For years cooking rice for me was a real hassle.  I could never get it right.  It would always be too wet and soggy or too dry and burning the bottom of the pot.  Rice is supposed to be a side dish and but the attention I had to give it was like it was the main course. Then my brother gave me a rice cooker as a gift one year.  Now, I am opposed to kitchen gadgets because they take up room in the kitchen and seem to only be used once or twice a year.  But this one is invaluable.  With the cooker, I can dump in the rice, dump in the water and then just push one button and I am done.  Perfect rice every time! Today I cannot live without my rice cooker.  I am free to concentrate on the rest of the meal preparation and not worry about the rice.  When the cooker signals that it is done, I find that I have to pull the plug since the “keep warm” feature runs too hot and the rice will start sticking to the bottom of the cooker after a few minutes.  So I just pull the plug, give it a stir and leave it uncovered.  It will still keep itself warm for 30 minutes while I prepare the rest of the meal.  This saves electricity too! Aroma brand, ARC-407 is what I have at home but they all seem to work the same way.  Just get any cheap model and I’m sure it will work well.