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143 of 151 people found the following review helpful By TireKicker on January 12, 2011 I researched dozens of rice cookers trying to replace my trusty 12-year old National. Only this time, I wanted to avoid non-stick materials. That decision considerably narrowed the field, excluding most of the big name brands like Zojirushi, Panasonic, and Tiger. The all-stainless steel construction of the Miracle ME-81 and Nutriware cookers seemed appealing at first, but their steamer trays looked a bit shallow. The pricey Buffalo Brand rice cooker from Malaysia provided a very modern design, lots of functionality, and electronic features. However, the Buffalo cooker's hard-wired LED battery has to be replaced by the manufacturer every three years or so. In fact, all fuzzy logic cookers have similar battery replacement issues. The prospect of paying extra for service and shipping each time the battery died detracted from the appeal of having a quality long-term cooker. And the truth is that I never used the timer on my National anyway. So, another approach was needed. That's when I stumbled upon the Tatung TAC-11KN in an Asian appliance store. The all-stainless design looked sleek, but the overall appearance seemed a bit 'old school.' No fancy electronics. No specialized cooking settings. Just an on switch and a warmer on/off button. Ah, but looks can be deceiving. As I learned more about the Tatung TAC-11KN, I realized that this thing is an amazing multi-cooker. It handles grains of all kinds; its steaming capacity is far larger than the competition; it can boil and simmer soups and stews; and can even serve as a Chinese hot-pot cooker. After cooking is completed, food can be kept warm if you prefer. I've found warming to also be helpful as a pre-cook feature, providing an excellent way to enhance the soaking of brown rice. New users should expect a bit of trial and error adapting to the cooking style of this model. It's a good idea to first run the cooker a few times with steam water in place but no food, just to eliminate a slight burn-in aroma that occurs only during the break-in period. Thereafter, forget what you already know about rice cooking and just follow the directions. To make X cups of uncooked rice, use the small 6-ounce cup that comes with the appliance, not an 8-ounce measuring cup. After your rice has been rinsed and placed in the inner pot, add water up to the desired cup level as shown on the wall of the inner pot. When adding water to the outer cooking chamber, follow the markings on the little measuring cup, i.e. fill to X level on the cup for X cups of uncooked rice used. This is a small amount, but appropriate. Don't add X full cups of water to the outer cooker unless the recipe actually calls for \"cups\" of water. Due to the fractured grammar found in the instructional booklet, I was a bit confused about this at first, but eventually everything made sense. The genius behind this model is its indirect heat. There are two main parts: an outer cooker and an inner pot where you place the food. A modest amount of water goes into the outer cooker, then whatever water your recipe requires for the inner pot. During cooking, steam surrounds the inner pot on all sides, so food doesn't stick to the bottom or dry out. The domed lid keeps the steam as well as the flavors inside, while keeping condensation off the food. Vapor is released via two tiny holes in the lid. On occasion, some vapor may be released along the lid's edge, but food does not boil over. All you hear is a soft whistling sound as the steam escapes through the vent holes. The lid may bob up and down a bit at times, which is disconcerting the first time you see it. However, as you get more acquainted with the cooker, you'll come to enjoy its charming little idiosyncrasies. I have to admit it's kind of fun to watch. Foods come out moist and fresh, never dry and tough. Even leftovers taste as good as when they were first made. The unit's domed lid seals in the steam, making cooking surprisingly quick. There is also a flat lid for the inner pot to be used after items have been cooked. So you can make rice, then keep it warm on the side if you're steaming additional dishes. When steaming, the inner pot is replaced by a stainless steaming plate that sits inside the cooker. Items can be placed directly on the plate or in a bowl/plate on top of it. If following a recipe, cooking time is best measured from the point when the water begins to boil. This unit is very energy efficient. The energized cooking period ends when the water in the outer cooker evaporates. However, cooking can continue for an additional 10-15 minutes. The secret is in the accumulated steam, which envelopes the food and finishes the job on its own. This is an integral part of the unit's rice-cooking process. Both brown and white rice are done to perfection and in less time than the fuzzy logic machines. Cleanup is very easy. Just wash the inner pot out with soap and water. I found a series of four English language You Tube videos showing tons of recipes you can make using a Tatung indirect cooker. Not just rice dishes, but everything from dim sum to lobster to steamed cake. There's also a recipe manual on the Tatung USA web site, but you have to look for it under the TAC-20C link. The machine's capabilities can be expanded by purchasing Tatung's TAC-S02 stainless steel steamer set. (In stock on several websites.) That set consists of two large steaming chambers plus a flat steamer tray. All pieces nest into one for easy storage. When in use, they fit together in layers atop the cooker after the inner pot is removed. The steaming attachments are separate, so you can choose to use one, two, three or four layers at once. You can steam one course using the basic steamer plate inside the cooker, a second course in the first steamer compartment, a third course in the second, and a fourth course atop the flat steamer tray covered by the unit's domed lid. That's four dishes for the time and energy cost of just one. The steamer set is unique in that the steam holes are located on the outside edge of each stack, not all over. This keeps the flavors of each dish separate. The versatility and reliability of these machines is amazing. In Taiwan, Tatung has been selling indirect cookers like this one for over 50 years. Something like 90% of all households there have one, and 80% of the cookers are still in use after 30 years. You can't get much better than that."}'>Read more ? Thank you for your feedback. Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again 57 of 61 people found the following review helpful By Paul C Cheng on May 2, 2013 I grew up with Tatung rice cookers. They used to last forever - only get replaced when owners get tired of looking at them or they become too dirty. I replaced mine with this stainless steel rice cooker about 1.5 years ago thinking it will really last forever since it's stainless steel (the old ones were made out of aluminum). Unfortunately, it stopped working a few days ago. I just couldn't believe it, I opened it up (I am a hand-on electrical engineer) and found the heating element to be the culprit. Tatung no longer uses solid metal heating element, instead, Tatung uses a much inferior heating element made out of a sandwich of 3 to 4 layers of thin circular heat-resistant cardboard. With metal wires (the heating element) looped around these circular cardboard. After probing a bit, I found where the metal wire broke. Called Tatung customer support and was told that they can't sell heating element because of liability issue. It'll cost $40 for them the repair it but I will need to ship it to them. I decided to bring out my old Tatung rice cooker (bought about 10 years ago) and trash the new one. Anyway, I wouldn't recommend Tatung rice cooker anymore. It's no longer as reliable as before. Thank you for your feedback. Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again 39 of 43 people found the following review helpful By J. Yu-Sian Wang on July 30, 2011 Being from Taiwan and growing up there, EVERYONE had a Tatung rice cooker. Because it's not only for making rice! I wanted the 10 cup size so I can use it for cooking. Plus the 10 cup size fits my plates that I like to use for steaming. Like my Mom and other Moms, I use it to make Chinese soups (Chinese chicken soup is the best), Chinese dessert soups, steamed fish, steamed cakes, Chinese yoh-fan, steam gyoza, steam buns, homemade daikon cakes, etc. etc. I've even heard of people using the insert pot to make stirfried dishes. (I've never tried that though.) Really really multi-purpose. If you look inside the outer chamber (the cooker with the cord), there is no hole in the middle (where the open electrical element is in a Zojirushi, Sanyo, Panasonic, National micom cooker, neuro fuzzy cooker, etc.) Those cookers, if you accidentally dropped on the floor, you may damage the electronics inside, and it may stop working. I know because my American roommate dropped one once and it immediately stopped working (and I lost my $110+ investment). Also if you DO NOT wipe dry the insert pot's outside (where you put your rice and water), and just one drop of water drips into that open center hole, your rice cooker is now fried! Dead as a door nail. Water and electricity don't mix. That happened to my American hubby (he fried my favorite rice cooker!) Those rice cookers require attention and delicate handling. Not so the Tatung rice cooker! The center is sealed (the entire bottom of the outer chamber is stainless steel, no open electronics hole), so you don't have to worry about a wet insert pot, and making the rice cooker use indirect heat. It's like a double boiler. No matter what you are cooking, remember to always put water in the OUTSIDE chamber, that's the water used for steaming and cooking. I really like this unit, now that Tatung has finally made the entire cooker with stainless steel, and it's now available here in the US. No more worries about aluminum, titanium coatings, non-stick stuff. For 1-2 people, I recommend cooking minimum 2 cups of rice. I find 2 cups make more tasty rice than 1 cup. Besides, leftover rice is so easy to turn into rice porridge or fried rice. When I first got the rice cooker, I ran it with water in both the outside chamber and inside pot. I didn't get any metallic smell after that. The area I'm in does have hard water, so as soon as I'm done eating, I take out the insert pot, I unplug the rice cooker, pour in extra water into the outside chamber, let sit for 20 minutes, then dump the water out, and wipe dry. No more yicky hard water stains on the bottom of my cooker! Can you tell I love my Tatung rice cooker :-) 10/25/2012 update: still working great, no probs whatsoever. There are stories from people who have had their Tatung rice cookers since 1950s and still using them today without a problem. Moms and Grandmoms all swear by this brand! Truly durable. I'm really glad I got the 10 cup size; my Corelle salad plate is the perfect size to fit in this pot for steaming (the corelle salad plate won't fit inside the 6 cup rice cooker). Also the bigger size inner pot allows me to cook stews, soup, porridge better. There are plenty of people who use this rice cooker to make stirfried noodles, stirfied dishes, make custard puddings, tiramisu, cakes, steamed breads, amazing! You do have to know Chinese (and be able to type Chinese) to search for recipes on google and youtube tho. There are plenty of Chinese cookbooks telling you how to cook 3 course meals at once in the rice cooker for dinner."}'>Read more ? Thank you for your feedback. Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again Verified Purchase Comment Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback... I bought this because it was all stainless steel inside and out. The inner cooking pot is not coated with teflon or any non-stick material and that's what I wanted. Because the rice is steamed from the outside as well as being cooked from the inside pot, the rice turns out very moist, but cooks very fast. The no-nonstick inner pot wasn't an issue, the rice on the bottom doesn't stick. Overall - our family loves this rice cooker and I feel good about chemicals not leaching out of the teflon and into my food over time. Thank you for your feedback. Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again |
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