The Breville BRC600XL is called the “Risotto Plus” because its main cooking function is stir-free risotto. Nevertheless, it is a multi-cooker that can also cook rice, steam vegetables and slow cook soup or stew. My review of the Breville BRC600XL looks at its cooking capacity and settings before ending with my conclusion.
What is risotto?
It is an Italian dish made with rice that is cooked in a broth made with vegetable or meat stock. Ingredients such as onions, cheese, mushrooms and white wine might be added for extra flavor. Short or medium-grain white rice is used because it absorbs the liquid and produces a sticky, creamy texture.
Here are a few notes on making risotto, which might come in handy when we consider the Risotto Plus rice cooker. First, the rice is not rinsed because the starch contributes to the creaminess of the finished dish. Start by cooking onions in butter or olive oil. Add the rice and continue cooking it together with the onions. Add some white wine and let the rice grains absorbs the moisture. Now, increase the heat and add the vegetable, beef or fish stock little by little while stirring constantly. Let the rice cook, but keep stirring! Remove from heat and add some butter and grated Parmesan cheese. Serve and eat as soon as possible.
Capacity
The Breville BRC600XL has an aluminum cooking bowl which is coated with a PTFE and PFOA free nonstick ceramic coating. The rice cooker has a 10-cup uncooked, 20-cup cooked rice capacity. You should use the included rice measuring cup, which is probably smaller than a normal cup size.
Settings
The Breville BRC600XL is a multi-cooker that can do more than just one dish. It has the following cooking functions:
- Risotto
- Sauté
- Rice
- Steam
- Slow Cook Low/High
- Auto Keep Warm
The Breville BRC600XL is called the Risotto Plus, so it should make good risotto, right? We mentioned earlier that risotto needs to be stirred regularly, so how does the Risotto Plus do that? Well, it seems like it achieves a stir-free risotto through the boiling action, which agitates the rice and releases the starch. However, do not expect this risotto to gain favor with an Italian chef. Nevertheless, it is good enough for the rest of us. You also do not need to stand behind a hot stove to constantly stir the rice.
The Sauté function is useful for searing onions, vegetables or meat portions to improve the overall flavor of the finished dish. Many owners love the sauté feature, and some use it to brown onions or garlic before making soup with the slow cook function.
There is only one button for rice, but you can cook white rice or brown rice if you follow the instructions in the manual. However, a few people have complained that the rice it cooks is not better than what you would get from a much cheaper rice cooker.
You can use the steaming function and the included stainless steel steaming tray for steaming meat or vegetables.
The Slow Cook function turns the Breville BRC600XL into a slow cooker. However, the BRC600XL does not turn off automatically like a real slow cooker. The pot is probably too small to roast a large piece of meat. Therefore, the BRC600XL probably won’t replace your electric slow cooker, but it can still cook soup and stew.
Accessories
It seems like three accessories are included with the Breville BRC600XL Risotto Plus: a stainless steel steaming tray, measuring cup and serving spoon.
Conclusion
If you are only interested in cooking rice, then I would not recommend the Breville BRC600XL Risotto Plus. There are cheaper rice cookers with glass lids on the market that will produce the same results.
However, if you want a rice cooker for cooking risotto, then you should consider buying the Breville BRC600XL Risotto Plus. The other cooking functions are useful extras that might justify its list price (view offers on Amazon).