I initially purchased the VitaClay because I was looking for a ricecooker without a metal / teflon-coated cooking vessel. This slow cooker's pot / vessel is made of unglazed clay. It gets your food hotter in quicker time than traditional slow cookers with glazed vessels. Cuts cook time in half. As far as rice cooking, I mean, it cooks every variety of rice perfectly, supposing you can figure out how much water to pour in. It cooks cous cous, as well as beans, lentils, etc..

I have not used it to make yogurt yet, but it has a yogurt making function. The timer and delay start function work well. The vessel cleans like a breeze; it takes less than two minutes to thoroughly clean and dry both vessel and lid. I purchased a silicone steam basket that fits perfectly in the pot; the lid covers and top closes even with the basket, so I can steam veggies or proteins while cooking rice. It also allows use of the unit as a steamer; it isn't really a fast steamer, but it isn't what it was made for.

I am a 25 year old dude, and I use this thing pretty much every day. You can set it in the morning to have steel cut oats and fruit ready for breakfast; you can have steamed rice and veggies waiting hot and warm at day's end. Also, you can buy extra clay pots and lids for approximately 25 dollars from the company; so, real easy to have something made in the fridge and then throw it in the unit, especially given the quick cook times. I have had my unit for 5 months, and I think I'm vitaclay's best spokesperson because I tell all my friend and family about this thing.

The Bad?

Well, the first unit I received through my amazon order had a defunct clock and timer; it would flash an error signal that pretty much meant it was busted. Amazon returns are quick and easy though, and I have had my second unit for almost six months. It sees heavy use.

My last critique relates to the zisha clay from which it is made. The stuff comes from China, which sounds cool, but China is home to some serious pollution, and who knows whats in the groundwater over there (hey, we don't know here in the States either). So, I was initially attracted to the Vitaclay because I wanted to avoid marginal worries about teflon and aluminum toxicity. Why trade de minimis worry for a pot made of clay from a heavily polluted place? For its part, Vitaclay says it batch tests everything for lead and other harmfuls in accord w/ certain import regulations/standards. It is all well-documented on their website. Really though, the health question comes down to a bit of faith I think; hope this clay is safe.

And, I want the clay to be safe because this is the best dang kitchen appliance I have ever owned.

I am about to buy one for my mom, and I'm going to buy myself an extra pot and lid.

This is a different type of cooker meant to mimic old world type clay pot cooking. I was really just looking for a healthy alternative to the ceramic crock in your average crock pot. There has been some concern about lead in some brands, so I purchased this healthy clay crock cooker. I have only used a month or so, have made some really good soups in 2 hours.

Great instruction booklet with preprogrammed settings for Soup (2hrs), Stew (4hrs), Rice (40 min),and Brown Rice (50min) or you can alter these settings for you own recipes. Also, after the cooking time the machine automatically turns on the warm cycle up to 12 hrs.

The big difference is this machine uses much less liquid then a regular crock pot so the food cooks in it's own juices. This cooker also brings the food up to a boil quickly then back down to a slow simmer much like a pot on the stove. So it's really more like stove top cooking than a conventional crockpot. You can walk away, leave the house and have a meal ready in 1, 2 or 4hrs depending on what your cooking.

You can also open the machine lid, and then the clay crock lid, to give a stir and this doesn't affect the timer at all. The only reason I gave only 4 stars is the knob on the crock lid. It's too small. It needs to be wider, very hard to hang on to especially with an oven mitt on, as the crock and lid are extremely hot.

I did call the customer service number to ask a set up question and you get a real person who has a machine right there and will help you with what ever you need. She was very polite, knowledgeable and answered all my questions.

Included is a fantastic recipe book written by Suzanne Vandyke, the Vita Clay Chef. She teaches all over the world and is using this machine to help home cooks develop the same level of flavors that chefs get using the old style clay pot cooking with an emphasis on healthy cooking.

The real reason I have nothing negative to write about this Rice and Slow Cooker is because I had no expectations that it would be the same as the other non-stick surface rice cookers and slow cookers.

I expected it to - be different - cook differently - and I expected it to - contribute to my general health. IT HAS NOT DISAPPOINTED ME! I use it daily. I have cooked brown rice, white rice, wild rice mix, oatmeal, beef stew, lamb stew, chicken fricassee, split pea soup, lentil soup, black beans, ....... the list is just too long.

I am COMPLETELY SATISFIED with this ceramic cooker. It is true that there is a small amount of rice that always sticks to the bottom of the pot. The reason for this is that I wanted to get rid of the poisonous non-stick surface on my previous rice cooker. This does not bother me. It is a very small amount of rice and it does not represent a large waste of food nor a large amount of money. My estimate is that it represents about $5.00 a year if you cook rice almost every day as I do. I am oh-so-very pleased to be rid of the teflon coated rice cooker. It's sitting in my Goodwill Industries take-away box.

If you are wondering... do I buy it? Do I not buy it? The answer lies within your expectations. Do you want to be healthy? This is not a non-stick surface! Yes... the rice WILL stick a bit only on the bottom. I soak it for 30 minutes and the rice comes right off. I handle the pot and the top with GREAT CARE. I follow the instructions that came with the manual. No extreme changes in temperature. You can't take the ceramic pot out right after cooking and pour cold water in it. If you think you might be banging the pot and top - don't buy it... you will break it. It is not your old metal rice cooker. It is ceramic. It is somewhat fragile as all ceramic pots are. Do you want delicious food? Buy it. Do you want beef, lamb and chicken that you can cut with a fork it is so tender and juicy? Buy it. Do you want enhanced flavor in recipes you have been cooking for years? Buy it.

The product, the packing and the shipping were Amazon's usual EXCELLENT. I had it at my door 2 days after buying and it was packed extremely well.

I DO HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS COOKER to anyone that genuinely cares about their health and that is willing to be realistic in accepting that they are purchasing something different than what they are accustomed to. You will fall in love with it and use it many many times as I do!

UPDATE: June 29, 2012
Still 100% pleased with this purchase. I use it almost every day. Today I put some navy beans, water, carrots, potato, onion, garlic, swiss chard and lamb in my pot... pressed soup and went out with family. When I got back I had an excellent Tuscan Navy Bean Soup waiting for me. My apartment smelled DEELICIOUS!!!! I love this pot. I've cooked about 20 different types of rice in it and the more I use it the more I value it and am so glad I took the risk and bought it.

UPDATE: May 16, 2012
Still 100% pleased with this purchase and use it almost every day.

I could not be more pleased with the VitaClay rice cooker! It is everything I hoped it would be.

I probably invested about $1000 of my time researching rice cookers before making this purchase. I was very concerned about the VitaClay due to prior reviews I read here. I called VitaClay's manufacturer twice and I also did research at a lot of other sites. Ultimately, I decided to take a chance on the VitaClay, but I also planned to order a purely stainless steel model too.

However, now that I have used the VitaClay for a week (cooking with it every day), I know this is the rice cooker for me. I do not need to look any further.

It cooks perfect brown rice. I have also cooked rice + mung dal in it many times. The food doesn't stick to the clay pot. The flavors are great.

I am satisfied that the quality of the clay pot is good. It passes California's tough regulations. These days I hesitate to purchase anything from China, but I'm comfortable that this product is safe.

The rice cooker does not give off any unusual smells. My concerns about potential toxic materials in the cooker have disappeared after inspecting and using it. The construction quality is very high. It is super easy to clean. The controls are easy to use. The design looks nice. I feel I got a lot of value for my money.

UPDATE:
I have had my VitaClay rice cooker for almost two years now. i like it more than ever. It has held up well. It still looks like new even though I use it almost every day. I have had zero problems with it.

BTW, the heating element does not come into contact with the food. The heating element is outside of the clay pot. The food only touches the clay. And, at the time I purchased mine, the owner of the company told me they do not use a non-stick coating on the heating element.

Is there a better and safer rice cooker on the market anywhere? I have not found one. I think the VitaClay rice cookers are the best available - and the price is incredibly low too. If I ever find myself in a position to give a rice cooker as a gift, I will only give a VitaClay. And I will not cook with anything else myself.

UPDATE 2: Well, it is now more than four and a half years later and my VitaClay rice cooker is still working well and I still like it as much as I did when I first wrote this review. I still give it 5 stars.

This is a nice basic rice cooker. Well maybe it does more than that but it cooks my rice real nice.
Pro - You're not eating non-stick nastiness and can feel morally superior to your plebeian friends.
Con - The digital display was programmed by a puppy. It counts down while cooking in 00.X format. Then it beeps when done. Great. But then it starts counting back up to let you know how long it's been done cooking. And you'd think "oh cool they have three digits and a decimal to work with I'm sure they figured out a smart and simple solution to display this time elapsed that's totally different from the cooking countdown" but you'd be a silly goose for thinking that. Nope, they used the same exact 00.X format. It makes for a fun game when you come into the kitchen and see 00.2 and don't know if it's still cooking or if it's been done for 20 minutes.
Also the clay pot is very nice and I don't want to wash it while it's still too warm and potentially crack it from the change in temp, so that just adds a little time to the cleanup.