What's a good high volume rice steamer?

For sake making I need to come up with something I can effectively steam 5+ lbs of rice. It's looking like bamboo steamers might be the only practicable solution.

I got a 8" steamer off Amazon, and it works pretty well, but the quantity is somewhat limited.

Zojirushi makes the best rice cookers. They are pretty expensive though. If you want something cheaper, but still with good quality, then make sure you find one that has "fuzzy logic".

The Zojirushi's are amazing though. I don't eat rice that often, but man does it make a perfect batch of rice.

evandena said:

Zojirushi makes the best rice cookers. They are pretty expensive though. If you want something cheaper, but still with good quality, then make sure you find one that has "fuzzy logic".

The Zojirushi's are amazing though. I don't eat rice that often, but man does it make a perfect batch of rice.

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You're right, they make a great rice cooker, but I don't think that they will do the 5 lbs. that the OP wanted. Mine tops out at 5 cups, which is just over 1.5 lbs. of uncooked rice. They might make larger models though.

Thought I was on ricesteamtalk for a second.

You should try posting in the Rice Cooking subforum.

have you considered using your slow cooker? (if you don't already have one, n/m)

Thanks for the help, ill duck those out
Ideally I want to steam rather than boiling. Some seem to think this topic isn't related to home brewing, it is because you have to steam rice to make sake.

Walmart has a few units that can do 60cups of rice for about $100, i think that's approaching 20lbs.

Amazon has a 25cup unit for $70.

Any large stock pot will work. You don't need a specific rice cooker to make rice... just like you don't need a bread machine to make bread. These machines are touted as conveniences, but really all you need is a large vessel to boil the water and rice.

Thanks, I ended up going with a couple bamboo steamers that sit on top of a saucepan. It works pretty well, but the steamer has to be lined with cheesecloth or a dishcloth. The bamboo steamer was two levels, so I smashed out the bottom of one of the levels to just make it a really tall single level steamer.

For sake, steamed rice is supposed to work better than boiling the rice. Most rice cookers out there appear to boil the rice, that's why I had a tough time finding a good volume steaming solution.