Tiger Corporation SMJ-A18U 10-Cup Rice Cake Mochi Maker

The Tiger Corporation SMJ-A18U 10-Cup Rice Cake Mochi Maker is an excellent home mochi maker. It steams the rice and then it pounds and paddles the rice to a very smooth consistency. This is an wonderful machine. It has a 10-cup capacity. This machine is well worth the money. The machine is constructed very well. It is very solid, and it has a nice clean and sleek look. The outside casing is white and smooth. Cleans very easily with a damp cloth or sponge. Controls are easy to manage with Steam and with Pound. The machine is made in Japan, but sold in the US. It comes in a Tiger Corporation retail box for the mochi maker. It comes with a Limited Warranty of 1 year, and Japan Tiger Corrporation of USA is located in Torrance, CA. This machine can plug into US power wall sockets, AC 120V, 60 Hz. It is a machine made for the US. It does not need a step down power converter using this machine in the US. The machine has a regular balanced two-prong power cord. It will also work in Canada fine since Canada is also 120V, 60Hz like the US. Used in any other country, you will need a step-up/down power converter that works for your country and not just a plug adapter. Below at the bottom of the review, I have listed the electricity voltage of different countries. Using the machine in a country with a electricity voltage different than what the machine is designed for will damage the machine or damage it over time. Or, the machine will not work at all. Also if the machine does power while being used with the wrong electricity voltage, it will be operating at an incorrect speed and operate at an incorrect output. And, can start a fire. The operating instructions are in full English. It comes with clear and detailed step by step instructions with picture instructions on using the machine from start to finish. It has a chart on how much rice and how much water to use. It shows you how to wash and rinse the rice to prep for the machine. Use rice flour to keep from sticking to the tray and to your hands when you reach those steps. You can use cornstarch, but it makes more sense to keep with the consistency with rice using rice flour. It does not mention whether you can put the washable parts in the dishwasher. Dishwashing liquids, powders and gels are fairly harsh to certain materials and can damage the surface. And, the heat during drying can cause problems as well. The inner container is the main thing to be concerned about. I think the other plastic pieces and the wood roller would survive fine in the top rack of a dishwasher. Obvious concern on plastic is melting and warping, but you can decide if it is safe or not. The metal inner container is made of an unknown metal composition with a special coating. I know placing the inner pot of a rice cooker can cause certain made pots to change and become damaged and become stripped of the original surface of the rice cooker pot caused by the detergent and the heat bake during drying. And, the metal comes off as a powdery substance especially when you wipe the pot dry. You can see the metal all over your towel. I do not know how this metal inner pot will react to the dishwasher and the heat bake of drying. As much as I am paying for this machine, I rather play it safe and hand wash and hand dry this important part. You can order replacement parts from the company. The parts are available including the metal inner container, paddle piece and the other plastic accessories. I highly recommend this electric mochi maker. It is only a mochi maker. It does steam rice, but it is not a rice cooker. The rice does not get to wear it usually needs to be at in a rice cooker. It is also not a bread maker machine. There are bread maker machines that also can make mochi. This is only a mochi making machine. The machine is a little pricey, but it works wonderfully well. Better than one could imagine. Tiger Corporation also make a companion Mochi Cutter for this machine. I definitely recommend getting the mochi cutter if you can afford it along with the machine. But, it is not necessary. You can hand pull the mochi into pieces as the instructions will show. The mochi cutter just makes things a lot easier and cleaner. And, it also keeps you from having to have burned hands or have to deal with the very hot mochi in your hands. SMX -Rice Cake (Mochi) Cutter- Made in Japan The model number of the mochi cutter from Tiger Corporation is SMX-5400 or SMX-5401. I am not sure the model differences. I own the SMX-5401. The instructions of the SMX-5401 mochi cutter is in Japanese. But, there are step-by-step pictures of the process of what to do and how to use the mochi cutter that you will not need to read anything. The following information refers to the electricity voltage of some countries: Argentina 220V/50HZ Australia 240V/50HZ Belgium 230V/50HZ Brazil 110-220V/60HZ Britain 230V/50HZ Burma 230V/50HZ Canada 120V/60HZ Cuba 120V/60HZ Denmark 230V/50HZ Egypt 220V/50HZ Finland 230V/50HZ France 230V/50HZ Germany 230V/50HZ Greece 230V/50HZ Hungary 220V/50HZ India 230V/50HZ Indonesia 220V/50HZ Italy 230V/50HZ Japan 100V/50-60HZ Malaysia 240V/50HZ Mexico 127V/60HZ Netherlands 230V/50HZ New Zealand 240V/50HZ Portugal 230V/50HZ Russia 220V/50HZ Saudi Arabia 127V-220V/60HZ Singapore 230V/50HZ South Africa 220V/50HZ South Korea 220V/60HZ Spain 230V/50HZ Sri Lanka 230V/50HZ Sweden 230V/50HZ Switzerland 230V/50HZ Thailand 220V/50HZ Turkey 220V/50HZ Vietnam 220V/50HZ U.S.A. 120V/60HZ

The last time I had FRESH omochi was at least 20 years ago, when I was a kid. Two of my friends had moms who had omochi machines, and I'd go over there to play and sometimes their moms would make omochi. I begged my mom to buy an omochi machine so we could have it all the time, but she always said "they're too expensive" (and they were/are). WELL FINALLY I CAN AFFORD TO BUY ONE, AND I'M SO GLAD I DID!!!!! This omochi machine is perfect. It does exactly what I want it to: MAKE PERFECT FRESH OMOCHI!!!!!!! My first batch was perfect, and it literally made me cry. I was so happy. 20+ years later and I'm finally enjoying the bouncy, chewy, subtly sweet perfection that is fresh omochi <3 I didn't even have to buy a transistor/converter for the machine, since it's made for the US market! It's expensive, but this machine is 100% worth it. I only wish it could make smaller batches -- the smallest batch it makes was waaaaaaay too much for us to finish. I'll have to give a bunch away every time I make it, haha. That's ok. It's so easy to make, and it makes it so perfectly! And you can do so much with the omochi too, there are so many different ways to eat it!!! You can enjoy it alone, with some soy sauce (my boyfriend's favorite), with sweetened soy sauce, with anko (sweet red bean paste) stuffed inside or wrapped outside (but that takes some time to make), or my easy favorite: mix kinako (roasted soybean flour) with a little white sugar, and roll or dip the omochi in it! There are so many more ways to eat it. Omochi so good no matter how you decide to enjoy it, and this machine makes is so easy to make it perfectly, consistently!!! Best specialized appliance I own <3 (Just be careful eating fresh omochi: it's very sticky. Seriously, take small bites and chew thoroughly. People are known to choke on it because they eat too voraciously!)

This mocha machine works good, not great, but after a few experiments with the water and pounding, it turned out quite good. I like it because I can make mocha anytime during the year. We usually pound the mocha the old way with the usu and mallet, but this year couldn't so this is the next best thing. Did make the kasame just before New Year's eve, so that is also great.

Does a great job making fresh mochi. Some things which are and are not apparent from the description. 1) The cooking timer, when finished, will buzz (loudly) until you push the stop button. 2) The unit does not automatically start pounding the rice when the cooking timer goes off. You must push the stop button to stop the cooking timer, then push the pound button. 3) Once the pound button is pushed, the unit will not stop pounding until you push the stop button. There is no built in timer, so you must set an independent timer to stop (the machine) at a specified time. 4) As sticky as mochi is, this unit really is relatively easy to clean in hot water. I throw the paddle in a bowl of cold water, and wash it in hot, running water when cleaning up. If you pick off most of the mochi at the start, it cleans up with a sponge, soap, and hot water. Hardly any mochi sticks to the bowl, I've yet to have to wash the bowl in hot water, usually a wiping out with a rag cleans it up. 5) The largest amount of mochi this machine can process is 10 cups, the minimum is 5 cups. 6) The lid doubles as a 'pan' you can dump your mochi in or use to form a mochi cake, if you're doing blocks. Make sure to starch it well before dumping your mochi in it. It also cleans up well with hot water and a soapy sponge. Do NOT use a sponge with a scouring pad, as you do not want to scratch the surface of the plastic. 7) If you've got doubts about this making good mochi, perish the thought. The machine is very good and should survive many years of use.

If it were possible, I'd give this product and seller less that 1 star. Our Mochi Maker arrived with the packaging in tact, but the internal working parts must not have been fastened securely, because within the first second the motor was turned on, you could hear the parts inside the machine grinding. We immediately turned off the machine, and tried it again - but the motor had seized. One would assume this would be covered with the warranty - but since the item was shipped from USA, and we live in Canada, it is apparently not covered by the warranty in Canada, nor the USA! The return/exchange procedures with Amazon is an automated process which does not allow one to exchange communication to explain our situation regarding the warranty issue... Instead, we received a shipping label to return our item - which in theory is fine; but in reality was a real disappointment. While, the company did refund our purchase price, the Mochi Maker cost us over $50 to ship back to the USA. Had we been able to talk to a live person, we may have been able to arrange a refund of the shipping expense. Or in the least, would have liked another "working" machine sent out to us. I just feel that the cost of shipping a defective item back to the seller should not be incurred by the buyer. In the future, we will look to try this product from a Canadian source, which would mean the warranty would be applicable.