If you use a rice cooker at home, you probably know that it can be quite a bother to clean it because it has some grooves and uneven parts inside that are a bit hard to reach.

One of the writers at our sister site Grape was feeling a bit uncomfortable about the fact that she wasn't cleaning her rice cooker as regularly as she thought she should. After all, since she eats rice almost every day, it's probably not a good idea to let dirt accumulate inside, she reckoned.

Ever since she came across a simple and hassle-free way of cleaning her rice cooker, however, she's been cleaning it more regularly and has regained her peace of mind.

Here's the method she found:

An easy way of cleaning your rice cooker

First, fill the rice cooker's inner chamber with about a third to a quarter of water. No detergent or other product is needed at this stage.

After adding water, select the rice cooker's "quick cook mode" and let it run. Our writer needed about 30 minutes to complete the cycle with her rice cooker.

After the cycle is done, open the lid and wipe off any dirty buildup in the grooves with a paper towel as shown in the photo below. The inside of the rice cooker is hot, so be careful not to burn yourself.

The starch in the rice that had stuck to the surface will be softened by the heat and steam, and the dirty buildup can be easily removed!

Remove the inner lid as well and wipe off any dirt from the inside grooves of the lid. Wash the inner lid and inner chamber with detergent once it has cooled down.

When the body, inner lid, and inner chamber are all dry, put everything back together and your rice cooker will be spic and span!

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Did the rice cooker get clean?

After actually doing this, our writer felt that the steam did indeed help to remove the dirty buildup. In the past, she had noticed an odd smell in her rice, especially after cooking rice or pilaf. However, since she started using this simple cleaning method, the smell is no longer noticeable.

She's happy with this method and now uses it all the time.

So if you're wondering how to care for your rice cooker, why not give it a try?