1) Note that better prices can be had offline. I bought this product for $239 at an Asian grocery store and it came with a 20lb bag of rice to boot. I imagine the invoice price is around $200. Someone's making an insane amount of profit selling this for $400+.
2) This rice cooker produces moist, fluffy, chewy, textured rice that exceeds a vast majority of the restaurants out there, including those that cook individual portions of rice in stone pots. It will spoil you and make you a snob when it comes to rice. The menu has different settings for pretty much any kind of rice you want to cook like white (soft, regular, hard), brown, mixed, rinse-free, sushi, porridge, GABA, etc. You can keep the rice warm and tasting fresh for upto 24hr.
3) Good things take time, but this cooker pushes the limit of patience, taking ~50mins for white rice, ~75min for mixed rice, and upto 3.5hr for GABA rice. Fortunately, there's a timer so you can tell it to have rice done by say 6pm, as well as an express mode (25mins) when you are starving. Though still quite good, rice cooked in express mode tends to be slightly firmer and not as impressive as the regular mode. (Minus half star for long cooking time)
4) Compared to the $10 variety I used for a number of years, this one has more parts to clean. The non-stick bowl, the inner lid, and the steam vent needs cleaning after each use as you'd expect. In addition, you need to check if any debris is obstructing any of the sensors, holes, or vents. The air intake and exhaust located on the bottom of the cooker for dissipating heat needs an occasional vacuuming. (Minus half star for extra cleaning required)
5) This unit is rated at ~1230 watts, but that doesn't mean it's using that much electricity continuously like a hair dryer. The cooker turns the heat on and off as needed like an oven to maintain internal temperature and pressure. (Since posting this review, I measured the total electricity consumed by using a Kill A Watt 4460 meter and it came out to 3 cents per use.)
6) Back to the original question, is it worth it? This is really a personal decision based on your budget, utilization, and love for rice. My thought process was I could buy 16 x 20lb bags of rice, or get this rice cooker and enjoy that 1 bag of rice like I never have before. Finding it for $200+ cheaper sweetened the deal too.
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Zojirushi NP-HTC10 Induction Heating 5-1/2-Cup Pressure Rice Cooker and WarmerProduct Description: Equipped with superior induction heating technology, this 5-1/2-cup rice cooker and warmer evenly distributes heat to ensure perfectly cooked rice every time. Choose from a variety of menu settings including white (regular, softer, or harder), mixed, sushi, porridge, sweet, brown, GABA brown, rinse-free, and quick cooking. Depending on the menu item selected, the appliance automatically chooses from three pressure levels. In addition, its vacuum-insulated inner cooking pan, which features an inner layer of aluminum and an outer layer of stainless steel, quickly distributes heat to the rice without allowing it to escape, plus helps efficiently keep rice at a perfect serving temperature while in keep-warm mode.
Other highlights include an easy-to-read colored LCD control panel with clock and timer functions, a delay timer with two settings, a melody signal to indicate the end of the cooking cycle, automatic keep warm as well as extended keep warm, and a detachable and washable stainless-steel inner lid. For safety, the appliance provides a pressure-control valve, a back-up safety valve, and a pressure indicator on the control panel, which locks the lid during pressure-cooking. The unit's clear-coated stainless-steel exterior not only cleans up in a snap, but it also complements any kitchen decor. Accessories include a rice spatula, a spatula holder, and two measuring cups (for regular rice and rinse-free rice). The ETL-approved 1230-watt rice cooker and warmer measures 14-3/16 by 9-7/8 by 7-7/8 inches and carries a one-year limited warranty.
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I bought this EXACT model in 2001, and along with steaming, blanching, roasting, etc., it clearly advertises itself as a "deep fryer" of which it does an excellent job.The manual even includes full frying instructions!
