I'd second Bruce's post above. I have a Zojirushi and rarely use it; I prefer rice fluffy and separate rather than sticky, and I haven't been able to produce non-sticky rice in a rice cooker. My technique is very similar to Bruce's. All you need is a saucepan that has a tight fitting steamer insert top. Boil the rice in the bottom of the saucepan for 8-10 minutes in a volume of water at least 3 to 4 times more than the volume of rice. (you can add a little salt and/or butter to the water if you want.) After it boils for 8-10 minutes, strain it into the steamer insert at the sink; run hot water through the rice until it runs clear to remove excess starch. Put about an inch of water in the now-empty bottom of the saucepan, put it on to boil, place the steamer insert with the boiled rice on top, cover the whole shebang. When it comes to a vigorous boil cut down the heat to medium and start timing; ten minutes later the rice will be perfectly fluffy and separate. Basically boil for 8-10, drain & rinse, steam for 10. This works well with long grain American rice. It also works with basmati, although you won't get the exquisitely separate grains you'll find in Indian cookery.

We use a microwave rice cooker that BF's father (full-blood-cajun-I-can't-understand-a-word-he-says-so-I-just-smile-and-nod-and-have-been-caught-doing-it) sent us. It works perfect for white rice every time. His parents make seafood gumbo, jambalya, and catfish courtboullion that make you scream! Anyway, it's a multiuse gadget too. You can serve in it, store in it in the fridge, reheat in it, etc. When we reheat, we sometimes add stuff like gravy, meat, corn, seasonings, or whatever. I'm going to try to make rice pudding with leftovers in it someday soon. I found another brand new Pampered Chef micro rice cooker at the thrift for 2 bucks! Now we're set, the thing looks like it will last for three generations! BF is teaching me to stay in the kitchen when I cook. I too, have a difficult time with things like garlic bread, toasting nuts, etc. I've begun using the timer for even one minute at a time!! It's easy to get distracted, isn't it? What did you end up doing about your rice situation?

johnliu, I'm sure I'll be finding out, and I haven't made sushi in quite a while, now I need to get busy and make some. dcarch, I have no idea what those characters mean, I'm only assuming it's complimentary. (grin) As for the source of the auction items, the people who run it allow private sellers to take a photograph and write a description of their item to be auctioned, and the auction company keeps a percentage. I've seen items from a child's potty chair to tractors to "a box of awesomeness", LOL. It's easy to find, jnjonlineauction dot com. In addition to the private sellers, the company and/or agents/sellers buy estate items, store liquidations, the items in abandoned/unpaid storage units, etc. This week there are 2,000+ items up for auction and many of them are complete junk, many are firearms and ammunition, and a few are real gems. You sort through, their search is pretty bad... Annie

Give your son a copy of "The Ultimate Rice Cooker Cookbook" by Beth Henspberger for Christmas. I bet he will love it. My copy is loaned out just now, or I would look for a recipe. When I did a BING search for "rice cooker steel-cut oats" there were a lot of recipes. -Grainlady