Rice cooker…

[LunarOne]

leef44 said:

wong said:

Cotty said:

wong said:

I'm Chinese. I cook rice 4-6x/week. Ask any Asian what ratio of rice to water do they use and they'll look weirdly at you and say - just use a rice cooker.

surely you still need to know what quantity of rice and water to add to the rice cooker.

There are markings in the enclosed pan - 1 cup, 2 cup etc. Just use the included measuring cup, then add water to the level indicated. 1 cup ~ 1 serving. Do not lose the measuring cup, however, I've had several different brands of rice cooker and the measuring cup seems a standard size.

Did your mum not teach you to use the finger crease trick? Add the water to the level to the crease of your forefinger bend when the finger tip is just touching the top of the rice grain. Only works when you are making at least two cups.

The traditional knuckle method doesn't work reliably because it greatly depends on the amount of rice you are cooking. If the cooking vessel is taller and narrower, then the column of water above the rice will also need to be deeper. Also (as mentioned by Pailin in her rice cooker video that I linked above) the method doesn't work reliably when the vessel has a rounded bottom rather than being flat like older types had. Much better to use the scale on the inside of the vessel rather than a method that will result in a hit or a miss.

[leef44]

LunarOne said:

The traditional knuckle method doesn't work reliably because it greatly depends on the amount of rice you are cooking. If the cooking vessel is taller and narrower, then the column of water above the rice will also need to be deeper. Also (as mentioned by Pailin in her rice cooker video that I linked above) the method doesn't work reliably when the vessel has a rounded bottom rather than being flat like older types had. Much better to use the scale on the inside of the vessel rather than a method that will result in a hit or a miss.

Thank you for that snippet

I have to confess, I haven't been keeping up in the back. It's normally my OH who does the cooking and when she's not then I'm cooking for one so I will always use the cup measurement

[LunarOne]

This got me thinking - does anyone own one of those Instant Pot electric multi cookers? They all seem to have a rice setting, but I wonder if they work just on time, or whether they shut off or go to warming mode when the water is absorbed like a proper rice cooker?

Bit of background: I've been thinking of getting one as I used to do quite a bit of pressure cooking using aluminium pressure cookers (Prestige and Presto brands) that date back to the 1960s and are getting harder to find parts for. I also gather that aluminium is not really ideal cookware as aluminium can leech into the food (especially if it's acidic) and is known to cause Alzheimer's, dementia or other similar issues later in life. My mother actually had signs of dementia before she died, so I'm taking it seriously.

One of my pressure cookers does not seal very well due to a hardened gasket, and I haven't been able to find the right seal for it. The other seals very well - so well that the lid becomes extremely tight after a cook and the bakelite handle broke while trying to open it. In the end I had to use an air hammer against the screw that used to attach the handle, to open it!

I'm also a massive fan of natto (Japanese fermented soy beans) and eat it every day - one or two of those polystyrene containers a day. I recently found out that you can use an Instant pot first on pressure cook mode, then on Yoghurt mode, to cook and ferment soy beans to make natto. If I could make it myself, then that would save on costs (each 50g container costs about £1.50 and I have to go to Oriental supermarkets to find it) and save on unnecessary packaging waste caused by those polystyrene containers. Video of process below:

[The Gauge]

LunarOne said:

This got me thinking - does anyone own one of those Instant Pot electric multi cookers?

Yes, I have an Intant Pot Pro Crisp, I did try making rice in it once but found I needed to practice more the find the correct settings for rice, but also decided that it was more faff than simply boiling it in a pan of water since never experimented further.

[Defcon5]

How does a rice cooker know when to turn off? I use mine regularly but have no idea how it works

[Ken_Code]

Defcon5 said:

How does a rice cooker know when to turn off? I use mine regularly but have no idea how it works

The temperature starts to increase as the last of the water boils off / is absorbed which tells it to stop.

[extraT]

Fool proof method:

Wash rice to remove starch.
Throw rice in pan and cover with water. Salt if you’d like.
After around 8-10 mins, take a few grains out and pop them in your mouth. Hard? Keep cooking. Soft/ how you like it? Drain and enjoy. Too mushy? Next time check around the 7min mark.

Didn’t cook enough? See above. Cooked too much? Find a good egg fried rice recipe.

Edited by extraT on Saturday 18th May 15:08

Edited by extraT on Saturday 18th May 15:10

[PhilAsia]

extraT said:

Fool proof method:

Wash rice to remove starch.
Throw rice in pan and cover with 1.5:1 ratio water/rice.
Come back any time you like (pissed/sober/just woke up, etc), and a different colour light will tell you whether it is ready or not...

FTFY...

[LunarOne]

extraT said:

Fool proof method:

Wash rice to remove starch.
Throw rice in pan and cover with water. Salt if you’d like.
After around 8-10 mins, take a few grains out and pop them in your mouth. Hard? Keep cooking. Soft/ how you like it? Drain and enjoy. Too mushy? Next time check around the 7min mark.

Didn’t cook enough? See above. Cooked too much? Find a good egg fried rice recipe.

Fool proof in that it prevents fools from ever having good rice. I know you and The Gauge swear by the submerge rice and cook 'til its done method, but in my experience that only ever results in rice grains that are mushy on the outside and still a bit hard on the inside. And varying the cooking time either makes the all of it mushy or all of it too hard. There's no middle ground where the rice is perfectly fluffy yet fully cooked through and through. I've never seen an asian cook rice like that, and they cook more rice in a year than I will in my remaining lifespan.

[ambuletz]

Whilst I do have a rice cooker, I tend to use it for 3+ portions. 2 or less i'll do it on the stove.

for me the ratio is always of water to rice being N+1. n being the number of cups of rice (the vessel doesnt matter, whether it's a rice cup, a mug, a glass etc). Rice can technically be cooked at a 1:1 ratio if you use it in a vaccum sealed pouch, but nobody's doing that. The extra amount of water is to account for water loss during boiling/evaporation.
so for...
1 cup of rice, 2 cups water.
2 cups rice, 3 cups water
3 cups rice, 4 cups water.

bring to a boil, lid on, heat down to lowest & on smallest burner (if using gas). leave alone for 15min. after this, turn it off and leave it alone (still not lifting the lid) for 10min minimum. after that lift, fluff, serve.

You can bring to the boil faster if you use a bigger burner, put it on high, use just boiled water from a kettle instead of cold water from the tap...then once brought to a boil (gently) stir the bottom/walls so nothing is stuck, and move it to the smallest burner (again, if using gas). obviously rinse the rice!

[dapprman]

LunarOne said:

This got me thinking - does anyone own one of those Instant Pot electric multi cookers? They all seem to have a rice setting, but I wonder if they work just on time, or whether they shut off or go to warming mode when the water is absorbed like a proper rice cooker?

To add to other answers as I have one too. The instructions you get with the InstantPot result in a soggy mess, as someone else said, you need experimentation. I found some postings somewhere on how to do it and it worked, not the greatest but it worked. Part of the problem was I was cooking the rice for use with food I was to cook in the InstantPot .... Also the results were not as good as I got from my microwave rice cooker.
Think the InstantPot just heats the water and rice up under pressure, then when finished, lets the whole cool down, then you release the pressure and serve.

Edited by dapprman on Sunday 19th May 10:08

[PhilAsia]

Just me and Mrs PA in our household. 2 plastic cups (the one that comes with the rice cooker) and approximately 3 cups water. Comes out right every time.

"Ask Asians about rice and how to cook it. Ask Europeans about potatoes and how to cook them..." was Mrs PA's comment when asked

[The Gauge]

LunarOne said:

Fool proof in that it prevents fools from ever having good rice. I know you and The Gauge swear by the submerge rice and cook 'til its done method, but in my experience that only ever results in rice grains that are mushy on the outside and still a bit hard on the inside. .

No, that's not what I do at all.

I stop the cooking at about 6/7mins before it's cooked, drain and tip back into the hot pan (off the heat) and cover with towel. This steams the rice for the last few mins till perfectly cooked, and dries it out so they don't stick together. Each grain is separate and individual, unlike the expensive Japanese rice cooker I had. Honest, this method does perfect rice for me.

I used to boil it till done then drain, but its then clumped together, mushy and damp, not nice at all. So I bought the rice cooker to try and get great rice, but that just didn't cook it right all. Quite expensive it too.

[Du1point8]

We got one of these:

https://yum-asia.com/uk/product/bamboo-umai-induct...

UMAI induction heating (IH) technology... awesome fun, used several times a week and when not on rice I use it on things like Korean brisket slow cooked over 6-8 hours.

I would highly recommend.

[ambuletz]

Du1point8 said:

We got one of these:

https://yum-asia.com/uk/product/bamboo-umai-induct...

UMAI induction heating (IH) technology... awesome fun, used several times a week and when not on rice I use it on things like Korean brisket slow cooked over 6-8 hours.

I would highly recommend.

I always wanted those japanese/korean style rice cookers, like hell if I'm paying over £50 for one though. some of these also take 40min+ to cook some rice. I can do it on a stove in 25min.

[Trustmeimadoctor]

I used to have the issue with my rice cooker if just doing one cup of rice this water it suggested was far too much but now honestly I just do 2 cups it works perfect and I have a cold rice snack later

[Digby]

Tried some plain rice from Sainsbury.
Rinsed it, added two cups to cooker.
Dropped two chicken stock cubes into the water, plus some diced onion, plus salt, pepper, bit of garlic salt. Hit start.

Opened cooker, scooped some out, dumped some grated cheese on it, waited for cheese to melt and polished it off.
Was lovely!!

[smifffymoto]

The beauty of a good rice cooker is being able to do something else while it cooks and not having to keep checking its ok.

[devnull]

I just use a zojirushi, it's so much easier and I often pre-set it earlier in the day to be ready by a certain time so it's one less thing to think about when preparing dinner.

[Scabutz]

Have we ascertained if an expensive rice cooker gives better results than a cheaper one? Mine is basic and it's OK but not perfect.

I know there was a video above comparing them but when she was tasting the rice the spoon was clanging her teeth so I had to switch it off before I killed someone.