Rice cooker - family size 5-6 cups

Why We Chose It

This Aroma Housewares ARC-6106 is the rice cooker equivalent of a Swiss Army knife. It doesn't just cook rice, it steams, slow cooks, and practically does your taxes. Perfect for those who want a multi-tasker appliance that does everything except sing you a lullaby. It's the albatross of your kitchen pretending to be a ninja. Its digital controls are so easy even a caveman could use them, if he had electricity. Sure, it's not the cheapest, but neither is caviar and people still eat that, right?

What It Does

• Cooks rice like it has a PhD in grain studies.
• Steams veggies like it's training for the Olympics.
• Keeps food warm as if it were a mother hen.
• Delays cooking like a procrastinating genius.

What It Doesn't Do

• It won't polish your silverware, sorry.
• Doesn't teleport meals to your table.
• Not a substitute for a personal chef.
• Won't make you a morning person.

Tech Specs

• Serves up 12 cups; a feast or a famine scenario.
• Digital controls; because buttons are so 1990.
• Sauté-Then-Simmé; sounds fancy, acts fancy.
• 15-hour Delay Timer; plan meals like a time traveler.

Who It's For

Meet Lisa, the busy mom who secretly wishes she were a chef. She'll love this cooker because it does all the hard work while she takes the credit. Then there's Bob, the bachelor who thinks 'cooking' means ordering takeout. Even he can handle pressing a button. Finally, there's Grandma Edna, who reminisces about the good old days but won't mind this modern contraption doing the heavy lifting, as long as she gets her porridge just right. They're all different, yet oddly united by their need for a device that does more than just sit on the counter looking pretty.