Microwave oven is a multi-utility kitchen appliance that can be used for cooking rice. An energy assessment was carried out under normal and controlled methods of cooking, with unsoaked and presoaked rice, in a microwave oven at various power levels. In controlled cooking, the energy consumption substantially reduced, in both unsoaked (14-24%) and presoaked (12-33%) rice, whereas cooking time marginally increased (up to 2 min) compared to normal cooking. Presoaking rice resulted in energy savings in normal (5-11%) as well as controlled (3-18%) cooking. Although the absorption of microwave energy in water was 86-89%, the conversion efficiency of electrical to microwave energy was only similar to 50%. Performance of microwave oven was also compared with our earlier studies on electric rice-cooker (ERC) and pressure cooker. Among the cooking appliances assessed, ERC was the most energy-efficient while microwave cooking offered the least cooking time (15-22 min). Microwave cooking was on par with pressure cooking, the most commonly followed method of cooking rice, in terms of energy consumption, besides, it offered shorter cooking time. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.