Cooking Rice in a Non-stick Saucepan

[weinoo]

Well, don't really throw away your rice cooker, but for lunch today, along with my leftover roast pig and roast duck from NY Noodletown, I made some brown rice. I recently bought a non-stick 3 quart saucepan (T-Fal, so nice and cheap) and decided to make the rice in it.

Wow. No sticking, no muss, no fuss. Is it time to throw the rice cooker away?

[BadRabbit]

I used to use my rice cooker a lot but now only use it when I have to make a lot of rice and don't feel like trying to time it exactly. It's just not worth dragging the thing out to make a efw servings.

[Kouign Aman]

???

For the 35 years I've been cooking rice, I use a regular saucepan (not a nonstick) and have consistent rice: brown, black, imperial, red, basmatic, jasmine, shortgrain, etc.

Rice cooker takes longer.

The advantage I can see (to a one-function non-fuzzy variety) is that it holds the rice at temp just about forever.

Fuzzy logic beasties are supposed to provide all kinda fabulous fringe benefits.

[taetopia]

Wow. No sticking, no muss, no fuss. Is it time to throw the rice cooker away?

I have a rice cooker. It's in my basement. For cooking rice, I almost always use a nonstick pan. You're right - no muss, no fuss!

[abadoozy]

???

For the 35 years I've been cooking rice, I use a regular saucepan (not a nonstick) and have consistent rice: brown, black, imperial, red, basmatic, jasmine, shortgrain, etc.

Rice cooker takes longer.

The advantage I can see (to a one-function non-fuzzy variety) is that it holds the rice at temp just about forever.

Fuzzy logic beasties are supposed to provide all kinda fabulous fringe benefits.

I'm with Kouign. I've never had a problem cooking rice in stainless steel. What is this muss & fuss we are talking about?

(and for the record, I'd have a rice cooker if I ate rice more often, but I just don't have it enough to make the specialized critter worth it.)

[Jenni]

Another person here who doesn't see what's wrong with cooking rice in an ordinary pan. I cook rice at least twice a day and never have any problems.

[BadRabbit]

Another person here who doesn't see what's wrong with cooking rice in an ordinary pan. I cook rice at least twice a day and never have any problems.

If I cooked it twice a day, I would definitely use a rice cooker.

[Jenni]

Why?

[jmolinari]

hrm, i must be the only person who likes pressing a button on my fuzzy rice cooker, walk away and come back to perfect rice every time. No need to adjust flame, cover, uncover, etc.

every time i use it i am thankful for it!

[BadRabbit]

Why?

It's just much easier because I don't have to pay any attention to it and it will hold temp while I finish everything else. If I used it twice a day I would just leave the rice cooker on the counter. The reason I don't use mine very often is that I have to get it out of the cabinet and set it up.

[Jenni]

Hmm, I guess I don't see what's so tricky about cooking rice. Wash rice. Put in pan. Add water. Bring to boil. Add lid. Forget it until it's done. Or if you're doing basmati, add a soaking step after washing. Or if you're doing parboiled rice, forget all that and just bung it in a big pan and cook it like pasta.

It doesn't bother me to just ignore it whilst I get on with other dishes. I guess I could save myself a burner by having a rice cooker, but we've got a 7 burner cooker and I regularly cook 5 or 6 dishes plus the rice on the cooker all at once with no probs.

Btw rice holds it's heat fine if you just leave the lid on it when it's done until you are ready.

Edited May 26, 2011 by Jenni (log)

[annabelle]

I use my rice cooker all the time. It doesn't take up space on the stove and I can ignore it. I can take the insert out and refrigerate the rice if I am making fried rice later in the day. I have tons of space in my kitchen so it is easy to store and use. I cooked rice in a saucepan for 25 years before I bought a rice cooker and I'm never going back.

[weinoo]

For the 35 years I've been cooking rice, I use a regular saucepan (not a nonstick) and have consistent rice: brown, black, imperial, red, basmatic, jasmine, shortgrain, etc.

I'm with Kouign. I've never had a problem cooking rice in stainless steel. What is this muss & fuss we are talking about?

Another person here who doesn't see what's wrong with cooking rice in an ordinary pan. I cook rice at least twice a day and never have any problems.

So rice, whether it has been white, brown, black, whatever, has never stuck at all to the bottom of your stainless steel pans? I find that fairly hard to believe.

[Jenni]

^^

Better believe it!

Don't hate me for saying it, but maybe you just haven't been cooking it right?

[gfweb]

So what's the right way to cook it?

Sent from my Droid using Tapatalk

[Kouign Aman]

Well, tadiq (?sp) is the desirable sticking of rice to the bottom of the pan to make a crust, and I wish I were better at it!

Not never, but not often. Not annually.

Oatmeal sticks/burns wayyyyyy more often.

[Will]

I get the best rice cooking results in the rice cooker. Really depends what style of rice you like and how often you make it. For a lot of people, a rice cooker is an unnecessary gimmick.

But for me, the main feature on my rice cooker is the timer. Whether it's having perfect brown rice when I get home (and not having to wait 2 hours for it to cook), or waking up to steel cut oats, it makes my life a lot easier.

[weinoo]

^^

Better believe it!

Don't hate me for saying it, but maybe you just haven't been cooking it right?

Yes, I'm sure I need lessons in rice cooking. It's on my list.

[Panaderia Canadiense]

Add another vote to the "why bother with a rice cooker" camp - I eat rice fairly often, but I never have any problems with sticking in my stainless steel pots.... I have a small rice cooker, but it rarely comes out of the cupboard!

[GlorifiedRice]

I make rice in the nuker.

1 cup rice

2 cups water

In a plastic bowl

5 mins on high

20 mins on 50%

Done.

No brown bottom, no sticking...

[annachan]

I always use my rice cooker. Why? Because: 1) it doesn't take up space on the stove, 2) I don't have to time it, and 3) (perhaps the most important) my husband can deal with it!

We cook jasmine, medium grain brown, basmati, and brown basmati rice in the rice cooker and they come out perfect. It's also good that you can steam stuff while you're cooking the rice.

I have cooked rice on the stove. The only time it stuck is when I made Mexican/Spanish rice. That really has to do with the tomato sauce....

[Snadra]

I always use my rice cooker. Why? Because: 1) it doesn't take up space on the stove, 2) I don't have to time it, and 3) (perhaps the most important) my husband can deal with it!

I'm with you Anna, and for exactly the same reasons!

Although I grew up with rice cooked on the stove (in the green ceramic pot that my mother made yoghurt in) and cooked it the same way for years, I'm so used to it now that when I find myself cooking rice in a regular pot I always mess it up. It's not that rice is difficult, it's that the cooker is so convenient.

[nickrey]

I have a lovely rice cooker but occasionally it is tied up doing sous vide cooking.

On these occasions I return to my old stand-by: a microwave rice cooker.

Add rice, wash it until water is clear. Tip off water. Put fingertip on top of rice. Add water so that the level is up to the first knuckle.

Cook for 12 minutes on high. Sit for eight minutes. Serve perfectly cooked rice.

Note this method is for the basmati rice that I usually use.

[haresfur]

I really like my rice cooker but it's a luxury not a necessity. Nothing wrong with luxuries IMO.

[Sentiamo]

I am a S/S pan user and wont change that. Never had a problem with rice sticking and I use the absorbtion method to cook the rice. Only way to go!

BTW...rinse your pan under cold water before washing as carbohydrate loosens in the cold, clings to hot. So that means potatos and pasta also. Quick soak or rinse in cold water and there will be no probs.

Promise.