A rice cooker can be a very useful and versatile kitchen appliance. If you are a rice lover and like to make it a lot, this is one of the must have appliances to be in your kitchen. A rice cooker can be used to cook rice, hot cereal, desserts and even steam vegetables and cooking soups and stews. Not all rice cookers have the same features, so make sure that you find the one that will satisfy your needs.

The cup measures the size of the rice cooker and they range from 3 to 10 cups. Don't buy a larger unit than you need because the rice cooker is designed to operate properly with a specific amount of rice and water.

All rice cookers have an automatic shut off. When rice is done the unit automatically changes to the "warm" temperature. There is no light that indicates that the rice is done. If you want to turn off the "warm" feature you have to unplug the unit. There are some rice cookers that have "electronic cook" and "keep warm" feature. In this case the unit keeps rice warm for up to 12 hours. If you are family that eats rice during the long period of time these rice cookers might be the ones for you.

Some rice cookers offer steaming trays. You are able to steam your vegetables while you are cooking rice. You can also steam your vegetables before or after the rice is done. Even though they cost more than a basic model, these machines are a great choice if you are looking for something more flexible and sturdy.

When it comes to cleaning you should choose a model with a non-stick pan. Non-stick pans, as the name suggests are non-stick, which means that you won't have to work hard to clean the pan.