Cuisinart CRC-800 8-Cup, The instructions are wrong

Overall Rating33333

The instructions are wrong

After purchasing this unit, I too had spill over at very low water rice levels. I realized that this is the same problem one would get,using even medium heat to cook grits, or rice in a regular pot…….

(If you leave the top of the pot down tight.)

There is no way, because of the high heat setting of this unit, that the glass lid supplied can be used to completely cover the cooking pot, even though the instruction book indicates so.. The hole would have to be much larger to allow steam to escape.

The temperature setting of the heating dictates the designer set it high to allow the use of the steaming attachment, using a high boiling point

The steam will push the oxygen mols from the pot causing a very low barometric air pressure.

With this the bubbles generated by the boiling rice water will have almost no air pressure to keep them low or at minimum.{ they expand greaty), Thus foaming out the sides of the pot.

Even though I could not find in the instruction that the glass top would not work if it was used to completely cover the cooker top while cooking, the picture on the box was a clue.

The picture shows the steamer unit sitting in place, with the glass lid on top.

Using the steamer attachment, 2 measures of rice using plastic, and 2 1/3 cups of water using a measuring cup, I started the unit.

A few bubbles and steam came up through the bottom of the steamer, for a while, and than decreased. ( no boil over ). Once the temperature in the unit exceeded 220 degrees ( all water boiled off) : the unit went into stand-by.

Perfectly cooked rice. Every time

I use the steamer unit, even if I not even steaming vegetable or etc. No boil over. It has many holes in it to allow steam excapement with out
boil over. Caution……….. The steamer tray gets as hot as the steam generated in the cooking process.

Do not touch the steamer tray attachment with-out waiting for it to cool, and keep this unit well away from the reach of children, or uncovered,
un-protected hands. In this cooling time the “laden” heat in the left over steam can return to the rice, and complete the cooking cycle.

If the water is allowed to boil out, burnt rice at the bottom.

The directions are in error, Check it out, Happy riceing

Update (2/6/2012): This item is currently on sale here for the lowest price I’ve seen. I also found some auctions for this item here.

The featured review for this product, Cuisinart CRC-800 8-Cup Rice Cooker Kitchen, was written by Thomas Berry.

The average rating for this item is 3 out of 5 stars, according to 3 reviews.

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Reviews (3)

Thomas Berry

March 17th, 2010 at 1:07 am    


Overall Rating44444

The instructions are wrong
Rated 4 stars.


K. Lyons

April 11th, 2010 at 2:01 pm    


Overall Rating44444

MUST READ: I learned the secret to using this tool!!!
I purchased this rice cooker without reading any reviews. At first I cooked long grain rice and had no problems with boil over. Then I tried making Jasmine rice and the explosions started. Frustrated, I went online to read product reviews. After my 100th review, I, too, hated this product and would’ve given it a really bad review. It was going in the trash. However, I have a Cuisinart blender and toaster that I love so I kept reading more reviews. There’s an earlier post in this thread that gives a very scientific review of how the instructions are wrong. And instead of using the glass cover you should use the steam tray as the top when cooking rice. I had nothing to lose, so I tried it using Jasmine rice.

The results? No boil over and absolutely no mess whatsoever. I must say that my Jasmine rice taste a little like long grain rice as it’s light and fluffy and not mushy how I like it. BUT, I didn’t have any spill over, there was no mess on my counter, and the rice is delicous. So I completely agree. DO NOT USE THE GLASS COVER, use the STEAM TRAY instead as your cover and you will not have any spill over. The other review wrote something about the heating plates needing to be extra hot to steam the food so it was set up more for steaming than cooking rice. The hole in the glass top didn’t provide enough air…

Just use the steam tray instead of the glass cover. For my more mushier rice I will just add a tiny bit more water or not. This is now a great product in my book. I just wish CuisinArt would’ve gotten their directions right.

So 4 stars for having me to clean up the mess on my own and go online for the truth, and wasting my time. Otherwise, 5 stars because I now have excellent rice and a beautiful rice cooker/steamer.


Irmin P. Wehmeier

April 21st, 2010 at 2:39 am    


Overall Rating11111

Lousy rice cooker
This machine has a lousy job cooking rice. I used cheapo $ 20.00 rice cooker for 10 years (before it died) and it cooked perfect rice. Coconut rice, rice with broth with vegies in it, etc. .., no problem. The Cuisinart stopped cooking off the liquid was above all. He also cooks like crazy. I think the problem is that the investment is high and narrow. In general, in most rice cookers, the insert is wider than high. This is a poorly designed machine, and definitely not worth the price tag.


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