How To Cook Rice In An Aroma Rice Cooker

Aroma makes some of the best entry-level rice cookers around. They’re affordable, reliable, and have a variety of models that should be able to meet the needs of most home cooks.

There are a lot of people out there that choose Aroma as their very first rice cooker, and mastering your machine can take a little practice. While 7 steps may seem like a lot, they’re all incredibly simple and will become second nature in no time.

I’ve been a professional cook for over a decade and have used countless different rice cookers in my home and in professional kitchens. And by following these easy steps, you’ll get the best rice possible from your Aroma rice cooker.

7 Steps: Aroma Rice Cooker Instructions

1. Measure

First, decide how much rice you’d like to cook, measure that amount of dry rice, and pour it into the inner rice pot. Ideally, you should use the measuring cup that came with your Aroma rice cooker. This will allow you to use the corresponding water fill lines that are built into the inner pot.

If you don’t have the cup that came with your rice cooker, go ahead and use any old measuring cup. Just remember how much rice you added, so you can add the appropriate amount of water later on.

2. Rinse

Using cold water, cover your rice by 2-3 inches and agitate with your fingers. As you do this, the water will quickly become cloudy. Pour out the water and repeat several times until the water stays relatively clear. Then, pour out that water as well.

The primary reason to rinse your rice is that it removes excess starch from the outside of the grains. This step will help your rice to be less sticky and less prone to clumping together once it’s cooked.

3. Add Water

If you used the measuring cup that came with your Aroma rice cooker, go ahead and add water up to the corresponding water measurement line in the inner pot. Otherwise, use a standard measuring cup and whatever water to rice ratio that you’d like.

The amount of water that you add will depend on what type of rice you’re cooking. Most white rice varieties use anywhere from a 1:1 to a 1:1.5 rice to water ratio. While brown rice is generally around a ratio of 1:2, rice to water.

UNCOOKED RICE	WATER WITH MEASURING CUP	WATERLINE INSIDE POT	APPROX COOKED RICE YIELD
1 Cup	1-1/2 Cups	line 1	2 Cups
2 Cups	2-1/2 Cups	line 2	4 Cups
3 Cups	3-1/2 Cups	line 3	6 Cups
4 Cups	4-1/2 Cups	line 4	8 Cups
5 Cups	5-1/2 Cups	line 5	10 Cups
6 Cups	6-1/2 Cups	line 6	12 Cups
7 Cups	7-1/2 Cups	line 7	14 Cups
8 Cups	8-1/2 Cups	line 8	16 Cups
9 Cups	9-1/2 Cups	line 9	18 Cups
10 Cups	10-1/2 Cups	line 10	20 Cups

4. Soak

Soaking your rice before you cook it is somewhat of an optional step. But, doing so will help your rice to cook more evenly, and can also speed up the cooking time.

After you’ve measured and added your water, simply let everything sit in the inner pot for around 30 minutes before you begin the cooking process.

5. Cook

Everything up to this point will be about the same no matter what model Aroma rice cooker you have.

If you have the most basic Aroma rice cooker, then you only have one button. So go ahead and press the lever down and you’re set. If you have one of the models with more features and settings you’ll have to select the appropriate cooking mode for the rice you’re making.

There will usually be a standard “rice” or “white rice” setting, which will be used for most white rice varieties. Some models also have a dedicated “brown” or “multigrain” setting that can be used if that’s the type of rice you’re dealing with.

6. Rest

Once your aroma rice cooker finishes its cooking cycle it will enter a keep warm setting. This keeps the machine on at a low temperature so that your rice doesn’t get cold.

Now, before you open the lid and dig in, give your rice at least 5 minutes but up to 30 minutes of rest time. This allows the grains to absorb additional steam to finish the cooking process. While also letting the moisture within the grains to be more evenly distributed throughout the pot.

7. Fluff

After your rice is done cooking and had a few minutes to rest, it’s time to fluff. The rice paddle that came with your Aroma rice cooker is a perfect tool for the job, but you can also use any wooden or rubber spoon or spatula. Avoid using anything made of metal, which can scratch the inner pot.

I like to use a folding motion where you lift rice from the bottom of the pot and fold it over the top. While breaking up any large clumps that may have formed. Don’t use an aggressive stirring motion that will break and smash the rice grains.

Aroma Rice Cooker Models

There are several different Aroma rice cookers available. The most basic models feature a single lever that turns the machine on and switches to a warming mode. These are great if you tend to only cook white rice. But, they don’t always produce the best results with brown rice.

Some of the more sophisticated models have a wide range of cooking settings that can be used for a variety of grains and different cooking techniques.

The biggest difference when it comes to rice is the dedicated brown rice setting on the more advanced models. This setting cooks the rice at a higher temperature for longer, which helps to break down the tough outer layer of the brown rice grains.

Final Thoughts

Using an Aroma rice cooker is fairly straightforward and remains about the same no matter what model you’re using. And while the included measuring cup may seem unnecessary, it’s actually not a standard cup measure. So even if you have a much nicer set, they won’t work as well with the built-in water measurement marks in your rice cooker.

And if you’re a curious cook like me and want to gain a little more knowledge in the kitchen, check out our breakdown of how rice cookers actually work.

Frequently Asked Questions