Capacity (cups): 6 cups (uncooked) / 12 cups (cooked) | Features: Micom technology with 11 menu options including white rice, brown/GABA rice, porridge, and multi-cook; nonstick inner pot; automatic keep warm; preset timer; compact design | Warranty: 1 year parts and labor | Weight: 7 pounds
Let's start with the obvious: Cuckoo’s 6-cup rice cooker is possibly the prettiest rice cooker I've ever seen. I love that vibrant red. If you want a rice cooker to sit on your countertop all the time, this one wins on style alone.
But it also makes top-notch rice, delivering some of the best results for all three grain types thanks to its microcomputer that can adjust each cooking phase based on type of rice you're making. It did a particularly good job with long-grain basmati rice right out of the bowl. I liked the white rice most after it had sat on warm mode for half an hour, but it was still quite tasty as soon as the cook cycle completed.
I would have appreciated a touch longer cook on the brown rice, but this model can be programmed with a customized cycle, including exact soaking and heating times. It works great with the fire-and-forget presets for cooks who don't want to bother with My Mode, but I appreciate that you have the option if you want to experiment.
However, there are some design issues. The lid springs open with enough force to rock the whole appliance, even when there's cooked rice inside. That means an oven mitt with coverage for your forearm is required to carefully open this after cooking to protect against a blast of hot steam. It's a minor inconvenience (once you know to expect it), but steam burns are no joke and I only had this issue with Cuckoo's machines. Also, the water level markings are recessed into the cooking pot, so this model needed a closer eye in cleaning to make sure those notches didn't get any starchy film trapped in them.
The range of options and control at a very reasonable cost make this an excellent choice for anyone who is serious about their rice, or wants to start getting serious. If I'm going to offer a single all-around top choice from my tests, it'll be this one.