I have a Zojirushi that I use from time to time to make rice, and have been experimenting with more complete one-pot meals. I can steam several types of vegetables in the last 13 minutes of operation [snow peas, asparagus, broccoli, brussels sprouts, etc] in addition to the easiest "sous vide"-style eggs you'll ever have [trick: cook it whole]. I think fish is possible too, but only have 13 minutes' warning is a little rough.
The kicker is that it's a breeze to clean up, I don't even have to use soap and water. It makes a great meal as long as you can go without meat for a day. It also cooks quinoa and can be programmed to have steel cut oats ready for you when you wake up. It would be fascinating to hack it to see if I could recover its cooking rules, or get an early signal about projected time remaining, and I am surprise no one has put this info on the web yet.
>I have a Zojirushi that I use from time to time to make rice, and have been experimenting with more complete one-pot meals.
That's funny, I just got one in order to replace a random $15 rice cooker. Have you written more extensively about your experience elsewhere? And when you say, "steam several types of vegetables in the last 13 minutes," does that mean you cook rice, then add the vegetables with 13 minutes to go? Or does it mean something else?
Yes, that's correct. I have the ZCC55 Neurofuzzy. Cooking with "1" cup of rice (roughly for one person), I put in vegetables and eggs at roughly the 13 minute warning, when it knows how long it will take to finish. I have logged in a spreadsheet about 15 meals, where I weigh the eggs and veggies, note how cooked they are etc, but it's not quite presentable.
Basic recipe: 2 uncracked large eggs (130g), cut asparagus (130g). Both washed and placed in with minimal steam loss at 13m. Remove immediately at finish (move eggs directly to cold water, or they will scald you as you try to open them).
Eggs are cheap! You can afford to experiment with them like this. Open the first ones onto an empty plate; cook a little more in the skillet if you undercook. 2 Jumbos are just about at the limit of the 13m warning. I aim for liquid yellow and 85% "solid" white. Hard-boiled eggs aren't as fun. Scrape your meal out of the cooker, turn it off, and LEAVE THE LID OPEN. It dries out the remnants so they just slide off the teflon.
The kicker is that it's a breeze to clean up, I don't even have to use soap and water. It makes a great meal as long as you can go without meat for a day. It also cooks quinoa and can be programmed to have steel cut oats ready for you when you wake up. It would be fascinating to hack it to see if I could recover its cooking rules, or get an early signal about projected time remaining, and I am surprise no one has put this info on the web yet.