Lakeland 2 Portion Mini Electric Rice Cooker – 500ml Non-Stick Pan White Or Brown Rice & Porridge

I have a small kitchen, so any gadget I consider bringing into it needs to be assessed. I don't need space clogging up with a fad. I did however find that I was eating a lot of rice and tending to buy the microwave pouches, as I find boiling and monitoring a pan for half an hour tedious, and pouring and straining it at the end stressful. The price of the pouches was steadily rising, so I ran the numbers. I could buy 1 kg of rice for the same cost as 2 and a half pouches and it would likely make about 4 times as many meals as that. With the rice cooker running for longer, I wondered about electricity costs. I worked out my 1000w microwave probably uses about 0.06p to run for a minute and a half, and the 250w rice cooker would probably work out to around 1p every 10 minutes (and it generally runs about 30-40 mins), so while it is a bit more electric to cook, it pales in comparison to the money saved on the rice. There's obviously the cost of the rice cooker as well, but it seemed quite reasonably priced and in time this would pay for itself. So I got one, and I absolutely love it. The small size fits into my kitchen perfectly, with it managing to etch out its own spot pretty easily. I've had it a few months now and I must use it at least 5 times a week. It's so easy to use, fill up the cup that comes with it with rice, give it a rinse, chuck it in the pot with 2 cups of water, press a button, and get on with something else until it beeps at you. No monitoring and stirring, no draining at the end as all the liquid used is absorbed or evaporated. What I hadn't factored in was how much more quality there is to rice cooked this way over the microwave pouches. There's a feel to the pouches that I'd got used to, but looking back now it's a bit like when you buy grated cheese from a supermarket and each piece sort of feels plasticy and independent from each other piece, in a way cheese never does if you grate it yourself from a block (if that makes any sense!). The rice cooked in this becomes so fluffy and delicious in comparison. There's still the place for the odd pouch, as rice in a minute and a half is very convenient if you're short on time, but if there's chance to do it in the rice cooker then it's well worth the extra time. However there is also the ability to plan ahead built in. You can delay it up to 12 hours, so stick it all in before work, set the timer and you come home to rice. Another great benefit if you're trying to watch your diet. If I've had a stressful day at work, I get that pang in the back of my head telling me I should just pick up some junk on the way home, but now the rest of my brain kicks in and says "nope, you've got rice waiting for you at home!" A great way to nudge yourself towards making healthier choices. The keep warm function is also great, you don't have to time everything down to the minute, or know exactly when you're going to be back lest you come home to cold rice. It will still be there, ready when you are. I've experimented with a few different things as well. You can chuck noodles in there, dried risotto mixes, dehydrated vegetables, herbs and spices, or pre-cooked meats (I wouldn't try any raw meat, or put any kind of meat in it if I was going to be leaving it while I'm at work) one of my favourites I've found is to cut up pieces of chorizo and stir it in, it permeates all through the rice and gives it a great flavour. I also keep meaning to have a crack at seeing if it can do a rice pudding, but haven't got round to it yet. There is also a porridge function, but I've never been a big fan of porridge (bread soup imo) so I've not tried that, but I'm sure it works perfectly too if that's your thing. One note if you're buying this, the timer function is described as "delayed start" in the manual, but the time you set is when the rice will be ready, not when it will start. The first time I used the timer I wanted it ready in about 3 hours, so I set it to 2 hours and it was ready an hour before I was. Not the end of the world with the keep warm function, and obviously I know better now, but I wish someone had told me beforehand. If you routinely set the timer to run while you weren't around, you could end up with rice ready an hour before you needed every time and not realise, and that will be using extra electricity keeping it warm unnecessarily. So yes, this is a very good product. I've never used another rice cooker, so how it compares in its sector I couldn't say, but that doesn't change that it's perfect for my needs as it is and well worth the price.

We love this and use it regularly, it cooks very well and the price was very reasonable. We split it between 3 people, but it is more suited for enough rice for 2 people. Super easy to use and is really compact and fits in our cupboard in the kitchen.

This little rice cooker is the perfect size for meal prep and sushi. Unlike all the other comparatively massive (and expensive) rice cookers on the market, this one is ideal for portions suited for a work week's meal prep (up to 175 grams of basmati rice) or up to a few rolls of sushi. I've been using it for a bit over a year now, and it's made making rice-based dishes a lot more hassle free with good, consistent results, and the small size means it barely takes up any storage space.

Enough for 2 average portions of rice, cooks it perfectly and so convenient that you can pop it on and leave it and it stays warm once cooked. It did leak a little from the steam vent at the top, so I had a wet bench but it was easy enough to wipe up. The bowl and spatula are very easy to clean up too. Pleased with my purchase

This is the best bit of kitchen equipment that I have bought for ages. It cooks absolutely any rice you put into it. We use it for basmati, paella, Japanese sticky rice - everything. You can throw vegetables and spices in no problem and create one pot dishes. It is also great for cooking single portions when needed. There is a warning function that keeps your rice warm once cooked for as long as you need. It has a porridge setting but we haven't tried it. The only thing I would say is that is does fine for up to four people but you'd need a bigger size to cater for larger numbers.

Been using this for over a year now. It's great, I can get 2 portions of rice out of it nicely. I usually tend to go for 1 large portion; that way, I'm not keeping cooked rice for too long. I just used porridge mode last night to cook congee - 60g Japanese short grain, filled the water to the max line, and a teaspoon of neutral oil. Takes about an hour, perfect congee, it's a big portion, but really only for one person.

This is absolutely fantastic. I love rice and often cook weekday dinners like curry, chilli, etc. I always find cooking rice a faff due to the extra pan and washing up, etc. With this little gadget it's a breeze! It's the perfect amount of rice for two if you use 2 cups of rice and fill water to the max line. It's perfect every time and you don't need to strain off the water after. The cooking pot takes about 20 seconds to wash. I love it!

Great small electric rice cooker for 1 to 2 people,rather than wasting electricity using main cooker.Also doesnt need watching over due to timer etc.