Keep rice at the ready

You've got to love rice cookers. While it is not so difficult to prepare a pot of rice using conventional methods, keeping that rice warm and at serving temperature can prove to be difficult. Sometimes it is necessary to keep a supply of cooked rice at the ready. When I quit smoking (well, one of the times...), I dove for a fresh cup of rice every time I had a nicotine craving. I don't know of any rice cooker manufacturers that place that feature in their literature, but it (eventually) worked for me. Since then, I have always believed in the power of the rice cooker.

The Cuisinart Rice Plus Multi-Cooker with Fuzzy Logic Technology has a feature set that ensures this rice cooker could be an every day appliance in your kitchen. The unit is a multitasker with the ability to not only make rice, but can also act as a slow cooker, a steamer or a soup maker. The preprogrammed modes account for six different types of rice while it also has a reheat and a quick-cook mode. For this model the "keep warm" function kicks in after cooking and keeps rice at the ready for 24 hours.

I don't know if having a bowl of rice can help you quit smoking, but with a feature-rich rice cooker in your kitchen, you have nothing to lose. With a 24-hour keep warm cycle, a bowl of rice could always be just a scoop away. With a 15-cup capacity for cooked rice, the cooker could very well become the most visited appliance in your kitchen. Healthier than a smoke break, that's for sure.