National Rice-O-Mat SR-15FGH

Classic and Functional Rice Cooker – We have had a National SR-15FGH rice cooker since early-mid 1984. There were a choice of colours for it (Blue, Green and White at least, there are likely others), but this example was originally bought in the green colour. It is also a grey-market example, having being bought overseas before arriving in Australia. While it has been very lightly used since 1994, we temporarily put it back into daily use in May 2024, when our newer National SR-10CHN rice cooker, sadly broke down after around 30 years (due to yellowing and brittle plastic exposing the wiring), the last 15/16 years of which, it was used near-daily.

For a 40-year old rice cooker that has spent the best part of the past 30 years in semi-retirement, it has performed very well. The build quality on it is still quite good and still puts the newer budget rice cookers (from Aldi or Kmart) to shame, even today. The power cable also has a thick and strong coil (to stop it from breaking), which is sadly a feature that no longer exists on newer rice cookers (almost certainly due to cost-cutting).

However, if you are used to modern rice cookers and the coating on the rice pan, it requires some adjustment. There is no coating on it, which requires a slightly different cooking technique. It also is not a multi-function rice cooker, it only does rice and keeps it warm.

It does have the classic National 'N' logo (used between 1963 - 1987) and was assembled in Japan, so if you like 1970s and 1980s electronics, the National SR-15FGH (especially in green) is very much a good and functional choice.

We ended up with a new Panasonic rice cooker, so this SR-15FGH has now returned to its quiet semi-retired existence (it does still function). We will see how long this new one will last.