Zojirushi, Made in Japan Neuro Fuzzy Rice Cooker, 5.5-Cup, Premium White

I just bought this older model in 2019. It seems very successful because it’s been manufactured for a long time, and still it is listed as a “current” model on Zojirushi’s website. I don’t regret the purchase because it is probably best for me in the 1 liter (5.5 cup) range (same for 1.8 L), but as I note below, it has some downsides that made me a little disappointed. I was interested in the spherical heating element, the handles on the inner bowl, the extended keep-warm function, the retractable power cord, and the many varieties of rice settings. I would recommend something cheaper and/or newer if you mostly want to use it for white rice. But if you like a variety of rices, including different degrees of “brown-ness” and hardness then this is really one of the best in this price range, I think. That’s probably why the model has stuck around for so long. BUT, the newer models have a “steam” function which this does NOT. So, the current description on Amazon’s page for the item is WRONG. A similar, newer “Made in Japan” model for roughly same price (with removable cord, and fewer rice varieties, and newer steam vent design) does have “Steam” function and the description for the two is incorrectly duplicated here. I am still glad I got this one.

I have a 3 cup Zojirushi, the NS-LAC05 that I bought about 10 years ago, which is very similar to the current NS-LGC05 and NS-LHC05, and I wanted a bigger one. My 3-cup cooker is made in China like most Zojirushi models, and if you want this “Neuro-Fuzzy” because it is “Japanese,” then in my experience that’s a bad reason to choose a Zojirushi model. (Incidentally, my old cooker also had “Neuro-Fuzzy written on the manual cover, so that is not a tech unique to this model.) They are all Japanese (just like iPhone is not a “Chinese” phone, just expertly assembled there — so to that extent, yes it is Chinese). You just pay extra for the “Made in Japan” prominently printed on front, for no good reason. Or rather, a very bad reason, because my older cooker seems like more high-quality construction. This one is in some ways less thoughtfully made, to make up for the more expensive cost of labor, is my guess. For example, when you open the door, you can see exposed screws, and exposed inside of the plastic part of the lid, which does not look nice. The Chinese-made models have an extra piece of plastic to cover up the screws and makes the inside look nice. I care about aesthetics and details like that. And I like to leave the lid open much of the time, with inner lid gently placed on the bowl, when the cooker is not in use because it seems better for the gaskets, plus it airs things out. But this model looks too unpleasant that way so I will probably keep it closed. (Not sure whether open or closed is best for the gasket, or if it matters.) Also, my 3-cup model has nice metal parts on the outside, and this one is all plastic, although nice smooth high-quality plastic. And the lid-opening button is nicer and possibly sturdier on the Chinese-made models. But the thing I like the most about my 3-cup one over this model is the steam vent. I think it is an advancement over this older model. It has an upper compartment to collect the extra moisture, so there is an additional cover-piece and gasket on top. And it is easier to wipe the steam vent clean in the inside of the lid for the newer design. Again, more fancy construction with more parts, which may be why the more simple design of the NS-ZCC models is still cost-effective to manufacture in Japan. And the better-constructed lids are almost certainly more resistant to warping from heat.

One important thing to note about this model is that it was designed for the Japanese market, where “regular” rice is short or medium grain, not the long-grain I’m used to. I often buy nice quality organic Jasmine or Basmati. On my old cooker, there was a “white/mixed” setting and a separate “sushi” setting, whereas on this one there is “regular/sushi” and a separate “mixed.” I think my long grain rice cooks better with the “mixed” setting rather than “regular” on this model. The first time I cooked it with regular setting, it was really disgusting mush, so I tried the “mixed” and then it was nice. But I also took care to rinse the rice super well (at least 4 times rather than 3 like last time) so that may have helped, too. And I used water up to the mark rather than a bit extra (the manual says to use extra water with long grain but says nothing about proper menu selection). The “mixed” setting does not get as hot, to keep it from boiling over. So anyway, this may explain the mixed reviews for this product, with many people loving it and some people having very bad experience. “Regular” in Japan is not really “regular” in most places, because most places tend to use long-grained rice. One downside of using the “mixed” instead of “white/sushi” setting is that extended keep warm is not settable for “mixed” since they want you to keep only white rice for extended time in it. But I don’t keep rice for more than ~10 hours and the regular “keep warm” was fine for me for several hours. [UPDATE: The mush on my first try was my fault; the rice I used just needs to be rinsed really well because it has lots of starch. When I rinse really well, it turns out excellent on the “Regular” setting also. And American Long Grain did not have this issue. So it is not a cooker problem at all, and long-grain rice can be cooked on regular setting and used with extended keep-warm.]

Two bad things about the Zojirushi models, probably all of them: 1) the irreplaceable battery, which means after a few years you will need to keep it plugged in if you don’t want to reset the clock. Yes, you can ship it in for servicing but that’s very expensive just for the battery and I did not (and will not) do it for my 3-cup model. One reviewer wrote (I forget for which model) that this is consumer-hostile and I absolutely agree. What kind of clock (or watch) do you have to send in to the manufacturer to replace the battery? It is outrageous and inconsiderate. I might figure out how to solder in a replacement battery myself, before I would spend so much money (and be without my cooker) for replacing. 2) The second bad thing is the super expensive replacement bowls and other parts. All non-stick surfaces will eventually wear out, and Zojirushi replacement is ~$50-70 for the bowls. You can buy a normal (non-fuzzy) rice cooker for under $20! And many nice fancier than bare-bones cookers for under the price of a replacement bowl (the bowls are very nice, though, and high quality). An inner lid replacement (which you may need if the gasket is damaged) is ~$22-28. The tiny spatula holder, which seems like it is worth under a dollar, is nearly $5, though to be fair, all prices on their site include shipping. Plus at least you have the option to order replacements. The spatula holder is not easily removable without damage (because it has plastic hooks that allow it to slide in one direction) and I broke mine when I yanked it out for cleaning. But not worth the cost of replacement. How do the parts prices compare to those for, say, Instant Pot? And expensive cooking equipment really should have replacement parts available for parts that wear out. I would not buy from a company that did not offer that. But the prices are totally unreasonable for the Zoji parts. So as with the battery, this is very consumer-hostile and for this reason I seriously considered shopping for another brand. But the cooker is excellent otherwise, so I stuck with this brand.

One last note about the non-stick surface: the important thing for protecting it is not so much the material that comes in contact with it but the smoothness of it. A non-smooth metal utensil is more likely to cause damage than a non-smooth plastic one, but plastic utensils can cause damage, too. The plastic spatula that came with my 3-cup model was not very smooth and that’s why my 3-cup bowl got damaged, since I never used other utensils inside the bowl. The new spatula that came with this ZCC model looks almost identical but is slightly softer plastic and also very smooth. So, feel the edge of the utensil that you use inside the bowl, and don’t use it if it does not feel smooth, even if it is plastic. And in any case be super gentle even with any plastic or wooden utensil. As far as toxicity, the Teflon coatings manufactured since 2013 should all be safe (and probably most manufacturers phased out the questionable type coating long before then). If you do research from reputable sources on this topic, I think you’ll find that there is no evidence that the very inert material in these coatings is harmful. Almost everything is toxic in large-enough quantities, and you are not consuming gobs of coating. So that’s something to keep in mind when considering whether or not to replace an old Zoji bowl.

My Zujirushi rice cooker arrived today, and I made my first batch of rice in it! The machine is easy to set up and use. I watched YouTube videos and read a lot of reviews before purchasing, so that gave me a leg up so to speak.

Somehow I expected it to be a much heavier appliance than it is. It is quite lightweight. Everything so far seems to function as it should. DO READ ALL OF THE INSTRUCTIONS FIRST, as did I, though, so you do not make any errors.

After washing and drying the inner bowl, the rice paddle, and the removable lid, I used my rice washing bowl to wash two cups of Jasmine rice. I never prepared Jasmine rice before in my life, although I am sure it must be the same rice I have eaten in Chinese and Thai restaurants many times. It is at best a medium grain rice and much more sticky than the rice I usually eat, i.e. parboiled long grain rice. Cooking the rice was a breeze. I put two cups of washed Jasmine rice in the inner bowl and added 2.5 cups of distilled water. I set it for white rice and “soft.” It took about 50 minutes to cook it which was fine with me as I had plenty of other things to do. It turned out nicely, and I am going to use the leftovers to make fried rice, which I think I shall enjoy more.

I used the Jasmine rice today as a base over which I spooned some tinned soup. It is purely a matter of personal tase, but I much prefer my long grain parboiled rice over this Jasmine rice, at least for the types of meals I usually make, e.g. soups, creoles, seafood gumbo, as a side to veggie burgers, etc. I just think the long grain parboiled rice is the most satisfying. I suppose it may have something to do with how one was raised and how one has lived for most of one’s life.

Clean up was a breeze. Set up and first use were easy (I read everything and read reviews and watched YouTube videos, so it did not seem like much of a challenge to first set up and use it). I love the little tune played at the start and the end! I HATE buzzers on microwaves and spin dryers, etc. Why cannot they all use some little bit of music like this rice cooker uses? It is so cheerful, and it does not make one jump out of one’s skin to hear it. Anyone who does not like the little tunes played at the start and the finish of a cooking cycle must be an old Grinch.

I plan to make one cup of my parboiled rice in this rice cooker just to see how it turns out. I will rinse it well first and keep an eye on it. I hope it turns out well because I definitely like it more than the Jasmine rice. I also like brown rice and plan to try it. I love wild rice, too, but I am not sure if this rice cooker cooks wild rice. Japanese must eat mainly sushi rice and brown rices because this rice cooker seems more geared to those rices than any others.

I plan to make some steel cut oats later in the week. I think they will turn out well, too, based on my experience today so far. I love that I all I have to do is put the washed rice into the machine with the appropriate amount of water, set it, and walk off without having to remember to do anything else. I have seen several YouTube videos where veggies and even some meats were added to the rice with great results, so I plan to try that soon, too. One YouTube chef added a tomato and a splash of olive oil to his rice, and it turned out beautifully. I bet it tasted good. I want to try that as well. My only concern is whether the acid in the tomato might not be good for the non-stick coating. Manufacturer warns against using vinegar but does not mention tomatoes.

The upshot is that my first batch of rice was easy to make and turned out fine. I must try more rices and porridge in it as well, but if all goes well, and especially if I can get away with making parboiled, or even plain long grain rice in this cooker, I shall be happy. I have no problems making consistently good rice on the stove top, but I have to watch my stove top rice and turn it off at the end cooking time, etc. This rice cooker can free me up not to have stick close to the stove top.

If you love rice and eat a lot of it, as do I, then this might be a good purchase for you. If you only eat rice once per week or less, then you can probably stick with the stove top method and earmark the $200 for something else you want/need.

As something of an aside, I found a couple of etsy sellers who custom make cozy covers for appliances and teapots, etc. I probably will have a cozy made for this rice cooker as it will live its life on my countertop (no cupboard space available), and I want to keep it protected from dust, etc.

Re the timer function, I have not tried it so far, and I probably will rarely need to use it, but it is a very nice feature to have. For example, if you knew you were going to be away from home all day or all afternoon at least, then you could use the timer to have rice ready at 6 or 7 p.m. or whatever time you will be back home. The timer would also be nice if you wanted your rice to start cooking say one hour before you arise from a nap or come in from working in the garden, etc. Many reviewers lament the long cooking times, but really, the cooking times are not so long. It takes 40 minutes to cook long grain parboiled rice on the stove top. It did not take much longer to make Jasmine rice in this rice cooker. Besides, you should plan ahead. If I know I want to eat a meal at say noon, then I wash the rice and start it cooking up to two hours before I plan to eat. The rice will be kept warm until I do eat. The cooking time is only a hassle if one does not plan ahead. There is a remedy for this, however, you can buy Minute Brand Instant Rice instead.

Now, I have one HUGE complaint here, but it has nothing to do with the manufacturer or the rice cooker. My complaint is again Amazon. They shipped this $200 rice cooker to me in the manufacturer’s box. No shipping box was used. Somewhere along the way, either they dropped it really hard or something big and sharp fell on it because there was a HUGE gash on one side of the box, and the box’s corners were all smashed in. Who in his right mind ships a $200 piece of computerised equipment without a shipping box?

Then, to add insult to injury, the delivery person simply opened my gate and left the rice cooker sitting in the muddy wet grass (we had a lot of rain the day before, and it still was not dry out) even though there was a DRY, CLEAN sidewalk right next to where he left it. Moreover, it was only a very few more feet to to walk to reach my garden bench beneath my covered porch where it not only could have been left in a dry area protected from rain and also further from the gate where someone could have spied it and reached inside to grab it. This just shows a lack of attention and concern in the delivery.

I have had to complain at least 4-5 times in the last few months about Amazon drivers leaving my packages OUTSIDE of my gate where they are very likely to be stolen. I cannot wrap my head around how these drivers must think if they would leave packages outside of the gate or leave packages inside the gate but in the muddy grass even though the dry, safe porch is only a few more feet away.

29 July 21 ETA: I have now prepared Jasmine rice, steel cut oats, aka Irish oats, wild rice blend, and long grain parboiled rice in this machine, and they all turned out great. The only one I was concerned about was the long grain parboiled rice, but I need not have worried. I prepared 1 cup rice to 1.25 cups water and cooked it on Mixed, and it turned out just fine. Be sure to wash you rice before cooking, though. I forgot to wash the wild rice blend, and it turned out too sticky for wild rice. I used the rice/water ratio of 1 cup rice to 1.5 cups water and used the brown rice setting per the Zojirushi website. I thought the mixed rice setting is for rice with other items added, e.g. veggies, but I think the next time I will try the mixed rice setting because after all, I used a blend of black, brown, red, and wild rice. It may turn out better on the mixed rice setting, and it should turn out better if I remember to rinse it of course. This is an object in mindfulness. If we let too many things distract us at once, then we cannot focus on a simple task well enough to do a proper job. Making rice can be very Zen if you are in the moment.

Conclusion: this rice cooker will cook most rices just fine including parboiled long grain rice, and I am now very happy indeed. I really wish I would have purchased one of the Zojirushi rice cookers 2-3 ago at the time I first became interested in them. Two things held me back. Firstly, I thought the rice cooker would not be able to cook long grain parboiled rice which is my go-to rice, and secondly, I did not think I could add other ingredients to my rice, e.g. veggies. I was wrong on BOTH counts. If these are issues that have held you back, do not let them. This rice cooker is quite versatile.

For example, I made Jasmine rice in the cooker one day. I added an whole, fresh tomato and a splash of olive oil to the pot. I saw a chef do this on YouTube. It turned out great. I added my usual Lipton Beefy Onion Soup Mix to my long grain parboiled rice, and it turned out great, too. I will continue to experiment, but at this point, I think this rice cooker could cook pretty much any type of rice you care to put into it, and do not fear adding veggies and even some minced pieces of lean meat if you eat meat.

Given the range of grains I can cook in this rice cooker and the ease of using and cleaning it, I am very pleased with this rice cooker. I am less pleased with Amazon at the moment, though. If you decide to purchase one, remember to stipulate that it be sent in Amazon packaging IF you care about the manufacturer box arriving in good shape.

ETA: Well, I have been using my rice cooker for over a year now! I cannot believe I have had it that long already! I still love it and use pretty much every single day. I did want to add a caveat to my review, though.

The instructions say to be sure to wipe off any moisture from the bottom of the cooking before you place it in the base and use it. I never gave it much thought as to why, but I always wiped it, or so I thought. It seems I used it a couple of time whilst there was still moisture on the outside bottom of the bowl, and that moisture sort of “baked” into the metal where you place the bowl. I tried to unsuccessfully to scrub it out. It seems permanent. I cannot budge it. It appears to be cosmetic only, but it bothers me nonetheless. I am happy that the rice cooker still performs just fine, but every time I remove the bowl and see those marks, it bothers me. Once this rice cooker has to be replaced, next time I will be very, very careful to remove all moisture from the bottom of the bowl before I place it into the base to cook rice or anything else. Attaching a photo for you so you can see what it looks like. Wish I could figure out a way to clean off of these ugly, dark “burns.” I am not really sure what to call them. I guess it must be the minerals in the water that were baked on or burned into the metal? If anyone knows how to remove these “burns,” please let the rest of us know.

The Rice Cooker does make terrific rice. However, I used it only about 30 times since I bought it in 2014 and suddenly the electronic board died which makes the machine useless. Their response to my email explaining the problem was almost immediate which I appreciated. They referred me to a dealer who repairs these things but with parts, labour, and shipping it would cost me about $120 to have it repaired. I paid less than $200 originally so it it more exconomical to buy a new one. But it won’t be a Zojirushi. Still, great service, great cooker, terrible life span.