Rice Cooker Vs. Crockpot
Slow cookers are in most instances referred to generically as "crock pots" (after the original Crock-Pot brand). Rice cookers are popular in Asian countries where rice is heavily consumed. Both of these electric cookers are known for facilitating the creation of one-pot meals. Does this Spark an idea?
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Function
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Though rice cookers are known primarily as rice steamers, slow cookers were originally known for cooking beans. Various recipes have been developed around the slow cooker and include meals with beans, pasta, fish and even rice.
History
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Mitsubishi Electric Corporation is credited with developing one of the original incarnations of the modern rice cooker in the 1940s. It was a revised version of the "electric rice tubs" popularized in the 1920s. Toshiba would later perfect the rice cooker model.
Conversely, today's slow cooker emerged in the 1970s when women began to enter the workforce and the country faced an energy crisis. Slow cookers dually addressed each of those realities: They functioned using low wattage and allowed women to cook while outside of the home.
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Use
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Meals that can be prepared using a slow cooker run the gamut and include dishes made with pasta, meat, dairy and fish, and even cakes. Many supplementary cookbooks and recipes are available. Today, rice cookers are primarily used to prepare variants of rice dishes, but can also steam oats, beans, polenta and frittatas.
Popularity
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According to Toshiba, rice cookers are present in more than half of all Japanese households. "The New York Times" reported rice cooker sales at more than 3 million in 2007. Conversely, there has been an influx of sales of slow cookers in the United States. According to Slate, slow cooker manufacturer Rival saw a 20 percent increase in sales from 2006 to 2010.
Famous Ties
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Celebrity cook Paula Deen has incorporated meals to be prepared using slow cookers in the recipes she presents in her books and television programs. She once featured an episode on her program "Paula's Home Cooking" of all slow-cooker recipes, including recipes for Swiss steak and macaroni and cheese.
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