Saw this in a store a month ago. I already have a very nice rice cooker, so I don’t need it. Nevertheless, this has a 2-in-1 feature. The rice cooker portion can be separated from the induction heating element.
It’s interesting…but I dont know what to think. Rice cookers are traditionally, as Alton Brown would say, “unitaskers”, but they do a specialized job oh so well. Our Zojirushi rice cooker is easily the most used small electrical appliance in our kitchen, and like most Hawaii families, is used daily. It has to be well built. This little unit I guess would be good for someone in a small apartment, efficiency, or college dorm that wanted rice, and the ability to cook single dishes. If it worked well…
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When I first saw this 2-in-1 unit, I thought the concept is cute, but useless for me. The biggest advantage of a rice cooker for me is that the rice cooker cook rice while I am cooking other dishes. This 2-in-1 rice cooker only allows to do one thing at a time.
However, I do like the concept that the “heating element” of a rice cooker is not tie to only rice cooker bowl. In the last 40 years or so, there have always been advertisement push of using rice cooker for other dishes, like:
Our Zojiroushi rice cookers even have a “cake” setting.
I do not even think I have ever used a rice cooker to do these non-rice dishes, but this is considered an attractive feature for many people. So I think this is just one more step. Instead of thinking how to use the rice cooker bowl to cooking something else beside rice, it allows the heating element to be separatable from the rice cooking bowl.
I do not need this now, but I think it is an interesting idea.
Interesting. Personally, I don’t think I need this. But for someone that has minimal cooking appliances in a small space, like student or a single in a 1-room studio, this is an attractive option.
I tried to read more on it and some reviews. You cannot use the rice cooker and the induction separately, which is a minus. Also, rice takes very long time to cook or is it an interface problem failed to indicate the real cooking time for rice? But firmware can be corrected with a new software update, I believe. Some feel the price tag ($300) is a bit steep.
Would be nice if someone has some real life experiences. Anybody knows where it is manufactured?
I probably do not need this feature neither. Not at this moment. I agree that $300 is not cheap. It certainly is not in the price range of regular college students. However, Iris is not a cheap end company. Many of their regular rice cookers are in the price range of $200+.
So I think it is to look at $100 more for this separation feature on top of their regular rice cookers. Is the ability to use a rice cooker also as an induction hotplate worth $100? Iris is a brand competing with the likes of Cuckoo or Zojirushi which routinely have $400-500 rice cookers.
Iris is not trying to compete with the $50-150 brands.
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How much is a very basic rice cooker costs, no feature, just to cook rice? Can you find something in the $30-50 range? Mine is National, the first generation type of rice cooker, only cooks rice and does not have the function to keep rice warm, bought it around 1998 or so, 22 years already, in a Chinese store in Rome!
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Iris typical rice cookers (without ability to separate the cooker with the induction) is $200. It is not surprising that this one costs more than their regular ones.
Can we find a rice cooker for $10-20? Sure. But if that is the question, then it will apply to any other rice cookers above $50 too, not just this one.
I guess what I am trying to say is that. It isn’t like their regular line is $50, and this one is $300. So the separation feature added $250. It is that their regular line is $200, and this one is $300.
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Do you know the power of the induction plate?
Looks like it’s selling well. Wallmart is out of stock.
I guess if you need a cooktop to cook regularly, you will probably buy a separate induction plate. So those requiring this feature is an occasional usage, I believe. The size of the induction plate is small, limited by the size of the cooker.
Hi. I think this analog may help. A Model 3 Tesla is $40K. A Model 3 Tesla with Long Range is $50K.
So the feature of extra long range is an addition of 10K.
Of course, we can compare it to Hyundai Accent which is only $15, and then ask… why pay extra range at the cost of another car? 
So I suppose there are many ways to look at this. I do think if we are talking about Hyundai Accent, then Tesla should not even be discussed – because they are too different.
I am also worry that using the induction plate for this 2-in-1 unit may shorten the life of the rice cooker too. I don’t know.
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I think maybe it’s also something that an office can aquire, and put in the pantry besides the usual microwave. But I have never seen a rice cooker in an office, even with many Asian employees.
I know someone travels with a rice cooker on business trip and cooks in a hotel.
You can still use the rice cooker after the induction plate dies, I bet?
No. The induction plate is what heats the rice cooker. If the induction plate die, then nothing is heating the rice container.
To your other question. 1000 W is the induction plate max.
Hmmm, I think it will be a better concept if they separate the 2. Because you can cook simultaneously.
Yes, I agree with you that an induction plate usually has a shorter life span than a normal rice cooker.
Yeah, but if that is the case, then it is the same as just buying another induction heater.
Space saving?!
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Interesting.
I’m usually the last to the party so haven’t been intrigued by induction hot plates.
I bought one a couple of years ago so I could cook during PG&E’s frequent power outages (generator won’t power my 220V/40A cooktop). I was blown away.
While it is a low power 120V unit, and doesn’t have the searing heat of my ceramic or propane cooktops, its control is so amazing it is the go to hob for sauces, omelets, crepes, and some delicate seafoods, etc.
