The Tefal Rice Cooker RK7321 is a compact, multi-functional rice cooker that incorporates Artificial Intelligence feature that ensures exceptional precision and automatic adjustment of cooking time and temperature for optimum results. Can the Tefal Rice Cooker “rice” up to the Asian standard?
Tefal Rice Cooker RK7321 Specifications
- 1.8 L or 10 cups capacity suitable for large families
- Spherical non-stick pot
- 8 preset cooking programs
- Fuzzy Logic AI time and temperature adjustments
Tefal Rice Cooker Review
Rice is a staple for many Asian families, and being an Asian I’m particularly picky about the quality of rice that I eat. Tefal is a premium French home appliances maker that offer great products at affordable prices. But how is the Tefal rice cooker compared to other Asian brands?
Rice Quality
The Tefal RK7321 Rice Cooker produces well-cooked and fluffy rice thanks to the Fuzzy Logic AI temperature and time control. I noticed the cooking time is adjusted to the amount of rice (and water) so that’s an added advantage compare to pre-programmed cooking function. However, I need to adjust (increase) the amount of water compared to what is recommended by the rice manufacturer. Probably the rice cooker tends to cook at higher temperature and hence evaporates a lot of the water through steam.
Spherical Pot
The spherical pot is kind of nice in design and it has non-stick coating. However, the non-stick property tends to be on the low quality side because I ends up with a lot of rice sticking to the pot especially after I “Keep Warm” for a while. This is probably due to the water retention issue like I mentioned in the last paragraph. The pot is made of aluminum instead of ceramic in many of Asian branded rice cookers. Perhaps for this reason, sometimes the rice got “burned” at the bottom during the “Keep Warm” period.
The pot is easy to wash and the “sticky” rice can be rinse easily either using hand wash or dishwasher. However, part of the pot’s coating starts to come off after I’ve been using the it for a few months.
Cooking Programs
There are 8 preset cooking programs on the Tefal Rice Cooker. They are selected using physical buttons on the rice cooker. The most commonly used program is White Rice, Slow Cook (Stew) and Soup/Congee. However since there is no display on the rice cooker, the cooking time is un-controllable and un-predictable which is a big hassle when preparing a meal. Most of the time, you want to know when the rice will cooked finish so that the other dishes are served together. There is no audible alert or sound when it finished as well, as there only a green light indicator on the Power button.
Design Flaws
The RK7321 Tefal Rice Cooker has a serious design flaw with the lid. Water will pools in the rubber gasket during cooking and spills onto the heating element when opened which is a potential safety hazard. I always have to prepare a dry cloth to wipes the water whenever I open the lid after cooking. Another design flaw is the lid is non-removable for cleaning while many others rice cookers’ lid can be removed.
Final Thoughts
The Tefal Rice Cooker RK7321 is a modern, multi-functional rice cooker that can cook a close to perfect rice for Asian standard. However, there are several minor inconveniences like the lack of display (cooking time), audible alert after cooking and “burned” rice can be a nuisance for some. The durability of the pot is questionable and there is also the issue with the lid that can cause safety hazard if not handled properly.