REVIEW β Cooking rice is an art. People eat a lot of rice. People in my house eat a lot of rice, I stink at art so itβs best to let a professional handle the job. The Toshiba TRSH01 Electric Rice Cooker is just the expert I need to rescue my family from my kitchen foibles!
What is it?
The Toshiba TRSH01 Electric Rice Cooker is an electrical appliance that cooks rice and other grains and can be used as a food steamer.
Hardware specs
- Model TRSH01
- Dimensions: 10β³D x 11β³W x 8β³H (254 x 279.4 x 203.1mm)
- Weight: 10.5 lbs (4.76kg)
- Power: 120-Volts, 1130 Watts
- Uncooked rice capacity of 5.5 cups (1300ml)
- 8 Pre-programmed settings to cook white rice, brown rice, mixed grain, quinoa, soup/stew, steam, and oatmeal.
- Advanced Fuzzy Logic allows the rice cooker to make fine adjustments to the temperature and heating time to cook rice of all types perfectly
- LED smart digital panel display
- With the non-stick inner pot
- Detachable steam vent and inner lid
- Programmable 24-hour delay timer
- One-year manufacturerβs warranty
Whatβs in the box?
- Toshiba TRSH01 Electric Rice Cooker
- Cooking pot
- Serving spatula
- Soup ladle
- Rice measuring cup
- Steamer basket
- User manual
Design and features
My wife is from Madagascar. Her home country isnβt in the top 10 rice-consuming nations, but itβs still a staple for her. If she goes without rice for a few days, she starts getting the DTs (of course, Iβm joking). Still, we cook a fair amount of rice in our home and enjoy different varieties, so it made sense to have a look at the Toshiba TRSH01 Electric Rice Cooker.
It arrived in a full-color box, well-packaged, and free of bumps and bruises.
The cooking pot is non-stick and, Iβm jumping ahead, but it was pleasingly easy to clean.
A rice measuring cup, a serving spatula, and a soup ladle were included. Thank you, Toshiba.
Also included is a steamer basket that fits into the cooking pot.
Construction is plastic and stainless steel. Itβs one nice-lookinβ rice cooker.
Thereβs even a built-in handle so you can carry your rice picnic basket style.
A spring-loaded button on the stainless-steel face opens the lid.
When closed, the lid latches securely.
The rice cooker is rated at 120 volts at 1130 watts. Thatβs about 9.4 Amps at peak energy consumption so you might not want to operate it on the same circuit as a power-hungry toaster or microwave running at the same time lest you make a trip to your domicileβs power panel to reset a circuit breaker or fuse.
Atop the TRSH01βs lid is an attractive white LED display. I was pleasantly surprised to be greeted with a clock display immediately upon applying power.
Β Buttons from left to right are βMenu,β βKeep Warm/Cancel,β βStart,β βPreset,β and a combination of βHr.β (hour) and βMin.β(minute).
Holding the βHrβ button for three seconds enters the clock setting mode. Tapping or holding the βHrβ and βMinβ buttons advance the time. Youβll want to set that clock for reasons Iβll explain in a moment.
The display is in βmilitary time.β Toshiba was wise to implement the clock as 24-hour because it might be yucky (or even dangerous) to accidentally set the timer to complete at 6:00 in the morning rather than 6:00 PM. Better to use 18:00, right?
βMenuβ selects the type of grains you plan to cook. Selections are βLow Carb,β βQuick Rice,β βWhite Rice,β βBrown Rice,β βMixed Grain,β βQuinoa,β βSteam,β and βOatmeal.β
If you have a habitual favorite, quantity, and time you like to eat, before starting to cook your grains of culinary joy, pick the type and then press the βPresetβ button. The Toshiba TRSH01 Electric Rice Cooker enters a timer mode that displays the current time, then the βHrβ and βMinβ buttons can be used to choose the completion time when you want the cooking to finish. There are two timers available (Timer1 and Timer2) that can be stored to have hot and fresh fluffy rice ready after you slumber or arrive home after a long work day. Of course, you can use the timers without saving a preset, but these areβ¦ Ahhhhβ¦ Niceβ¦
Preparation isnβt difficult in quantities of up to 5.5 cups (white rice). Using the included measuring cup, place it in the cooking pot, rinse (if necessary), and add water to the appropriate mark. Brown rice uses more water so itβs limited to three cups.
Rotate the pot a few times to ensure itβs properly seated, close the top, touch the βMenuβ button to choose whatβs being prepared, and push βStart.β Unless a timer is being used, cooking begins immediately and a countdown is displayed. If a timer is used, cooking will be completed at the time of your choosing. So cool!
Thou shall heed the warnings lest thou shalt receive a steam burn ouchie!
Counting down to yumminess!
The Toshiba TRSH01 Electric Rice Cooker uses fuzzy logic to measure temperature and adjust the time to perfectly cook rice every time. I tried four different types of rice (red, glutinous, Jasmine, and Basmati) and the textures were uniformly fluffy, even if adding excess water (youβll get a greater volume of rice this way, but it will be less flavorful).
When complete, the Toshiba TRSH01 Electric Rice Cooker automatically enters the warming mode. For the best taste, Toshiba recommends rice should be consumed within five hours, but the TRSH01 is capable of keeping the contents warm and toasty for up to 24 hours.
If youβve ever cooked red rice on the stove using a covered pot, you know that the copious starch produced bubbles out from the edges of the lid and makes a mess. The same thing happens when I used one of my less sophisticated rice cookers. With the Toshiba TRSH01, the mess was contained inside (Yay!), save for a little starchy steamy dribble on the steam valve cover (no big deal). Engineers anticipated the need to clean and the steam valve cover is removable.
Cleanup was the most painless of any rice cooker Iβve ever owned.
Cleaning the inside was equally satisfying. After allowing the cooker to cool, a few wipes with a damp sponge did the trick. The inner lid can be unlatched and opened for scrubbing.
A few swipes and the rice cooker is in spiffy shape!
Not done cleaning yet, but this is after a gentle 10-second spongingβ¦
A slick Toshiba innovation implemented in this cooker is for βLow Carbβ rice. This process uses the steaming basket and allows the starch to collect in the cooking bowl. Clever! The manual is clear and describes the process.
What I like
- Very consistent results
- Timers work well
What I would change
- Nothing
Final thoughts
This year, more than 500 million metric tons of rice were produced worldwide. The USA only consumes 4.6 million metric tons and nowhere near as much as Asian countries, but sometimes I think my household consumes most of it. The Toshiba TRSH01 Electric Rice Cooker makes my (almost) daily task much more convenient, itβs easy to clean, and it produces remarkably consistent results.
Price: $199.99
Where to buy: Amazon
Source: The sample for this review was supplied by Toshiba.
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You mention stew/soup in the specs but none of the cooking programs seem to show that. Does it actually do soups?