Inomata Plastic Japanese Rice Washing Bowl with Strainer, 2 quart

There are two versions of the Inomata Japanese Rice washing Bowl with Strainer, and I purchased them both. Below I’ll describe them and outline the differences: PURPOSE: These bowls were designed for rinsing rice before cooking, and they do so quite well. Rinsing rice is one of those challenging activities where you can’t use a traditional colander because the holes may be too big and the rice will pass through, and a standard bowl is tricky to get all the water out without pouring some rice out along with it. You could use these bowls for rinsing other things as well, like beans, faro, fruits or vegetables. You may or may not have good results with smaller grains like quinoa for example, as quinoa is quite small. Both bowls are made in Japan of Polypropylene and are stamped “PP” on the underside. They indicate a minimum temperature of -20 °C (-4 °F) degrees and a max temperature of 120 °C or 248 °F. Polypropylene, according to Wikipedia, will melt at 171 °C, or 340 °F. Since water boils at 100 °C or 212 °F, you should theoretically be able to use this as a strainer for pasta (as many shoppers have asked) but it drains so slowly that you wouldn’t want to. I have also heard that Polypropylene can be damaged (cosmetically) by prolonged contact with boiling water, so I did not want to test this out. The small bowl nests inside the large bowl, although not completely perfect. Both bowls have a reinforced hole in the handle (if you can call it that, it’s really just a small tab) which you can use for hanging if you have a small hook. Note the measurements for each bowl described in the listing, where the small bowl is listed as 2 qt or 8 cups, and the large bowl is listed as 2.5 quarts or 10 cups. Note that a customary “cup” for measurement in the United States is 8 fluid ounces, or about 236.6 milliliters. Most rice cookers come with their own measuring cups which are designed to measure out a portion of rice, which is usually less than a standard customary “cup” in US measurement. My Zojirushi, for example, came with two cups, one for white rice (which actually holds 180ml, or just over 6 fluid ounces, or a generous ¾ cup) and one for brown rice (which actually holds 171 ml, or about 5.7 fluid ounces, or slightly less than ¾ of a cup). I measured the capacity of each bowl in customary fluid ounces by lining each bowl with plastic wrap and then filling with water. More on that test below. SMALL BOWL (2 qt): This bowl is 8 inches in diameter, 6 inches tall, and the diameter of the base is 6 inches. The small bowl does not have holes in the bottom, only drainage holes on the spout. If this bowl were solid, and filled completely to the top, it would hold 8.5 cups of water. To use it for it’s intended purpose, you wouldn’t want to fill it that high since you’d spill rice out trying to rinse it. You can rinse a maximum of about 8 (customary US cups) cups of rice in this bowl, 5-7 would be more comfortable (7-9 “rice cooker” measuring cups!). Because this bowl doesn’t have holes on the bottom, you could leave about some water standing if you had any reason to soak something in the bowl. For this, you can fill the bowl with 4 cups before it starts spilling out the spout. LARGE BOWL (2.5 qt): This bowl is 8.5 inches in diameter, 6 inches tall, and the diameter of the base is 6 inches. This bowl has small holes in the bottom in addition to the drainage holes on the spout. These holes are about the diameter of a large paperclip, unfolded. The base is raised slightly higher than the small bowl to allow for drainage. If this bowl were solid, and filled completely to the top, it would hold 10.5 cups of water. To use it for it’s intended purpose, you wouldn’t want to fill it that high since you’d spill rice out trying to rinse it. You can rinse a maximum of about 9-10 (customary US) cups of rice in this bowl, 6-8 cups comfortably (10-12 “rice cooker” measuring cups!). Because this bowl has holes on the bottom, all the water would eventually drain out so you can’t soak anything in it. I would like to point out though, that the holes on the bottom are very small, and will drain slowly, so you don’t need a constant, heavy stream of water for rinsing. They are so small in fact, that the bowl will retain a shallow pool of water because the weight of about ½ inch of water wouldn’t create enough pressure to completely drain through the holes. The holes are about the diameter of a large paperclip, unfolded. I hope this review helps anyone interested in purchasing these bowls. I couldn’t make up my mind, and since they were a good price, I bought both, but if I had to do it again and buy only one, I’d choose the larger one with holes in the bottom since it’s more functional (and holds a little bit more, without taking up much more room).

I recently bought a professional rice cooker, and the Inomata Japanese Rice Washing Bowls have been a fantastic addition to my kitchen. If you’re someone who likes to wash rice repeatedly to get it just right, these bowls make the process so much easier. The design is simple but effective, with a built-in strainer that allows you to drain the rice effortlessly after each wash. The size is perfect for handling even larger batches, and the quality of the material feels durable and well-made. These bowls have become an essential part of my rice-cooking routine, and I highly recommend them to anyone who’s serious about making perfect rice. They save time and make the process a lot more convenient.

This makes rinsing the rice before putting it into the rice cooker so easy. Instead of washing the rice in the inner pot (of rice cooker), this makes the job of washing it very quick. It also allows for more accuracy with adding the got amount of water to make perfect rice each time!

I ordered these to wash rice, since we cook a lot of Asian foods. Washing rice in a bowl is difficult due to the swirling (possibility for mess) as well as the draining (again mess as well as lost rice)... so a rice specific washing bowl is a great idea. This basically takes on the job of a colander but it keeps all of the rice in the bowl instead of losing it through the holes. It is also better than a sieve as it allows drains better for rice and it allows swirling the rice more easily to get rid of contaminants. It makes rice washing much faster, but I have also started using it in place of a colander for any foods that I soak, rehydrate, or just quick rinse. It stands well in the sink like a colander, though it drains a bit more slowly. It is light and easier to manage than most other options, as well as having a sloped side for easy empty into another container. Long grain rice seems to not have issue with stuck during washing... so far, it is easily cleaned and rinsed. I have recently started washing fruits and vegetables in these as the water flow is slower and saves on the water bill and the environment. I find that these were worth the 11USD price and that they have improved some things in the kitchen. I am rating these products four stars... as they are not a new amazing device, but still a big improvement over what we had. As always, your mileage and preferences may vary...

Excellent quality rice washer. Extremely easy to use and no spillage. Love that its made in Japan and not the other place.

Absolutely perfect rice washing bowl. I used to use a regular bowl and draining was so difficult without a ton of rice falling into the sink. I use this all the time now and it works so well.

This is such a handy bowl! I use it for rinsing rice before cooking as intended. It’s also perfect for draining canned goods, rinsing canned beans and/or draining and breaking up canned fish or chicken for recipes. I use it often. It’s lightweight and fits nicely with my other bowls. I highly recommend this versatile bowl strainer.

Makes rinsing rice and veggies easy!