7-IN-1 Multicooker

I initially purchased the VitaClay because I was looking for a ricecooker without a metal / teflon-coated cooking vessel. This slow cooker's pot / vessel is made of unglazed clay. It gets your food hotter in quicker time than traditional slow cookers with glazed vessels. Cuts cook time in half. As far as rice cooking, I mean, it cooks every variety of rice perfectly, supposing you can figure out how much water to pour in. It cooks cous cous, as well as beans, lentils, etc.. I have not used it to make yogurt yet, but it has a yogurt making function. The timer and delay start function work well. The vessel cleans like a breeze; it takes less than two minutes to thoroughly clean and dry both vessel and lid. I purchased a silicone steam basket that fits perfectly in the pot; the lid covers and top closes even with the basket, so I can steam veggies or proteins while cooking rice. It also allows use of the unit as a steamer; it isn't really a fast steamer, but it isn't what it was made for. I am a 25 year old dude, and I use this thing pretty much every day. You can set it in the morning to have steel cut oats and fruit ready for breakfast; you can have steamed rice and veggies waiting hot and warm at day's end. Also, you can buy extra clay pots and lids for approximately 25 dollars from the company; so, real easy to have something made in the fridge and then throw it in the unit, especially given the quick cook times. I have had my unit for 5 months, and I think I'm vitaclay's best spokesperson because I tell all my friend and family about this thing. The Bad? Well, the first unit I received through my amazon order had a defunct clock and timer; it would flash an error signal that pretty much meant it was busted. Amazon returns are quick and easy though, and I have had my second unit for almost six months. It sees heavy use. My last critique relates to the zisha clay from which it is made. The stuff comes from China, which sounds cool, but China is home to some serious pollution, and who knows whats in the groundwater over there (hey, we don't know here in the States either). So, I was initially attracted to the Vitaclay because I wanted to avoid marginal worries about teflon and aluminum toxicity. Why trade de minimis worry for a pot made of clay from a heavily polluted place? For its part, Vitaclay says it batch tests everything for lead and other harmfuls in accord w/ certain import regulations/standards. It is all well-documented on their website. Really though, the health question comes down to a bit of faith I think; hope this clay is safe. And, I want the clay to be safe because this is the best dang kitchen appliance I have ever owned. I am about to buy one for my mom, and I'm going to buy myself an extra pot and lid.

I was a little concerned because of some of the reviews on other VitaClay products, but decided to give it a try anyway. I really liked an idea of having a clay pot in the multi-cooker. Well, I have no regrets whatsoever that I gave it a chance. I love the delayed start option, with three toddlers it makes breakfasts much easier with hot cereal being ready by the time everybody gets out of their beds. Yesterday I've cooked enough cereal for two mornings and all I had to do today is to add milk ind put it for 30 sec in the micro, while last night I braised some fresh turkey, added diced veggies and whole grain pasta, and put the pot in the fridge. This afternoon I simply added some water and put it in the cooker for 30 minutes and the lunch was ready. It's great! The taste is great, I don't have to think about it wile it's cooking, I didn't notice any aluminum on the bottom of the pot, as one of the reviewers mentioned, and another one said that she was concerned about the steam condensing on the aluminum cover and then going back to the food through the wholes in the clay lid - I've found an easy solution, I simply put a terry washcloth on top of the clay pot lid and it absorbs all of the moisture from steam. Some mentioned that it cooks too fast for the slow cooker. I think I will agree, but I never liked the food from the slow cooker anyway, so if you're looking for the slow cooker, just go for the traditional crock pot. All in all I really recommend it so far to anybody, who wants to save time in the kitchen. UPDATE 8/8/2009 You've got to be really careful with pouring cool water over the hot pot. Of course it's a common sense, but sometimes things happen. My pot had cracked and I needed to order a replacement pot and it turned out to be a not an easy task. Only 3 places on the internet ship these pots, but one has a 1 star review from a previous buyer for not shipping their orders, another one promises free shipping with no minimum orders and immediately tries to charge you $11 for shipping and the last one is the manufacturer's site [...] which charges you $20 for the shipping (the cost of the pot is around $25). It is also important that you order the right pot, because different models use different pots and the only place to find that out is [...] were you have to download the Excell file in order to find out the model number of the pot you need. I did place an order with the manufacturer after all. UPDATE 5/15/2010 I recently had a wonderful experience with making yogurt and cheese using this multi-cooker. Using the termometer I heated the milk, using the reheat cycle to 180F, turned it off and let the milk cool to 115F (thermometer similar to this one, it will beep once the desired temperature is reached Polder THM-360 Dual Probe Cooking Thermometer, Black ), than just added some plain yogurt as starter, I used greek yogurt, replaced the clay lid, placed a terry cloth on top of it and locked the top cover of the multi-cooker. It was turned off but kept the temperature beautifully for long enough to let the yogurt cultures work the milk into a great, thick yogurt. Last night I used half milk and half yogurt, just used reheat cycle again until the milk curdled (7-10 min), let it cool and strained it overnight in the yogurt strainer Cuisipro Donvier Yogurt Cheese Maker . This morning we've had beautiful crepes filled with creamy yogurt cheese, mixed with some vanilla bean paste, rasins and a little sugar. I love this cooker even more now )

Can I give negative stars?!? FIRE HAZARD--MELTS!!!! Complete waste of time and money....let me say...I really wanted to love it! I was excited it had a safe, non-toxic clay insert and was going to replace my crock pot with the VitaClay. It spent less than 48 hours in my kitchen before it went back!! First, upon opening the box....the plastic outside part is CHEAP, cheap, can you say CHEAPLY made?! The latch that holds the lid down has a spring that fits into a shallow plastic circle...the spring popped out twice before I even used it...this means you have to shut the outer lid several times before it will stay closed...the seams are rough...the feet slid very easily across my counter because the pads are too tiny to hold it in place...Okay so I thought I would over look that....the clay insert seems to be higher quality...except...it has a fatal design flaw...the handle on the clay lid is VERY tiny...and is even recessed into the lid...so you have to grasp it with finger tips to open...once cooked it is hot and requires a towel to hold it with...almost impossible and I could see it being dropped and broken in no time...no way you could use a thick pot holder... but I decided to make do and try to cook with it....again...I REALLY wanted to make it work and keep it. So...you know that plastic smell other reviewers mention??! Yeah...VERY very bad plastic smell when cooking with it...super disappointing for a "safe" "non-toxic" product...plastic off-gassing fumes seriously?! (Im on a Gerson Therapy diet to heal cancer and this isn't what you want...) So I know the reviews say the smell goes away after a few uses...my rice did turn out fluffy and tasty...and none stuck to the bottom of the clay at all...so we washed it and put it away...the next day I thought I would make a stew...upon pulling the VitaClay out of the cabinet...I noticed it no longer sat level on my counter...there was at least a 1/4 inch difference in the height of the feet...hmmm....looking more closely...the stainless outer cover looked warped...further examination....the bottom plastic black part had actually MELTED up into the stainless cover part on one side!! By at least 1/2 inch!!! I guess we are lucky our kitchen didn't burn down! How can they sell such a fire hazard??! I wonder if upon inspection, those other reviewers that note the burning plastic smell will notice the same...its your VitaClay MELTING INTO ITSELF. SO, so disappointing. Don't bother...right back into the box for a refund.

I could not be more pleased with the VitaClay rice cooker! It is everything I hoped it would be. I probably invested about $1000 of my time researching rice cookers before making this purchase. I was very concerned about the VitaClay due to prior reviews I read here. I called VitaClay's manufacturer twice and I also did research at a lot of other sites. Ultimately, I decided to take a chance on the VitaClay, but I also planned to order a purely stainless steel model too. However, now that I have used the VitaClay for a week (cooking with it every day), I know this is the rice cooker for me. I do not need to look any further. It cooks perfect brown rice. I have also cooked rice + mung dal in it many times. The food doesn't stick to the clay pot. The flavors are great. I am satisfied that the quality of the clay pot is good. It passes California's tough regulations. These days I hesitate to purchase anything from China, but I'm comfortable that this product is safe. The rice cooker does not give off any unusual smells. My concerns about potential toxic materials in the cooker have disappeared after inspecting and using it. The construction quality is very high. It is super easy to clean. The controls are easy to use. The design looks nice. I feel I got a lot of value for my money. UPDATE: I have had my VitaClay rice cooker for almost two years now. i like it more than ever. It has held up well. It still looks like new even though I use it almost every day. I have had zero problems with it. BTW, the heating element does not come into contact with the food. The heating element is outside of the clay pot. The food only touches the clay. And, at the time I purchased mine, the owner of the company told me they do not use a non-stick coating on the heating element. Is there a better and safer rice cooker on the market anywhere? I have not found one. I think the VitaClay rice cookers are the best available - and the price is incredibly low too. If I ever find myself in a position to give a rice cooker as a gift, I will only give a VitaClay. And I will not cook with anything else myself. UPDATE 2: Well, it is now more than four and a half years later and my VitaClay rice cooker is still working well and I still like it as much as I did when I first wrote this review. I still give it 5 stars.

The real reason I have nothing negative to write about this Rice and Slow Cooker is because I had no expectations that it would be the same as the other non-stick surface rice cookers and slow cookers. I expected it to - be different - cook differently - and I expected it to - contribute to my general health. IT HAS NOT DISAPPOINTED ME! I use it daily. I have cooked brown rice, white rice, wild rice mix, oatmeal, beef stew, lamb stew, chicken fricassee, split pea soup, lentil soup, black beans, ....... the list is just too long. I am COMPLETELY SATISFIED with this ceramic cooker. It is true that there is a small amount of rice that always sticks to the bottom of the pot. The reason for this is that I wanted to get rid of the poisonous non-stick surface on my previous rice cooker. This does not bother me. It is a very small amount of rice and it does not represent a large waste of food nor a large amount of money. My estimate is that it represents about $5.00 a year if you cook rice almost every day as I do. I am oh-so-very pleased to be rid of the teflon coated rice cooker. It's sitting in my Goodwill Industries take-away box. If you are wondering... do I buy it? Do I not buy it? The answer lies within your expectations. Do you want to be healthy? This is not a non-stick surface! Yes... the rice WILL stick a bit only on the bottom. I soak it for 30 minutes and the rice comes right off. I handle the pot and the top with GREAT CARE. I follow the instructions that came with the manual. No extreme changes in temperature. You can't take the ceramic pot out right after cooking and pour cold water in it. If you think you might be banging the pot and top - don't buy it... you will break it. It is not your old metal rice cooker. It is ceramic. It is somewhat fragile as all ceramic pots are. Do you want delicious food? Buy it. Do you want beef, lamb and chicken that you can cut with a fork it is so tender and juicy? Buy it. Do you want enhanced flavor in recipes you have been cooking for years? Buy it. The product, the packing and the shipping were Amazon's usual EXCELLENT. I had it at my door 2 days after buying and it was packed extremely well. I DO HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS COOKER to anyone that genuinely cares about their health and that is willing to be realistic in accepting that they are purchasing something different than what they are accustomed to. You will fall in love with it and use it many many times as I do! UPDATE: June 29, 2012 Still 100% pleased with this purchase. I use it almost every day. Today I put some navy beans, water, carrots, potato, onion, garlic, swiss chard and lamb in my pot... pressed soup and went out with family. When I got back I had an excellent Tuscan Navy Bean Soup waiting for me. My apartment smelled DEELICIOUS!!!! I love this pot. I've cooked about 20 different types of rice in it and the more I use it the more I value it and am so glad I took the risk and bought it. UPDATE: May 16, 2012 Still 100% pleased with this purchase and use it almost every day.

I bought this slow cooker three years ago. I don’t trust most slow cookers because of their non-stick inner pot even if they are stainless steel on the outside. There are some on the market which have a stainless steel pot, however I thought that the flavor benefits of the porous even heating surface of the clay would be worth trying. So, three years later we are using the pot almost every day! I like to make very creamy porridge in the mornings. Either I put all the ingredients in the night before and set the automatic delay timer on, or I do it in the mornings and don’t have to worry about watching the pot or turning the heat off when it’s done. The automatic keep warm function is very handy for that. I add wheat germ, raisins for sweetness, hemp seeds and sometimes collagen powder along with the milk to our porridge recipe. I can’t tell you how glad I am to make something so nutritious for my kids for breakfasts with the minimum energy and effort. No more than it takes really to pour a cup of cereal! Other than for breakfasts I use this pot to make quick easy and nutritious meals when we have an extra busy day and either I only have 30mins to prepare a meal, or we need something ready as soon as we get home. Some of my favorite recipes that are a staple now in our family and are part of my recipe collection came from the recipe book that comes with the VitaClay. For example, the veggie sauce just involves cutting up the veggies and then pouring everything into the pot and setting it on stew function for two hours. It takes about 20mins to put everything together but the sauce is super healthy and I love the taste, it seems way more sophisticated than it really is and can easily be used as a main meal with some kind of protein added. Another favorite recipe from the book is their lentil stew and their minestrone soup. It’s my favorite minestrone soup recipe :) Lastly, I love using the pot to make something extra that would otherwise take up too much burner space on the oven top or be too much fuss. E.g. a side of rice or soup. I just have to put in the ingredients and then it cooks, switches off and keeps warm so I don’t have to pay attention to that and just focus on the rest of the menu. Wonderful! Impress your guests with how much you can cook in a short period of time :) There are only a couple downsides for this pot that we have found. Firstly, we are a family of four and sometimes I wish the pot was bigger so I could double the recipes and have enough left overs for a second meal the following day. At the moment only a little is leftover, enough for a side maybe. Also it’s not really big enough to make bone broth in bulk. Second point is that I would not use the pot to make yoghurt. The yoghurt I tried to make several times came out a little soggy and didn’t taste that great. I think that perhaps the porous nature of the pot means that unless you have any to do an extra tough cleaning job before you make your yoghurt the bacteria and flavors from your savory meals probably won’t mix well with making a vanilla yoghurt if you know what I mean! It’s just like a cast iron pan retains flavors I suppose. I just got a special yoghurt maker with separate small glass pots for making yoghurt and we shall see how that goes. Thirdly, although the recipe book is genius, the instruction manual is dodgy to say the least. The English is a little poor and you can tell someone who’s English is their second language wrote it. Secondly, there is an issue with the delay function. I believe you set the timer for the time you want the food to start cooking rather the time you want it to finish. However the manual says the opposite lol. Once you get the hang of how the slowcooker works you don’t really need the manual anymore for the most part and that’s a great relief. Lastly, our lid did break once but it was my husband dropping it by accident. We got a replacement shipped with no problems and have had no other breakages thus far. I am careful not to create sudden changes of temperature for the pot or put it in the sink with other dishes. The lid is hard to lift but the new models I believe come with a little metal hook which solves the problem with the flat lid knob. Customer service did ship me the metal hook after I asked which was great. Some of the The porridge can get stuck on the bottom if I don’t add enough liquid or leave it on warm for too long. However it’s easy to get off since it scrapes off with a wood spatula safely or if the worst comes to the worst you can just cook another meal in it and it will loosen up the bottom burn on.

So I've been using this every day for several weeks now. Good: 1. The food does seem to taste a little better coming out of this clay pot than it did in stainless steel (not really surprised but still, it is noticeable). 2. The automatic settings work as advertised, you really can just set it and leave it without foamy water running all over the sides like many rice cookers. Gets rice perfect every time pretty much. 3. Pretty easy to clean. 4. Food doesn't come into contact with plastic or metal. Bad: 1. The clay top that fits onto the pot is designed to make it as difficult as possible to take off while the pot is still hot, the design is almost unforgivable considering how easy it would have been to do something better. You need a REAL oven mitt to take it off, one that is thin enough to grab the lid whilst also being thick enough not to get burned by any burning water that might have collected there. I'm sure there are some other McGuyver solutions to make this a little less of a problem. Borderline dangerous. 2. When you press the button to open the outer shell of the pressure cooker, it has a little bit too much of a spring load to it. You need to be aware of this when opening the cooker after it has been cooking because hot water has usually collected underneath the cooker lid and it can jump out at you if you let the top just fly back. Again, not the safest feature in a pressure cooker. Advice: Read some of the other reviews here before you buy, especially about how to maintain the device, do's and dont's, etc. Conclusion: Overall I'm satisfied with the purchase. I'm a little concerned that they can only verify these are 95.5% lead free, but I guess my carrots come with a prop 65 warning now so this probably isn't any worse. Worth the problems to have a cooker that doesn't cook in plastic or metal.

This is a nice basic rice cooker. Well maybe it does more than that but it cooks my rice real nice. Pro - You’re not eating non-stick nastiness and can feel morally superior to your plebeian friends. Con - The digital display was programmed by a puppy. It counts down while cooking in 00.X format. Then it beeps when done. Great. But then it starts counting back up to let you know how long it’s been done cooking. And you’d think “oh cool they have three digits and a decimal to work with I’m sure they figured out a smart and simple solution to display this time elapsed that’s totally different from the cooking countdown” but you’d be a silly goose for thinking that. Nope, they used the same exact 00.X format. It makes for a fun game when you come into the kitchen and see 00.2 and don’t know if it’s still cooking or if it’s been done for 20 minutes. Also the clay pot is very nice and I don’t want to wash it while it’s still too warm and potentially crack it from the change in temp, so that just adds a little time to the cleanup.