On 4/22/2010 4:35 AM, James Silverton wrote:
> dsi1 wrote on Thu, 22 Apr 2010 04:27:35 -1000:
>
>> On 4/21/2010 12:26 PM, jeff_wisnia wrote:
>>> SWMBO bought a non-electric "rice pot" at H-Mart last week,
>>> but the only instructions for it were on the outside of the
>>> carton in an asian language we don't read.
>
>> We used to have a non-electric rice pot back when I was a kid.
>> It was cast aluminum with a raised lip that, as far as I can
>> guess, let the condensed steam drip back into the pot. The
>> invention of the electric rice cooker in the early 60s pretty much
>> made that pot obsolete. My guess is that the majority of Japan
>> households will use this most important of inventions.
>
> That's certainly the case. You can even buy rice cookers with timers so
> that the rice is ready for a Japanese breakfast.
>

They do take their rice cookers seriously, don't they? There's a cooker
that utilizes "fuzzy logic" in some way. I've never been able to figure
out of me what that's about.

A question I have is that the cookers I've seen utilize a magnetic
switch that latches on to the bottom of the pot. Do rice cookers use
curie point switching? The pan appears to be made of aluminum but that
can't be cause that's a non-magnetic material - right? Anyway, the
method they use to regulate cooking time is exceedingly reliable - I've
never seen one fail or malfunction. This is one appliance whose basic
workings is a bit of a mystery.