I have no countdown, only a chasing lines pattern. Is my Panda rice cooker broken?
Are you seeing a "chasing lines" effect on the display of your rice cooker while it is cooking?
Don't worry – this is completely normal. It means that your rice cooker is using a last 10-minute countdown, which we consider to provide good accuracy.
Why Does the Display Show Chasing Lines?
Rice cookers that use Advanced Fuzzy Logic don't necessarily know the exact cooking time the moment you press the start button.
Fuzzy Logic technology continuously assesses a number of factors before determining how long the cooking process needs to take. These can include:
Ambient room temperature
Starting temperature of the inner bowl and its contents
The quantity of rice or food being cooked
The type of rice or cooking programme selected
Temperature changes during the cooking process
Other conditions detected by the rice cooker's sensors
The rice cooker uses this information to calculate and adjust the cooking process to achieve the best possible result.
Because of this, displaying a precise remaining time from the very beginning isn't necessarily useful – or particularly accurate.
While the calculation is being made, some rice cookers may display a blank screen. This is common on many Zojirushi models. Yum Asia models that use this approach display the distinctive chasing-lines pattern instead.
Once the rice cooker has calculated the remaining cooking time accurately enough, the display changes to a numerical countdown.
Why Doesn't the Countdown Start Immediately?
It might seem logical for a rice cooker to simply say, for example, "45 minutes remaining" from the moment you press start. However, with Fuzzy Logic rice cookers, this can actually be misleading.
The actual cooking time can vary depending on the conditions detected by the rice cooker.
A countdown that begins immediately therefore has to be an estimate. As the rice cooker gathers more information, that estimate may change – sometimes quite dramatically.
For example, a rice cooker might initially show 45 minutes remaining, then change to 52 minutes, then 48 minutes and so on as it continually recalculates the cooking time.
While this is technically possible, we don't think it provides the best user experience.
A countdown that continually jumps around can be more confusing than useful.
This is why our more accurately calibrated rice cookers use a last 10-minute countdown.
The Three Main Types of Rice Cooker Countdown
Rice cooker countdown systems can vary considerably between models. Some rice cookers don't have a countdown at all, while others use different approaches to displaying the estimated cooking time.
There are three main types:
1. Last 10-Minute Countdown – GOOD ACCURACY
This is the system used by many Yum Asia rice cookers.
During the initial stages of cooking, the display shows the chasing-lines pattern while the fuzzy logic system determines the appropriate cooking conditions and timing.
Once the rice cooker reaches the final 10 minutes, the display switches to a numerical countdown.
Because the rice cooker has already completed most of its calculations by this stage, the displayed remaining time is considerably more reliable.
This is why we rate the last 10-minute countdown as having good accuracy.
2. Full Countdown from the Start – MEDIUM ACCURACY
Some rice cookers display a countdown from the moment cooking begins.
While this can appear more informative, the time shown is initially an estimate because the rice cooker has not yet gathered all of the information it needs.
As cooking progresses, the remaining time may therefore increase, decrease or jump around while the fuzzy logic system works out the actual requirements.
This type of countdown can be useful, but we consider it to have medium accuracy, particularly during the early stages of cooking.
The countdown generally becomes much more reliable as the cooking process approaches its final 10 minutes.
3. LOOP Full Countdown – GOOD ACCURACY
There is also a more unusual countdown system used exclusively on our Fuji model.
Fuji uses a loop-style full countdown designed to provide a countdown throughout the cooking process while accommodating the calculations being made by the fuzzy logic system.
We consider this to provide good accuracy.
Why Fuzzy Logic Needs Time to Calculate
The key thing to understand is that Fuzzy Logic is designed to optimise the cooking process rather than simply follow a fixed timer.
A conventional timer might say:
Start cooking → wait 40 minutes → finish.
A Fuzzy Logic rice cooker takes a more intelligent approach:
Start cooking → monitor conditions → analyse the data → adjust the cooking process → determine the appropriate timing → finish when the rice is properly cooked.
This is one of the reasons Fuzzy Logic rice cookers can produce more consistent results across different cooking conditions.
The rice cooker needs time to "think" about the cooking process before it can give you a highly reliable indication of how much time remains.
So What Does the Chasing Lines Display Mean?
If you see the chasing-lines animation on your Yum Asia rice cooker, there is nothing wrong with the display and there is no fault with the rice cooker.
It simply means:
The rice cooker is calculating the cooking process and has not yet reached the point where it can provide an accurate remaining-time countdown.
Once the calculation is sufficiently established, the chasing lines will disappear and the display will show the final 10-minute countdown.
In fact, this behaviour is a sign that your rice cooker is using its Fuzzy Logic technology as intended.
In Summary
Countdown type | Accuracy | How it works |
|---|---|---|
Last 10-minute countdown | GOOD | Chasing lines are displayed while the cooker calculates; numerical countdown begins during the final 10 minutes |
Full countdown from start | MEDIUM | Displays an estimated time from the beginning, which can change as the cooker recalculates |
Loop full countdown | GOOD | Full countdown system used exclusively by the Fuji model |
So if your Yum Asia rice cooker displays chasing lines during cooking, don't be concerned. Your cooker is simply using its fuzzy logic system to calculate the cooking conditions before giving you a more accurate indication of the remaining cooking time.
For a more detailed explanation of how rice cooker countdowns work and how different Yum Asia models compare, see: