Tiger JAX-S Review: Synchro-Cooking, Its Rice Limit, and What the 4-in-1 Really Does

Last updated: 27 October 2026

The Tiger JAX-S is the rice cooker we recommend to households that want one appliance to do the whole dinner. Its tacook Synchro-Cooking function cooks a main dish in the basket above while the rice cooks below, both finishing together on one programme, and it also slow cooks and steams on its own. It is made in Japan and is the most affordable Tiger we stock with a menu panel.

This review works through what the cooker does, how long it takes, exactly how Synchro-Cooking works and where its limits are, what Slow Cook and Steam are good for, and who should buy the 5.5-cup JAX-S10A or the 10-cup JAX-S18A. Every figure below comes from the Tiger operating instructions supplied with the Australian model.

1. Who the JAX-S is for

The JAX-S is a micom cooker — microcomputer control that senses temperature through the cycle and adjusts heating and timing — heating from a plate under the pot. It is the only Tiger we stock that steams a dish over the rice as it cooks, and that is the reason to buy it: dumplings and rice, fish and rice, chicken and vegetables and rice, all ready together without a second pot on the stove.

If you only ever cook plain rice, the one-switch Tiger JNP does that for less and faster. If rice quality at full capacity is the priority, the JPW-G with induction heating is the step up. In the Zojirushi range, the Zojirushi NL-GAQ is the closest equivalent — it also steams over white rice — with a longer menu list and a higher price.

2. Functions and cooking times

Eight computerised menus. Times are Tiger's guideline figures; a full pot runs toward the top of each range. Tiger publishes ranges for the Plain and Brown menus; the others vary with quantity and are not given as a range.

Two things to read from the table. First, the JAX-S is not a fast cooker: Plain is 44 to 57 minutes on the S10A, and there is no express menu. Second, the Synchro-Cooking rice limit — 1 to 2 cups on the S10A, 2 to 4 on the S18A — is the number that decides which size to buy. For how the JAX-S compares with every other model we stock, see the full cooking time table.

3. How Synchro-Cooking works — and its limits

Rice and water go in the pot as usual; the dish goes on the basket, which sits on top of the pot under the lid. Steam rising from the rice cooks the dish, the two finish together, and the manual's design keeps the flavours from crossing — the rice does not taste of the fish. The Tiger cookbook in the box has recipes sized for the basket.

The limit nobody mentions. Synchro-Cooking is designed for 1 to 2 cups of rice on the S10A and 2 to 4 cups on the S18A. That is enough for two to four people on the small cooker and four to eight on the large one, but a family that cooks five cups a night and wants a dish on top every evening needs the S18A, not the S10A. The basket also has a raised centre, so it will not hold a bowl or a plate — food sits directly on the basket.

What it is not: a replacement for a stovetop steamer. The basket is a single layer, and anything that needs longer than the rice cycle, or needs a plate under it, is better steamed separately on the Steam menu.

4. Slow Cook and Steam

Slow Cook brings ingredients close to the boil at about 93°C, then drops to a gentle simmer at about 88°C for the time you set, from 5 to 180 minutes. It suits soups, stocks and gently simmered dishes left alone for an hour or two. It is not a pressure cooker and will not tenderise a tough cut the way one does.

Steam on its own runs 5 to 60 minutes with 630 ml of water in the pot on the S10A, or 810 ml on the S18A — vegetables, dumplings, fish and chicken on the basket. Both are real functions, and both are the reason the cooker is called 4-in-1; neither replaces a dedicated appliance, but either saves a burner on a weeknight.

5. Keep Warm and the timers

The cooker switches to Keep Warm automatically when rice finishes and shows the elapsed hours up to 24, but the manual recommends 12 hours or less, white rice only, and not less than 1 cup on the S10A or 2 cups on the S18A. Our own habit: keep warm as briefly as you can, fluff the rice when it finishes, and refrigerate what you will not eat.

Two preset timers, Timer 1 and Timer 2, each store a finish time. They work on the Plain, Porridge, Multigrain and Brown menus; Synchro-Cooking, Quick, Sweet-Mixed, Slow Cook and Steam cannot be set ahead, because food sitting in the basket or pot for hours would spoil.

6. Drawbacks — who should not buy it

• Synchro-Cooking has a rice limit. 1 to 2 cups on the S10A. A family cooking more needs the S18A, or a cooker with a separate steam cycle.
• It is not fast. 44 to 57 minutes on Plain, no express menu. The JNP cooks a small batch in about 15.
• Base heating, not IH. At full capacity the rice at the top of the pot is cooked a little less evenly than in the JPW-G.
• The basket will not hold a plate. Its raised centre means food goes straight on the basket.

7. 5.5 cups or 10 cups?

On this cooker, decide by how much rice you want under the basket, not by the largest pot you ever cook. The S10A synchro-cooks over 1 to 2 cups; the S18A over 2 to 4. For one or two people, the S10A; for a family of four or more that wants rice and a dish together most nights, the S18A. The S18A needs 2 cups before it cooks rice properly on its own.

Allow for the lid opening above the cooker and for steam at the vent.

8. Cleaning and parts

After every use: wash the inner pot, inner lid and basket by hand with a soft sponge, and wipe the inside of the outer lid. After steaming fish or meat, wash the basket and inner lid straight away, or odours carry into the next pot of rice. The nonstick coating wears with use like any coating; the pot is a replaceable part. The box also holds a ladle, a spatula, the 180 ml measuring cup and the Tiger cookbook.

9. Frequently asked questions

10. Verdict

Buy the JAX-S for Synchro-Cooking. It is the only Tiger we sell that cooks a dish over the rice as it cooks, and for a household that eats rice with a steamed side most nights, that saves a pot and a burner every evening. Slow Cook and Steam are useful extras, and the price is the lowest of any Tiger with a menu panel.

Skip it if you only cook plain rice — the JNP is cheaper and faster — or if rice quality from a full pot is the priority, where the JPW-G's induction heating is worth the extra. Between the two sizes, go by the synchro-cooking limit: the S10A for one or two people, the S18A for a family of four or more.

Tiger JAX-S10A — 5.5 cups · Tiger JAX-S18A — 10 cups

We're here to help

If you would like to discuss whether the JAX-S suits you, contact us any time, or visit us in Chatswood, Sydney to see it beside the other models.

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