracks, chips or breakdowns. The appliance feels solid and substantial thanks to the stainless steel construction.

Aroma Housewares provides a 1 year limited warranty on the product to cover defects, though most owners find this rice cooker lasts much longer when cared for properly. Following the cleaning instructions to avoid abrasive scouring of the non-stick pot will help maintain its non-stick surface and long-term durability.

With its sturdy stainless steel housing and aluminum cooking pot, the Aroma Housewares ASP-610 rice cooker delivers reliable performance and longevity with proper care and maintenance. Most owners keep this appliance for many years before needing to replace it.

Pros and Cons

• Pros:

  • Large 10 cup cooked (5 cup uncooked) capacity, good for families or meal prepping
  • Stainless steel exterior is sleek, modern, and easy to clean
  • Easy one-touch operation with pre-programmed cook settings
  • Automatically keeps cooked rice warm for 12 hours
  • Comes with steaming tray, rice paddle, and measuring cup
  • Durable and well-reviewed by owners
  • Affordable price point under $50

• Cons:

  • Lid doesn't have viewing window, so you can't see rice as it cooks
  • No delay timer or clock display
  • Exterior gets hot to the touch while cooking
  • Shorter warranty period of only 1 year
  • Some reliability complaints of failing after 1 year
  • Plain design lacks extra features of some "smart" rice cookers

In summary, the Aroma Housewares rice cooker offers excellent value given its large capacity, stainless steel design, and one-touch preset cooking. The downsides are the lack of a viewing window, timer, or extra features. It's a great affordable option for larger families that make rice frequently.

Conclusion

The Aroma Housewares ASP-610 rice cooker is a solid mid-range option with plenty of useful features but also some limitations that may disappoint power users.

Overall, the ASP-610 produces tasty rice consistently and has versatility with a steam tray and cake menu. The intuitive controls and delay timer make it easy for anyone to use. Its compact 6-cup capacity feeds smaller families but those with larger households may want a bigger size.

The main downsides are the hidden boiler meaning no ability to brown rice, and some reliability concerns over durability of the inner cooking pot. That said, at this fairly affordable price point, the ASP-610 still stands as a worthwhile investment for most home cooks shopping in the under $100 range.

Those seeking more advanced rice cooking capabilities may prefer spending up for a higher-end Zojirushi or Tiger model. For those on tighter budgets, Black+Decker and Aroma have even cheaper models albeit with fewer features. But for basic delicious rice day after day, the Aroma Housewares ASP-610 hits a sweet spot.