The Cosori 5L Rice Cooker review is a multifunctional appliance that delivers mixed results

Date:
Wed, 24 Dec 2025 13:00:00 +0000

Description:
This rice cooker can steam, saut, and slow cook, but its rice cooking capabilities are somewhat disappointing

FULL STORY ======================================================================Cosori 5L Rice Cooker: one-minute review

Nowadays, rice cookers arent simply rice cookers . Many double as multicookers, offering a multitude of cooking functions that make them multifaceted kitchen appliances. The Cosori 5L Rice Cooker is one such rice cooker, offering more than 10 cooking modes that cover sauteing, steaming,
and even jams and cakes. However, this appliance falls short in what it
should do best.

During our testing, we found the rice results to be overly dry, with clumps
of overcooked grain. Far from inedible, but not the quality youd expect from
a rice cooker of this price range. The Cosori Rice Cookers other cooking functions present mixed results, too. In some cases, the results were excellent.

When it comes to making cakes, compotes, boiled eggs, and porridge, the quality is extremely high. However, we found its Slow Cook function a tad disappointing, and we wish we had more control over the temperature of some
of the modes available. (Image credit: Future)

The design of this rice cooker is top-notch, however. Its exceptionally easy to clean, compact for its 5L capacity, and the digital touchscreen display is a joy to use. Its not overly pricey either, at 119.99 / $99.99 (about
AU$150).

If you dont mind experimenting a bit to get optimal results, the Cosori 5L Rice Cooker is well worth considering. But we cant help but compare it to similarly priced competitors offering higher-quality results. Cosori 5L Rice Cooker: price and availability $99.99 / 119.99 at Cosori Sold at Ubuy and Amazon in Australia for between AU$197.57 and AU$249 Available at third-party retailers like Amazon, Walmart, and Best Buy

At $99.99 / 119.99 (about AU$150), the Cosori 5L Rice Cooker is a budget-to-mid-range appliance. You get extra value for your money here, as it also doubles as a multi-cooker. While its not the best Instant Pot
alternative weve tested, its more affordable than the likes of the Instant
Pot Pro ($129.99 / 149.99) and the Instant Pot Duo Crisp ($229.99 / 229.99)

However, when stacked against the likes of the Ninja Foodi PossibleCooker, which is another rice cooker that doubles as a multicooker and falls in a similar price range at $129.99 / 119.99 (about AU$200), theres no contest. While the Cosori Rice Cooker has its benefits, performance isnt as
consistent, nor its results as high quality, as the Ninja. Value score: 4/5 Cosori 5L Rice Cooker: specifications

Review model

CRC-R501-KUK

Number of baskets

1 cooking pot

Number of cooking functions

10+

Cooking functions and modes

White Rice (Long Grain, Short Grain, Quick), Brown Rice (Short Grain, Long Grain, Quick), Grains (Quinoa, Porridge, Mixed), Steam, Slow Cook, Soup,
Saut, Jam/Sauce, Cake, Keep Warm, Delay Timer

Accessories

Soup ladle, measuring cup, 3L steam basket, and standing rice paddle

Smart control

No

Rated power

970W

Capacity

5L

Time range

Up to 24 hours on Slow Cooker/Keep Warm modes

Dimensions

12.3in (D) x 10.6in (W) x 9.2in (H) / 312mm (D) x 269mm (W) x 234mm (H)

Weight

9.81lbs / 4.45kg

Dishwasher-safe

Yes (but we don't advise it)

Guarantee

2 years Cosori 5L Rice Cooker: design 5L capacity cooking pot Large, touchscreen buttons Easily clean pot and accessories Lines in pot indicating required water levels

Out of the box, this Cosori rice cooker comes with a black, silver-topped
main base, a 5L non-stick cooking pot, a soup ladle, a measuring cup, a standing rice paddle, and a 3L steam basket. Assembling the appliance is straightforward thanks to its thorough user manual, though you may find its inner lid and steam cap a tad confusing to insert the first time.

This rice cooker isnt overly chunky, taking up less than one kitchen counter space, and its modern matte black base, silver-topped design means it
shouldnt look out of place, no matter your kitchens style. Image 1 of 2
(Image credit: Future) Image 2 of 2 (Image credit: Future)

When on, the touch-screen digital display on the front of the rice cooker lights up, displaying the rice preset options, a Keep Warm button, and a Mode button, allowing you to access other cooking functions such as Saut and
Steam. The touchscreen is easy to use, with the large buttons and digital timer display (which is even bigger) clear to see, even from a few feet away.

To open this rice cooker, you simply click the silver button on its top, and the lid springs open, revealing the heating plate and temperature sensor inside. The 5L non-stick-lined cooking pot effortlessly inserts into the
space and provides a decent capacity for small to medium households. Inside the pot are lines on either side indicating where to fill the pot with water when steaming or cooking white rice, brown rice, etc., corresponding to the number of cups of grain youve added. These lines, when combined with your measuring cup and the user manuals quick reference chart, make it easier to balance your water-to-grain ratio when cooking. Image 1 of 2 (Image credit: Future) Image 2 of 2 (Image credit: Future)

This non-stick pot was probably the easiest cooking pot weve cleaned in our time testing appliances. By filling the pot with warm soapy water and wiping it with the soft side of a sponge, we found rice, porridge, and even compote residue could be removed with minimal effort. While Cosori says the pot and accessories are dishwasher safe, we dont advise cleaning anything with a non-stick coating in a dishwasher, as it could damage the non-stick lining.

Just ensure you also clean the inner pot lid and its steam cap after each
use. This has a few more crevices, and the lid needs to be disassembled for proper cleaning, but the process is, again, pretty easy. The same can be said of the inside of the base, which can be easily wiped with a cloth.

The accompanying 3L steam basket neatly fits into the inner pot, but we wish it had some non-metallic handles to make removal after cooking easier (and safer). (Image credit: Future)

In addition to its user manual, the Cosori 5L Rice Cooker comes with a quick reference guide that includes tips for cooking, the grain chart, and a quick rundown of how to set up the appliance and cook white/brown rice. This is handy if you dont want to flick through the user manual. The rice cooker also comes with a recipe book featuring global recipes that utilise its various functions. We always love the flavour of Cosori recipes, so we highly recommend trying these out. Cosori 5L Rice Cooker: performance Variety of cooking modes and rice presets Rice was overcooked No control over
temperature Cake function is excellent

The Cosori 5L rice cooker is positioned first and foremost as just that: a rice cooker. Unfortunately, we found its rice cooking capabilities to be
lower quality than its other cooking functions.

This appliance has several presets for rice and grains. For white and brown rice, you can specify short grain, long grain, or quick cook (which takes
less time but results in harder rice, according to the user manual). We added two cups of washed, long-grain white rice to the pot, filled it to the respective line in the pot, and selected the White Rice/Long Grain option, which takes 50 minutes. This is in line with some rice cookers, but slightly longer than cooking on the hob. Image 1 of 2 (Image credit: Future) Image 2
of 2 (Image credit: Future)

When running, the rice cooker is surprisingly quiet, registering around 32 decibels (about the volume of a whisper), but when cooking is complete, it lets out several loud beeps that you can easily hear from another room. After using the rice paddle to fluff the rice, we found clumps of overcooked rice
in the batch, and the results were, overall, quite dry. In case it was an error on our part, we tried again with the Quick Cook option, which takes 39 minutes. While the dry clumps were less prevalent, there were still enough to make the results less than ideal.

We had the same issue with long-grain brown rice. On the relevant preset, it took 75 minutes, much longer than on a hob, even though brown rice takes longer to cook. Again, we found the results to be overcooked and quite dry, with several clumps of chewy grain. Edible, but not the high quality wed expect. (Image credit: Future)

Its disappointing, as the Cosori 5L Rice Cookers other functions work pretty well. We tested several recipes from the Recipe Booklet, which utilises the different cooking functions, and were generally impressed by the results (though it was a mixed bag).

Following the Spiced Carrot & Lentil Soup recipe, we used the saute function (accessed through Modes) to saut onions and cumin seeds to perfection. Our only gripe here was that the pot gets very hot, and there seems to be no control over its temperature settings, so you need to be careful not to overcook in this mode. After sauteing, we were able to seamlessly move to the Soup function, and after 45 minutes, we had a lovely chunky soup with soft carrots ready for blending. Image 1 of 2 (Image credit: Future) Image 2 of 2 (Image credit: Future)

The Jam/Sauce mode is impressive, too. We followed the Strawberry-Thyme Compote recipe, which requires the lid to be open, and had a delicious
compote after 15 minutes: soft chunks of strawberry, plenty of tang, and just the right consistency.

This (perhaps minus the thyme) pairs well with porridge. We were surprised that, despite the rice cooking issues, the Porridge preset (under Grains) provided excellent results. We added two cups of rolled oats to the pot and filled the pot to the corresponding water/liquid line for porridge. While it took 30 minutes to get there, the porridge consistency was spot on. Image 1
of 2 (Image credit: Future) Image 2 of 2 (Image credit: Future)

The Steam function, too, provided great results. For steaming, you add water to the steam line in the pot, then place the steam basket into the pot. We followed the recipe for a soft-boiled egg, adding two eggs to the basket. For steaming, theres some preheating required. While it doesnt tell you how long preheating takes, the digital display shows when the rice cooker is
preheating and beeps when finished. We were concerned this preheat time would impact cooking, as the eggs were in the basket during that time, and it wasnt accounted for in its six minutes of cooking time, but the results were excellent. The egg yolk was runny and yellow, the white cooked but not overdone. Image 1 of 2 (Image credit: Future) Image 2 of 2 (Image credit: Future)

Again, following a recipe from the provided book, we made the Slow Cooked Sunday Sauce, which utilises the Saut and Slow Cooker modes. We found the
pots width to be somewhat of a restriction here. The recipe advises cooking your meat in batches, and we did, but there wasnt a huge amount of room to ensure our chuck beef could layer along the bottom without several batch cooks.

The pot prioritizes depth capacity, so dont expect it to act as a de facto
hob in Saut mode. After sauteing our meat and veg in several batches and adding the necessary ingredients, we set the appliance to Slow Cook for four hours. After four hours, the sauce itself was delicious. However, the fat on the beef chuck hadnt rendered, despite braising, and we were left with inedible, chewy fat on our meat. Its a shame, because the meat was otherwise cooked well, though not necessarily melt-in-your-mouth. Image 1 of 3 (Image credit: Future) Image 2 of 3 (Image credit: Future) Image 3 of 3 (Image credit: Future)

The best results we got by a mile, however, were for cake. Of all things. We were understandably very sceptical of a rice cookers ability to bake a cake. We followed the Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting recipe in the book, which requires making the batter separately before pouring it into the greased inner pot and selecting the Cake mode. After 70 minutes, we had a (slightly oddly shaped) chocolate cake that was delicious. The cake was moist but not wet and somehow light. In my husbands words: Its the best chocolate sponge Ive ever had.

The Cosori 5L Rice Cooker is a mixed bag when it comes to performance, but were particularly disappointed in its rice-cooking abilities. You potentially could, with some experimentation (like adding more water than suggested), get better results, but if you want a rice cooker that makes perfect, fluffy rice each time, this may not be the appliance for you. Performance score: 3.5/5 Should you buy the Cosori 5L Rice Cooker? Cosori 5L Rice Cooker: score card

Attribute

Notes

Score

Value

This rice cooker is good value for what it offers, but competitor products offer better performance for the same price range.

4/5

Design

A dream to clean and use, this appliance is quiet and easy to use.

5/5

Performance

We had subpar results with rice cooking and a mixed bag when it came to other cooking modes.

3.5/5 Buy it if

You will use its various cooking functions

This rice cooker offers a multitude of cooking functions, covering sauting, steaming, and even cooking cakes or jams. If you like to cook a range of dishes in your kitchen, or just experiment with new things, it's worth considering this appliance. Not sure where to start? We highly recommend trying the recipes in the accompanying recipe book.

You're looking for a budget-to-mid-range multicooker/rice cooker

Considering this rice cooker doubles as a multicooker, its 119.99 / $99.99 price tag is good value, especially compared to the $200+ price tag of some multicookers. So, if youre on a budget, its worth considering if you think youll make the most of its various functions.

You want an easy-to-clean appliance

This is probably the easiest-to-clean appliance I've ever tested. Whether youre dealing with porridge or compote residue, minimal elbow grease is
needed due to the cooking pots exceptional non-stick coating. Don't buy it if

You want effortless, perfect rice every time

As weve said, we found this appliances rice-cooking capabilities subpar. With some experimentation, you may be able to achieve optimal results, but if you want perfect fluffy rice every time, with minimal exertion, you may be better off considering an alternative.

You won't use all its functions

If you simply want a rice cooker nothing more, nothing less then this may not be the appliance for you. Theres no point getting an appliance that doubles as a multicooker if you wont use its multi-cooking functions.
Instead, you can purchase a quality rice cooker, with no extra bells and whistles, for less than $100.

You want consistency across all cooking functions

While we were hugely impressed by several of the Cosori 5L Rice Cooker's functions, others didn't quite hit the mark. So, if you want exceptional quality across the board, it's worth considering an alternative, such as the Ninja Foodi PossibleCooker. View Deal



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Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/home/multi-cookers/cosori-5l-rice-cooker-review


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