10 Cup Multifunction Indirect Heat Rice Cooker Steamer and Warmer

When selecting a Christmas gift for my Chinese wife, I chose carefully. A rice cooker was high on the list, since she had an old Black & Decker that had treated her well for a number of years, but it was old and tired. The nonstick coating had worn off, and it was a cheapy with no additional features. The nonstick coating bothered me. For our next cooker, I didn't want to get one with a nonstick coating that could wear off. We now had a four year old, and I didn't want to see this kind of coating land in any of our stomachs, especially his. My Asian friends highly recommended very expensive Japanese rice cookers. I seriously considered these, but these were only rice cookers. They did their job cooking rice well, I'm sure, but didn't offer any additional cooking options. They also had nonstick coatings. In addition, some reviews indicated these units had an internal battery that, over time, would need replacement. Batteries don’t last forever. Replacement involved sending the unit back to the manufacturer, which is costly and time consuming. After careful consideration, I chose the Tatung cooker for a number of reasons. First, it has no nonstick coating—the cooking vessel is manufactured using stainless steel. At this price point, I don't see many stainless steel cookers on the market. It also offers nondirect cooking, which is a very nice feature. The cooking surface doesn't sit on a burner. Rather, it sits on a secondary level of water that transfers heat more uniformly to the main cooking pot. Controls are fairly basic and include an on/off function with warmer. All work well. As far as I can discern, there is no internal battery that will eventually and inevitably wear out and require replacement. The strongest selling point for me though was the ability at add to this cooker. I know my wife's cooking style. Being ethnic Chinese, she loves hot pot and steaming fish and vegetables and cooking baozi (Chinese bun filled with food), steaming Chinese bread, and creating other tasty meals. While the cooker you’re looking at is billed as a rice cooker, it can be expanded to include a steamer/cooker set. If you're like my wife, I'd highly suggest also purchasing the Tatung TAC-S02 10-cup stainless steel steamer set . This set provides two generous stainless steel steaming levels that sit on top of the rice cooker. An example of how this works would be cooking the rice in the rice cooker while placing, say, vegetables in the first steamer level and fish in the second. This way, you can cook multiple items at the same time. Tatung provides a helpful CD with this rice cooker that shows a number of cooking possibilities, as well as instructions on how to use this rice cooker. It provides a number of cooking possibilities. My wife loves the cooker, although we discovered a few things worth mentioning. When cooking rice, it takes a little trial-and-error to figure out the exact water amount necessary for perfect, fluffy rice. Our first batches were a bit soggy. Also, we like to cook either brown rice or white rice. The water quantity is different between the two, so expect to spend a little time getting adjusted to the exact cooking process. When cooking bone soup, or other soups that require extended cooking times, we found the water evaporates out of the cooker. For this reason, my wife doesn't cook this type of food in this cooker. The top doesn't clap down enough to prohibit water from escaping. This is only a factor during long cooking times and might be compensated by adding water during the cooking process. We haven’t explored this too thoroughly. For bone soup or other kinds of long-term cooking, my wife uses our heavier iron cookware. The top sits heavily on top of the iron stock pot allowing the water to roll back into the soup. When considering which rice cooker to purchase, consider what you intend to do with the rice cooker. If you will only be cooking rice and you want perfection, then a higher-end cooker may be best for you, assuming you have the budget to afford one of these more expensive cookers. If you'd like to cross over to cooking more than just rice, then the Tatung is worth considering. Adding the steamer set is a great way to go, in this regard. If you add the price of the rice cooker with the steamer set, it's far cheaper than the cost of a high-end rice cooker. As an added benefit, there's no replacing an internal battery years down the road, and you won’t have a nonstick coating to contend with.

Traditional design, easy to use, clean, and can hold large amount of rice at once. Thounds of Tatung Cooker recipes waiting for me to discover! As a student from Taiwan, it's a must have! *The "Tatung University" decal on the cooker in my photo is just a personal sticker, not included in the product.

Ease to use, easy to clean, Great rice cooker. The way it works is a double boiler, which doesn't directly heat the rice pot but instead heats it with steam from boiled water below it. This lets the rice come out nice and fluffy, without ever sticking to the bottom.

I bought one two years ago and today I’m giving this one to my mother. It looks very ordinary and is not cheap, but the rice cooked in it is the best among all rice cookers!

I purchased this rice cooker because of recommendations from friends and decent ratings. However, after 35 days of using it 2 times weekly, (roughly 8 - 10 times) I noticed that metallic taste in my rice. Upon closer inspection, I noticed that the stainless steel was rusting! Unfortunately, the stainless steel I received was light and of poor quality. I wanted stainless steel instead of aluminum or non stick coating for health reasons, but was very surprised to see it rusting in less than 6 weeks with light use (8 - 10 times). Because it was beyond 30 days, when I noticed the metallic taste and rust spots, my Amazon prime return was not available to me. I contacted the distributor, but was given suggestions on how to "clean the pot properly". I uploaded the photos as instructed, but was told that their policy is that I can ship it back to them at MY COST, then they will inspect it and if it cannot be corrected, they will send me the replacement parts or replace it completely. I was disappointed at their policy, especially when this was just beyond the 30 days, and that the cooker was fairly EXPENSIVE for a rice cooker that started to RUST after using it less that 10 times. Other than the RUST on the stainless steel and METALLIC taste, it cooks fine.

Useful cookware

I cannot say enough good about this product. I actually bought this as a second cooker. The other one the exact same make and model only just a different color. It's amazing! I use this to cook so many different things the list would be too long to even mention here right now for me cause I would like to stay on my main points I love about it. I don't know exactly how this happens, the indirect steaming, I don't know but everything I cook in it tastes far superior than anything else I have ever used. The warm function keeps the food hot enough so no bacteria can grow, and it's always hot whenever I'm ready my food is right there and ready to eat anytime day or night. Depending on what I have in there I just sturr it if need be. Also there is an attachment 2 level steamer, and wow, TATUNG-TAC-S02 10CUPS STEAMER SET, STAINLESS STEEL I recommend that also. Just check the water level and make sure it's all good. Sometimes I change the water between the unit and insert pot whatever it's called that has the food, and just push the button to cook, cause I don't want my food temperature to drop and take too long to warm up or just to steam more stuff with nothing to worry about.

Bought this for my parents because they wanted a stainless steel rice cooker (no flaking on the inside). AND they LOVE this one so much that they want to buy another one. They use it to steam cook dishes inside while the rice is cooking and it is amazing. Simple to use and it cooks rice pretty fast.

It does a lot more than cooking rice. We use it to steam fish, heat up leftovers, cook soup. There are lots of recipes out there. Steaming is a traditional East Asian way of cooking, and is healthier than frying or roasting your food.

Exactly as described. Well made and easy to use.

I remember I use to have one like this as a child and it was great. This rice cooker worked fantastic and the nostalgia factor was a plus! I loved using this as a steamer for my buns and Alaskan crab legs. It's simple to use and feels sturdy. Cleaning can be a bit tedious if you make a mess but it isn't too hard. I would recommend this as a beginner rice cooker.

Overpriced. Looks cheap.