What's the difference between a rice cooker and a slow cooker?
When it comes to kitchen appliances, occasionally
two pieces of technologically advanced equipment will have overlapping uses.
For example, a blender can also be used to make mixed drinks, but so can a
juicer depending on the types of foods you plan on placing in the drink.
The same thing is true with rice cookers and slow
cookers – both of these instruments are designed to help you cook food that
takes a long period of time, and ever since rice cookers added the ability
to keep food warm for as long as 12+ hours, the two appear to have more
similarities than differences. Yet there are considerable differences
between the two appliances, which is why you cannot simply by one and
consider them interchangeable.
Slow Cookers
Slow cookers (also referred to as crock pots) are
designed to maintain a single, not-too-hot temperature over a prolonged
period of time in order to cook foods for several hours. This has several
uses for some people:
·
The slow cooking is less likely to
destroy beneficial molecules and enzymes.
·
You can start cooking long before you
plan on eating, so that the food is ready for a later meal.
·
You do not have to watch the pot since
it is not going to damage the food.
Slow cookers can be used to heat food to about
170-200 degrees Fahrenheit – a little hotter than necessary to destroy bad
bacteria, but often below boiling level. Inside the crock pot is usually
liquid, as well as meats and other ingredients. The heat travels through the
liquid to heat up the food.
Slow cookers are nice for some soups, but they are
not designed for fast meals and do not contain temperature gauges that help
them monitor the heat level inside of the pot. They are a good way to cook
meats, and may be better for some soups, but they are less suitable for
rice.
Rice Cookers
Rice cookers are, of course, made to cook rice.
They allow for the proper water to rice ratio, and they are designed to shut
themselves off automatically to ensure that the rice is not overcooked. They
have better temperature gauges and are able to heat up liquid to a boil so
that the meal is ready far faster than it would be with a crock pot, and
within the recommended time for cooking rice.
You can also cook other meals like soup in a rice
cooker, just like you can with a crock pot. The difference is, once again,
that the rice cooker will heat it to a boil, so it can be consumed more
quickly. It also has a “keep warm” setting that is similar to a slow cooker,
so that if you need to come back and eat the cooked rice later, it will
still be heated and ready for consumption.
Rice cookers are predominantly made for rice,
though they can also be used for soups, porridges, and even bread. Slow
cookers are very useful for some types of soups, but less so for rice, and
it is not useful for cooking foods for quick consumption.
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