# I cannot cook rice **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 22, 2009, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cannot-cook-rice/514727 "2009-10-22T11:32:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2009, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cannot-cook-rice/514727/41 "2009-10-23T13:11:17Z")
> [@Jormungandr](#): > > One trick my father now uses is to place the rice in a mixing bowl and boil the water separate. When the water is ready, just pour it into the bowl. Wait a a while and voilà, rice. 😕 I thought this was just about _de rigeur_ when cooking with regular rice (as opposed to Uncle Ben’s, or Minute Rice, or something). ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2009, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cannot-cook-rice/514727/42 "2009-10-23T13:27:03Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > **Jormungandr** , your dad’s method doesn’t inspire me with confidence. I’d do something very absorbent, such as couscous, like that maybe, but I can’t imagine that the rice would go tender without a length of simmering. 😕 It simmers after adding the rice to the full-boil water. Plus, **Jormungandr** didn’t spell this out, but I believe you’re supposed to “lower the heat and cover” after adding the rice. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2009, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cannot-cook-rice/514727/43 "2009-10-23T13:32:02Z")
> [@Always Brings Pie](#): > > We always make rice in the oven. This provides even heating and in general is just easier for us to deal with. > > 1 cup of rice > 2 cups of water > > cover pan with \*\*a layer of saran wrap \*\*and then a layer of aluminum foil. > > Place in \*\*350F oven \*\*for ?? 30-45 minutes or until done. Be very careful when removing wrappings because of escaping steam! Saran Wrap can go in the oven? ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2009, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cannot-cook-rice/514727/44 "2009-10-23T15:26:53Z")
Cooking rice is wrought with superstition and every culture has it’s own method. I have not read all of the suggestions up thread (short on time) but I’m going to pass on to you my completely fail safe method. And, it’s dead easy to boot, never, ever fails. Cook your rice in a pan wide enough you can spread your hand out in. The measure of rice matters not at all, just put in as much as you think you’d like. I always wash my rice, my Asians friends assure me only heathens don’t! (washing it amounts to covering with water, swishing about until the water is milky, pouring the milky water off. Personally, I do this twice, it makes for very lovely rice!) Now you have wet rice in your wide pan. Put your hand on top of the rice, fill with water until the water reaches any of the second knuckles on your hand. This ratio works no matter how much rice you are making. I would also, highly recommend a rice cooker, (not to be confused with a vegetable/rice steamer. A true rice cooker keeps the rice perfect for several hours and shuts off automatically, and will say so in the literature. If it doesn’t say so, it’s not a true rice cooker, keep looking!), I swear by mine. It sees more use than any other small appliance I own. This same method/measure can be used to make rice on a stove top, (cover, bring to a boil, immediately turn down to low, remove from heat when done. With a rice cooker, push the button to ‘cook rice’ and come back whenever you’re ready to serve it, no tending necessary!) even on a camp fire. It is truly fail proof. I hope you’ll give it try. ---
**Author:** ![Leiko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Leiko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leiko)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2009, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cannot-cook-rice/514727/45 "2009-10-23T17:46:29Z")
I know we’re talking about white rice, but here’s a quick tip about brown rice: To make it more delicious, put a pan with nothing in it on the stove top, turned up at least as high as you’d have it to toast nuts and possibly higher. Throw in the raw brown rice and start stirring. Boil some water in the microwave/kettle/separate pot. After most of the brown rice has “popped” and started to get toasty, add the boiling water, cover, and cook on low heat for 20 minutes. The toastiness makes it taste more flavorful, and the popping makes the texture more interesting and (for me at least) easier to eat. > [@bordelond](#): > > Saran Wrap can go in the oven? I don’t know about normal consumer/domestic wrap- and it probably varies brand to brand- but at the food service gig I had in college, we would use our plastic wrap in the warmers all the time. But I don’t think those were set above about 200 degrees Fahrenheit. You also have to make sure it’s not touching the food. Good luck with the rice, jjimm! ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2009, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cannot-cook-rice/514727/46 "2009-10-23T17:58:57Z")
I had to get one of those fancy-ass fuzzy logic Japanese rice cookers, because I too am rice impaired. ---
**Author:** ![Ceejaytee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ceejaytee/32/2956_2.png) [@Ceejaytee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ceejaytee)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2009, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cannot-cook-rice/514727/47 "2009-10-23T18:13:52Z")
> [@Always Brings Pie](#): > > We always make rice in the oven. This provides even heating and in general is just easier for us to deal with. > > 1 cup of rice > 2 cups of water > > cover pan with a layer of saran wrap and then a layer of aluminum foil. > > Place in 350F oven for ?? 30-45 minutes or until done. Be very careful when removing wrappings because of escaping steam! Aw, you beat me to it. I do rice:water in 1:2 ratio as you did. But I put the rice in the baking dish, cover it with \*boiling \*water, and then a double layer of aluminum foil. Takes about 30 minutes for white, 60 for brown. Brown rice cooked this way is awesome. You can throw in a TBS of butter too if you want. I let it sit for 5 minutes or so after I take it out before taking off the aluminum foil. It’s always perfect. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2009, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cannot-cook-rice/514727/48 "2009-10-23T20:46:31Z")
> [@yojimbo](#): > > Uncle Bens + 3 mins in microwave always works for me 😃 > What? No doubt. I pride myself as an amateur chef too but thanks to this wonderful invention my rice cooking days are over. Unlike the OP, I can cook rice. But why bother? ---
**Author:** ![flickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7bcc69/32.png) [@flickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flickster)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2009, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cannot-cook-rice/514727/49 "2009-10-23T21:15:28Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > I’ve always done 20 minutes. 15 minutes for me is still slightly undercooked. I don’t know why rice gives people so many problems, it’s this easy. As emphasized in some posts above, don’t peek. And make sure you have a tight-fitting lid. The only thing that varies sometimes is the amount of water. I do a scant 2 cups of water (probably more like 1 3/4) for 1 cup of rice. Older rice is drier and will need the full two cups. Fresher rice can need as little as a cup and a half. > > I don’t rinse, I don’t fry, I don’t do anything fancy, just the above. Frying and rinsing is okay, but yield a different type of rice. I like this one for most applications. Another 1 3/4 cup to 1 cup long grain white rice user here. As others have mentioned, bring water to boil (I add salt and a little butter), add rice and bring back to a boil, stirring to prevent sticking, then cover an reduce heat to low - 20 minutes later - remove cover, fluff - beautiful rice It’s really that easy. DO NOT PEEK, DO NOT STIR ---
**Author:** ![Dorothea\_Book](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/da6949/32.png) [@Dorothea\_Book](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dorothea_Book)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2009, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cannot-cook-rice/514727/50 "2009-10-23T23:25:00Z")
Try quinoa–especially the red kind. You cannot kill this grain and it is healthier for you than rice–even brown rice. Like pasta, boil a pot of water, add salt and some oil, and just boil it for fifteen minutes. Strain out any water that’s left; rinse. Voila! ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2009, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cannot-cook-rice/514727/51 "2009-10-24T18:22:10Z")
You’re not using an aluminum bottom pot, are you? Those are only good for boiling water. Anything with starch in it will stick to the extra-heated bottom. ---
**Author:** ![tr0psn4j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@tr0psn4j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tr0psn4j)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2009, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cannot-cook-rice/514727/52 "2009-10-24T18:45:55Z")
> [@China\_Guy](#): > > for Chinese/Japanese style, get thee a rice cooker. Pretty idiot proof. > > do you live somewhere with high altitude, ultra high humidity or something else that might affect the cooking. I’m an idiot then. Always comes up mushy or too dry when I do it. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2009, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cannot-cook-rice/514727/53 "2009-10-25T00:06:55Z")
> [@tr0psn4j](#): > > I’m an idiot then. Always comes up mushy or too dry when I do it. 😃 Then, if you follow exactly the same timing and temp every time, you only have one factor to control for: the amount of water. Like I said, in my experience it’s a scant 2 cups for every cup of rice, bordering on 1 3/4 cup, to get the right texture. (The recommended 2-to-1 almost always results in slightly too soggy rice for me.) And some rices I’ve found need only a cup and a half. It may take you a try or two to get it just right, but you can do it. Bring rice and water to boil. Set to absolute lowest setting and cover tightly. Wait twenty minutes. Turn gas off. Wait five minutes. Fluff and serve. Not exactly to your liking? Adjust water levels slightly next time (no more than a 1/4 cup of water up or down for every cup of rice.) ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2009, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cannot-cook-rice/514727/54 "2009-10-25T00:40:17Z")
> [@PunditLisa](#): > > You’re not using an aluminum bottom pot, are you? Those are only good for boiling water. Anything with starch in it will stick to the extra-heated bottom. I meant copper bottom, not aluminum bottom. ---
**Author:** ![Mesquite-oh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a183cd/32.png) [@Mesquite-oh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mesquite-oh)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2009, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cannot-cook-rice/514727/55 "2009-10-25T06:50:15Z")
I hear you. Much to my embarrassment and my family’s anger, my rice always used to turn out undercooked or sticky or a sloppy mess until one day I made the decision to follow the directions on the bag. Since then, it has been perfect everytime. I am not kidding. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2009, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cannot-cook-rice/514727/56 "2009-10-26T04:04:19Z")
Not peeking is a myth. People whose rice cooks up okay think that’s the reason why. As others have said: 1)Rinse rice. 2)1.25 - 1.5 parts water to 1 part rice - the knuckle method is another way of measuring. 3)Heavy bottomed pan, bring all to boil, turn down to lowest heat, cover. 4)Cook until done. Now that you’ve done it, get a goddamn rice cooker. You only have one burner you can use when you use your wok, and it’s broken. Get a rice cooker. You will never have to keep your eye on the rice again to know when it’s done. I’ve had mine for 28 years, and I’m a cook. It cooks rice far better than you or I ever will. There is no shame in it. Do you grind your coffee beans by a hand-cranked coffee mill? Do you grind your own corn between rocks? Wash your clothes in the river? Get a rice cooker. ---
**Author:** ![Uzi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/91b2a8/32.png) [@Uzi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uzi)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2009, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cannot-cook-rice/514727/57 "2009-10-26T04:10:30Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > Get a rice cooker. Get a pressure cooker. It cooks rice in minutes perfectly and cooks tons of other things besides (in minutes). ---
**Author:** ![Jamicat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c67d28/32.png) [@Jamicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jamicat)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2009, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cannot-cook-rice/514727/58 "2009-10-26T04:12:51Z")
> [@NicePete](#): > > 1 cup rice > 2 cups water > Heat to boiling. Cover, reduce heat to low simmer. Turn off heat after 15 minutes. Let sit 5 minutes. > > Eat. Ratio 2 water to 1 rice, heat to boil add rice, cover then simmer for 20 min. I think it even says it on the package 😛 Specialty rices might be lil’ different. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2009, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cannot-cook-rice/514727/59 "2009-10-26T04:20:41Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > There is no shame in it. Do you grind your coffee beans by a hand-cranked coffee mill? Do you grind your own corn between rocks? Wash your clothes in the river? Get a rice cooker. No there’s no shame in it, but there’s no point in it, either, if you make rice fine on the stovetop. Why should I clutter up my kitchen with yet another piece of equipment when I’m happy with the way my rice comes out in a pot on the stovetop? This isn’t grinding your own corn, this is just boiling/steaming some rice, hardly a comparable analogy. ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2009, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cannot-cook-rice/514727/60 "2009-10-26T04:45:08Z")
Rice cooker +1. Screw the stovetop, I want good rice @ .001 effort. Damn thing works every time. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cannot-cook-rice/514727.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cannot-cook-rice/514727.md?page=4)