Cooking rice is one of those tasks that seem easy initially, but once you start doing it, you realize how wrong you were. The Cuckoo Rice Cooker comes highly recommended and is known to make rice that is delicious, fluffy, and has a shiny texture- making life easy for everyone!
However, like all electrical appliances, this one also has its fair share of problems. We have identified a few, along with the possible solutions for these. Let us have a look at them.
Cuckoo Rice Cooker Problems
A commonly reported problem with the Cuckoo Rice Cooker users outline is to see steam leaking from the top and the side. In this case, there are two possible scenarios and their solutions:
- Steam leaking from both sides of the cooker
If you see steam leaking from both sides of your rice cooker, there is some fault in the cover packing. Changing the cover packing of the rice cooker will immediately help with this leakage of steam.
The life expectancy of the Cuckoo Cover Packing is expected to be at least one year, so normally you should not face any problems with it before that. If you see any signs of wear or tear on your cover packing, please get the cover packing changed immediately.
- Steam leaking from only one side of the cooker
While cooking rice, if steam leaks only from one side of the cooker, there may be something wrong with the rice cooker itself.
If you have steam leaking from just one side of the Cuckoo Rice Cooker, you need to call the nearest service center and have someone come over or just take it to the nearest center yourself.
- The lid of the cooker not letting up
It is not uncommon for pressure to build up inside cooking utensils, and rice cookers are no different. As the pressure builds, combined with the steam, it can cause the rice cooker’s lid to get stuck. As a result, if you try to lift the top, it may not even budge.
Cuckoo Rice Maker is a rice maker and not a pressure cooker. Naturally, it has no pressure valves that can be loosened to lift the lid when needed.
In such a case, the best and, by far, the safest option is to pour cold water over the cooker’s lid. After running water, don’t immediately start trying to lift the lid. Instead, you must wait until the top has cooled down sufficiently to try again.
- Rice is either Uncooked or Overcooked
Despite using a decent rice cooker and (supposedly) following the proper cooking methods, your rice may still turn out to be under or over-cooked. It could be happening for the following reasons:
- Usually, rice gets undercooked and overcooked because of the wrong amount of water. Cuckoo Rice Cooker comes with a water meter that can be used in case of confusion. Or, you can ask a friend who often cooks or look up the correct ratios online.
- If you are sure you are using the correct recipe- with the proper ratios of water and rice – this might be happening due to wrong cooking settings. You should refer to the manual for the correct settings.
- To explain further, the Cuckoo Rice Cooker cooks your rice in three stages: the cooking stage, the settling stage, and the warming stage. If you take your rice out before all three stages are complete, then your rice will be either undercooked or gooey. Please let the rice complete all stages for the perfectly cooked, tasty rice.
- The Gasket Problem
Gaskets are the mechanical seal that binds together two surfaces. The gaskets on a rice cooker are often made of rubber. Over time, the rubbers may become loose, hindering the rice cookers’ functionality. Often, the gaskets become loose because of rough use.
The solution to this problem lies in its prevention. You must open and shut the lid very carefully and gently. Under no circumstances should you slam the lid on forcefully because that will initiate the loosening of the gaskets.
If your gaskets have already become loose, you should visit the service center and get them fixed or install new ones.
- Scratching on the Inner Surface of the Rice Cooker
When using metal utensils, you may have noticed that the inner surface of the rice cooker gets scratched. This is because the interior of the rice cooker is made of non-stick material.
Avoid using metal utensils to scoop out the rice. Since the inside is made of non-stick material, metal ends up scratching the surface.
This will not only damage the surface but reduce the useful life of your rice cooker- that is to say, it will wear out much sooner than it is expected to. Moreover, it may also not allow the rice to cook correctly, rendering the rice cooker useless.
- Rice has a strange smell
If you have been using your rice cooker for cooking other dishes, soups, and such, then the smell not only lingers but is also absorbed by the rice you cook after it.
And a different reason why your Cuckoo Rice Cooker may be smelling funny is that you might have kept it in warm mode for more than 12 hours.
Solution:
To eliminate the funny smell, do this simple home remedy method.
- Fill a quarter of the cooking pot with water, and then add one teaspoon of warm vinegar. If the smell is too foul and strong, use 1.5 teaspoons of vinegar.
- Then turn on your cooker and set it to cook for about 30 minutes. When done, don’t forget to remove the pot and clean it thoroughly. This will fumigate the airway and rid the rice cooker of the smell.
- Also, Cuckoo does not recommend keeping the rice cooker in its warm mode for more than 12 hours to avoid having the rice smell or any other related problems.
- Rice Cooker makes weird noises when in use
You may hear whirring noises from your rice cooker when it is cooking rice or warming it. Contrary to what you may think, this is totally fine. The Cuckoo Rice Cooker comes with a fan, which is what the whirring noise is.
The fan is a part of the cooling system that is built within the system. The cooling system, coupled with the fan, helps in better performance of the Cuckoo rice cooker.
- The bottom of the rice burns every time
This is a recurring problem with all rice makers; that is, they often complain about their rice burning from the bottom every time they cook it. This has little to do with the efficiency of rice cookers and more with the cooking methods.
A simple tip to avoid your rice burning from the bottom is to stir the rice every once in a while to prevent the rice from sticking to the bottom and getting burned.
- Rice Cooker not Turning off in Time And Burning The Rice
Although uncommon, the issue of rice cookers not turning off in time and burning the rice has been faced by some users. This could be happening because of the following reasons:
- Broken switch: Perhaps the off button or the knob is not working correctly, which results in the rice cooker not being turned off and ruins the rice batch. You need to get the unit checked for such a case.
- Using precooked rice: If you are using precooked rice, that is rice that has been cooked before, it will take less time to cook thoroughly. So you need to set the settings such that it does not overcook the rice.
- The design: There is a possibility that there is no fault with the rice cooker; instead, you may not have been using the rice cooker properly. Scour the manual again and make sure you are using the rice cooker in the proper manner.
- Rice Cooker is not Turning On
There are many reasons why the rice cooker may not be turning on:
- Power cord issues: If there are any visible signs of damage, then it is pretty evident that the rice cooker is not turning on because of it. If there are no visible signs of wear, then you must check if the power cable is fine. Do this by plugging the switch into several correct outlets; if the rice cooker still does not run, then it could be because of the faulty power cable.
- Internal Circuits: There is a chance that the rice cooker is not turning on because the internal circuits are broken.
Solution:
For each of these problems, visit the service center where trained persons can fix the issues for you. Please do not try to fix these at home as they may do more damage and can also harm you.