# How to take care of the inner bowl of the rice cooker?



## kenny1999 (Aug 24, 2019)

I haven't bought a new rice cooker for over 20 years and 
recently the one I am using has the inner bowl broken

See Picture 1. Is it safe to keep using it? I don't mind having it 
replaced but usually the inner bowl is not sold alone anywhere.
(If you look closely, there are already some black spots due to 
scratches over time)

See Picture 2 (Inner bowl in black color). How to take care of
bowl like this? What is the special material of spatula I should use
or avoid using?


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## Andy M. (Aug 24, 2019)

I don't see a broken bowl in picture #1. I see a bowl with a few scratches on the bottom. What material is the old bowl an is there a coating on the inside?


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## pepperhead212 (Aug 24, 2019)

I don't see a "break", either.  Does water leak out of it?  That's the only reason I wouldn't use it.  As for how to take care of it, don't us metal utensils in it, and make sure others know this.  That's probably what caused the scratches.


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## roadfix (Aug 24, 2019)

Use the traditional wood or plastic rice paddle.    New rice cookers usually come with plastic paddles.

You will not get sick by eating rice cooked in scratched or gouged rice cooker bowl.


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## kenny1999 (Aug 25, 2019)

Andy M. said:


> I don't see a broken bowl in picture #1. I see a bowl with a few scratches on the bottom. What material is the old bowl an is there a coating on the inside?



I am not able to take a focused picture of the bottom of the bowl with a mobile phone, but it's quite well scratched at the bottom and quite some many "black spot"

I really do not know what material the old bowl is, hard to imagine, but quite light in weight, and the silver surface should be a coating layer


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## pepperhead212 (Aug 25, 2019)

The bowls are almost always made of aluminum, and coated with a NS teflon.  Fortunately, even when scratched, the coating doesn't start peeling off in sheets, like in the old days.  And you don't have to worry about that, anyway - the problem with teflon is when it is exposed to a very high temp, and it vaporizes.  You don't have to worry about that in a rice cooker. 

With all those scratches you decribe, metal kitchen tools have definitely been used a lot!  Or some metal cleaning tool.  I had a rice cooker with a similar looking insert, for about 20 years, before I got my IP, and there was not a scratch in it - all because a metal implement never touched it.  As noted previously, just keep using it, with plastic or wooden tools.  Same for any other NS pans you have - don't believe those things about being "scratch proof", as even the newer ceramic NS kitchenware will scratch, with metal.


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## powerplantop (Aug 25, 2019)

Our rice cooker is on almost everyday. We only use the plastic spatula that comes with them.


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## kenny1999 (Aug 29, 2019)

I want to get a new rice cooker, but it's so difficult to find anything made of stainless steel nowadays, they all use coating or non-stick materials that I feel very uncomfortable...


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## Andy M. (Aug 29, 2019)

kenny1999 said:


> I want to get a new rice cooker, but it's so difficult to find anything made of stainless steel nowadays, they all use coating or non-stick materials that I feel very uncomfortable...



There is no reason to feel uncomfortable with non-stick coatings. The material is inert and in the rare event some of it flakes off into your rice, it will pass through with no effect on you whatsoever. 

What's confusing is that there are dangers in the manufacturing process that don't carry over into the finished product. 

As suggested earlier, use wood or plastic utensils to prevent any scratching.


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## pepperhead212 (Aug 29, 2019)

kenny1999 said:


> I want to get a new rice cooker, but it's so difficult to find anything made of stainless steel nowadays, they all use coating or non-stick materials that I feel very uncomfortable...


You may want to look into an Instant Pot, which I replaced my rice cooker with several years ago, and they have SS inserts.  The 6 qt works well in "rice" mode, for just 1 c of rice, which surprised me, though I rarely cook just 1 c.  If this is too large for you, they have a smaller one, too, which my sister got for her kitchen, though this is too small for many of the other things I use it for.


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## roadfix (Aug 29, 2019)

kenny1999 said:


> I want to get a new rice cooker, but it's so difficult to find anything made of stainless steel nowadays, they all use coating or non-stick materials that I feel very uncomfortable...



Why????


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## bbqcoder (Aug 29, 2019)

kenny1999 said:


> I want to get a new rice cooker, but it's so difficult to find anything made of stainless steel nowadays, they all use coating or non-stick materials that I feel very uncomfortable...



It uses non-stick coating but it has held up perfectly 3 years later.  We have this one:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0074CDG6C/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Zojirushi NS-TSC10 5-1/2-Cup (Uncooked) Micom Rice Cooker and Warmer, 1.0-Liter

Very happy with it.


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## kenny1999 (Aug 29, 2019)

Andy M. said:


> There is no reason to feel uncomfortable with non-stick coatings. The material is inert and in the rare event some of it flakes off into your rice, it will pass through with no effect on you whatsoever.
> 
> What's confusing is that there are dangers in the manufacturing process that don't carry over into the finished product.
> 
> As suggested earlier, use wood or plastic utensils to prevent any scratching.



Problem is , they are usually black in color, before payment, it may be difficult to find out if there are any slight scratches....


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## kenny1999 (Sep 2, 2019)

I've taken a close picture of my inner bowl. Is it still safe? I've checked the manual, it said there is no coating. But what is the dark spot? (Unable to clean out no matter what)


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## PrincessFiona60 (Sep 2, 2019)

That bowl looks safe.


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## bbqcoder (Sep 2, 2019)

PrincessFiona60 said:


> That bowl looks safe.



Ditto.  I don’t see anything wrong with it.


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## kenny1999 (Sep 3, 2019)

bbqcoder said:


> Ditto.  I don’t see anything wrong with it.



but what is the black spots at the bottom? Quite a lot of them.


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## GotGarlic (Sep 3, 2019)

kenny1999 said:


> but what is the black spots at the bottom? Quite a lot of them.


If you've been using metal utensils in it, they're probably scratches.


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## PrincessFiona60 (Sep 3, 2019)

Impossible to tell fem a picture.


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## kenny1999 (Sep 4, 2019)

further zoom in of the pictures


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