Showing posts with label zojirushi. Show all posts
Showing posts with label zojirushi. Show all posts

8/10/2011

Zojirushi 6 Cup Rice Cooker / Steamer Review

Zojirushi 6 Cup Rice Cooker / Steamer
Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)
I love my rice cookers. I use them not only to make rice, but for all sorts of one-pot meals. Put in a cup of rice, vegetables, meats or seafood, seasonings, tofu... and a half hour later you have a steaming hot one-pot meal. They're also good for pilafs and other grain dishes.
The Zojirushi and Panasonic units are all first rate, BUT you need to know a little something about cooking rice beyond what's in the poorly worded manuals.
Different rice takes different amounts of water. The long-grained rice Americans are used to should be cooked with 1-3/4 cup of water for each cup of rice. Japanese rice needs only 1-1/4 cup of water for each cup of rice, or 1 cup of water for each cup of washed, wet, rice.
Many Americans (and Europeans) have problems with these cookers because the measure ments are calibrated for Japanese short grain rice, and the Westerners are cooking long grain rice. Get the ratios correct, and everything works out fine.
I've had a number of rice cookers of different sizes. My Panasonic has lasted over 20 years, and my Zojirushi looks like it'll last just as long, while my South Bend gave up the ghost after only a year. Go with the top Japanese models; they're made for day-in and day out cooking.

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Plump, tender and moist grains of rice, with the option of colorful steamed veggies, can be yours with this cooker/steamer. No need to worry about rice drying out and sticking to the sauce pan either, as the "keep warm" function will maintain ideal temperature and consistency until you're ready to serve. Use the steamer basket for chicken, seafood, or vegetables - healthy cooking was never this easy!

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7/31/2011

Zojirushi EC-BD15BAFresh Brew Thermal Carafe Coffee Maker Review

Zojirushi EC-BD15BAFresh Brew Thermal Carafe Coffee Maker
Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)
I've spent several weeks week getting to know the Zojirushi Fresh Brew... and for the most part, I'm quite pleased. It has some foibles [which I'll get to in a moment] but on the whole it's a very capable coffee brewer. More, it's one of the very few home models I know that can brew 8 cups of just-roasted coffee at a proper 2 tablespoons per cup ratio without fuss, and - this is important! - maintain proper brewing temperatures throughout the entire brew cycle.
The details...
Zoji has been making vacuum pots and the like for nearly 100 years, and they've been making an assortment of rice-cookers, tea brewers and hot water dispensers for decades. While this is, I believe, their first home coffee brewer, they've got more than a little experience in kitchen electrics. They've put that experience to good use.
If you've ever brewed up a thermos full of coffee using a big Melitta filter cone then this setup will look pretty familiar. For all intents and purposes, the Fresh Brew simply adds an automated hot water delivery system to the mix... with a few improvements.
Improvement number one: not only does this system brew into an all-stainless thermal carafe [no hot plate here, thankyouverymuch] but it also insulates the brew basket. What good is it, after all, to heat up all that water if it's just going to get cold while you're brewing? This is huge! This is important! This is... well, I'm excited about it, okay?
Improvement number two: the Fresh Brew features an accurate gauge of water volume. When it reads that you've got 8 cups of water in the brewer's reservoir, it means it. Mind you, we're talking 6 oz. cups of water -- that's the way the coffee world measures a cup [unless you're Bodum and then it's 4 oz.].
Improvement number three: the Fresh Brew is patient. The biggest pain about the manual pour-over method is that you've got to wait to add more water, especially if the coffee is really fresh. Fresh coffee blooms with its charge of CO2! Faced with a full basket of coffee that was literally fresh from the roaster the Zoji didn't overflow, nor did it heave grounds into the water dispensing shower-head. More, the grounds were thoroughly saturated; no dry spots.
So where's the foibles?
Like a great many autodrip brewers the feeder tube that comes from the Zoji's heating element to the shower-head takes a straight path right through the water reservoir. For most brewers this is a game-over situation... the heating element simply can't overcome the heat exchange that occurs en route to the brew-head. On the Zoji, the heating element *does* get hot enough... provided that the water you've placed in the reservoir is not *too* cold.Example A: In the office using the "unchilled" spigot on the water cooler, I draw off 48 ounces of water for the reservoir and brew a pot. Throughout the brew cycle water temperatures in the brew basket range between 195 and 200 degrees F. The result is a lovely pot of Ethiopian Yrgacheffe that is sweet, floral and lemony.
Example B: At home I draw off 48 ounces of water from the water filter in-line with the refridgerator. The temperature of the water in the reservoir is about 40 degrees F. and the resulting temperature in the brew basket never tops 185 degrees F. The result is an icky pot of the very same Yrgacheffe that is bitter, murky and flat.
The moral: mind your initial water temperature and you'll do just fine.
All in all, the Zojirushi Fresh Brew is capable of making 8 cups of coffee that's on a par with manual pourover methods. Better, really, as it insulates the brew-basket to better maintain water temperatures.

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Zojirushi's EC-BD15BA 1.5 Liter Fresh Brew Coffee Maker with Vacuum Stainless Steel Carafe is gorgeous andfunctional and will look spectacular on your countertop.It has many wonderful features.

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6/28/2011

Zojirushi EC-DAC50 Zutto 5-Cup Drip Coffeemaker Review

Zojirushi EC-DAC50 Zutto 5-Cup Drip Coffeemaker
Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)
I had never heard of Zojirushi before but I was being very picky, holding out for a coffeemaker that makes 4-6 "cups" (aka two mugs,) uses a cone-bottom filter, and isn't black or white. This is the ONLY coffe maker - on Earth, apparently - that met all my criteria. (OK I still would have liked it better if it came in red, but the soft gray color is kind of classy!) And I have to say I'm really pleased with it. The design is simple and elegant and the removable water reservoir is a great convenience; I don't have to pull the whole coffee maker out from under the overhanging cabinets to get enough room to put the water in.
It also makes really good coffee, mainly because of the cone-bottom filter (I'll never go back to flat-bottom filters!) And the built in carbon filter makes more of a difference than I had expected.
OK some reviewers below were on about how it doesn't make coffee "hot enough" and I was like, bonus! I still don't understand how the rest of the human race can drink hot coffee straight from the pot without scalding their tongues. I was really looking forward to being able to drink coffee without having to put an ice cube in the cup first. (To be fair, I do drink it black.) I was so confident about this due to the "not hot enough" reviews that when I poured my first cup, I just took a great big sip - and scalded my tongue. Argh!! Maybe it's just that the warming plate doesn't keep coffee at boiling temperature, but it shouldn't: that would ruin the flavor of the coffee (and I've had a few cheap coffee makers that did scorch the coffee in a very short time.)
Anyway if you are the sole coffee drinker in your home and you like GOOD coffee, and you don't dig the flavor-limitations or wastefulness of those pod-based things, this is a perfect coffee-maker for you. (And if they ever make it in Red, I'll be the first in line!)


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The "Zutto" Collection is Zojirushi's first collection of products that is designed and developed as a series of products.The concept of the Zutto Collection was born as a result of the collaboration between Zojirushi and an interior designer in Japan.Unlike other Zojirushi products, the physical body of the Zutto was designed first, then the inner technology.Zutto (Zoot-tow), meaning "always" inJapanese, is designed to be enjoyed and used universally, for any occasion, anytime.This new Zutto Drip Coffee Maker is a convenient 5 cup size.

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6/06/2011

Cuisinart Replacement Thermal 8 Cup Carafe (White) Review

Cuisinart Replacement Thermal 8 Cup Carafe (White)
Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)
This was a replacement purchase. We love the coffee maker and the carafe and had it for 10 years already. Eventually the carafe's handle cracked so we ordered a new one. It works great and keeps the coffee nice and hot. You must be careful to use a long handled soft(!) sponge to clean it.

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The Cuisinart Replacement Thermal 8 Cup Carafe (White) [Part # DTC-TC8W] fits models DCT-850 DTC-800 DTC-950

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