How is cooking rice on the stove any different than those rice cookers?
Carol In WI

"Carol In WI" > wrote in message
news
> How is cooking rice on the stove any different than those rice cookers?
> Carol In WI
>

Stove can work just as well - but you have to fret about the timing and the
burner setting. With a rice cooker you can set it and forget it (to coin a
phrase).


--
Peter Aitken

Remove the crap from my email address before using.

Carol In WI wrote:

> How is cooking rice on the stove any different than those rice cookers?
> Carol In WI

I have to confess that I have never seen a rice cooker, and never seen a
need for one. I always do it in a pot on the stove.

Carol In WI wrote:
> How is cooking rice on the stove any different than those rice
cookers?
> Carol In WI

Little difference in cooking, but a few small considerations. Some of
the expensive rice cookers do a good job of keeping the rice warm for
longer than is normal on the stove top. We're so short on counter
space that a rice cooker would create its own space management
problems, so I use a pot. In a previous location the electric stove
was so unresponsive we got better results from a rice cooker than the
pot.

-aem

"Carol In WI" > wrote in
news
> How is cooking rice on the stove any different than those rice
> cookers? Carol In WI
>
>
>

If you are talking the metal pot insert style rice cooker and not the
generic veggie steamer type.

It isn't any different. But it is more convienent if you eat loads of
rice. Once you get the 'recipe' down pat, it is very easy and no watching
a pot to get perfect rice every time. As well the rice cooker will keep
the rice warm a long time 2-6 hrs (depending on brand). Also you can do 1
pot meals in a rice cooker (see example). It is hard to find a 1 person
sized rice cooker (1 cup to 6 cups), mostly they come in family or larger
sized units (6 cups to 25 cups).

What I mean by 'recipe' is the amount of liquid used to meet your taste
preferences...could range from 1.5(12 fluid oz) cups to 2.5(20 fluid oz)
cups per cup of normal raw white long grain rice.

An Example:
(I like my white long grain rice cooked with 2 cups liquid, 16 fluid oz
per 1 cup rice.)

1 can cream of chicken (10 oz) plus 6 oz of water (makes 2 cups)
1 cup white long grain rice
1 tbsp butter (optional)
3-4 chicken thighs cut into chunks
1 can sliced mushrooms or fresh mushrooms sliced
1/2 small onion finely sliced
1/2 cup carrot small dice
1 clove garlic minced or to taste
salt and pepper to taste
pinch cumin or to taste
1/2 cup frozen peas

put rice in cooker add all other ingredients *except peas.

stir with plastic/bamboo utensil.(metal utensil will damage non-stick
coating).

start rice cooker.

when rice is ready (15 to 20 minutes later) stir in frozen peas and
serve.

--
No Bread Crumbs were hurt in the making of this Meal.
Type 2 Diabetic 1AC 5.6mmol or 101mg/dl
Continuing to be Manitoban

Carol In WI wrote:
> How is cooking rice on the stove any different than those rice cookers?
> Carol In WI

Rice on the stove turns out much better for me, but I'm following my
grandmother's instructions. My rice cooker turns out OK rice, but
barely. I only bought the thing b/c I was stuck in an apartment with an
electric stove which made it too hard to get the heat low enough for rice.

One time on Usenet, "Carol In WI" > said:

> How is cooking rice on the stove any different than those rice cookers?

I use an electric steamer/rice maker: On the 'pro' side, you get
fluffier rice and no scorching. The 'con' is having to clean it;
it's much easier to wash a single saucepan...

--
J.J. in WA ~ mom, vid gamer, novice cook ~
"You still haven't explained why the pool is
filled with elf blood." - Frylock, ATHF

I could never get consistent results cooking rice by the absorbtion method,
until I started using a friends recipe, in turn given to her by her amah in
Kuala Lumpur. Works equally well with any pot (as long as the lid is tight)
or amount of rice. I set the timer for 12 minutes and its always ready in
exactly that time - kind of magic, or something.

Take 1 quantity of rice, wash 3 times in plenty of cold water. Drain, place
in a pot with a tight fitting lid. Add cold water to cover the rice by about
1 cm (slosh the rice about a bit until the surface of the rice layer is
reasonably flat to measure the 1 cm, but no need to be too fanatical) Bring
to the boil, stir once, cover and immediately turn stove to lowest setting.
Cook for 12 minutes (set timer). Take off the heat, fluff up rice. Cover
again and leave for at least 2 minutes and up to 30 before consuming.
Just reading this recipe, it does SEEM like an advert for the rice cooker
mentioned before, but its not really complicated at all, and I do it on
auto-pilot. Never fails.
Richard.

"Carol In WI" > wrote in message
news
> How is cooking rice on the stove any different than those rice cookers?
> Carol In WI

Richard Green wrote:
> I could never get consistent results cooking rice by the absorbtion
method,
> until I started using a friends recipe, in turn given to her by her
amah in
> Kuala Lumpur. Works equally well with any pot (as long as the lid is
tight)
> or amount of rice. I set the timer for 12 minutes and its always
ready in
> exactly that time - kind of magic, or something.
>
> Take 1 quantity of rice, wash 3 times in plenty of cold water. Drain,
place
> in a pot with a tight fitting lid. Add cold water to cover the rice
by about
> 1 cm (slosh the rice about a bit until the surface of the rice layer
is
> reasonably flat to measure the 1 cm, but no need to be too fanatical)
Bring
> to the boil, stir once, cover and immediately turn stove to lowest
setting.
> Cook for 12 minutes (set timer). Take off the heat, fluff up rice.
Cover
> again and leave for at least 2 minutes and up to 30 before consuming.
> Just reading this recipe, it does SEEM like an advert for the rice
cooker
> mentioned before, but its not really complicated at all, and I do it
on
> auto-pilot. Never fails.
> Richard.

I do the exact same thing, except I rinse the rice until clear before
cooking, and add a tsp of white vinegar to the cooking water. Never
had gummy/sticky rice.

-L.

Richard Green wrote:
>
> Take 1 quantity of rice, wash 3 times in plenty of cold water.

Why? Whether to wash rice depends on the rice... rice packaged in the
US is typically fortified, and *it's clean*, any rinsing washes the
added nutrients down the drain... don't wash converted or parboiled
white rice either (this is not instant rice), the unhulled grain has
been soaked, pressure-steamed and dried before milling. This treatment
gelatinizes the starch in the grain (for fluffy, separated cooked rice)
and infuses some of the nutrients of the bran and germ into the
kernel's heart. Imported rice such as from India, Italy, Pakistan,
etc. is as filthy as filthy gets, it's grown in the same fields where
raw sewage is leached and must be scrupulously washed... why anyone in
the US buys that crap is unfathomable.

>I have to confess that I have never seen a rice cooker, and never seen a
>need for one. I always do it in a pot on the stove.

if you cook a lot of rice it is a very useful tool. add rice and water push the
button and your done. a good one can keep the rice ok for 24 hours or more. try
that with a pan.

--
Knight-Toolworks & Custom Planes
Custom made wooden planes at reasonable prices
See http://www.knight-toolworks.com For prices and ordering instructions.

Carol In WI wrote:
>
> How is cooking rice on the stove any different than those rice
cookers?

1) It is impossible to undercook/overcook/burn rice in
the machine. It is merely unlikely to
undercook/overcook/burn rice on the stove. "Set it and
forget it" like in an infomercial.

2) The machine does not take up a burner. One more
course in your banquet.

3) Gadget freaks smile at machines. That includes really
fancy stoves, of course, so it is necessary to get all of
the above and heck even a rotisserie. Now set that gadget
freak onto the quest of figuring out how to cook the meat
in the machine and the rice on the rotisserie ...

4) Most rice cookers have a keep-warm setting. I have
never seen a kettle with that setting. You're not
counting a crockpot as on the stove, right?

5) Rice cookers are usually white. Few pans are white.

6) Rice cookers make miserable fried rice. On the stove
makes good fried rice.

Sheldon wrote:
> Whether to wash rice depends on the rice... rice packaged in the
> US is typically fortified, and *it's clean*, any rinsing washes the
> added nutrients down the drain...

Even if one is willing to take on faith that it's clean, the "added
nutrients" are an unknown mix of vitamins. Who needs either the added
vitamins or the uncertainty as to dosages?

> don't wash converted or parboiled
> white rice either (this is not instant rice), [snip]

Better yet, don't buy or eat this stuff in the first place. The
texture is bizarre. Where did this notion that "every grain separate"
is a good thing come from, other than from Uncle Ben's advertising?

> Imported rice such as from India, Italy, Pakistan,
> etc. is as filthy as filthy gets, it's grown in the same fields where
> raw sewage is leached and must be scrupulously washed... [snip]

Overstated and overgeneralized, but certainly a reason to wash your
rice. Basmati and jasmine rices taste so good that washing is a small
price to pay.

-aem

I do it this way cause it always works. I assume its because the rice,
washed of excess starch is less likely to glug. I take your point about the
nutrients down the drain, however. People who like super separating rice
grains often boil rice in a lot of water. This must also waste a
considerable amount of nutrient. If I feel my diet needs a bit of a lift
I'll occasionally eat brown rice, but I also wash this three times -
porbably more from habit than anything else.
Richard.
"Sheldon" > wrote in message
ups.com...
>
> Richard Green wrote:
>>
>> Take 1 quantity of rice, wash 3 times in plenty of cold water.
>
> Why? Whether to wash rice depends on the rice... rice packaged in the
> US is typically fortified, and *it's clean*, any rinsing washes the
> added nutrients down the drain... don't wash converted or parboiled
> white rice either (this is not instant rice), the unhulled grain has
> been soaked, pressure-steamed and dried before milling. This treatment
> gelatinizes the starch in the grain (for fluffy, separated cooked rice)
> and infuses some of the nutrients of the bran and germ into the
> kernel's heart. Imported rice such as from India, Italy, Pakistan,
> etc. is as filthy as filthy gets, it's grown in the same fields where
> raw sewage is leached and must be scrupulously washed... why anyone in
> the US buys that crap is unfathomable.
>a lot

"Carol In WI" > wrote in message
news
> How is cooking rice on the stove any different than those rice cookers?
> Carol In WI
>

From my time in southern China, Indonesia, and other such rice areas:

1) Using the stove, "plain" rice can be made in at least 14 different
consistencies I know of, from breakfast rice to wet rice to sticky rice to
dry rice. (All are from rice and water, nothing else except for maybe some
salt. And they all taste different.)

Rice cookers basically make only two or three kinds of cooked rice (if they
have settings, otherwise you get whatever it makes)

2) To wash or not to wash - it's not germs or anything living you will need
to worry about - boiling anything at 212 F for the time it takes to cook
rice will kill anything you can kill, short of geothermal bacteria.

3) Commercial rice is processed to be idiot-proof and all-white so the
consumer can have identical individual kernels ("fluffy rice", made fluffy
to put under "chow mein" slime or cream of mushroom soup et al and get
stirred up to thereby get it sticky again :-) ) - if you follow their
recipe. Nothing wrong with that. Less to worry about, and most guests
would pick out the stray natural rice "bran" because it wasn't white anyway.

4) Old rock-solid recipe - 1 part white rice, 2 parts water and a little
salt in kettle, cover, bring mix to just boil, turn down to simmer 15-20
minutes, time depends on consistency of the kernel you want. (I like to
gently stir it once as a side effect of using a flat spatula just after the
rice settles into the simmer, to get any clinging rice off the bottom of the
pan)
Stir every couple minutes after about five if you want sticky rice, don't
touch it until done if you want "fine rice".
Use more water for stickier and up to wet, use less water for dry and
lonely kernel rice.

When it is done cooking, fluff it gently with a fork and put the cover back
on - (yes, including wet rice - even though it sloshes.)

And I will note that if I had to worry about my vitamins and bran so much I
have to have brown rice only for that reason, I would think about buying a
box of all-bran and adding something nuitritious to the rest of my diet.

:-)

forgot one thing - short grain vs medium vs long grain

the longer the grain, usually the easier it is to get drier rice. Short for
gummy rice, medium for sticky rice, and long for lonely kernel.

medium is de rigeur here for slow rice pudding, since the long grain makes
dry pudding and the short makes pasty pudding. (no, not hasty pudding
:-) )

"--" > wrote in message
...
> "Carol In WI" > wrote in message
> news
> > How is cooking rice on the stove any different than those rice cookers?
> > Carol In WI
> >
>
> From my time in southern China, Indonesia, and other such rice areas:
>
> 1) Using the stove, "plain" rice can be made in at least 14 different
> consistencies I know of, from breakfast rice to wet rice to sticky rice to
> dry rice. (All are from rice and water, nothing else except for maybe
some
> salt. And they all taste different.)
>
> Rice cookers basically make only two or three kinds of cooked rice (if
they
> have settings, otherwise you get whatever it makes)
>
> 2) To wash or not to wash - it's not germs or anything living you will
need
> to worry about - boiling anything at 212 F for the time it takes to cook
> rice will kill anything you can kill, short of geothermal bacteria.
>
> 3) Commercial rice is processed to be idiot-proof and all-white so the
> consumer can have identical individual kernels ("fluffy rice", made fluffy
> to put under "chow mein" slime or cream of mushroom soup et al and get
> stirred up to thereby get it sticky again :-) ) - if you follow their
> recipe. Nothing wrong with that. Less to worry about, and most guests
> would pick out the stray natural rice "bran" because it wasn't white
anyway.
>
> 4) Old rock-solid recipe - 1 part white rice, 2 parts water and a little
> salt in kettle, cover, bring mix to just boil, turn down to simmer 15-20
> minutes, time depends on consistency of the kernel you want. (I like to
> gently stir it once as a side effect of using a flat spatula just after
the
> rice settles into the simmer, to get any clinging rice off the bottom of
the
> pan)
> Stir every couple minutes after about five if you want sticky rice,
don't
> touch it until done if you want "fine rice".
> Use more water for stickier and up to wet, use less water for dry and
> lonely kernel rice.
>
> When it is done cooking, fluff it gently with a fork and put the cover
back
> on - (yes, including wet rice - even though it sloshes.)
>
> And I will note that if I had to worry about my vitamins and bran so much
I
> have to have brown rice only for that reason, I would think about buying a
> box of all-bran and adding something nuitritious to the rest of my diet.
>
> :-)
>
>
>
>
>
>