Rice Cooker Recommendations (meal, stove, glass, steam)

[spiderbear]

We've gotten to the point where I make rice/quinoa/oatmeal regularly enough that having a dedicated rice maker makes sense.

I want an automatic rice cooker with a timer and warming function. I'm in love with the Zojirushi brand, but I'm not in love with the $200 price tag. This is the recommendation that all of my asian friends give me, but I'm hoping there is something out there that does just as good of a job, for a more reasonable price.

My biggest pet peev is mushy rice. One of my friends has a Hello Kitty ricemaker, and it ALWAYS turns rice to mush. I love my glutinous rice, congee/chok, basmati, and just plain jasmine rice. I'm a rice FIEND. So good quality rice is a must. I'm just tired of watching the pot on the stove like a hawk while the rest of the meal is cooking.

Any suggestions? Anyone have a brand or model that they really love?

[BagongBuhay]

Just curious why you would need a timer and a warmer? I've always cooked on a Hitachi or National brand without a timer/warmer and it consistently cooks in about 15-20 minutes. What you need to understand with uncooked rice is that as the rice "ages" in the bag or other container you transfer it to, you need more water to cook it properly and you need to adjust that amount accordingly. Water also needs to get absorbed into the rice even when the switch goes off. Serving just cooked rice, i.e. right after the switch pops off, is not advisable as the rice is ALWAYS mushy. You can always press the switch on again to warm it up some. I suggest one without a glass cover and without a steam release. One is likely to drop that cover and it is unnecessary to watch rice cook. It's either done or not done. Do not stir the rice in the rice cooker while it's cooking. It "tricks" the rice cooker in a bad way where it can't tell effectively how much moisture is left for it to continue to cook. HTH.