Cheap Aroma rice cooker has me eating my words of praise, Costco wines + more

This Aroma Professional Rice Cooker came with a 5-year warranty, but the appliance started malfunctioning in October, about 2 years after we purchased it at Costco Wholesale in Teterboro for the bargain-basement price of $29.99.

One feature we liked was this collector, which caught condensation from inside the electric cooker. We could remove it to throw the water into the sink.

-- HACKENSACK, N.J.

By VICTOR E. SASSON

EDITOR

Forgive the play on words, but I smelled a bargain in October 2015 when I saw an electric rice cooker going for only $29.99 at my Costco Wholesale warehouse.

As I put the box into my shopping cart, my wife's complaints about the slowness of our Panasonic 10-cup Fuzzy Logic Rice Cooker rang in my ears.

The Panasonic cooker I got from Amazon.com in April 2013 cost $67.99, but listed for $89.99 -- three times the price of the bargain Aroma Professional Cooker.

But the Aroma cooker, made in China, stopped working in October, two years after I bought it.

So now that I've returned the malfunctioning Aroma cooker to my Teterboro Costco for a full refund, I am ready to eat the words of praise I lavished on it in a post on Do You Really Know What You're Eating?

$29.99 rice cooker is better

 than one costing three times the price

Our Panasonic 10-cup Fuzzy Logic Rice Cooker is slower, but has operated flawlessly since we bought it in April 2013.

In October 2015, the 5-year warranty listed on the box hooked me, but to get the cooker repaired or replaced, I would have had to pay for shipping the Aroma cooker both ways to San Diego, Calif., at a cost that would have exceeded the purchase price ($22 each way). 

Cuckoo rice cookers, which are made in South Korea, were on sale at the H Mart in Little Ferry on Sunday.

Our disposable culture

I received several comments in response to my original post on purchasing the cheap rice cooker, and the one from Phoebe Alexis proved prescient.

"The reason why many Asian folks invest in brands like Zojirushi and Tiger is because those rice cookers last! Parts can be replaced!

"We live in a disposable culture and should concentrate more on a few quality products that will LAST.... I seriously doubt that Aroma Cooker can match a Tiger (made in Japan) cooker that will last for years!!!! I appreciate your point of view but am very skeptical."

So, Pheobe, wherever you are, thanks for the valuable lesson in price v. quality or as many say, You get what you pay for.

Cases of wine on display at the Costco Wholesale in the Wayne Towne Center mall (149 Route 23 in Wayne). Unlike the liquor-store concession at the Teterboro warehouse, the Wayne Costco sells private-label wines from California, France, Italy, Argentina and other countries under the Kirkland Signature label.

Kirkland Signature 2014 Meritage from California's Napa Valley is a red wine made from five different grapes, including Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot.

Best value in wine

Kirkland Signature wines from Costco offer the best value, but in northern New Jersey, only the warehouse in the Wayne Towne Center has a state liquor license to sell them.

One example is the Kirkland Signature 2015 Malbec from Argentina at $6.99, one of the bottles of red wine I picked up last Thursday.

Others included Kirkland Signature 2014 Meritage, $11.59; 2015 Napa County Cabernet Sauvignon, $12.99; and 2016 Russian River Valley Pinot Noir, also $12.99.

TY KU Silver Junmai Sake from Japan was $14.99 at the Wayne Costco.

A whole Jamon Serrano from Spain, where it was cured for 14 months, with a stand and slicing knife was $129.99 at the Wayne Costco. The weight was given as 15.43 pounds to 16.53 pounds.

More organics

On a visit to the Teterboro Costco on Saturday, when I replaced a damaged Michelin tire on my car, I noticed more organic products than before.

It's now possible to buy the basics -- bread, dairy or almond milk, eggs, salad mix, coffee beans and many other items -- and choose chemical-free organic over conventionally raised or grown.

This 2-pound, 8-ounce bag of Fair Trade Organic Whole Bean Coffee from Peru is not only free of harmful pesticides and chemical fertilizers, but also is a good deal at $10.99, and I was able to grind it at the Teterboro warehouse, below. 

I use a Turkish grind in my drip coffee maker to expose as much coffee as possible to hot water, producing a more robust cup of Joe.

Other organic coffee beans were available, including these from Mexico.

Plainville Farms Organic Turkey Breast (1.25 pounds for $10.89) may be the only cold cut sold at the Teterboro Costco that wasn't made from poultry or meat raised on harmful human antibiotics.

Pasta Prima Organic Spinach & Cheese Ravioli are delicious cooked, splashed with extra-virgin olive oil and sprinkled with grated cheese. You get 2.25 pounds for $9.99.

My wife says Costco no longer sells Kirkland Signature Whole Grain Bread so she brought home organic loaves, Dave's Killer Bread with 21 whole grains and seeds (two 27-ounce loaves were $7.39; one loaf at the Paramus Target was $5.89). I love this bread toasted, spread with a little pesto or used in a sandwich of reduced-fat Swiss cheese, wild smoked salmon and Campari tomato slices, all available at Costco, below.

I used three spreads on the sandwich: Dijon mustard, red-pepper paste and pesto.

Kirkland Signature Organic Unsweetened Almond Non-Dairy Beverage (Vanilla) may be the substitute for 1% lactose-free milk when having coffee or cereal. Six quarts of the almond milk were $7.99.

I was tempted by these prepared mussels from Canada's Prince Edward Island, but the garlic butter was a turnoff. 

CORRECTION: Here are two organic eggs from Costco with smoked wild salmon and organic quinoa. The photo I posted originally showed two duck eggs from Goffle Road Poultry Farm in Wyckoff. Two dozen Kirkland Signature Organic Eggs are $5.99 at Costco.