Just Bento

This may be totally wrong, though! I'm just telling you what I do, because I saw there weren't any responses yet. If I make some rice right before bed, I just cook it as usual and then let it sit on the warm setting until morning. I think some of my Japanese friends let it soak for a bit before the timer is set to start cooking, but I'm not sure for how long. I will ask and try to get back to you!

Hi Rusillio! I usually wash the rice and leave it to soak overnight, with the timer set so that it finishes cooking in the morning. The rice doesn't spoil in a few hours, especially in the closed environment of the rice cooker, especially white rice. Personally I prefer this way so that I have freshly cooked rice rather than rice that's been kept warm for some hours (it can spoil that way too, though again for a few hours its fine).

If you've ever sprouted seeds for example, many require some soaking in water before sowing for the best germination, and they dont spoil in that time. Rice is just seeds, if you think about it!

thank you so much! It's so difficult to choose the right rice cooker, before investing in one with a preset timer I wanted to make sure it was worth it.

I cooked my rice overnight and left it in the cooker till morning and found that on some of the rice, there was a little yellow spot. Does that mean it has spoilt? I only noticed it after I ate almost half -_-"

I LOVE having a timer on my rice cooker! Rather than using it overnight though, I wash rice in the morning and set the timer so it cooks right before I get home from work. (it soaks most of the day) One less step to getting dinner ready! I like to cook a mix of white and brown rice, and I've found the soaking helps soften the brown rice to where you can cook everything on the white rice setting.

Maki is right on--if your rice has gone bad you'll definitely know it. We had some leftover rice in the fridge one time go bad...eeew

I set mine to start cooking about an hour before I wake up before going to school. I've never had a problem with the rice spoiling. If I have leftover rice in the cooker for over three hours or so on warm, the rice will start to get hard, overcooked and dry. At this point you can put it in a soup or make fried rice, depending on the damage. I like frying rice with some butter, umm, butter rice. : )