Rice Cooker

seraphina

MrsMW,

I can only remember the timings for Basmati rice - I have the instructions for brown rice at home and will post them this evening.

So for basmati rice I use 4oz for two of us. I place it in the basket and then add 1pint boiling water. Place the lid back on and microwave on high for 5 mins, stir, microwave again for 6 mins. Drain, put the lid back on and leave to stand for a few minutes.

I will also post the amount of water needed for more rice when I get home too.

ltlmiles5

As a simple rule of thumb, I use 2 cups just boiled water for every cup of rice used. I put it on to full heat in a saucepan with a clear lid on, once it's boiling, I put it on to low eg setting 2 on my electric cooker. I leave it for around 10-15 mins, till the steam stops coming out and I see little holes in the top of the rice. I've not tried putting a tea towel on top of it to absorb the steam. I thought the steam was important to help cook the rest of the rice slowly!

I leave it for another 10-15 mins at least. With rice, it's best eaten once it's been allowed to cool a little, as it's less starchy. I know some Indian families who pour out the hot water with the starch once it's all out in the water, then add hot water to it again. I haven't done this before though.

I'm from Malaysia and everyone there uses a rice cooker as it's easy and you leave it and forget all about it, while you do the stirfries etc. However, I haven't got one here. I don't have space for another gadget and it's just as easy in the saucepan, while I'm busy preparing the veg and meat.

I just use Tesco value long grain for Chinese food. It's still slightly sticky, but then it wouldn't feel right otherwise with Chinese food. We add lots of soy sauce or oyster sauce gravy to the rice.

Basmati is best for Indian cooking.

MrsMW

Seraphina, Thanks for the help, I shall dig mine out of the cupboard and give it a go.

hendersonb

Brought the cookworks rice maker yesturday after failing miserably in the pot again, will try it out shortly when I get home (At work just now). To see how my chicken + pinapple comes out

frizz_head

I am pants at cooking and always always used to 'spoil' the rice. But I now use a plastic microwave steamer £4.99 from House of Fraser and we have perfect rice everytime in 11 minutes!

hendersonb

Rice was perfect added rice, added water, pressed the button - watched some TV, remembered about rice, went through it was on keep warm. Came out to perfecton.

Just one question for anyone who may know about these - Is there anything else I can do in it apart from boiled rice? I.e other types of rice or add something in to the rice when cooking.

Lychee

hendersonb wrote:

Just one question for anyone who may know about these - Is there anything else I can do in it apart from boiled rice? I.e other types of rice or add something in to the rice when cooking.

Frozen veg doesn't take long to cook so I normally throw some in after the water starts boiling. I often cook rice so I know when it looks like it'll be done in 5 minutes, which is when I add the veg:) I add sliced carrots with the uncooked rice as this takes longer to cook/soften. Alternatively, you might like to wrap veg in foil and put it on top of the nearly cooked rice. There should be little water left bubbling and the rice is 'set' so the veg+foil will not 'sink'. I've done this with small portions of fish as well, wrappping it well in foil and letting it be 'steamed' in the rice cooker. Mine has a keep warm feature so if the food isn't cooked, I leave it in on 'keep warm'. It continues to cook/steam the food. If you need to keep some food warm for later, you can put the food in a small ceramic bowl and place in your rice cooker on keep warm feature. Make sure the bowl is clean when placing it on top of cooked rice:)

Another thing I do occasionally is add an egg once the water starts boiling. Gently stir it a little and this produces a slightly sticky eggy rice I like...

ltlmiles5

You can add chicken breast pieces, with some sliced ginger, some spoonfuls of light and dark soy sauce and oyster sauce to it. It will be a one-pot meal, similar to clay pot rice.

Or if your rice cooker comes with a steamer attachment, you can beat a few eggs, add a little water, a bit of minced pork and soy sauce, and you get a type of steamed egg dish.

Peem

Hi

I've been considering buying a rice cooker for some time. (I nearly bought the 3 in 1 tefal slow cooker steamer rice cooker thing but decided to get the slow cooker only for 6.99 - sort of regretting it now)

Every time I cook rice in the pan - the pan boils over and there's an awful mess all over the cooker. Doesn't seem to matter how big the pan is and how low the water is in the pan. I think it's something to do with the starch in the rice. :eek:

I've tried using my bamboo steamer - and this just made more of a mess.:mad:

I appreciate it's probably just me . But I've had enough.:rolleyes:

Does anyone have a rice cooker they particularly recommend?:happyhear Or, perhaps even more useful, one to avoid.:doh:

Thanks for your help. I've had a search on the board but can't come up with anything.

Piggybanker

Hi

I have the tefal 3 in 1, and I would highly recommend it. Perfect rice every time and a great slow cooker. Haven't used the steamer as much, but has still paid for itself over and over in my opinion.

I got it about 6/8 months ago I think, when it was on offer from Amazon. Not sure where the current best deal is.

Piggy