Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Whenever I buy a new kitchen item, I tend to do a ridiculous (unhealthy?) amount of research. I research to the point that I go in circles for months trying to determine what is the absolute best item in the category of whatever I'm currently interested in. As a result, I can end up convincing myself I absolutely need the greatest tin foil ever invented and then I have to take a step back, get a grip, and start over with more realistic expectations. In the case of the Zojirushi, I immediately felt buyer's remorse after I submitted the purchase (but wait, I don't regret a thing). I had only recently begun playing around with Asian cuisine and decided I needed a rice cooker. My only prior rice experience was burning rice to the bottom of a cheap pot or throwing one of those bags of Uncle Ben's into boiling water. I KNOW a relatively cheap rice cooker would have probably done the trick but my aforementioned ridiculously tedious research kept bringing me back to the Zojirushi and, more specifically, to this model (with the "Neuro Fuzzy" technology. I got the 10 cup version only because I imagined myself cooking for large groups of people (hasn't actually happened yet). Ok, so, here is what I've found: This thing is awesome... not like cure a disease awesome, but pretty darn great. I followed the basic directions and made brown rice for my first use. It came out perfect. I didn't rinse the rice, I didn't do anything special... I just dumped the rice and water in, pressed the button, and perfect brown rice resulted. Since then, I do a lot more sushi rice and jasmine rice which also come out perfect. I like it sticky so I tend to add more than the recommended amount of water. I've steamed vegetables in it as well (with a stainless steamer placed inside - I know, I'm probably destroying the coating on the bowl) and that works flawlessly as well. So often, I order things online and they might be good, they might be okay, they might be terrible... but rarely do I get exactly what I hoped for. The Zojirushi NS-ZCC18 joins my Wusthof Classic Ikon Knives and KitchenAid Mixer as the only items that truly lived up to the hype. -Mike P.S. The only teensiest gripe is that I could do without the odd Hello Kitty-like alarm that goes off when the rice is done... but it's not too loud, so I'll live. ;) P.P.S. A master Asian chef I know (just a great home cook, really) berated me for hours about the need to wash/rinse the rice first. I have since started doing it before placing in the Zoji... does it make a difference? I'm not sure... but it's better than getting yelled at in Chinese.