Zojirushi NS-ZAQ Review: The Japan-Made Classic That Just Cooks Rice

Last updated: 27 October 2026

The Zojirushi NS-ZAQ is the classic Zojirushi: the egg-shaped white rice cooker, made in Japan, that does one job. It cooks white rice with a choice of regular, softer or harder texture that it remembers, has a dedicated course for rinse-free rice, and leaves out the steaming, slow-cooking and baking extras of the other models. For many customers that is exactly the point.

This review works through what the cooker does, how long each menu takes, how the texture settings and the rinse-free course work, and who should buy the 5.5-cup NS-ZAQ10 or the 10-cup NS-ZAQ18. Every figure below comes from the Zojirushi operating manual supplied with the Australian model.

1. Who the NS-ZAQ is for

The ZAQ is a Neuro Fuzzy micom cooker — microcomputer control that senses temperature through the cycle and adjusts heating and timing on its own — heating from a plate under the pot. It is the Japan-made Zojirushi nearest in price to the entry models, and it buys that by leaving out extras: no steaming basket, no slow cook, no cake.

It is the cooker for a household that eats white rice most nights, wants it from a Japanese-made Zojirushi, and wants to set the texture once and forget it. If you want to steam a dish over the rice, the NL-GAQ is the Zojirushi that does it; if you want the extras at a lower price and do not mind Chinese manufacture, the NS-TSQ; if a full pot every night is the norm, the NW-QAQ with induction heating is the step up.

2. Functions and cooking times

Eight menus. Times are Zojirushi's estimates; a full pot runs toward the top of each range. Zojirushi publishes ranges for the white, quick and brown menus; the others vary with quantity.

Two things to read from the table. First, the ZAQ's white rice is the most consistent of the micom Zojirushis — a narrow 48 to 55 minutes on the ZAQ10 — because the cooker does less and does it the same way each time. Second, the Semibrown menu is unusual: it is for rice milled partway between white and brown, which the other models do not cater for. For how the ZAQ compares with every other model we stock, see the full cooking time table.

3. Texture settings and the rinse-free course

Three textures with memory. On the White menu you choose regular, softer or harder, and the cooker remembers the choice for next time. Softer gives the stickier grain that suits Japanese home cooking and onigiri; harder gives a grain that holds its shape for fried rice, sushi and bento. The water line is still the fine adjustment, but the household's standing preference lives in the setting, not in how carefully someone fills the pot.

Rinse-free rice. Musenmai — rice milled so it needs no washing — takes slightly more water than ordinary white rice, because none is absorbed in rinsing. The ZAQ has a dedicated course for it and ships with a second measuring cup, green and 171 ml, so the water lines come out right. If your household buys rinse-free rice, this is the Zojirushi built for it; the other models use the standard cup and the standard line.

The standard measuring cup is 180 ml, not a metric cup, and one level cup cooks about two restaurant-sized bowls. The manual says rice can be cooked immediately after rinsing; soaking beforehand softens it.

4. Keep Warm and the timer

The cooker switches to Keep Warm automatically when rice finishes. There are two modes: Regular, and an Extended mode that holds the rice at a slightly lower temperature to reduce drying and yellowing. White rice keeps well; mixed, sweet, semibrown and brown rice and porridge are best served soon. Our own habit, and the manual's advice: keep warm as briefly as you can, fluff the rice when it finishes, and refrigerate what you will not eat.

A preset timer lets you set rice to finish at a given time. A lithium battery keeps the clock when the cooker is unplugged.

5. Drawbacks — who should not buy it

• Rice only. No steaming basket, no slow cook, no cake. If you want any of them, the NL-GAQ or NS-TSQ.
• Base heating, not IH. At full capacity the rice at the top of the pot is cooked a little less evenly than in the NW-QAQ.
• Brown rice is slow at 84 to 107 minutes, as on every non-pressure cooker.
• The 10-cup model needs 2 cups for mixed, sweet, semibrown and brown rice, though it cooks white rice from 1 cup.

6. 5.5 cups or 10 cups?

Decide by the smallest amount you cook, not the largest. Both sizes cook white rice from 1 cup, which is unusual for a 10-cup cooker, but the ZAQ18 needs 2 cups on the mixed, sweet, semibrown and brown menus. For one or two people, or a family that cooks 2 to 3 cups a night, the ZAQ10 is the right size. Choose the ZAQ18 if you regularly cook 5 cups or more.

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

7. Cleaning and parts

After every use: wash the inner pot and the inner lid by hand with a soft sponge, and wipe the inside of the outer lid and the steam vent. The inner lid and its gasket detach for washing. The nonstick coating wears with use like any coating — the manual says this is harmless — and the pot is a replaceable part: B201 for the ZAQ10, B202 for the ZAQ18. The power cord is detachable.

8. Frequently asked questions

9. Verdict

Buy the NS-ZAQ for white rice from a Japan-made Zojirushi with nothing you will not use. The texture memory means the household sets its preference once, the rinse-free course and its own cup make musenmai rice come out right, and the white rice is as consistent as any micom cooker we sell.

Skip it if you want to steam a side over the rice, where the NL-GAQ is the right cooker; if you want the extras at a lower price, where the NS-TSQ has them; or if a full pot every night is the norm, where the NW-QAQ's induction heating is worth the step. Between the two sizes, the ZAQ10 suits most households; the ZAQ18 is for families cooking 5 cups or more.

Zojirushi NS-ZAQ10 — 5.5 cups · Zojirushi NS-ZAQ18 — 10 cups

We're here to help

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

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