In article ,
msg wrote:

What is the maximum rated temperature of the cooker? Knowing that, I
would install a cartridge-style thermal fuse or thermostat into that
ceramic block in series with the AC mains in the photograph with a
value about 20 degrees F higher than the max. rating of the cooker.
Inspect the method of thermal contact inside that block; it may be
useful to use refractory cement to make good contact between the
business end of that thermal block and the new thermal protection
device.

You could even salvage a thermostat from a drip-style coffee maker
which may be about the right temperature (these units are easily
found in the trash, rummage sales, etc. in the States).

Regards,

Michael

It's probably not the thermostat, since it had no direct contact with
the cooking area whatsoever, it was just suspended in the air between
those two terminals just right of the line input.

As i said, the component was really small, though the image makes it
look monstrous. Something like 2 centimeters from top to bottom (in the
image).

As for the thermostat, I think, though I'm not sure, that is the block
covered by the metal plate at the right of the image. It has two wires
going from it.

From what I've understood of the principle of operations of rice
cookers, they have two modes. Warm, and cook. Warm activates low power
heating, just enough to keep the rice at a comfortable serving
temperature. Cook sets the high power heater on. The thermostat trips
just above the boiling point of water. The theory being, that when the
water is all gone, the temperature will rise above boiling, and, so it's
time to turn off the cooker. (Rather genius in its simplicity.)

What I think might be happening, is that there is some kind of
electromagnet that keeps the cooker in cook mode as long as the
temperature is too low. When the temperatures reaches the cut-off-point,
I think current is cut off to the electromagnet, and the switch springs
back into the warm mode.

In light of the principle of operation I lined out, it makes no sense
for a thermostat, if that the mystery component was, to be in series
with the entire device. If that were the case, how would it ever enter
warm mode?

No, I must go with thermal fuse, if the component is thermal in nature
at all, which I simply don't know if it is right now.