A million years ago, when I was living in housing at my university, there were lots of Taiwanese students in my building and every one of them owned a rice cooker. I was always intrigued.
So today, walking though my local Target, I saw one in clearance for $12.98. I bought it and tried it out tonight. Wow! You just throw in the rice and water, sit back and the damned thing cooks it, turns off when the rice is done (how does it know that?!) and keeps it warm.
I always used to use the Minute Rice, but this is much better, and certainly a lot cheaper…the huge bag of rice I bought today cost 84 cents, and will easily give me more than several boxes of the minute rice.
It is also good for steamed vegetable (not a particular favorite of mine, but thought I would mention it for anyone in the market to buy a rice cooker.)
We’ve been using our Panasonic Rice-O-Mat for over15 years. One cup of white rice and 1 1/3 cups of water (or equivalent proportions) then ignore the rice while preparing the rest of the dinner. (For brown rice, use slightly more than 1 1/2 portions of water to rice.) I used to be pretty good at cooking rice (not Minute Rice) in a saucepan, but I recently had to cook some rice at my Mom’s and had to think back to how I used to do it.
I have a rice cooker, I love it. I have to tell you, though, you really need to get some Jasmine rice. I’ve started using it, it’s about the same price as the regular stuff, but oh man is it better.
One other question. Granted, I have only used it once, but directions say to put in rice and water (1 to 2 ratio) and then spray the rest of the bowl with Pam or another aerosol cooking oil. Why wouldn’t you spray it first, before the rice and water, and is it necessary to spray it?
Also, as I mentioned, how does this machine know the rice is done and shuts off automatically and just reverts to warm? There is no timer switch…you just turn it on and leave it alone…(the technology part of my brain is missing something).
Before the rice has fully absorbed the water, there’s a lot of excess water. It absorbs a lot of the heat supplied by the cooker and turns to steam. The phase change has the effect of regulating the temperature of the rice/water mixture. Once the water gets absorbed steam production drops way off and the temperature of the rice begins to rise. The internal thermostat detects this rise and knows the cooking is done and it can drop the heating back to “warm.”
For one cup of white rice, the cook cycle is about 15 minutes and the steam cycle is, generally, about the same length of time. (You can open it sooner, but the rice may still be a little hard or crackly. You can let it sit beyond the 1/2 hour overall time, but after about 45 minutes, the rice begins to dry out, although it is still edible (and certainly good for adding to mixed dishes) for up to an hour.)
I’m a bit surprised at the 1:2 ration of rice to water mentioned.
As I noted, our cooker calls for 1:1 1/3 for white rice. (1:2 is what I used to use when cooking in a saucepan.) Do some rice cookers vent some of the steam? Or is this an effort to leave the rice a bit extra moist at the bottom?
Jasmine rice is just a particular variety from Thailand. As trublmakr says above, it’s a long-grain aromatic variety. (That’s slightly aromatic. It won’t perfume your house, but you can certainly tell the difference.) I generally get Basmati (from the Punjab) instead, just because I prefer it. Both are good, far better than the no-name kinds.
A search found that some Texas company patented Basmati rice (really stupid patent law!), and it seems the Indian government may have set up geographical standards in the hope of voiding the patent under Berne Convention rules. Thailand has done the same for Jasmine rice. Here’s hoping they both succeed!
I see little advantage over my stovetop method, which takes the same amount of time. I just boil the water, add the rice, cover the pot, put it on low for 25 minutes.
Convenience. Measure the water and rice, push the button, walk away.
No watching for the water to boil to add the rice
No turning down the heat to simmer once it has boiled.
No wondering what to do with the pan (heat? no heat?) if the rice finishes before you’re ready to serve it or add it to the rest of the recipe.
No pan cluttering up the stove top (since the cooker is cluttering up some shelf behind you).
There are also people who have never quite mastered the art of cooking rice and this makes it rather foolproof.
It is not a miracle device. If anyone is comfortable with their current method, it will not change their lives.
Eschewing the basic models, mostly because I’m attracted to gadgetry as a moth is to a flame, I bought a neurofuzzy Zojirushi rice cooker. A cooker with a brain of sorts. I use it all the time not only for rice but many other grains as well. It also makes pretty good one-dish meals when you throw in vegetables, chicken, or fish. The best part is being able to switch it on, walk away to do something else, and have dinner waiting for whenever you get to it. It also has a timer so I can have hot oatmeal ready when I get up. Very nice appliance indeed for us lazy cooks.
:gasp: You boil the water first?. I never heard of such a thing. I’ve been cooking rice since I was little,no not in those rice cookers either.
I usually rinse the rice, then leave roughly (never measure) twice the water. Never sticky,never dry. Funny thing is, nobody that I know (outside immediate family) cooks rice without having to precisely measure and time it.
Like Revtim, I see little advantage over my stovetop method. I dump any amount of rice I want (up to a cup and a half uncooked) in a small ziploc bag, poke many holes in it with a corn-on-the-cob holder, and drop it in boiling water for 20 minutes. It makes perfectly done rice that never sticks. It’s even easier when you prepare a few bags and store them for later cooking.
This probably makes me a heathen of some kind, since I see Tony Montana gasped at the thought of boiling the water first. :shrug: Works for me.
I got a rice cooker as a birthday gift last year. It was a lifesaver for the lazy person in me that was running around like a crazy person with their head cut off. I’d take some rice, put it in the bottom with water, then add the steamer basket with a frozen chicken filet on top and some fresh vegetables. Turn it on, walk away for twenty to twenty-five minutes, and voila! Dinner is ready with little to no effort.
Rice cookers are the best. I’ll be getting one the minute I have my own (or a shared, maybe, with my boyfriend) kitchen. I’ve never had any luck cooking rice on a stovetop, and my mom’s husband introduced us to the idea of rice cookers since he lived in Asia for years. They are brilliant.
Personally, I’d find an Asian store to buy one at, but I’m sure the ones at Target and whatnot are fine.
I have a rice cooker still packed away, but I’m going to have to get it out soon. I love love LOVE rice and will eat it all day long if I have it–every time I walk by, I have to have a spoonful.
I can do it stovetop, too, and it turns out fine, but with all the kids running around and a dozen things going on at once, I hate to have to keep an eye on it.
Now the baggie-boil method mentioned above, now THAT is clever. I gotta try that one!
My mom says that the women she knew in Taiwan never measured rice or water either, except to pour rice up to their first knuckle and water to their second.
Enjoy your new toy!