If the versatile machine called a rice cooker is one of your indispensable kitchen tools, making those perfect fluffy grains while you ignore it entirely, it deserves better than a dreaded, crusty clean up. Sure, you could let it soak for an hour or scrape away dried-on starch with a sponge while silently resenting your dinner. Or … you could try a cleaner’s shortcut that feels almost too easy to be real: add water and use it again.
Yep, this method is similar to the beloved blender trick where you pour in warm water and a squirt of soap, hit the button, and let it clean itself. But this time, the rice cooker does the work. No elbow grease. No stuck-on grains mocking you from the corners. Just one gentle cycle and a pot that looks like you actually tried.
Here’s how it works: Once you have scooped out your rice and you are left with a sticky or starchy inner pot, don’t let it sit until it fossilizes. Instead, fill the cooker with enough water to cover the rice residue. No need to scrub — just water. Close the lid, turn the cooker on, and let it heat until the water starts to simmer or cycle through again (about 5–10 minutes, depending on your model).
Steam it clean, skip the soak
What happens next feels like magic. That gentle heat and steam soften up the stuck-on bits—basically melting the mess off the sides. Once it cools slightly, you will find that even the most stubborn stove-top steamed white rice slide off with a rinse or a soft wipe. No scratching, no scrubbing, no “How long has this been crusted here?”
This trick is also handy for people who cook rice with add-ins like spices, butter, or oils (hello, biryani lovers). Those extra flavors are great on your plate, but they can leave behind some clingy memories in your rice pot. The steam-clean cycle breaks those down without damaging the nonstick surface or requiring industrial-strength cleaner.
A few things to keep in mind: don’t add soap or baking soda during the reheat cycl, just water. You don’t want soap bubbling all over your appliance. Always let the pot cool a little before handling. Once you have dumped the hot water, give it a final wipe with a soapy sponge for a squeaky-clean finish.
The best part? You can use this trick even if it’s been a few hours or overnight since dinner. The reheat function still works its magic, and you will wonder why you didn’t think of this sooner.
So the next time your rice cooker’s looking rough, don’t dread the clean-up. Just give it a rinse, run, and refresh. It’s the lazy cleaner’s dream. And your rice cooker deserves nothing less.
