Additional Uses for Rice Cookers

[baroness]

I adore steel-cut oats because they're so delicious and filling but more because of how healthy I read they are. I am doing an experiment to eat some every day and see if my cholesterol of 210 goes down. I make a lot once a week and eat it all week cold (sounds bad but it's great) and add freshly ground flaxseeds, another nutritional powerhouse that's ugly but adds a nice little crunch.

I bought this: Sanyo ECJ-HC55S 5½-cup Micro-Computerized Rice Cooker and Slow Cooker

Tried it once so far. The "porridge" water line was below what I deemed to be the appropriate amount of water. Normally I do 2 cups of steel-cut oats and 8 cups of water (as per the McCann's directions). The Sanyo directions said use 1.5 cups max of oats so I figured 6 cups of water. I decided to use the proportions that I'm accustomed to and used 6 real cups of water (not rice cooker cups) and used the porridge setting. When it was "done," there was a lot of water left so I put it on slow cook and went to work. When I came home, it was warm and done (all the water absorbed.) However, it was MUSHY and not the nice little crunch that I like. I ate it all anyway, still enjoyed it, but need to fix it with the next batch. I will try it tomorrow but fill to the porridge line and report back.

Here's 2 interesting things I read in the amazon reviews:

1. Cooks steel-cut oats beautifully. I use the slow cooker. 1 cup oats, 4 cups water, pinch or two salt. Cook for 1.5 hours. Add dried fruit and additional water if needed (it usually does) and cook for another 15 to 30 minutes. I cook my oats at night for the week ahead so that I can haul it to work. 1 cup serving reheated for 2 minutes. I then add a touch (about ½ cup) soy or almond milk. Sweeten to taste.

2. For those of you who've never owned a rice cooker before, it's important to understand that 5½ cups equals 11 cups, and that their cups are 6 oz. You can make much smaller amounts (as I do) with excellent results.

Would love to hear about other healthy things that everybody has tried with their fuzzy logic rice cooker/slow cooker!

I like my SC oats on the chewy side, and therefore use less water than is suggested.

When using a rice cooker, don't mix rice cooker cups (180 ml) with 'American' cups (250 ml). Use one or the other. The lines in the RC pot are for 180 ml cups.

As far as OTHER dishes in the RC, I love the Sanyo booklet's bread pudding recipe and making 'sweet' brown rice on the Quick setting.

[marge201]

Thanks, Baroness, for the good advice.

I see that the 1.5 porridge line (meaning the water line for 1.5 cups of SC oats) is 5 real cups of water so according to stovetop cooking, that would take 1 1/4 cups of the oats.

Clearly stovetop and RC cooking are very different. So far I prefer the stovetop SC oats but I'm not giving up. Today I tried 1 1/2 C of SC oats and filled the water to the "1.5" porridge line and set it to "porridge" and after 1 hour and 20 minutes it was done. Still too mushy and not as good as my "2 cups oats/8 cups water" on the stove.

But no mess to clean and no standing over the pot and stirring. I like that. Now I have to find the magical combination in the RC.

The next batch will be what I read in amazon:

slow cooker: 1 cup oats, 4 cups water, cook for 1.5 hours (real cups for both)

Let's see if "slow cook" and "porridge" produces a different result.

[baroness]

Marge, you may want to reduce the water amount a bit...or more.

Though some moisture escapes through the cooker's steam vent, the cooker is a much wetter environment than cooking in an open pot on the stovetop.

Less water and less time = chewy, not mushy.

Edited to add: You DO realize that the oats go in the cooker pot before the water is added, no?

Edited January 12, 2010 by baroness (log)

[marge201]

Marge, you may want to reduce the water amount a bit...or more.

Though some moisture escapes through the cooker's steam vent, the cooker is a much wetter environment than cooking in an open pot on the stovetop.

Less water and less time = chewy, not mushy.

Edited to add: You DO realize that the oats go in the cooker pot before the water is added, no?

Great advice again, Baroness. Yeah, it sure is wetter; that's for elucidating that for me. Actually yesterday even though I filled the water up to the "1.5" line, I don't know that I put in 5 cups of water because I did, as you mention, put the oats in the pot first. So it was less than 5 cups of water to 1.5 cups of oats.

The ratio of 1 cup oats/4 cups water and, my personal preference because I like to make a lot and eat it all week, 2 cup oats/8 cups water for stovetop clearly won't work in this wetter RC environment. I will try 2 cups oats and 6 cups water next time, real cups and not use the

water line in the pot.

According to the manual of the Sanyo 5.5-cup RC, it says the max is 1.5 cups oats and don't go over the 1.5 water line, but it seems to me that that water line is not so high and I can go higher without spillover. Do you think the RC will overflow with 2C oats/6C water (real cups)?

[MelissaH]

I'm going to put in another plug for the overnight method: boil 4 cups of water with a pinch of salt. Take off the heat, stir in 1 cup steel-cut oats, put the lid on the pot, and let it sit overnight. In the morning, heat what you want to eat (either in the pot on the stove, or in the microwave). Store what you don't eat in the fridge and heat and eat over the next few days. No special equipment required.

MelissaH

[marge201]

Melissa,

I presume that it's fully cooked/absorbed albeit not hot? Do you use the salt for flavor? I never use it in oatmeal. Don't want to ever get too used to salt, even a pinch, when it's not necessary. Is it a cooking technique, the salt?

[MelissaH]

Marge,

Yes, fully cooked. I use the salt because I find without it, the oatmeal tastes flat, even if you use good-quality stuff and toast it first. But a little salt might also help keep nasties away during the overnight rest. I use it mainly because it tastes so much better.

MelissaH

[marge201]

Melissa,

I will try this this week. I don't care about hot because I only eat it hot the day I cook it and cold the rest of the time. Even when I'm home I don't heat it. I love it cold.

I will try a pinch of salt, too, like 1/8 teaspoon just to see.

Have you done this technique with double: 2C oats and 8 cups water?

[MelissaH]

Marge,

Nope, I've only ever done a single batch at a time. I'm usually only making it for me, and a single batch is enough for a while.

MelissaH

[marge201]

Melissa,

You're ABSOLUTELY CORRECT. It works!! After 2 hours, I peeked and it looked done but it wasn't done. So I mixed it up, turned on the flame, got it back to a boil, and then covered the pot and let it sit and it absorbed all the water. Next time, I'll do 1C oats and 3 3/4 cups water to get it a little crunchier.

LIVE AND LEARN!!! THANK YOU FOR REPOSTING!!

MARGE

[MelissaH]

You're welcome. If you haven't done so already, you might also try toasting the oats first. I usually stir them around in a non-stick frying pan until they're starting to pop a little, smell toasty, and you see a bit of steam coming off. This usually takes me about the same amount of time as it takes the water to boil. Then carefully add to the hot water, stir, put the lid on, and go to bed.

MelissaH

[marge201]

Honestly if I had known this great EASY way to make the SC oats, I might not have bought the rice cooker! Damn, it's easy. And doesn't make a mess on the stove or the pot. I added a pinch of salt and didn't see any difference in taste. I also added cinnamon. Oh, also 1/4 cup powdered nonfat dry milk. Gotta get calcium whenever I can. Don't think I'll do the salt again. I've read about the toasting but never tried. will try it and let you know. THANK YOU!

[pounce]

I've been cooking steel cut oats in a rice cooker for a few years. Works great. I believe there are some other threads on the same topic.

2 parts water 1 part oats.

Some brands tend to "foam up" during cooking. if you have this kind of brand and its making a mess of your cooker by spewing out the steam hole or lid edges simple start the cooking process on the warm setting and let it set for a while. Maybe 30 minutes. After the warm soak start cooking.

When the cooker indicates done on the oats let it set in the warm setting another 10 minutes. Sometimes I throw in another 1 part of water and then let it set another 30 minutes for a more creamy texture.

It may sound odd, but I sometimes mix in a serving of unflavored protein isolate after cooking. You don't even notice it.

Clean up is simple if you remove contents and then let it set with the lid off. My nonstick $20 rice cooker wipes out when the oatmeal dries up.

[marge201]

Hello Pounce!

Thanks for your thoughts. I wasn't talking about a mess with the rice cooker. You're right: it's a pleasure with the Sanyo 5.5C RC ($120!). I had no overflow and the cleanup is so easy. I was referring to cooking SC oats on the stove in the traditional way: flame under the pot the whole time and mixing it fairly constantly along the way. That seems to overflow if you step away for a few minutes and that's a mess. Plus I always seem to burn the oats a bit and the pot is a chore to clean.

You clarified my thought, though, about the proportion. 4 to 1 works for the stove in the traditional way. It might be 3 to 1 for my new favorite technique (thank you again, Melissa) of boiling the water, dump in and mix the oats, cover pot and turn OFF flame and after a few hours, it cooks perfectly and no sticking or mess or overflow. And 2 to 1 seems right for RC. I will try that. It was way too creamy with 4 cups of water in the RC.

What are the health benefits of unflavored protein isolate?

[pounce]

I wasn't talking about a mess with the rice cooker.

I wasn't actually responding to your comment. Just adding its easy to clean up the rice cooker if you let it dry out.

What are the health benefits of unflavored protein isolate?

Quickly as to not go off topic too far...

Benefits to Protein Isolate:

• Cheap protein. < 50 cents for 25 grams
  
• Clinically proven to raise GSH improving immune system etc.
  

Benefits to it being unflavored? No sweeteners so you can make it savory or any flavor you want. Mixed with Oatmeal it tastes like oatmeal

[marge201]

After a few batches, I have perfected this stovetop technique for steel-cut oats:

1. boil 4 cups of water in a pot on the stove

2. add 1 1/2 cups of steel-cut oats

3. bring to rolling boil again

4. cover tightly and let it keep boiling for a few seconds

5. turn off flame and forget about it.

It doesn't take too long, under 1/2 hour I think but not sure, and the water is totally absorbed and you have the perfect combination of creamy/chewy steel-cut oats.

You get enough for quite a few servings; not sure how many. 10 maybe??

Nothing has stuck to the bottom of the pot. What a delight.

Still glad I have the Sanyo rice cooker because it's great for cooking beans. I love not having to watch the pot, no adding water, no worry about the water evaporating before the beans are cooked. Also brown rice is wonderful. I bought this book, which is a absolutely fantastic: http://www.amazon.com/Ultimate-Rice-Cooker-Cookbook-Porridges/dp/1558322035

Thank you all for your great comments about the oats and rice cooker. Much appreciated!!

[JoNorvelleWalker]

Have you ever tried polenta in the Zojirushi?

[dcarch]

Some rice cookers can bake bread, and some bread makers can cook rice.

 

My Panasonic bread maker can make rice. I even use it to make risotto! It does all the stirring.

 

There is a bread maker, I have read, that can turn uncooked rice into bread.

 

I like wild rice (real, not farmed) cooked in a PC. A little better texture.

 

 

dcarch

[andiesenji]

Today I am cooking some farro in the rice cooker.  I simply have not had good results cooking it any other way - there is always some that is undercooked and tough with little hard nodules.  The rice cooker - with it set on the longer "porridge" setting, cooks it perfectly - same with kamut.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

At the moment I am very dissatisfied with the Zoijirushi NP-NVC18 and wish I could smash it with a brick.  I want my dinner.  I'm making Italian polenta from The Ultimate Rice Cooker Cookbook, Hensperger and Kaufmann (pp 174-175).  This recipe calls for cooking polenta through two porridge cycles.  Now I find the Zoijirushi will not start a second porridge cycle because the bowl is hot.  I have to wait 50 minutes to start the second porridge cycle!  By which time my underdone polenta will be stiff and cold.  I am not a happy camper.  By the time dinner is ready I will have died of mai tai poisoning or will have to leave for work (whichever comes first).

 

Granted nowhere does Zoijirushi claim they can actually cook polenta. 

 

 

 

Edit:  punctuation.

Edited June 13, 2014 by JoNorvelleWalker (log)

[liuzhou]

 

why Zoijirushi, O why?

 

Because that's how rice cookers work. You cannot get a full cycle on any rice cooker I know of, if the bowl or contents are hot. They are designed  to switch off (or switch to 'keep warm mode' when the internal temperature rises above 100ºC which indicates that all the water has been absorbed.

 

I don't think any rice cooker could immediately start a second cycle as you describe. However, I am sure you could cool the bowl in a lot less than 50 minutes.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

Because that's how rice cookers work. You cannot get a full cycle on any rice cooker I know of, if the bowl or contents are hot. They are designed  to switch off (or switch to 'keep warm mode' when the internal temperature rises above 100ºC which indicates that all the water has been absorbed.

 

I don't think any rice cooker could immediately start a second cycle as you describe. However, I am sure you could cool the bowl in a lot less than 50 minutes.

 

Then why does the most highly rated English language rice cooker cookbook expect rice cookers to work the way they say?  Yes, Zoijirushi suggests removing the inner bowl and cooling with cold water if fifty minutes is too long to wait.  I just wanted to eat my dinner.  And there is no reason I can see that Zoijirushi would not let me.

 

That said, when the polenta finally finished it was pretty good.  Why Zoijirushi made cooking the polenta a punishment rather than a joy I do not understand.  I predict Zoijirushi will taste my pain on amazon.  Previously I could say nothing but good things about Zoijirushi, and I am disappointed.

[andiesenji]

Maybe I've been doing it wrong but I just soak the polenta (coarse cornmeal Bob's Red Mill Organic) in cold water for about 3 hours then drain, put it in the Zo, add more water - so there is about 1/2 inch covering the wet cornmeal, and cook it on the porridge setting - ONCE - then leaving it on the keep-warm setting for 30 minutes or so (sometimes longer) while I prepare the rest of the meal.

 

I use the same process when I am cooking hominy grits for breakfast or to put into a loaf pan and chill overnight for slicing and frying. 

 

Because the heating is even, there is no scorching on the bottom (the need for stirring on the stovetop) and the moisture in the closed chamber keeps it moist and simply stirring will bring it to the "creamy" consistency desired, at least by me. 

Edited June 13, 2014 by andiesenji (log)

[JoNorvelleWalker]

Bob's Red Mill is what I'm using.  Is there an advantage to soaking and draining compared to just soaking in the cooker?

[andiesenji]

Bob's Red Mill is what I'm using.  Is there an advantage to soaking and draining compared to just soaking in the cooker?

You can soak it in the cooker pan - if it has absorbed all the water just add more - I only drain it if there is still water above the top of the cornmeal so I have a better idea of how much to add because some might be loose and floating. 

I'm sure you can experiment a bit to get your routine down pat.

 

I always soaked the grits before cooking on top of the stove - as I learned sixty-some years ago.  The grits are creamier when they have absorbed water slowly over a period of hours - no matter how you cook them. 

Edited June 13, 2014 by andiesenji (log)