Fuzzy/induction/Zojirushi rice cookers

chucky66

Imposter, we seem to be at crossed wires here. You are talking about bringing in goods through an airport, I was talking about buying from Asia and having it shipped to me in the UK.

You are correct that when going through an airport the limits are £390 but when you ship a rice cooker from outside the EU, the following applies (I took this from the Customs website by the way and have confirmed this with the Head Customs guy in Coventry):

Commercial consignments of £18 or less are free from customs duty and import VAT. For example, goods purchased over the internet with an intrinsic value not exceeding £18, will not be charged any duty or VAT. Customs duty becomes payable if the value of the goods is over £135 but duty is waived if the amount of duty calculated is less than £9.

Value Added Tax (VAT) - Import VAT is charged at the same rate that applies to similar goods sold in the UK and applies to commercial goods over £18 in value, and on gifts that are over £40 in value. The value of the goods for import VAT is based on the: - basic value of goods, plus - postage, packing and insurance, plus - any import (Customs or Excise) duties charged.

Customs duty - Customs duty becomes payable if the goods are over £135 in value but is waived if the amount calculated is less than £9. Customs duty is usually charged as a percentage of the value of the goods. The amount of customs duty charged will depend on the type of goods imported and their value stated on the customs declaration CN22/CN23 (converted using the rates of exchange for the month of importation as shown on our website). The percentage varies depending on the type of goods and their country of origin. Duty is charged on the price paid for the goods including any local sales taxes plus postage, packing and insurance costs. However, the cost of postage is excluded from the calculation for customs duty on gifts except where the sender has used the Express Mail Service (EMS) as opposed to a standard mail service.

Nothing I have posted here is a lie, there are a lot of forums which are full of posts saying that Customs are stopping almost everything coming into the UK. I have friends who have imported electronic goods from Asia who have had their shipments stopped by Customs and charged accordingly (plus a Parcelforce or UPS handling fee too). You have simply misunderstood what I was saying about importing.

There are lots of forums where Customs charges and parcels being stopped is being talked about, they can be easily found by using Google.

Anyway, not everyone has the luxury of flying to Asia and bringing one of these back (or the baggage allowance) and I was just trying to be helpful in telling other people to expect their orders from outside of the EU to be stopped by Customs because the first time it happened to me I was shocked at how much the charges came to!!

This is a thread of people asking for advice, I bought from Yum Asia - I had the opportunity to buy in Asia when I was there but I didn't. I decided to pay a little bit more as a 12 month warranty is included in the price which I wouldn't have got had I bought from Asia, that was my choice...the same as it's your choice not to buy from them. As previously stated, I'm certainly not affiliated to the company I was just trying to be helpful when people were asking questions about importing or asking where to buy Zojirushi's in the UK. Sorry that you misunderstood what I was saying but I thought I was quite clear in my previous posts talking about shipping from Asia and I was just giving my opinion and trying to help people out - after all that's what this forum is for?

Fenris

I've been reading this thread as I'm seriously considering getting a rice cooker. I love rice but I'm terrible at cooking it in a pan; if it's not burnt at the bottom of the pan it's sloppy. And the price of "boil in the bag" rice is just stupid.

So I've looked at the Zojirushi NS_LAQ05 on Yum Asia and also the Sanyo ECJ-FS50 on Cook Japan.

My gut feeling is to go with the Zojirushi; I like the look of it and the fact it has a removable inner lid as well as the bowl. But it's price that's putting me off a bit. The Sanyo is a full £44 cheaper!

I was going to get a UK branded one but they're all juat a bit... meh. You know, they look cheap and nasty.

I recon I could recoup the cost of one of the Japanese rice cookers in a couple of years of not buying BITB rice. But I want to make sure it's going to last for several years, or else I might just as well buy the Cookworks cheapo from Argos.

I'd appreciate comments from people who own either of the above (or older models).

Cheers,
Fen.

lucyrobb

Hi Fen

For me there is no question about which brand! I bought a Zojirushi and love it - I've had it since February and I really can't imagine my kitchen without it.

See my post #29 about my friends who had a Sanyo, they were really unhappy with it because it broke after only 5 months or so, they also had grumbles about how it cooked brown rice and that it wouldn't cook oat porridge (I can't fully remember their problems).

Also check the warranties too, I don't know if the Sanyo has one, but I know that the Zojirushi's from Yum Asia come with 12 months included which (from my previous research) is really difficult to find on these rice cookers. I can wholeheartedly recommend them as I got fab service and I love my rice cooker, I now eat rice about 5 times a week and I got a bento jar for my lunch too!

The reason I went for Zojirushi was recommendations from Japanese friends and that my Uni room mate had her mum's old one which had been going for 12 years...that's what really won me over!

Hope this helps!

Luce xx

Fenris

Just thought I'd update this. I won my Barclaycard reclaim (yay!) so I decided to treat myself and got the small Zojirushi rice cooker from Yum Asia. Ordered Monday night, arrived yesterday, used last night, one happy bunny! It's fantastic! Rice comes out fantasticly cooked and fluffy. Just hope it lives up to it's hype and I'll be using it for many years to come.

seraphina

I bought a Zojirushi when I was in Japan in October - you can buy models for export (ie UK voltage and spec) at the airport. However Santa Claus, the meanie, has hidden it away until Christmas, so I shall be giving people rice with their Christmas dinner at this rate:D Glad you're enjoying it.

varfolomia

meester wrote: »

Considering getting a Zojirushi fuzzy logic or induction rice cooker.

Apparently they cook better rice, the fuzzy logic varies the heat and cooking times, and the induction is more sophisticated still and cooks 100% uniform rice.

We cook jasmine and basmati rice, several times per week, and would be replacing a cheap Kenwood model.

Does anyone have experience with posh rice cookers? (The top-of-the-line induction cooker is about £165 inclusive of shipping from the USA and can germinate brown rice before cooking.)

Is not it easier to buy multicooker? It's can _ cook not only rice, but everything - yogurt, soups, vegetables. It fry, extinguish, cooking for a couple, even my popcorn doing. When I decided to lose weight after childbirth bought his first multicooker Panasonic - food is prepared without my involvement and even vegetables are obtained delicious - a major plus, and on the advice of a neighbor recently purchased a new Redmond 4502 by good sale in official site- it has more than 30 programs , you can make your own recipes, convenient to change the temperature in the cooking process - first fry the meat on high, then simmer them with rice or vegetables baked at a low temperature. True design I do not like.

BrassicWoman

holy thread reserection batman!