Midea 5L Induction Rice Cooker Delivers Specialty-Style Results at a Fraction of the Price, TechRadar Review Says
TechRadar's review of the Midea 5L Induction Rice Cooker finds strong rice, steaming and soup results at a list price of AU$199, far below premium specialty cookers, though slow cook times and the lack of pressure cooking limit its reach.
The review measures the cooker against premium models from Japan's Zojirushi, Taiwan's Tiger and South Korea's Cuckoo, whose top-tier offerings can cost as much as AU$1,248 or SG$1,419. Midea's model lists at AU$199, NZ$199 or SG$199 and is sold only in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and a handful of other Southeast Asian markets. TechRadar said it is available from Amazon in Australia and various retailers in Singapore and is often discounted to AU$149, NZ$169 or SG$149, making sale events such as Black Friday worth watching. The review added that buyers get what they pay for, since the more expensive models give finer control over the cooking process.
According to the review, the presets cover three rice firmness levels, mixed grains and what Midea calls "claypot rice" — rice cooked with proteins and vegetables to make a complete meal — alongside settings for steaming, soup and cake. The 5-liter inner pot holds up to 10 cups of rice, and the included steaming basket allows a two-person meal to be cooked at once. The reviewer cooked a salmon fillet and frozen vegetables in the basket while rice cooked underneath, with both coming out well, although cook times lengthen when the cooker is multitasking.
In testing, the cooker produced soft, regular and firm rice with noticeable differences between the settings, and the soup and congee settings also performed well, TechRadar said. The steam function cooked eggs to soft-boiled, jammy and hard-boiled stages without overcooking, and the pot generated enough heat for light sautéing of onions, garlic and minced beef for a gnocchi sauce, after which the reviewer switched to the Quick Cook setting for the pasta. Results were more mixed on the cake function: banana bread came out with a slightly burnt crust and a moist interior, while pancakes cooked perfectly even though the timings in Midea's online recipe were off. The reviewer attributed the banana bread result partly to a lack of baking experience and said the cooker would not be a first choice for baking cakes or bread.
TechRadar listed slow cook times, the absence of pressure cooking, a Keep Warm mode that can dry out rice and a large footprint for its capacity among the drawbacks. It described Keep Warm as useful for keeping leftovers fresh but said food dries out when left in the pot too long. The review also noted that Midea makes a broad range of home and kitchen products, including fans, coffee machines, dehumidifiers, a two-in-one washing machine and a robot vacuum, and positions the rice cooker as an affordable alternative to specialist brands.
The review's overall judgment was that the 5L Induction Rice Cooker is not perfect across all its advertised features but is a worthwhile upgrade from basic single-function heating-plate cookers, or an inexpensive route into specialty-style rice cooking. TechRadar added that buyers who do not cook rice often, and particularly those who want pressure cooking, would be better served by a dedicated multicooker.