20-Cup Rice Cooker & Food Steamer vs 12 Cup Rice and Grain Cooker: which is safer?

Instant Pot 12 Cup Rice and Grain Cooker is the clear pick. Aroma 20-Cup Rice Cooker & Food Steamer carries a failing PFAS grade, and we never recommend buying a failing product.

Aroma 20-Cup Rice Cooker & Food Steamer

Aroma

20-Cup Rice Cooker & Food Steamer

PFAS grade

Bad 15/100

Overall grade

Bad 3/100

Verdict

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Hazard flags

⚑ 3

Material

Nonstick-coated inner cooking bowl; coating type unspecified

Confidence

35%

PossibleTeflon-type coating fume risk (heating above safe threshold)

PossibleCoating degradation and particle ingestion

PossibleBacterial growth in steam vents or water reservoir

Our pick

Instant Pot 12 Cup Rice and Grain Cooker

Instant Pot

12 Cup Rice and Grain Cooker

PFAS grade

Excellent 75/100

Overall grade

Good 59/100

Verdict

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Hazard flags

⚑ 3

Material

Stainless steel pot with no nonstick coating

Confidence

82%

PossibleStainless steel corrosion and metal leaching

PossibleSilicone gasket degradation and off-gassing

PossibleBacterial growth in water reservoir or seal cavities

Where these two actually differ

  • We flag PTFE fume risk (heating above safe threshold), Coating degradation and particle ingestion and Bacterial growth in steam vents or water reservoir on the Aroma and not on the Instant Pot.
  • We flag Stainless steel corrosion and metal leaching, Silicone gasket degradation and off-gassing and Bacterial growth in water reservoir or seal cavities on the Instant Pot and not on the Aroma.
  • The Aroma is Nonstick-coated inner cooking bowl; coating type unspecified where the Instant Pot is Stainless steel pot with no nonstick coating, which is most of the difference in these two grades.
  • The gap is 60 points, wide enough that this is not a close call, and the Instant Pot is the one to buy.
  • We are less certain about the Aroma grade, at 35% confidence against 82%, because it discloses less.

Both products run through the same public rubric, which covers materials, coatings, brand disclosure, lab findings, and recalls, plus a beyond-PFAS hazard analysis. Grades are model-based estimates, not lab tests. How grades work →

More rice cookers, see the full ranking