I'm looking at getting one of Zojirushi's induction rice cookers and the 5.5 cup model is currently a little cheaper than the 3 cup model. I'm a single guy and will only be making a cup or two of rice unless I'm entertaining.
Is there any reason not to go with the larger version so I can use it when entertaining as well?
As I note in my answer here, I use the exact model you are considering. It is one of the best gadgets I've purchased. It has no problem making any batch down to 1 cup in size. Being able to cook the full 5.5 cups when entertaining is invaluable as well.
I will sometimes cook more than I need for lunch the next day, as well as making fried rice for the following night's dinner.
Bottom line: you won't regret the purchase.
Well, coming from a Chinese family and as our family cook rice everyday...
The short answer is yes - you will be able to cook 1 cup with the 5.5 cup model. the problem is, though you will be able to cook much smaller volume in a large cooker -- you will have rice covering the pan, a thin layer above bare metal[1]. Scooping up rice from it is a OK, but you will tend to 'fold' the rice in order to put it in a bowl which kind of affect the texture of the rice - if you use a smaller one you will get rice in a nice, cylinder shaped from which you can get a nicer scoop which is naturally formed by expansion of rice and steam.
[1] This has become much better with all these rice cooker armed with circuits (as in your case) which slowly, but accurately cook every grain of rice you put in -- albeit at a much longer time. the cooking time with old, traditional kind of rice cooker is ~ 30 min for 2 cup of rice whereas the newer, logic-equipped device will need ~1 hour for cooking - but of course the quality is much better
Not really any reason not to go for the bigger one, you should definetly be able to make 2 cups in it. If there are bad results when you do only 1 cup then you may have to always do 2 and have leftovers but I can't imagine that being a problem.
It probably does use more power, if that is a concern.
