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Spoiler: The KitchenAid® Compact Grain and Rice Cooker–provided by KitchenAid for this review–makes a really good bowl of rice.
It basically automates the side-dish part of meal preparation. It can handle rice, grains, beans, and even steam eggs and veggies in the background with no attention required. If you’re hosting, juggling multiple dishes, or just trying to get dinner on the table without turning your kitchen into a disaster zone, that kind of help can go a long way towards justifying its $279.99 price tag.
A prime part of this cooker’s simplicity pitch is the built-in scale. You can measure ingredients right in the pot, and the smartphone-like touch screen will let you know when to stop pouring water. No guesswork, no dirty measuring cups. There’s even a soaking feature for dried beans and a self-cleaning mode when you’re done.
So the pitch here isn’t just that it delivers consistently good results according to the specifications you choose, it’s that it streamlines the entire process from prep to cleaning up.
And it doesn’t hurt that this cooker looks mighty pretty sitting on most counters. Speaking of which…
Design and setup
Right out of the box you can see hallmarks of the KitchenAid aesthetic. This cooker is undeniably sleek with its black plastic body and stainless steel accents–very de rigueur for a modern-themed kitchen. And while it’s compact compared to KitchenAid’s other rice cooker, it still has the sort of reassuring heft that suggests it’s a well made machine.
At roughly 30 x 22 x 23 centimetres, it’s about the size of a tall shoebox–substantial enough to notice, but not so large that it dominates your counter. It’s boxy, tidy, and clearly designed to slot neatly alongside your other everyday appliances.
Setup is so simple it hardly warrants explanation. There’s no assembly, no rinsing rituals beyond the usual pre-use wash–just take it out, plug it in, and you’re ready to go. The only removable components are the nonstick ceramic-coated pot and plastic steaming basket. A single button pops the lid, and the vibrant colour touchscreen handles everything else via an intuitive interface that gently guides you through each step.
Features
The raison d’être of this machine is ease of use–and it absolutely delivers on that front. The touchscreen menu quickly walks you through everything, whether you’re cooking rice, oats, quinoa, beans, or lentils, or switching over to steaming mode.
No guesswork is involved. You don’t just select what you’re cooking, you can also fine-tune texture for a harder, regular, or softer chew. It’s a small detail that can make a big difference, especially if you’ve got a recipe that calls for a firmer grain.
But the integrated scale might be the real star of the show. You pour in your grains, add water until the machine tells you to stop, hit start, and that’s it. No measuring cups, no ratios to remember. The cooker’s little computer brain does all the math for you. Once done, the machine automatically switches to a keep-warm mode, so your timing doesn’t have to be perfect–handy if the rest of dinner is falling behind schedule.
Results – Rice and Grains
To be clear, this countertop cooker doesn’t magically prepare rice faster. What it does do is remove variables from the process. And the results are consistently excellent. Every batch of rice I tried–including jasmine, basmati, and sushi–came out fluffy, evenly cooked, and free of both excess water and burnt bits at the bottom.
The ability to choose specific rice types–or even create custom presets–adds another layer of precision for anyone who takes their grains seriously. Whether you like your rice soft and tender or with a bit more bite, the results are reliably spot-on.
It’s not just rice, either. Oats and quinoa turned out just as well, with ideal texture and no fuss. I’m often too lazy to cook oats as a treat for my little diabetic dog, but this cooker turned the process into one minute of hands-on work. He’s been eating like a king the last few weeks.
Beans and lentils are impressive, too. You can go the traditional overnight soaking route, or use the built-in heated pre-soak cycle to cut the entire soak and cook process down to about two hours. Either way, the end result was evenly cooked beans with a pleasant mouth feel.
Results – Steaming
The included steaming basket fits neatly above the cooking pot, and–just like cooking rice and grains–the interface walks you through water levels and timing. Very much in line with the rest of the experience: simple, guided, and low-stress.
Eggs are where things get especially convenient. Poached eggs came out perfectly in about eight minutes, while hard-boiled eggs took around ten. No fiddling with boiling water, no worrying about cracked shells–just set it and forget it
You can even multitask–steaming eggs up top while oats cook below–but you’ll need to manage your own timing for the top layer.
Vegetables also perform well. Green beans, for example, were tender and vibrant in under ten minutes, giving me one less excuse not to include a healthy veggie side with family meals.
There are a couple of minor drawbacks to steaming, though. The basket isn’t especially large (a family-sized package of fresh green beans didn’t quite fit), and removing the basket requires a bit of care since the central handle sits directly above hot steam. A towel or mitt is definitely your friend here.
Cleanup and storage
Cleanup takes just a few seconds, no exaggeration. The pot and steaming basket lift out easily and are dishwasher safe. The main unit basically remains clean, aside from a bit of condensation that wipes away in seconds. It has a self-cleaning mode designed to lift stubborn, stuck-on messes, but in my testing it never came to that.
Long story short, in day-to-day use, this thing is about as low-maintenance as it gets. Cleaning is no longer a full post-dinner chore. That perk alone makes this rice cooker much more attractive to reach for regularly than any other I’ve tried.
Storage is a bit more situational. This is technically KitchenAid’s compact model, but it still takes up some space and weighs around four kilograms. That’s fine if it’s living on your counter. If you plan to stash it in a cupboard–especially a high or low one – it might feel a bit cumbersome to move about.
Fortunately, this cooker looks so lovely you probably won’t mind leaving it out on display.
Verdict
The KitchenAid® Compact Grain and Rice Cooker is exceptionally well-designed and delivers on its promise of consistently good food and simplicity of use.
From setup to cooking to cleanup, everything about the experience feels streamlined and almost indulgently easy. It takes the friction out of making grains, beans, and even quick steamed meals, which might quietly nudge you toward healthier, lower-effort choices during the week. Rice instead of fries, oatmeal and eggs instead of Eggos and sugary cereals.
There’s no getting around that price, but–like most premium kitchen gadgets – the value comes down to how often you’ll use it. If rice, oats, or quinoa are (or have potential to become) regular players in your kitchen, and you have a penchant for things that make life a little easier, this rice cooker will quickly justify its spot on your counter. 4.5/5
