Mitsubishi Electric will release a new steamless IH rice cooker without a steam outlet. The product adopted a charcoal inner pot, which distributes heat evenly. Features of the company’s 2 mega-seller products enhance the flavor of rice.
The new NJ-XWA10J model uses inner pots that are 99.9% charcoal, carved out manually by craftsmen. According to Mitsubishi Electric, in contrast to standard pots made of copper, aluminum and stainless steel, a charcoal pot produces heat, allowing even and thorough distribution of the heat when cooking rice. Evaporated steam from the cooking process is recovered and collected in a special tank – the same as Mitsubishi’s conventional steamless rice cookers. The company plans to manufacture 1,000 units per month.
On sale from Feb 1. The shop price of this premium rice cooker is expected be approximately 110,000 yen.
© Japan Today
23 Comments
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VicMOsaka
If you can't cook any type of rice perfectly in any Japanese rice cooker cheap or expensive models, then the problem is not the rice cooker.
flammenwerfer
what? the smell like someone farted???
Waste of money. Difference in taste between a 9000yen and 109,000 yen rice cooker - small. in comparison: Difference in performance between a 29,000 computer and a 129,000 computer - massive. You have to know when and where extra money is worth it, unless of course you are filthy rich.
cwhite
50,000JPY range is good enough. The materials are similar, just slightly less time taken to make each pot. For those of you who think there is not much difference I dare you say that in the same context to a barbecue fanatic who payed thousands of dollars for his wonderful outdoor grill or perhaps a kiln that a pottery master uses. That said I can see that many things in the commercial market is just for suckers like expensive cars, swords, speakers, computers, art, tin toys, baseball cards....
observerhere
sarge, the guy was worried about the price ...it was too high he thinks
incognito12
A 'rice' by any other name would taste as sweet...
some14some
I don't think that guy has any problem with J-rice rather anxious that company will ask (force) him to buy one unit :)
Patricia Yarrow
Oh, and by "more expensive" I mean in the ni-man range. Sure as heck not ju-ichi-man! That guy looks like his rice is sticking in his throat! Now I know why they usually flog new products with pretty girls. Yosh!
Patricia Yarrow
My humble little It's rice cooker is doing pretty well. I think it was a lot less than ichi-man some four years ago. Perhaps when I have a bit of "mad money" I'll invest in a more expensive one which would probably keep the rice in better condition over a few days. The It's rice dries up around the edges to hard rock if I haven't used it in time. Would a more expensive rice cooker solve this...by keeping the rice in good fluffy condition over three or four days? "It's" my question. Thanks and happy new year everyone, including Sarge. :-D
goddog
Sarge, you cracked me up. The guy in the picture looks like he hates Japanese rice as much as I do.
ebisen
All of you commenting bad about this one, guess what...
It DOES MAKE A DIFFERENCE - regardless if you're Japanese or foreigner... I had the chance to try their previous model (in one of the stores) and indeed, exactly the same rice tastes better from a 100.000 cooker than from a 40.000 Yen one. And if the list price is 110.000 Yen for something selling only 12.000 units a year, you can be sure that the production price is not much lower anyway (sometimes they will sell it at a direct loss, only for the positive marketing and image received). Carving the pot could take a lot of manual work and the materials don't seem cheap either...
DickMorris
Japanese rice only suits sushi and onigiri type foods. It is awful cooked and especially with curry. Japanese need to learn that different rices compliment different foods and a new rice cooker will not change that fcat.
rranta
110000 is a lot of money just to get better favored rice! But, if they drop the price to the point that people can actually buy it, then it might find a market. I think I prefer the old steamer or pot cooked rice.
kyoken
A wonderful product as it does something for gender equality in Japan.
The old Japanese statement "women can of cause go to work as long as they continue to cook the rice for their man" has found a technological solution. For that one is willing to pay any price.
Sarge
Check out the face on the guy demonstrating the 110,000 yen rice cooker! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!
Sarge
110,000 yen for a rice cooker? Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!
observerhere
Unreasonable price...fukiki dayo!
polypals
The best part of cooking rice is the smell when its close to getting ready. Good luck selling this beast at any price much the less 110,000 yen. about 25 years late, might have worked in the 80`s bubble.
tclh
Why not ceramic instead of charcoal? It seems that the pot should be handled with extreme care at all times and with the price of 11 man yen, it is scary.
borscht
I wonder when manufacturers will name their products something consumers can remember rather than the manufacturer's production codes.
nylex4
we call it bland - japanese call it delicate and subtle...
stirfry
anything that enhances the flavor of bland japanese rice would be an improvement, but definitely not for 110000 yen...call me back when you get more realistic, like 25000...because ITS ONLY RICE
nylex4
another triumph of technology over nature....
some14some
Everything seems reasonably good : 1. Production capacity 2. The price 3. Rich but limited customers(though we don't find japanese names in Forbes anymore).