7.12.2013

Actually, the Tefal Rk302e15 8-in-1 Cooker - Slow Cooker (RK) is way more than a rice cooker, although it prepares all types of rice extremely well, if that is all you want to do. It cooks perfect one pot meals. Using the steamer tray you can make all types of meat, vegetables, fish dishes, at the same time you are making a bowl of tasty rice. Everything is ready at the same time and clean up is easy with the metal non-stick pot. Have not tried it for breakfast porridge yet, or cakes, but this is an extremely versatile cooking appliance, which offers a lot of value, if you spend some time learning to use it to best advantage by studying the manual and the included small recipe booklet.All the parts exposed to food are washable and dishwasher safe,including the inner top and rubber seal, pressure valve, plastic steamer tray, and cooking pot. This is a well built appliance. The cord is removable, so you can obtain, for example, European plugsets or replacement cords, if damaged in use. The RK has an excellent delay function, up to 15 hours, as well as extended keep warm feature. The only rice function it lacks is congee, which only a few rice cookers sold in Europe have available.The unit is very quiet. It emits no steam and very little odor while in use, as it has a removable condensation cup and good rubber seal. The condensation cup is somewhat inconveniently located in the back of the unit, since it needs to be removed for cleaning, after the unit is used. The RK comes with a plastic spatula and holder, which clips onto the device, when set up, which is a nice feature.The RK is very flexible. I have tried making both rice in the pot and steamed chicken breasts and vegetables in the included plastic steamer tray, which fits on top of the rice pot, and the results were excellent, if slow (90 minute automatic cycle for brown rice). But it gave a perfect meal result, even for a single person portion. Very tasty! I will probably will use the RK delay function in the future and set it all up in the morning :) . Will try the porridge cycle soon.So why have I given it 4-stars instead of 5? I consider 5 stars should be if the entire package is perfect. While performance is excellent, Tefal should make some packaging improvements, so users can immediately get best results as soon as possible. The device is not currently designed to be used intuitively like most microwaves or electric coffee makers, because of the extremely opaque display, and somewhat poorly designed instruction manual. Who would guess a 'b' on the screen means the dish is done? No one, unless you carefully read the tiny, small type manual a few times, with its two pages filled with many very small numbered illustrations at the front of the instruction manual, inconveniently keyed to the text, rather than inserted where they would be most easy to follow. Instead you have to keep flipping back and forth between the illustration pages and the text section you are studying. There is no color in the manual to highlight material, just cheap black and white. A quick start plastic guide card, which could be kept near the unit for reference would be most helpful.Since some Tefal manuals do use color, Tefal could clearly do better here. The water markings on the rice pot are shallowly stamped on the inside of the pot and are virtually unreadable, even when the pot is new. Similarly, the lock markings on the pressure release valve, which requires disassembly into two parts to clean, to secure it back in place are very hard to see - some contrasting color, would be most desirable.The separate color recipe book is rather thin, but at least it gives you some examples of the great range of features for this cooker. As another review has pointed out, a small DVD walking purchasers through this appliance set-up, disassembly, cleaning, and use by demonstrating its many features would be extremely useful, and make this rice cooker quickly accessible to a broad range of cooks from novices to culinary artists. A DVD would assist users to quickly understand and appreciate this appliance's outstanding performance and range.==================== 2 1/2+ YEAR UPDATE ======================================I have used this rice cooker virtually every day for over 2 1/2 years (or its successor — see below). It still makes excellent rice, as well as many other types of steamed and slow cooked dishes. I have used it to prepare three course meals for parties, layering the various dishes and everything came out perfectly. I am not as adventurous as some, check out some Japanese videos where many courses, including soup is made simultaneously with a cooker just like this with careful layout and packaging of food. The food timer is very useful for preparing dinner in advance and having it ready and kept ready with the warming function.The stainless steel finish holds up very well and the no stick pot is very sturdy and easy to clean. I have found that a Pumie brand pumice (Sold by Amazo/) stone will remove the black stain that forms on the heating ring at the bottom of the cooker without scratching it. Otherwise the cooker is very low maintenance. Just soak the rice pot and steamer basket after using, empty the reservoir in back periodically, clean the steam release at the top, and wipe down with a wet cloth to keep it looking shiny.I did get a flat 20cm strainer insert for the steamer basket. The holes in the basket are rather large, and vegetables like peas will fall through to the pot, making extracting them a little messy. The strainer will solve that problem.The issue of longevity is a concern. Although I purchased this from Amazon UK, after 1 year, 10 mos., while I was in NL the cooker failed. Fortunately, Tefal NL gives its products two years, so the cooker was replaced including posting and packing without charge by the manufacturer. It took a month, but all ended happily. The electronic brain had failed (error E0 on the display), which means complete microprocessor failure, so the device would not do anything. I could not even boil water.This brings up a couple of other points. The lid closure lock is made of plastic, not metal, so you cannot be rough with it. If you break it the cooker lid will not stay closed. Also over time the Teflon rice pot starts showing serious wear, so if you are planning to keep the cooker for a long time, obtaining an extra pot, while they are available is a good idea.However, over all, this is an extremely useful, cost effective appliance. With a little practice, it will be in use constantly whether you are single or a large family.===================================== 5 year update ======================================Well, I am on my third Tefal rice cooker of this model. I find, as some others have pointed out in Amazon reviews here, that these rice cookers last about 2 years with everyday use, before they fail. The electronics always give out. The display starts flashing and you know the unit has died. These appliances do not last long term. I have found that to be true with other Tefal appliances such as toasters as well. After two to three years of regular use the electronics fail rendering the appliance completely non-functionalIt is really a shame because the units mechanically are really well built, out of solid stainless steel that looks great over the long term and make them easy to clean and keep shiny. However the electronics just are not well engineered.Nevertheless, if you can get these units at reasonable cost from Amazon, these rice cookers do a great job of cooking rice and even full meals. They are easy to clean, and setup. Food comes out perfectly. Just remember, if you are a daily user, that these rice cookers have a limited service life and budget accordingly.

29.8.2012

Can't cook, won't cook. That's The Truth. But a love affair with kebabs and an ever increasing belly is forcing me to try. So I tore up my KFC loyalty card and gave gastronomy a whirl with this device, The Tefal 8 in 1 cooker.I'd wanted a slow cooker for a while, ever since a friend of mine who is a chef told me about his. He said you literally just chucked in whatever you want, hit start and 8 hours later you had a tasty meal. So, would it be as easy for someone like me?Frankly, no. Contrary to my expectations this thing does not turn you into Jamie Oliver over night, and my first attempt at cooking a meal in this thing turned out disgusting. In fact, my attempt at the culinary Mona Lisa was even more disappointing than usual,due to the long wait, build up and and anticipation of it all.However, I'm pretty sure that's not really the cookers fault and probably more down to me lacking in any sort of gastronomic skill. So what of the cooker itself? Well for the money it's pretty good I think. It is reasonably priced and looks and feels pretty well made. And being an 8 in 1 cooker, it also boasts a lot of features. It's not all gravy though.On the whole the cooker does feel like a good quality item, but in some areas it does feel rather cheap; the clip on spoon handle for instance, feels particularly poor and so does the condensation collector. But these are minor points and overall, the quality is there.Providing you know what you're doing it's very easy to use. However, I don't, which leads me to what I felt was a major letdown - the instructions (or should that be, lack of them). The item ships with some of the worst instructions ever, not giving you any hint about how to use this other than 'select the slow cooking setting and press start'. Seriously, that's it!I had to call up friends and a fork out on two Slow Cooker Recipe Books before I found out you had to put your ingredients in the pot and cover them with water and wine or whatever. It took me some serious research to find out how to use it. When it comes to steaming vegetables too (oh yeah, you can steam vegetables in this thing too) it was the same. There is nothing in the booklet saying, "Steam carrots for 5-7 minutes and cauliflower for 8 - 10 minutes". Nothing. Nada. Zip. There is literally no help with thing other than the obvious: "Plug it in. Switch it on."There are a few other things about the guidelines that concern me too: 1) They say, do not leave the slow cooker plugged in when not in use, and 2) They say, do not leave unattended when in use. Now, I'm not sure how serious they're being here, or if they just have to put this stuff in legally to cover their backs, but it makes me very nervous that I have a fire hazard my kitchen and, correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought the whole point of a slow cooker was that you can put stuff in, switch them on, go to work, and come back 8 hours later to a tasty meal?Am I missing something here?To some up, I think, in the right hands this will probably be a very good addition to the household and if you're a busy mum it'll probably be a godsend. If you're a paranoid, useless 30 something bachelor like me though, stick to the KFC loyalty card. It may not be good for your health - but then again, neither is a house fire.Product Pros:Looks good.Overall, feels well made.Easy to use... kind of.Product Cons:The little details on it feel cheap.Terrible instruction booklet.Confusing safety advice.Cooking Pros.After a little research, it was pretty easy to use. Fire & forget cooking.Meat came out pretty tenderCooking Cons.My food tasted horrible and was thrown away.Liquid didn't reduce down at all.Carrots were still hard after 8hrs in this thing.Gave me the trots for about two days afterwards*I still hold out hope for this thing though, I think with a little practise and a bit of trial an error, this contraption could become a useful addition to my kitchen and help me start cooking at home a bit more. It is not the electronic Gordon Ramasy I had hoped it would be - but for the money its pretty impressive. In the right hands, I'm guessing it could result in some tasty dishes that don't give you the $h!ts.After my attempt at using this, I have been back to the local takeaways or eaten out every night since, but I am determined to push on and practise. So (trying not to let my 'explosive' results cloud my judgement too much) looking at the cooker alone and ignoring the taste of my first meal made with this thing, I'm going to give the Tefal 8 in 1 cooker 4 stars out of 5.*This may well have been due to excessive alcohol consumption over the bank holiday weekend, so the blame for my fizzy gravy can't fully be placed at Tefal's door.

17.10.2012

I bought this after a holiday with a friend where I ate 3 meals a day and felt so much better. I came home with all good intentions but soon found myself slipping back into my bad work and eating habits. I work from home so get up and immediately start work. About mid-afternoon I realise I haven't eaten breakfast or lunch and I'm so starved I just throw the quickest thing in the oven and usally don't bother with vegetables.Using the Tefal cooker means I have to plan on using it because meat especially has to be defrosted, it has to be started early before I get hungry. I still skip breakfast but do have brunch after I've prepared dinner and it's cooking. The first thing I tried was the jam sponge cake,now I had no idea how that was going to turn out because I have food allergies and have to use funny flour - a mix of gram (chickpea) and potato starch flour I find works best with normal oven baking. I don't usually use margerine but on this occasion followed the recipe in the book. I was worried that it'd turn out aneamic looking and taste gross like microwaved cakes but it was really nice and it did have a brown crust apart from the top. Even that though didn't look as if it hadn't been cooked as it does in the microwave. Bit of a faff making it because I had to use the electric mixer and my funny flour has a strange consistency and tends to creep up the beaters and end up coating the underside of the mixer.The next thing I tried was a meal - steamed fish, new potatoes and broccoli with a poached egg. I started off the potatoes in the steaming water first and then added the fish, wrapped in foil so it wouldn't make everything taste of fish, egg in a ramekin dish and the broccoli in the steaming basket. The egg and the broccoli was a bit overdone but the fish was just right. I have a tendancy to overcook fish normally. Next time I'll know to do it in 3 stages.The next cake I made using my normal recipe and just hand mixing it, I use sunflower oil instead of margerine and it was perfect and much nicer than the same recipe done in the oven because it was moister but not at all wet. I did try my version of bread but didn't find that worked as well as doing it in the oven, it didn't rise as much, possibly because the Tefal isn't hot to start with. It may have been because a client arrived 10 minutes before it was ready and my poor loaf got left on warm for nearly an hour! So I will have another bash at it because it still tasted ok and toasted fine even if it's not quite the same as oven baked.I've done the farmhouse chicken and also I did a recipe out of the Hamlyns slow cooker recipe book for pork steaks. Both times making double the amount so I could have it heated up again and both times the meal was as nice next day. Wasn't sure about re-heating in the slow cooker but not a problem to end up with one saucepan to wash and that way I could make sure they were heated through quickly and thoroughly. Each time I wanted potatoes with the meal and knew I wouldn't bother if I had to cook them seperately so pre-cooked them a bit using the steamer setting. Saves washing up too being able to do a one pot meal after the initial frying pan to brown the meat etc. Great to have a meal ready when I'm ready for it.Love the fact that it's so easy to clean, much easier than scrubbing stew pots or washing up baking tins. I haven't tried rice yet, I don't eat rice much as I do have a problem with it and only eat it about once a month, normally when my daughter cooks it as I am naff at cooking it and it turns out sticky and overcooked. Hopefully with this I will be able to turn out perfect rice.All in all I'm very pleased with my Tefal cooker, can't say it's made me turn over a new leaf completely but bad habbits creep up on one and breaking them is going to take time.

8.11.2012

I have had experience with basic rice cookers, and this one surpassed expectations.When I first opened the box, my first impression was that the unit was surprisingly light but also solidly built. It is fairly big, but has a folding handle to aid portability. All accessories fits neatly inside which doesn't make it awkward to store away.The lid has a soft opening and closing mechanism. This is a good safety feature to avoid compromising the stability of the unit when the lid springs open, which could otherwise cause a nasty accident. The button to release the lid is nice and big, and away from the steam valve making it safe for you to check the contents while it's simmering away.There are small rubber feet at the bottom to make sure the unit doesn't slip.The one thing I really appreciated was how easy it was to clean, and also the lack of mess that you usually get with cheaper rice cookers when it boils over. The lid has an inner plate which can be released easily for cleaning. The unit also allows you access to dismantle the steam/micro pressure valve for cleaning too. The cooker comes with a quality non-stick pan, a plastic steaming basket, spatula, measuring cup and a holder for the spatula.I found that it was very effective at maintaining high temperatures and keeping the steam in, the lid has a rubber seal all the way round to make this happen. However it does leave condensation in the lip of the seal when you're finished, but this can be remedied by giving it a wipe. Any condensation leaving the cooker is collected in a container at the back. Again making it safe to operate and less mess.The downside I did find was that the LCD panel on the front wasn't immediately intuitive, I had to sit down and read the extensive manual beforehand, which well conveyed. A short recipe book is also provided, and there were some inspiring ideas. I even tried making the Macaroni and Vegetable Soup, the result was tasty and fuss free. For beginners it also comes with a cheat sheet in suggesting how much water you should use to cook all the different type of rice grains.Cooking rice is what I have mainly used it for and it has consistently produced a nice fluffy result. The non stick pan seems to work well, as long as you look after the coating. The volume of the pan is more than generous to feed a large family. One of my favourite feature is the automatic keep warm function after the meal has been cooked. In addition to that you can also set a countdown delay before it needs to start cooking, which means you can focus on preparing other parts of the meal.The cooking modes include: white rice (includes risotto), quick rice, brown rice, grains program, oatmeal/porridge, slow cooking, steaming (including soups) and deserts (includes cake).It is clearly a product that has been well thought out, especially with regards to safety and re-usability for preparing a variety of meals, via the different cooking modes. It is safer from the view point that you wouldn't be in danger of your meal over boiling, and burning out. It is definitely a much healthier approach to preparing meals without the stress of having to keep an eye on it, as a result of reduced mess and the auto keep warm feature. It even has a short term memory in case of a quick power failure, so it will continue where it left off. In all I am really happy with the performance of this kit, it is ideal for a variety of healthier and fuss free meals, and makes it easy to cook for many portions.

12.9.2013

We bought this device because we cook a lot of casseroles and we felt it would need less attention and use less energy that our fan oven or gas hob.So far it has proved a success and met out expectations.These devices are often advertised as rice cookers, but I cannot see why anyone would use them for cooking rice. The Tefal 8 in 1 cooker takes up to an hour to cook rice; it takes me 15 minutes for basmati using a saucepan and the result is always just fine.We have so far cooked Moroccan chicken 'tagine', Indian lamb Madras, Chilli con carne, lamb kleftiko, pork afelia, Lancashire hotpot , liver and bacon casserole, braised beef and onions, chicken cacciatore,bolognese sauce and other similar dishes with great success.I would say the advantage is that you can put it on in the morning, set the slow cooker for 8 hours and get on with your work, without having to keep checking it. On the slow cooker setting, it is just below simmering and very little moisture is lost. So you put a little less liquid in than you would for a normal casserole. Also you can use cheaper cuts of meat and the result is tender and succulent.If the dish incorporates veg., these can be left in throughout the cooking time, due to the very gentle process. Energy consumption is minuscule, compared to our 3.5kW fan assisted oven. The kitchen stays nice and cool and no noise from the fan. There is no condensation in the room. A further advantage is that nothing sticks to the cooking bowl, so cleaning up is very easy.Depending on what you are cooking, you may need to seal the meat and fry onions, garlic, spices and so on. If so, this must be done on the hob, before you use the slow cooker. If you want rice, I would cook it in a saucepan. However, I am going to try out a lamb byriani and I think the slow cooker will be ideal.Vegetables could be steamed over the main dish, but I prefer to cook them separately.I am told that my productivity and general demeanour has improved since I have been using the cooker. I put it down to not having to break off what I am doing to start preparing a meal in the afternoon and not having to keep checking the cooking. I find it only takes a few minutes to prepare the main dish and start the cooker in the morning. I think that a century or so ago, northern people who worked in the cotton mills, use to take their hot pots to the bakers on the way to work and collect them, ready cooked at the end of the day.This is a modern take on that very sensible practice.In case this review appears unduly glowing; I would like to make it clear that I have no connection with the manufacturers. Mostly I am very dissatisfied with things that I buy these days.

15.2.2018

Tefal 8-in-1 Multicooker. Bought this while on offer at around £36 to replace a ten year old 'traditional' rice cooker which was suffering from peeling non-stick. I needed something with a fairly large capacity, as I often cook as much as 1kg of rice in one go and this fits the bill nicely. I only bought it as a rice cooker and don't intend to use it as anything else. It should be noted that despite this 8-in-1 being described as a multi-cooker, it doesn't pressure cook, it's basically a rice cooker/steamer/slow cooker, so 3-in-1 would be more appropriate.So, how does it compare to my old rice cooker? Well, I have to say that I was a bit put out to find that the standard rice cooking program takes around 45 minutes compared to my old one,

17.3.2017

I've had this for 6 months now and used it several times a week. It is fantastic! For dinner every day now I have an amazing curry, for breakfast I have beautiful rice pudding and at the weekends, lovely porridge, my diet is much better now that I don't have ready meals and I'm slightly leaner.To make rice I measure in 5 cups of white basmati rice (I get the 10kg bag for around £10 deal - I've tried a couple of different brands and noticed no difference whatsoever) and about 7 and 3/4 cups of water and select "white rice" then "start", then I can go off and do whatever - chop onions and chillis etc. After about 35 minutes 5 portions of rice are ready and I put it into containers to have for the rest of the week,

22.9.2012

Hopefully this video gets over just how easy it is to make perfect rice using this.If you bought it only as a rice cooker, you'd be really happy, but with all the other functions as add-ons it begins to look even better value still.It's very simple kit to use. For just about everything you simply bung in the ingredients, select the program, press start, and wait till it beeps. It calculates the cooking time itself based on what you've put in, and gives you a count down, and turns itself off and keeps the food warm when it's finished. Idiot proof. Somehow though, the two instruction books it comes with are so poorly written and hard to decipher that they somehow manage to make it sound way more complex than this.

28.8.2012

Let me first get the biggest gripe of this food preparation product out of the way... it's a rice-cooker! Ignore the 8-in-1 nonsense - of these supposed 8 features, three are rice (white, quick and brown), 2 are similar to rice in how they are cooked (grains and oatmeal), 1 is pointless (steaming), 1 is absurd (slow cooking) and one is a gimmick although oddly good (dessert).The principle is similar to most rice cookers including a Breville RC3 Rice Cooker and Vegetable Steamer I previously owned but has given up. You add the rice with the suggested amount of water switch it on (in this case you tell it the mode) and leave it to cook. It's not fast (30-40 minutes for boiled rice is over double what a hob can do)

17.3.2016

I'm quite happy with this product. It basically does what it says on the tin. It cooks rice very well. However, there are a couple of small grumbles I mention here so they might improve it in the next version.1. The cooker comes with a little measuring scoop confusingly referred to as a 'cup' everywhere in the accompanying usage guidelines. It is a nonstandard measure. A brimful 'cup' is 180ml, I think (I put it on the (digital) kitchen scales and tared it off, then I filled it to the brim with water and weighed it. 1ml= 1g so it is 180ml because it weighed 180g).2. The inside of the bowl is marked with litres and cup measures. These are also (different) nonstandard measures! fill the bowl to the 2 cup mark,

2.3.2020

We had one of these for years but the last one broke after my wife dropped some rice below the pan. It burnt and shorten out a sensor. We used old tefal for rice mainly. So after 5 to 10 years use we decided to buy a cheap rice cooker for £18 instead. This rice cooker was quick but the rice was not so good. So when the price dropped we got another tefal 8 in 1. The rice is so much better, ok it might take 30 mins compared to 15 mins but it for better rice just put it on earlier? For those that complain about bad rice it is not the same. Different varieties and even different brands need different amounts of water. If you get soggy rice next time put in less water. If hard next time put in more water.

4.1.2016

Bought to replace an earlier model (5-in-1 I think it was) as I was unable to find a replacement bowl (note: vinegar will destroy the coating on the bowl - live and learn!). Thoroughly loved my original one and this one was the newer model with additional functions. Bought primarily for the rice cooker and I have never cooked rice in a pan since owning one of these. Rice comes out so fluffy and not too wet and not too dry; sushi rice is my favourite but great for all types (long grain, risotto, etc). I generally use the 'quick' rice setting as I lack the patience for anything longer but haven't noticed any difference in the quality of the cooking. The slow cooker function is great and have had many a great soup or stew made in this.

22.11.2013

Before I review this cooker, I must first congratulate Amazon on the fastest delivery I have EVER had on an article purchased from Amazon UK. Order placed on Wed 13/11/2013 10:49, despatched Wed 13/11/2013 18:10, arrived at home in Charente-Maritime, France, on Thur 14/11/2013 at 10:30. How amazing is that?On to the cooker ; this will probably be the most used piece of kitchen equipment I own.I have tried all the slow-cook recipes in the included book, made the tomato soup, and cooked white rice. All turned out perfectly. No fuss, no mess, no problem.The recipe book isn't very big, but it doesn't need to be. Read through what is included,

2.7.2014

I use this almost every day and I have to say I am extremely pleased with it.For me the rice is perfectly cooked every time.No more overcooked wet rice as I was getting used to with other rice cookers.This one knows exactly how long to cook perfect rice for and of course it can even cook brown rice and various grains too.A bonus for me was that it can be used as a slow cooker-steamer-porridge maker and cake maker.With a timer available to cook your porridge/rice ready for when you wake up.I tried the slow cooker and it was very good.I cut up a chicken added vegetables and stock etc and after setting it and then leaving it to its own devices I was able to come back to a lovely casserole of

18.9.2012

I'm trying to eat healthy, and any appliance that makes porridge and steams vegetables is one step towards my keeping up the good work. I took up eating porridge a couple of months ago and so far have been using the instant packets, but now I can make proper porridge and this unit does make it very easy to do so - though it does take a little longer (but then again instant porridge is called instant for a reason, and I could definitely taste the difference). The countdown facility on this unit works well, and you can even programme it using the delayed start feature to come on when you want it to, and to keep the porridge warm for a while afterwards. The vegetable steaming facility works well,

Tefal RK302E15 8-in-1 Multicooker - Reviews

Info

Analysis

Detail