Automated Appliances:
 Robotic Rice Cookers
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        The rice cookers of today are a household tool used by many.  Basic rice cookers use simple electronics with mechanical and thermal sensors.  Most rice cookers have an outer insulated container with a heating element and a removable nonstick cooking pot.  There is a spring in the bottom to ensure that the thermostat touches the base of the pot.  The thermostat ensures that the temperature does not exceed 100 degrees C so that the water won't boil.  At that point, the thermostat will trip and switch the rice cooker off or to the warm mode[7].  Rice cookers normally have a cooking capacity of 3-10 cups of uncooked rice; few have a larger capacity.
                                                                                                                                                               http;//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rice_cooker
        Some models like DreamLG use inductive heating technology to cook the rice at higher temperatures than is possible with ordinary electric conductive heat rice cookers.  Higher temperatures reduce cooking time.  If the temperature is simply raised on a conductive heat rice cooker, the kernels "pop" rather than cook through, creating unevenly cooked rice with an unpleasant texture and reduced flavor.  Inductive heat also allows rapid temperature adjustments, so cooking can stop as soon as optimal conditions are reached, reducing scorching, discoloration, and sticking[8].
http://www.dreamlg.com/en/cook/useful_features3.shtml

         One of the newest rice cookers is the Zojirushi ZAC-Series Neuro Fuzzy Rice Cooker.  This new rice cooker has a computerized “fuzzy logic” temperature control system for outstanding results[9].  Fuzzy logic helps the rice cooker to interpret ambiguous data much like the human mind does[10].  This rice cooker also has a non stick pan (known as Teflon), a timer control, automatic keep warm and reheat cycle, menu settings including pre-washed rice (rinse free rice) cooking function, and a sturdy carrying handle[9].

                                                                                                                                                              http://www.zojirushi.com/ricecookers.html
          Despite all of the progress made in present day rice cookers, there is a down side. The rice still needs to be washed manually unless you have one that has a prewashed rice (rinse free rice) cooking function.  In fact, some people feel that the rinse free rice does not cook as well and still prefer to wash it .  Even if you had one with a timer, washing the rice in advance would affect the quality of the texture of the cooked rice due to the extended soaking.  To a true rice eater, rice is best when it is freshly cooked.


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