Healthy Rice Cooking with Stainless Steel Inner Pots: Pros, Cons, and an Even Healthier Alternative
Rice is a staple for most of the world’s population, which makes rice cookers one of the most popular cooking pots around the globe. There are different types of rice cookers available in the market today, and rice cookers with a stainless steel inner pot are very common. Stainless steel pots do not corrode as quickly as other cookware and are durable, making it a generally preferred choice for a rice cooker insert. But what if we told you there was a cookware that acted as a better insert than even stainless steel, or could operate as a better rice cooker altogether? This article will highlight the pros and cons of common stainless steel inserts on the market, and provide the healthiest option for rice cooking.

The Benefits and Drawbacks of Stainless Steel Rice Cooker Inserts (They Are All Not Safe!)
Stainless Steel Inner Pots: Stainless steel is a great choice for making inserts because it is easy to clean, durable, more resistant to corrosion than other metals, and can withstand high temperatures. It is easily available and comes in many superior quality grades.
Despite their ease of use, stainless steel inner pots consist of a combination of various metals like iron, nickel, chromium, molybdenum, and carbon. All metals are innately reactive and leach toxic ions when cooking rice and other foods, even stainless steel. Even a small amount of any of these metals can prove extremely toxic in the body over time.
Stainless Steel Inserts with Nonstick Teflon Coating: Manufacturers may coat stainless steel insert pots can be with materials like Teflon to make it nonstick. This synthetic material is chemically known as Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE). This strong material repels water which doesn’t allow food to stick to it and is easy to clean.
However, studies have proved serious side effects of exposure to heated Teflon, like lung damage, breast cancer, prostate cancer, liver tumors, and reduced fertility. The risk of contamination increases drastically when the coating wears off, too.
Stainless Steel with a Ceramic Coated Nonstick Insert: Some nonstick varieties also come coated with ceramics. Many consider pure ceramic inserts to be a better alternative than Teflon, because they are believed to be safer than PTFE. And of course, they make easy to clean pots with their nonstick qualities.
Unfortunately, many ceramic pots are a lower quality clay laden with several chemicals. There are also synthetic coatings that resemble and claim they are ceramic, but are not actually ceramic. The impurities in clay and the chemical additives cause even more toxicity problems.
Want a complete analysis of the health effects of conventional rice cookers? Read more here.
Quick Guide to Buying the Best Rice Cooker
The best rice cooker comes with a pot made from an inert material that cooks without leaching. As discussed above, all metals and ceramics leach toxins and contaminate food. Also, these materials radiate harsh near-infrared heat that destroy nutrients, especially the more delicate complex carbs in rice. This leaves rice overloaded with simple carbs – which eventually becomes a contributing factor to type-2 diabetes.
The healthiest alternative is a cooking pot made from lab tested primary clay. Miriam’s Earthen Cookware (MEC), a US-based company, makes these pots from regionally sourced raw material and ships them around the world.
MEC clay pots are made from the purest form of natural clay (primary clay) – a naturally inert material that offers many healthy features to cook perfect rice. The semi-porous pure clay walls make the pot breathable so your rice cooks in a non-toxic environment with adequate oxygen. MEC clay radiates gentle far-infrared heat that preserves even the most delicate nutrients. It penetrates each grain and perfectly cooks moist, fluffy, and delicious rice. These features make MEC pots the healthiest non toxic rice cooker.
Ready to make the switch to MEC’s healthy, completely non-toxic rice cooking pots? Buy yourself one on the MEC online store!

Here are some other conventional rice cooker options that may offer some convenience and ease of use, but are missing the healthy cooking aspect that is found only with Miriam’s Earthen Cookware because of the reasons discussed above:
Top 5 Stainless Steel Rice Cookers
Aroma Rice Cooker with Stainless Steel Inner Pot
The best thing about this rice cooker is it does not come with any toxic coatings to make it non-stick. Rice might stick to the bottom a bit, but it is easy to clean the pot with warm water. The “keep warm” mode is particularly useful to preheat the pot and keep rice hot once it is fully cooked. This rice cooker offers a straight-forward cooking process – add rice to the pot, rinse, add enough water, press the button, and wait for it to finish. Ideally, 1 cup uncooked rice requires 2 cups of water as a ratio guide.
Dash Mini Rice Cooker (2-Cups)
This inexpensive stainless rice cooker is a great choice if you want to cook for a couple of people at a time. You may also cook beans, lentils, and quinoa when you want to cook fresh with no leftovers. This comes with a stainless steel cooking pot and also has the “keep warm” function. It is super easy to clean and makes perfectly tasting rice every time.
Black Decker Rice Cooker and Food Steamer
This steamer is another cooker with a stainless steel cooking pot, but can house 8 cups of uncooked rice! It cooks enough rice for a large family gathering or several meals for a mid-sized family. It is so simple to use, even a beginner can make perfectly cooked rice every time.
IMUSA Electric Nonstick Rice Cooker
This stainless steel rice cooker also has an 8 cup capacity and comes with a steamer tray for vegetables. This rice cooker fully cooks both white rice and brown rice, and it accurately indicates when the rice is done. It has a removable non stick pot, which is a convenient feature since you can rinse the rice in the included inner pot. This cooker is so much cheaper than more expensive ones that come with a million settings and cooks good-tasting rice with simplicity. The nonstick coating in the inner bowl is useful for cooking fluffy rice without sticking to the bottom of the pot.
Aroma Simply Stainless Rice Cooker
This cooker is another model from Aroma that has a more straightforward design and comes in two sizes. The smaller model is more popular for 6 cup cooked rice and caters to the majority of families, compared to 14 cups. The machine automatically switches to keep warm mode as soon as rice is done cooking so you can cook rice once and consume steaming rice throughout the day. The glass lid lets you check the cooking progress, and it also comes with a measuring cup and a serving spatula. This stainless steel rice cooker is the most useful pick at this price point, and its one-touch functionality is very helpful for beginners.
Rice is a staple for most of the world’s population, which makes rice cookers one of the most popular cooking pots around the globe. There are different types of rice cookers available in the market today, and rice cookers with a stainless steel inner pot are very common. Stainless steel pots do not corrode as quickly as other cookware and are durable, making it a generally preferred choice for a rice cooker insert. But what if we told you there was a cookware that acted as a better insert than even stainless steel, or could operate as a better rice cooker altogether? This article will highlight the pros and cons of common stainless steel inserts on the market, and provide the healthiest option for rice cooking.

1 Comment
Anonymous said:
Pot in the Dash rice cooker is not stainless.
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