KGR is shopping for a ricecooker and he asked me today about the capacity. My Chinese background means that I practically grew up with one or more ricecookers in the house so I proceeded with an explanation.
CW: Every ricecooker comes with a little measuring cup. You use it to measure out the raw rice and you match the amount of water needed for your rice with the corresponding marking on the rice cooker.
KGR: So when a ricecooker says it has a 3-cup capacity, what does that mean? Does it mean it takes a maximum of 3 cups of raw rice or it makes a maximum of 3 cups of cooked rice?
CW: Well...erm....neither, actually. That measuring cup is not quite as big as a standard baking measuring cup so you definitely don't want to lose it. EVER. My family likes to keep it in the rice container. But....erm....the capacity more or less means the number of cups of raw rice it can take. More or less.
KGR: When you said it's not as big, you mean by how much?
CW: Hmmm, good question. About 80%? I guess?
KGR [Google]: Actually, it's 75%. Hey, you're not too far off the mark!
For something as simple as ricecooker capacity, I didn't realize it requires such a lengthy and ambiguous explanation until I had to actually put it in words. It is a good example of how things that I take for granted can seem so foreign to people coming from a different background. Vive la difference.....?
