So I googled it. How does it taste different that Jasmine and Riceland, do I buy it from your basic Asian grocery, and how does the cost compare to Jasmine if it’s aged for “years”? 
I enjoy cooking and am a more-than-able cook in most respects. However, I categorically cannot cook rice. Worse, yet, I prefer short-grain rice cooked kinda sticky (Korean-restaurant rice I used to call it) . I luv my rice cooker. You’ll get it from my cold, dead hands. I have a really cheap one (National, I’ve seen the same one sold at my Asian grocery store for $15) but it gets the job done.
Seconded.
I always read these rice-cooker threads with my mouth hanging open in amazement. You guys screw up rice so badly you need a special gadget to cook it for you? I do the Chefguy method except I don’t add butter (or salt, usually) and simmer at the lowest possible level on the smallest burner on my gas stove for 20 minutes, not 10. That method makes essentially perfect boiled rice every single time, and has for about 15 years now. If the rice comes out perfect, and you do the exact same thing next time, it will be perfect again.
When I have a little extra time I use this method for Chinese restaurant-quality steamed rice: rinse 2 cups rice well. Put in straight-sided Corningware dish, add water to 1/2 inch over the rice level. Put the dish, uncovered, in the interior strainer portion of the pasta pot (or put in on the steamer tray inside a big pot) with 1 inch of water in it. Cover the big pot and bring the water to a boil, simmer for 40 minutes.
This method will give you the Platonic ideal of rice.
I didn’t realize cooking rice was problematic for so many folks. My wife, sister, and I are in the “it’s easy and always works” camp. I do use a heavy-ish pan (fairly thick cast aluminum), Uncle Ben’s rice, 2:1 water to rice ratio, salt, butter (my wife usually leaves that out), bring to a boil, simmer low for 20 minutes.
We have a rice cooker, and it works fine, but it’s a LOT more trouble to wash all its pieces than to wash a simple pan and lid. Only used it once for that reason.
I’ve never made a bad batch with a rice cooker and never made a good batch any other way.
I should have learned how from my Cajun buddies, but it didn’t stick. Their method is as follows: Dump as much rice as you want in a cast iron Dutch oven. Add water to depth of first knuckle. Bring to a boil until holes ~.25 inch appear. Lid and let sit for 20 minutes.
At least I have some ideas for making rice for the red beans and rice I am planning to make in the very near future.
I wonder if this explains some of the difference in people’s experience? I have an electric stove, and with electric you can’t lower the temperature from bringing it to a boil to a low simmer nearly as fast. Don’t get me wrong, I can make rice both ways, but the stovetop method is very sensitive to having a good pan.
When my brother brought his stuff home from college last summer, he unpacked his rice cooker and we started using it a lot. When he moved he took it with him, and I missed it so much I bought one of my own. I think it’s great – the rice is always perfect, you don’t even have to watch it. And they’re pretty cheap, too – I think I got mine for about twenty bucks at Wal-Mart. I say go for it.
I had never even heard of one until I lived in a college dorm with lots of Asian students and they all seemed to have one.
I had one, but just bought a new one at Target for about $20 with a non-stick core and I love it. Not only does it make perfect rice every-time, but it keeps it warm and perfect for hours…so you can make the rice at any point while you are cooking and it is ready when you are. Don’t need to watch it or do anything…just dump the rice and water in and turn it on and that is all.
I used to buy the bags of so-called minute rice…first of all, way too expensive and secondly, nowhere near the ease of having a good rice cooker.
We use ours a lot - probably one of the few electrical appliances that we have gotten our money’s worth 1000 times over.
But do get one with a non-stick center…the old one we had got a bit messy and hard to clean, this one is a snap.
I have a Zojirushi neurofuzzy rice cooker and it’s one of my most used appliances. It can cook a single serving of rice or up to six cups. I can do rice on the stove just fine but rarely do anymore because the cooker does it for me, no watching, and keeps it warm until I’m ready. I’ve also used it for oatmeal, barley, spelt, quinoa, millet, farro, kamut, amaranth, couscous, dried beans, and boxed mixes (like Rice-a-Roni). It does them all with no fuss. Use stock instead of water, toss in some vegetables and meat bits and you’ve got a one-dish meal. Only one pot to wash too, which I really like. I love my Zojirushi.
I don’t think a rice cooker is unnecessary, but it’s definitely one of those devices I can live without because I’ve never had a problem with cooking rice.
Rinse rice, dump in pot. Cover with water to about 1-1.5cm then stick a lid on and cook it over a low heat until it’s done. No need to watch it, comes out all good.
I’m a bitch for the “90-second microwave” rice, however. It’s just enough for 2 people, and it’s so nice to throw the rice in the microwave, hit the button twice and have it ready.
My grandfather has always cooked his rice in a stainless steel pan. (Not a really cheap one, but not high-end cookware, either.) He brings it to a boil on an electric stove and then turns the stove off and lets it sit until it’s fully done. He says there’s no risk of scorching that way. I’ve eaten his rice before-- it’s always perfectly cooked.
We have a Zojirushi fuzzy logic rice cooker and love it, too. We’ve used cheaper ones in the past, but they couldn’t handle small quantities as well without the rice getting overcooked on the bottom. This one keeps it perfect for hours and hours.
For you folks who make oatmeal in yours, what proportions of oats to water do you use? It hadn’t occurred to me to use it for that, but I love me some oatmeal on a cold winter morning and that sounds like an absolutely perfect way to fix it!
Most Asian food stores will have it. In fact, I even bought a large bag at Costco. I don’t know about the ‘aged’ part. Perhaps what we get here in the states is different than what is consumed in India. It has a wonderful flavor/aroma and cooks in less time than regular rice. Nothing to dislike about it, really.
I can make it in the microwave or in a pressure cooker but not on the stove top. These days I use a rice cooker because I can just press a single button and it’s done.
One of these days I’ll shell out for that Zojirushi timed one but as of the moment I’m doing okay with the $10 one.
I think a lot of difference in the cooking of rice depends on the rice you use. For example, I won’t ever cook American rice. I will always buy basmanti or jasmine, and always from Thailand, Japan, China or India. If I have to, I might by Riceland, but never Uncle Ben’s or Minute or Rice o Roni.
The stove method is ok, but it takes too much watching compared to my Zojirushi. You really can just press the button and totally forget about it. If you put in enough water, you can let it sit all day without even using the timer (man, am I lazy). Also, stove method is nowhere near as good as zojirushi, the best rice cooker I’ve ever used.
I’ve got the same cooker, and can’t imagine going back to doing it stovetop. It’s a bit spendy but it is the best rice cooker I’ve had.
I’ve got a Zojirushi also, though one of the “basic” ones (no “fuzzy logic” or timer). Love it for white rice. It’s good for brown also, though I had to remember to put in a little extra water (more than the package instructions), and also let it soak for a few minutes before starting the cooking cycle.
It does tend to build up a bit of a crust on the bottom layer, more pronounced with brown rice. It also doesn’t do a very good job if I try to add stuff - e.g. broth, which tends to leave a burned-broth layer on the bottom.
Never had good luck cooking real rice on the stove top. I think because I can’t trust the stove not to burn the food, and I check it too often and let out all the steam which messes up the cooking cycle.
We used to only buy Minute Rice, which is now relegated to "keep it around just in case you need rice in a hurry status. I’ll only eat the real stuff now 
Aromatic rice only here, for the most part. We’re finishing up a large sack of jasmine rice from the grocery store; sometimes we get the basmati from Trader Joe’s. Must find an oriental grocery soon also.
Huh, how about that. Mine’s Zojirushi (the fancy Fuzzy Logic type) too. I’m seeing a pattern. As for those of you surprised that it’s so very hard to make rice…I tried. Oh, how I tried. Rice is about as cheap as ramen, if not cheaper, so I was very willing to try and try again, but it just didn’t work. I think I tried at least three different methods, all guaranteed to ensure perfect rice, several times over. I could occasionally make edible rice, but it never tasted right, and it wound up taking far more effort than I’m really willing to spend on something like rice. I’ve only had my rice cooker for about two months, but I’ve used it enough that, with the money saved from not eating out or eating frozen dinners, it’s already paid for itself.
This is all very interesting. We call this stuff “slow brown rice,” to distinguish it from “instant.” That leads to “the slow brown rice jumped over the lazy dog,” but it’s too slow to jump over anybody. We follow the directions on the bag, but it always takes at least twice the time on the bag.
We shall try some basmati, and some of these methods. Maybe I’ll even get a cooker. I recently bought a cast iron wok, and I’m cooking Chinesely at least once a week.
And yet, I’ve screwed up basmati.
BTW, the fact that you’re Chefguy means I have to be a bit skeptical about your claims that anything cooking related is easy. Were your name IveBurnedWaterGuy or AccidentallyLitMyKitchenonFireandPoisonedMyGuestsGuy, then I could believe you that maybe I’m wrong about the rice thing. But of course you can do it. You’re a chef.
I really ought to try the oatmeal thing.