• Why are you selling Zojirushi rice cookers and water heaters?
• Will these rice cookers and water heaters work on UK power supply?
• I don't understand the capacity of these rice cookers
• What else can I cook in these rice cookers?
• Why don't you stock Zojirushi Induction Heating models?
• How can I tell the difference between fuzzy logic and Induction Heating rice cookers?
• Are your Zojirushi products shipped from the UK?
• What are your shipping costs?
• Where are these rice cookers made?
• Are these rice cookers and water heaters new?
• Can't I just buy a Zojirushi rice cooker or water heater from USA and import it?
• Why choose a Zojirushi rice cooker or water heater?
• Does it cost a lot to keep a Zojirushi water heater on all the time?
• Do you have a returns policy?
• How do Fuzzy Logic Micom rice cookers work?
• Are there any reviews of these rice cookers or water heaters?

Q. Why are you selling Zojirushi rice cookers and water heaters?

A. We are a UK couple who love eating rice (having visited and lived in Asia) and eat it on a daily basis. We were unsatisfied with the rice cookers available to UK residents where the rice cookers often failed to last more than a month of use and spit water everywhere. We researched on the internet as to what rice cookers have the best record of durability and cooking results and found this to be Zojirushi. We bought this product for ourselves...this was 6 years ago and the rice cooker is still going strong and is used everyday. We were so impressed that we decided to source these Zojirushi rice cookers for sale in the UK, Europe and Australia so that other people like ourselves can see just how fantastic these cookers are. After using our Zojirushi rice cooker for so long we got a water heater, which has been just as fantastic as the rice cooker!

Q. Will these rice cookers and water heaters work on UK power supply?

A. Yes. The rice cookers and water heaters were sourced to be compatible with UK 220-240v, 50hz power supply. The unit comes fitted with a British 3-pin rectangular blade plug. All our Zojirushi products are compatible with European and Australian power (or any country with 220-240v power) and just need an adapter plug.

Please note that models imported from the US and Japan run on a different power supply (110v) and WILL NOT work on UK, European and Australian power.

Q. I don't understand the capacity of these rice cookers

A. The capacity of rice cookers can be confusing, especially because the international standard is to display the capacity in terms of litres of uncooked rice. To make it easy we have put together this table:

Capacity in cups*	Capacity in litres/kg	Number of people	Translation to cooked rice**
3 cup	0.5 litres or 500g	1-3 people	1.5 litres or 1.5kg
5½ cup	1 litre or 1kg	1-5 people	3 litres or 3kg
10 cup	1.8 litre or 1.8kg	1-10 people	5.4 litres or 5.4kg

* 1 cup = 180ml of uncooked rice
**1kg of uncooked rice = 3kg of cooked rice

Q. What else can I cook in these rice cookers?

A. Essentially these are rice cookers and perform best when used for cooking rice. However, we do have recipes that can be cooked in the rice cookers we sell and the book 'The Ultimate Rice Cooker Cookbook' is highly recommended by people who own these rice cookers.

Q. Why don't you stock Zojirushi Induction Heating (IH) models?

A. There are quite a few IH models for sale which are available for 110v power - including the NP-HBC10/18 - but only one 220-240v equivalent is available. After looking at the features of the Induction Heating models, we believe that it does not offer anything substantially different to the models we currently stock to justify the high price of these cookers, so we have decided at this moment in time not to stock this model.

To give you a little bit of background to our decision, our suppliers have demonstrated both the IH model and the models that we stock, we tasted rice from each model and we honestly couldn't tell the difference between the models. The only difference in the rice cookers we could see was that the IH model has a 'regular, softer, harder' setting for the texture of white rice and the GABA brown rice setting. This GABA brown rice setting just activates the brown rice by soaking it at 104 degrees F for 2 hours before the actual cooking begins, which means that brown rice on this setting would take 3 hours 40 minutes to cook rather than the 1 hour 40 minutes in the NS-TGQ10/ZAQ10 model. Other than this, the induction heating method is slightly different electronics (ie the heating element is slightly different) and we really cannot see what costs 3-4 times as much as the other rice cookers we stock!

We have, in the past, supplied IH models for customers as a special order and the feedback we received from these customers is that the IH models don't cook rice better than the fuzzy logic models we supply and they don't cook oatmeal porridge, a feature a lot of our customers are interested in. Induction heating models are still very, very expensive as they aren't actually that common in Asia as it is a much newer product.

Induction Heating models are not as energy efficient as fuzzy logic models - for example, a 5½ cup fuzzy logic is a 570 - 610W machine whereas the same size Induction model is typically 1200W or more.

Back to top

Q. How can I tell the difference between fuzzy logic and Induction Heating (IH) rice cookers?

A. Some Chinese-made rice cookers claim to be IH models but they are actually fuzzy logic rice cookers. All fuzzy logic rice cookers have a round metal heating element inside the rice cooker which the inner bowl sits on top of (like a disc with a pressure sensor in the middle). Induction heating models do not have this heating element as they cook by using a magnetic field.

The inside of an Induction Heating model is completely smooth with just a pressure sensor in the middle of the bowl and a pressure line around half way up the side of the inside of the machine to help the magnetic field use the bowl as the heating element.

Although the fuzzy logic rice cooker inner bowls are very heavy duty (aluminium coated stainless steel with an outer coating of non-stick), Induction Heating model bowls are much heavier as they are made from different materials (usually aluminium coated stainless steel which is then coated with either copper or a ceramic material as well as a non-stick outer coating) as they need to conduct the heat in a completely different way. It is easy to tell the difference between the two types of rice cooker once you know what you are looking for! See our page how rice cookers work for more details.

Induction Heating models use a lot more power than fuzzy logic models - for example, a 5½ cup fuzzy logic is a 570 - 610W machine whereas the same size Induction model is typically 1200W or more.

Q. Are your Zojirushi products shipped from the UK?

A. Yes. We send each rice cooker or water heater from within the UK which means that there are no import or customs fees if you are based in the UK, which when importing into the UK can sometimes be up to 50% of the value of the item.

Q. What are your shipping costs?

A. We believe in reasonable shipping costs, so for each item you order we have a standard £9.99 shipping cost to anywhere in the UK. Your order will be delivered within 1-3 days of shipping, most of our customers receive their order the day after we have dispatched it. For European and Australian customers, we have sourced the very cheapest shipping to ensure this is the very best value for our customers; but if you know of a cheaper way of shipping to your country, please let us know! See our shipping costs for Europe and Australia.

We also offer postage discounts when you buy more than one product from us - please contact us for more information.

Back to top

Q. Where are these rice cookers made?

A. The Zojirushi rice cookers we sell are made in dedicated Zojirushi factories in China (NS-LAQ05, NS-TGQ10 and NS-TGQ18) or Japan (NS-ZAQ10). Only Zojirushi products are made in these factories; Zojirushi manufacturing standards are extremely high and the factories have a reputation of excellence with build quality and detailed quality control. Many other brand rice cookers are made in generic Chinese factories which make a diverse number of products for several companies (products range from air conditioners to toasters and blenders).

Q. Are these rice cookers and water heaters new?

A. Yes. These rice cookers and water heaters are brand new in factory wrapping/box. The unit has not been used and has manufacturers manual and utensils included.

Back to top

Q. Can't I just buy a Zojirushi rice cooker or water heater from USA and import it?

A. No. USA Zojirushi units are not compatible with UK, European and Australian power supply (they are 110v) and you would need to purchase a bulky and expensive transformer to convert the voltage so you could use it. Transformers for stepping up voltage also take up a lot of electricty when converting voltage

Q. Why choose a Zojirushi rice cooker or water heater?

A. Zojirushi is the gold standard of many Asian style kitchen appliances but in particular is a market leader for rice cookers and water heaters. The durability of these rice cookers and ability to out-perform all other rice cookers is unbeaten! If you like rice and want the best possible kitchen appliance that will cook it perfectly then this is THE product for you. This rice cooker will go on and on cooking rice for you.

The water heaters are the very best model on the market with the benefit of 50-60% energy saving capacity over standard other brand water heaters

Back to top

Q. Does it cost a lot to keep a Zojirushi water heater on all the time?

A. No. A lot of the energy in a traditional kettle is wasted because of poor insulation, as water is converted to steam before it switches off. There is also excess water which is heated and left in the kettle but not used - most people overfill their kettles. The inner pot of these water heaters are insulated therefore the energy goes into the water, no steam is produced and very little energy is needed to keep it warm. It is estimated that maintaining the water temperature costs less than 7 pence per day (depending on electricity tariffs). Remember that each time you boil a kettle it costs you each time it is boiled - you are probably heating more water than you need too every time you boil your ordinary kettle and then letting it cool. These Zojirushi water heaters retain most of the energy used, therefore saving you money to use on other things!

Q. Do you have a returns policy?

A. Yes, we do. Please see this page for details of our returns policy. In 3 years of trading we have never had a product returned to us, nor have we had a dissatisfied customer.

Q. How do Fuzzy Logic Micom rice cookers work?

A. See our page, how rice cookers work

Q. Are there any reviews of these rice cookers or water heaters?

A. Don't just take our word for it...we have many happy customers. Take a look at their reviews!

Back to top