As you’re going to discover very soon, we can’t actually say that there are a few brands that are worth considering when we’re looking for the best Korean rice cookers, meaning appliances that are made in Korea.
There’s basically only two: Cuckoo and Cuchen.
We might pretend that there might be others but, if you’ll check other manufacturers, you’ll see that their appliances are either made in China or made in Japan. Basically, those are the two other countries that we’ll come across. And those two countries are a lot more famous than Korea.
That’s why we’re extremely limited in the number of manufacturers we can include and review.
Fortunately, Cuckoo is one of the most famous brands in the world so we’ll be in good hands.
It is a home appliance brand from Korea that was established 40 years ago.
I also reviewed one Cuckoo rice cooker in my post recommending the best stainless steel rice cookers. Well, the base of the inner pot was stainless steel but there was also a non-stick coating on top.
On the other hand, some Cuckoo rice cookers are not exactly the cheapest models we could buy.
Fortunately, Cuckoo doesn’t only make rice cookers that cost $500-$600, like the Cuckoo Twin Pressure Induction Heating Rice Cooker.
There are also Cuckoo rice cookers that cost around $100 like the Cuckoo Micom Rice Cooker.
As you can see, there will be only Cuckoo models reviewed as some of the best Korean rice cookers. That’s because we really don’t have all that many options when it comes to brands from Korea that make their rice cookers in Korea.
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Best Korean Rice Cookers Reviews
While Zojirushi is one of the most widely recognized rice cooker brands, their machines are made in Japan. And they’re an Osaka-based company so not Korean at all.
I won’t be able to review any when we’re looking for the best Korean rice cookers. However, if you want to check out some amazing Zojirushi models, I recommend checking out my article reviewing the best rice cookers for brown rice.
Tiger is another Japanese brand so those are out, too.
As you can easily tell from their name and fame, Toshiba is another manufacturer based in Japan.
While Aroma is proudly based and engaged in the San Diego, California community, as far as I’m aware their products are made in China. So that’s another manufacturer that’s out since our focus is only on Korean cookers. And that’s how you soon realize that our options are completely limited to one particular brand: Cuckoo.
That’s how our search will actually transform into an article that will feel like I have an obsession with Cuckoo rice cookers. But that’s the reality we get if we’re looking for Korean rice cookers.
Cuchen is still not very popular among rice cookers around the world.
Anyway, we’re in good hands. And we’ll come across a variety of prices as we review these Cuckoo appliances.
Even if your budget is around $50-$100, we’ll still find some nice models we should check out.
As I’ve said, we’re in good hands. Of course, Zojirushi remains my top favorite brand for rice cookers, unless we’re looking for the best ceramic rice cookers.
By the way, if you want to see how to make rice with Cuckoo like a Korean, check out this YouTube video.
1. Cuckoo Micom Rice Cooker CR-0655F: One of the Best Korean Rice Cookers
The Cuckoo Micom Rice Cooker is certainly not the cheapest Cuckoo but it is among the most affordable models from them.
With a price around $100, it’s pretty hard to beat. Considering that it’s about 5 times cheaper than the Cuckoo Twin Pressure Induction Heating Rice Cooker for the same capacity, the price is quite impressive.
Of course, I don’t believe that it’s going to be the best Korean rice cooker for absolutely all buyers. But it can certainly be so for a lot of us.
The affordable price is not the only reason for making the Cuckoo Micom Rice Cooker my top recommendation.
I think we can get great value for money, top-notch quality, it’s a popular appliance with a pretty high rating. There are negative reviews and you should check out a few but if you have a low budget, this one would be worth a chance.
Components
- nonstick inner pot
- spatula
- measuring cup
- steam plate – we can use the Cuckoo Micom Rice Cooker as a steamer
In the user manual, under the instructions for the Steam cooking function, we get instructions for: steamed dumplings (15 pieces), sweet potatoes, and potatoes. Of course, we can steam a lot more ingredients than that because we can adjust the time as we want for our specific meat, veggies, fish, seafood.
Size
There is only one size.
However, the 6 cup uncooked capacity is pretty awesome for a lot of people. Even if you have a slightly bigger family, you can totally manage with the Cuckoo Micom Rice Cooker.
The 6 cup uncooked transforms into a 12 cup cooked capacity. It’s a big enough capacity for most of us, even if we entertain a few guests often.
Menu options
You certainly won’t feel like there aren’t sufficient menu options:
- Glutinous (white rice)
- Turbo
- Mixed
- GABA (brown rice)
- Porridge
- Steam
- Baby food
- Multi-cook
- Auto clean
- My mode
- Reheat
- Keep warm
- Preset timer
My Mode is great whenever we want to enjoy sticky rice, soft rice, sweet rice or savory rice. It allows us complete control with an array of unique rice flavor and texture options.
The Turbo mode is used for having white rice cooked in under 35 minutes.
Features
The Fuzzy Logic Technology is designed to prepare flawlessly cooked rice every time.
I think that the instructions in the user manual are pretty easy to follow. Inside the inner pot we get water levels for glutinous (white rice), mixed/brown, and porridge.
Cooking times are pretty good.
The brown rice takes 83-91 min to cook but that’s pretty typical for most rice cookers. Even Zojirushi takes about the same to cook brown rice so it’s totally normal.
We can cook brown rice for 2-4 persons, while we can cook white rice for 2-6 persons.
On the other hand, white rice is cooked in 35-53 min.
Porridge in 90 min. We can cook for 1-1.5 persons.
All in all, what I really like about the Cuckoo Micom Rice Cooker is that we get a lot of options, a decent size, and a very capable appliance for a very affordable price. That’s why this is my top recommendation as one of the best Korean rice cookers.
2. Cuckoo Twin Pressure Induction Heating Rice Cooker CRP-LHTR0609F
If you’re looking for the best Korean rice cookers and you feel like spending $500-$600 on one, then Cuckoo has it covered.
From one of their most affordable models, the above Cuckoo Micom Rice Cooker, we jump to one of their most expensive, the Cuckoo Twin Pressure Induction Heating Rice Cooker.
I will admit that it’s a very pretty appliance. I absolutely love the white look. And I think that this is the prettiest appliance that this manufacturer has made until now.
We’ll also come across quite a lot of interesting technologies. But I will freely admit that the price is just too expensive for me. My limit is around $200-$300. I’m not going higher than that but it’s awesome if you can. That’s why we’re going to review the Cuckoo Twin Pressure Induction Heating Rice Cooker and marvel at what it can do for us.
I wouldn’t pay that money even for Zojirushi. I’ll stick to the Zojirushi Neuro Fuzzy Rice Cooker & Warmer. It’s not cheap but it can definitely be considered affordable when you realize that it’s Zojirushi. And I believe that the Neuro Fuzzy is without a doubt one of the absolute best at the moment.
Size
Let’s start with something that I really like.
I love that we get to choose from 3 sizes:
- 3 cups
- 6 cups
- 10 cups
All sizes represent uncooked rice. That’s how pretty much all manufacturers classify the size of their appliances.
3 cups are enough for 1-2 people. 6 cups are great for medium sized families. And 10 cups are great for large families or if you have guests very often.
If you also want to enjoy some Korean BBQ with melted cheese, check out my reviews for the best raclette grills.
Components
The Cuckoo Twin Pressure Induction Heating Rice Cooker comes with:
- stainless steel inner pot with premium X-Wall non-stick black coating that is designed for optimal heat distribution, scratch-resistant, built to last, easy to clean – it says Made In Korea on it
- rice spatula
- measuring cup
- steam plate in case we want to use it as a steamer
- 3-language voice guide (Korean, Chinese, English)
Menu options
There are a lot of menu options, it’s a complex appliance:
- White rice
- Multigrain
- GABA/brown rice
- High pressure steam
- High pressure
- Savory
- Turbo for rice in a pinch
- Power save
- Porridge
- Non pressure rice
- Baby food
- Easy cook
- Non pressure steam
- Sticky white rice
- Sticky multigrain
- High heat
- Scorched rice
- Veggie rice
- Warm
- Reheat – it can even slightly replace a microwave oven
- Preset timer
- Auto clean
- My mode
We also get an open cooking function that allows us to add ingredients to the inner pot while the rice is cooking.
We can add veggies, meats and other toppings while keeping their integrity. It certainly opens us more to making a variety of dishes.
The Smart lock safety technology adjusts heat levels during non pressure cooking to allow us to open the lid when we want to add these additional ingredients.
While I can certainly see myself getting excited about these features that the Cuckoo Twin Pressure Induction Heating Rice Cooker brings to the universe, I also think that this is the kind of appliance that won’t interest people who want a very simple-to-use model.
This expensive Cuckoo is easy to use but it would be a shame to spend so much on it and not take full advantage of all these menu options.
Features
As you saw, the name for this appliance is the Cuckoo Twin Pressure Induction Heating Rice Cooker.
We can choose between pressure cooking or non-pressure cooking for specific desired results.
High pressure will make delicious sticky rice.
Of course, non-pressure will make very fluffy rice.
The Cuckoo Twin Pressure Induction Heating Rice Cooker can be great if you want to make both often.
Induction technology surrounds the inner pot. That cooks the grains faster, it can be more efficient and it can deliver delicious results. Classic models have a bottom-plate heating.
This Cuckoo also features smart technology that is an energy-saving smart algorithm. It detects the grain type and calibrates the temperature and keep-warm mode.
The user manual features cooking times and pretty good instructions. We can easily see that this rice cooker is quite fast.
3. Cuckoo Basic Electric Rice Cooker and Warmer: Cheap Korean Rice Cooker
We saw what we can get for about $100 in the form of the Cuckoo Micom Rice Cooker, which is also my favorite recommendation.
And then we took it to the extreme and reviewed the Cuckoo Twin Pressure Induction Heating Rice Cooker to see what we can get for about 5 times that. Personally, I wouldn’t spend that much.
Now, it’s time to see what the cheapest model from this Korean manufacturer offers household cooks.
By the way, Zojirushi also has a rice cooker that costs around $50-$60, the Zojirushi NHS, just like the Cuckoo Basic Electric Rice Cooker and Warmer. However, as we’ve already said, Zojirushi is Japanese so we can’t review it here.
Another option, pretty much in the same price range, would be to look for the best pots for cooking rice.
Size
All these rice cookers that cost around $50 look so similar. They’re truly basic and for some people that’s going to be a good thing. Not everyone wants complicated control panels with a dozen or more buttons.
Some people just want to wash their grains, add the needed water, press a button, and eat whenever they want to because the appliance will keep their rice warm.
The design is simple but nice.
The 6 cup uncooked capacity is more than nice.
I love that we don’t get something like a 3 cup capacity because that means that even people with larger families or who host friends often can consider buying the Cuckoo Basic Electric Rice Cooker and Warmer.
The 6-cup uncooked will be cooked into 12 cups. It’s a good quantity.
Components
- nonstick inner pot
- spatula
- measuring cup
Menu options
There’s only one button. It’s designed for cooking glutinous rice (white rice).
We press the switch down and that’s it. The Cuckoo Basic Electric Rice Cooker and Warmer starts cooking.
We get to lights for Cook and Warm. That’s the entire control panel.
It automatically switches to Keep Warm mode once the cooking is done.
Cuckoo also mentions that we can make soups, stews, chili, and more. Of course, most users just stick to making white rice.
In the instruction manual, we are told that rice will taste better if we leave it to sit for 30 minutes or so in the rice washer after washing it. But we don’t leave it to sit in water.
We should also let the rice sit in Warm mode for 15-20 minutes after cooking for a better taste.
After 15-20 minutes we can lift the lid off and stir the rice with our spatula and then serve it.
The markings on the inner pot are only for plain rice. It’s definitely a simple model but it might be exactly what you’re looking for as one the best Korean rice cookers.
4. Cuckoo Pressure Rice Cooker CRP-P0609S
I guess this is my least favorite model among all these wonderful recommendations. I like it quite a lot so it’s not that I don’t think that it’s a good rice cooker. It’s just that love all the others that I reviewed above a bit more. That’s it.
Also, the price around $200-$250, depending if you find it one sale or not, is not exactly cheap.
If you want to splurge, it might be worth it. But I think that the pretty high price would be worth it if you’re ready to use most of the cooking functions that the Cuckoo Pressure Rice Cooker CRP-P0609S features.
Size
We only get one size: 6 cup uncooked capacity, which translates into 12 cups of cooked white rice.
If we get 6 cups of uncooked white rice, that would mean that we can cook up to 4 cups of brown rice.
Components
- nonstick inner pot – this is a stainless steel X-Wall inner pot with premium nonstick diamond coating for optimal heat distribution, scratch-resistant, built to last and easy to clean
- rice scoop
- rice measuring cup
- steam plate
Of course, we use the steam plate with the Steam cooking function. We can steam whatever vegetables we want (potatoes, broccoli, asparagus, carrots, cauliflower, beets, etc.), fish, seafood, and meat.
Most importantly, we can steam dumplings and that’s what I really love.
Menu options
Of course, the menu options are the ones that will determine whether you want to consider the Cuckoo Pressure Rice Cooker CRP-P0609S as the perfect model for you or not.
- Glutin. rice (sticky & white rice)
- Gluten turbo
- Mixed rice
- Brown rice
- High heat
- GABA rice
- Porridge
- Nurungji (scorched rice)
- Multi cook
- Keep warm/Reheat
- Preset
- Time
- Pressure cook/Turbo
- Auto clean
The Multi Cook function allows us to cook various dishes by setting a time manually.
On Glutin. Turbo we can cook 2 servings of white rice in 18 min or so. 4 servings is the maximum we can cook on Turbo.
Of course, in the instruction manual we are warned that the Turbo doesn’t produce cooked rice as good as normal cooking mode so I’m not a fan of this Turbo thing with any of the Cuckoo appliances.
Zojirushi features a wonderful recipe for mixed rice in case you are interested in using the Mixed Rice cooking function often.
Features
The Fuzzy Logic Technology allows this model to automatically detect and adjust its temperature and pressure accordingly for perfectly cooked grains.
White rice is cooked in 30-39 min for 2-6 persons.
Mixed rice is cooked in 42-48 min so this one is fast, too.
Brown rice is also incredibly fast. It cooks for 2-4 persons in 49-54 min. That’s incredibly quick.
Porridge for 1-1.5 persons takes 95-197 min.
What I forgot to mention is that all these models that I recommended as the best Korean rice cookers have a removable lid for easy cleaning but I guess I thought that everyone would already expect this feature.
5. Cuchen CRS-FWK1040WUS Dual Pressure Rice Cooker 10 Cup and Warmer
Since the Cuckoo rice cooker that I reviewed above costs around $200-$250, I also wanted to review an alternative that is in the same price range.
The Cuchen CRS-FWK1040WUS Dual Pressure Rice Cooker 10 Cup and Warmer is not a cheap appliance. Moreover, it’s definitely not all that popular since it’s a new appliance on the market.
Cuchen is a premium kitchen appliances company headquartered in Seoul, Republic of Korea. So it fits our search for the best Korean rice cookers.
It’s not to have a good alternative to all those Cuckoo rice cookers. But Cuchen is a nice alternative if you posses a very generous budget.
Size
There are two sizes to choose from:
- 6 cup
- 10 cup
There’s not a huge price difference between the two sizes so it’s nice that we can choose the bigger size without spending much more on it.
The 6 cup and 10 cup both refer to uncooked rice. Thus, these Cuchen rice cookers are definitely big capacity and they’re a good fit for medium and large families.
Components
- nonstick inner pot – dyking coated inner pot, which is a new innovative material that is highly resistant to high-pressure steam and moisture
- spatula
- measuring cup
Menu options
We get:
- White sticky
- Mix grain
- Brown rice
- Grain on salad
- Steam dish
- Less sticky
- Long grain
- Congee
- Slow cook
- Sous vide
The congee menu setting is a good clue that this is a Korean rice cooker that takes its job seriously.
Features
It’s another dual pressure Korean rice cooker for cooking sticky glutinous rice.
It will cook without pressure to yield fluffy rice.
There are a lot of settings to get accustomed to. The user manual is comprehensive but it might take a while to adjust to everything the Cuchen CRS-FWK1040WUS Dual Pressure Rice Cooker 10 Cup and Warmer offers.
I like that the user manual includes a few food recipes, too.
These are: white sticky, less sticky, white sticky turbo, long grain, five-grain rice, mix grain, mix grain turbo, brown rice, sprouts rice, grain on salad, bean sprouts rice, rice with nuts, mushroom & bamboo shoot rice, green tea rice with chicken breast, brown rice with seasoned vegetables, black rice, steamed tofu, five spice sliced steamed pork, samgyetang, stir-fried shrimp with ketchup, boiled pork, braised chicken, steak, steamed chestnut, and the list goes on and on with many other recipes including a few for porridge, soup, congee, etc.
Best Korean Rice Cookers FAQs
We’ve reviewed some of the best Korean rice cookers and I’m totally pleased with my findings. Now, let’s answer some interesting questions related to this topic.
1. What is the best rice cooker brand in Korea?
As we’ve already saw from this article, Cuckoo is the best rice cooker brand in Korean. Their name is one of the best, that’s for sure. It was Founded in 1978 under the name Sungkwang Electronics, which rebranded in 1998 as CUCKOO Electronics. They launched an impressive line of innovative rice cookers that quickly became the #1 rice cooker brand in South Korea. And that’s why I only reviewed appliances from them as my recommendations for the best Korean rice cookers. As you’ve saw, whether your budget is around $50, the Cuckoo Basic Electric Rice Cooker and Warmer, around $100-$150, the Cuckoo Micom Rice Cooker CR-0655F which is also my favorite, or above $500, the Cuckoo Twin Pressure Induction Heating Rice Cooker, this Korean brand matches all budgets.
2. Is CUCKOO a Korean brand?
Indeed, it is a home appliance brand from Korea, established about 40 years ago. In South Korea, a CUCKOO water purifier is sold every minute and a CUCKOO multi-cooker is sold every 10 seconds.
3. Is CUCKOO made in China?
No, their rice cookers are made in South Korea. It is known as the #1 rice cooker brand in South Korea. Otherwise, their appliances wouldn’t be featured as some of the best Korean rice cookers in my reviews.
4. What is the #1 rice cooker in the world?
Personally, I would say that the Zojirushi Neuro Fuzzy Rice Cooker & Warmer deserves that title. I love it, although I am aware that it’s not exactly the cheapest appliance we could buy. As a more affordable alternative, I would recommend the Cuckoo Micom Rice Cooker CR-0655F, which offers the best value for money.
5. What else can be cooked in a Korean rice cooker?
Rice cookers can be incredibly versatile. Besides cooking a wide variety of rice for us, we can also cook porridge, nurungji, quinoa, etc. Besides grains, a lot of rice cookers also come with steam baskets. So, we can use our rice cooker like we would a steamer. We can steam vegetables, fish, beef, poultry. Furthermore, the mixed rice setting on a rice cooker allows us to cook one-pot meals that are made by adding seasonal ingredients and rice into the inner pot of the rice cooker. There are plenty of recipes online for the mixed rice setting. Even more, if you want to get creative, you can cake, soup, stews, yogurt, frittate, chili, boiled eggs, lasagna, and a bunch of other dishes in a rice cooker. It all sounds fascinating, although most of us stick to cooking just white rice and maybe brown rice in a rice cooker.
6. What are the best rice cookers recommended by Asians?
I can only answer this question from my personal experience. As many of you are aware, Zojirushi is pretty much the most popular manufacturer of rice cookers around the world. Their appliances can be a bit pricey but so worthy. However, Zojirushi is a Japanese brand that makes their rice cookers in Japan. Since the object of my article was to recommend the best Korean rice cookers, I turned to Cuckoo, which is known as the #1 rice cooker brand in South Koreao and I’m very happy with their top quality.
