Aroma Housewares Stainless Steel Compact Rice Cooker, 8-Cup

Last updated: January 12, 2022


Thanks to the included steam tray, this rice cooker is able to make 8 cups of rice, while also steaming a tray of broccoli. The simple design with six cooking functions makes the rice cooker easy to use. Since it's dishwasher safe, it's also a breeze to clean.

Aroma Housewares Stainless Steel Compact Rice Cooker, 8-Cup

We looked at the top Rice Cookers and dug through the reviews from some of the most popular review sites. Through this analysis, we've determined the best Rice Cooker you should buy.

Product Details

Key Takeaway: In addition to making delicious rice, this rice cooker can also be used to create a variety of one-pot meals.

In our analysis of 82 expert reviews, the Aroma Housewares Stainless Steel Compact Rice Cooker, 8-Cup placed 5th when we looked at the top 16 products in the category. For the full ranking, see below.

From The Manufacturer

Let Aroma do the Cooking for You Enjoy easy home cooking with the Aroma 8-Cup Digital Rice Cooker & Food Steamer. Restaurant-quality rice. Healthy steamed meals. Delicious one-pot dishes. Prepare all this and more at the press of a button. Aroma takes the “cook” out of home cooking – turning kitchen time into your time. Help the kids with homework, get creative at play time, or pick up that novel you’ve been waiting to dive into. All while delivering hot, hearty and healthy meals the entire family will love. Digital Convenience This convenient cooker’s compact capacity perfectly cooks 2 to 8 cups of any variety of rice with specialized functions for both white and brown rice. Once the rice has finished, it will automatically switch to Keep-Warm so there’s no need for monitoring or stirring. The Steam Tray allows for healthy steaming of meats and vegetables, even as rice cooks below. It’s also suitable for oatmeal, chili, jambalaya, soups, and more. Delay Timer The Delay Timer is designed for people on the go. Place rice in the cooker in the morning, set the Delay Timer to have rice ready when it’s needed and come back to perfect rice ready to serve. Plus, no matter when rice is finished, the cooker will automatically switch to Keep-Warm for conveniently flexible meal planning. So, no matter what wrenches life throws in your schedule, you’ll still come home to a quality meal ready when you are. Easy Cleanup Cleaning up is never fun. When the cooking is done, the inner cooking pot and all accessories remove for easy cleanup. It is Non-stick coated

Our Expert Consultant

Julie Chernoff
Culinary Expert

Julie Chernoff is a long-time member of Les Dames d’Escoffier (past president of the Chicago Chapter, and current co-chair of the LDEI Legacy Awards Committee), the Association of Food Journalists (AFJ) and the International Association of Culinary Professionals.

Chernoff is the dining editor of Better, a lifestyle website and print magazine. Her journalism started in the test kitchens of Weight Watchers Magazine. She holds a BA in English from Yale University and is a graduate of the California Culinary Academy. She has spent the last few decades styling, photographing, teaching, developing recipes, editing, thinking and writing about food.

Expert Reviews


What reviewers liked

Ideal for smaller households. Great for white rice and steaming vegetables.
This is a relatively small cooker, which means it takes up less counter and cabinet space than larger models, though that also makes it best for a couple or small family.
Just as it is easy to use the whole cooker, it is also easy to clean it the same way. The model comes with removable parts and this is what makes it more stress-free for you to take every part one after one and clean them separately.
It does indeed make pretty much perfect rice, white, brown, wild, etc. as well as other grains.
It also produces healthy steamed meals and delicious one-pot dishes, all at the touch of a button.
-
It has digital controls with functions for cooking white or brown, for steaming, and for warming.
- Foodal
The cooker is praised for its fast cooking, simple operation, and nonstick nature. A few consumers’ nonetheless claim it’s a bit large for a single user or couple.
Most of them appreciated the appliance for its reduced cooking time, as this rice cooker is capable of cutting traditional rice cooking time by 50%!
It has a delay timer of up to 15 hours and can be used to prepare 4 to 20 cups of rice.
The programmable, digital controls are simple to use and include settings like Keep Warm, Brown Rice and White Rice. This is the perfect cooker for making chili, jambalaya, gumbo and more.
-
Outstanding sensor rationale innovation uses an onboard miniaturized scale PC that “ponders” itself to enhance the cooking temperature normally to improve taste and wrap up.
It is Easy-to-use, programmable digital controls with automatic Keep-Warm and White Rice and Brown Rice functions.
This is just like the restaurant’s quality rice and it will be a very healthy steamed meal. Not only the rice that you can cook but you can also steam meat and vegetables while rice cooks below.
Alongside its cooking results, I considered how easy each rice cooker was to clean, whether it cooked rice consistently from one batch to the next, and whether it could handle cooking a single cup of rice (enough for just a couple of people) or needed to cook up enough for an army before being able to cook evenly.
Another fantastic feature of the cooker is its automatic digital control panel, which looks very neat and clean.
What we liked the most in the Aroma 8-Cup Digital Cool-Touch Rice Cooker is its Unique Sensor which enables the rice cooker to make logic decisions. The cooker is therefore capable of “thinking” for itself so that it can optimize your rice cooking temperature and enhance its flavor and give it a soft texture.
Thanks to the steam setting, this rice cooker will also function as a steamer. You can use this small appliance for a number of different dishes, including rice pudding and chili.
The stylish modern egg-shaped design fits well in any kitchen. There is an easy-to-read digital display on the front panel, with controls for white rice, brown rice, steaming, slow cooking, and even for making oatmeal, soups and cakes.
-
Despite its compact size, this little steamer shows that great things come in small packages. Perfect if you’re cooking for just one or two, the Aroma Digital Rice Cooker and Steamer takes up hardly any counter space, allowing you to enjoy your kitchen without the clutter and your dinner without the fuss.
The cooker is quite easy to use and the buttons are large and feel very tactile. There is also a small LCD display which shows the time remaining.
This make incorporates easy to use digital controls for white and brown rice, steaming, and warming food.
This rice cooker provides an 8-cup capacity, allowing you to cook any amount between 2 cups to 8 cups of rice.
The latter function means that you are able to cook food, such as vegetables, in the steam that is given off while your rice cooks. This is an interesting approach that adds to the versatility of the machine, although it does take some time to get used to.
-
Easy to use, easy to clean and multi-functional allowing you to cook rice, steam vegetables, meat or everything at the same time at an affordable price is what this model delivers.

What reviewers didn't like

Dependable for white rice but sometimes leaves brown rice undercooked. Some owners complained that it left their rice dry after leaving it on "Keep Warm" for a few hours.
Does not come with a retractable cord.
This machine item spits hot water and leaks steam, won’t last more than a year with moderate use, and is inconsistent in its final product – either making soup or burning the bottom.
- Foodal
On the other hand, if you compare this model to other models of the same brand, it does not offer a slow cook feature seen in others and also lacks STS (Saute-then-Simmer) technology too.
Small in size when cooking for a large number
My only significant qualm: there's no way to tell how much time is left before your rice is done. A minor annoyance if you’re only an occasional rice devotee, but if you make rice every day, you might want to splurge on the Panasonic.
The materials aren’t long lasting. So you need to use it carefully.
Its beeps are loud.
If you do not closely follow the instructions, your food may come out burnt or partially cooked. It uses some cheap plastic parts too.
The only feature this appliance lacks compared with other expensive fuzzy logic rice cookers is the ability to control the texture of the cooked rice.
-
Slight learning curve
View our Rice Cooker buying guide for in-depth advice and recommendations.

From our partners