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Brown Rice


coffeetaster

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Hi - I cook brown rice, or try to cook it, in an electric rice cooker of medium quality. The rice cooks and produces a wet, mushy, sticky mess. Please let me know what I am doing wrong......or is this the way brown rice is supposed to be cooked/served. My white rice comes out great using the same recipe (rice to water ratio) and machine.

Please post your thoughts and ideas.

Cheers!

Coffeetaster

"Wine give rise to dreams: Coffee to thoughts"

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Well, what are your proportions? Is this short or long grain brown rice?

"I've caught you Richardson, stuffing spit-backs in your vile maw. 'Let tomorrow's omelets go empty,' is that your fucking attitude?" -E. B. Farnum

"Behold, I teach you the ubermunch. The ubermunch is the meaning of the earth. Let your will say: the ubermunch shall be the meaning of the earth!" -Fritzy N.

"It's okay to like celery more than yogurt, but it's not okay to think that batter is yogurt."

Serving fine and fresh gratuitous comments since Oct 5 2001, 09:53 PM

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I cook brown rice all the time. I learned to cook rice while living in Asia. I have absolutely no idea if what I do is "correct" but I just do what my Asian friend showed me how to do.

I take the rice, put it in a heavy saucepan, put in some cold water, swirl the rice around a bit with my hands, drain the water. I do that a couple of times. I've been told that although it used to be a good idea in the olden days when rice was often dirty, I should not do it now (for several reasons.... nutrition, texture, etc.), but that's how I've always done it, so for no better reason than that, I continue.

Then, I put in enough cold water so that when I stick my pointer finger down into the water and touch the rice, the water comes to my second knuckle. Then I bring the thing to a boil. Then, I take a paper towel and wet it and cover the bottom of the lid, with the corners sticking to the top of the lid. Then I lower the heat to "low" and put on the lid with the paper towel seal. After fifteen minutes or so (with white rice) and twenty minutes or so (with brown), I take the lid off to see how it's doing, and stir it once, then reseal and wait another fifteen-twenty minutes or so.

By then, the water should be absorbed and the rice done. If not, I wait a little longer. Then, when the rice IS done and the water absorbed, I take the lid off and stir and "fluffen" it with a fork and allow it to sit a few minutes without the lid.

I know absolutely nothing about rice cookers because I've never used one, so cannot be of help there.

And my method is probably not "right" by the standards of the experts, but it sure works for me, and has, for some thirty years.

:rolleyes:

I don't understand why rappers have to hunch over while they stomp around the stage hollering.  It hurts my back to watch them. On the other hand, I've been thinking that perhaps I should start a rap group here at the Old Folks' Home.  Most of us already walk like that.

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I only make brown rice and I follow the directions on the package, be it bag or box.

The rice always comes out fine! I've never used a rice cooker, just a pot on the stove.

Life is too important to be taken seriously.[br]Oscar Wilde

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Then, I put in enough cold water so that when I stick my pointer finger down into the water and touch the rice, the water comes to my second knuckle.

can we assume you mean the knuckle closest to your finger tip?

Nope.

It's the second knuckle up. Second knuckle FROM the fingertip.

Ah....these technical terms. :biggrin:

I don't understand why rappers have to hunch over while they stomp around the stage hollering.  It hurts my back to watch them. On the other hand, I've been thinking that perhaps I should start a rap group here at the Old Folks' Home.  Most of us already walk like that.

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I've yet to have great success cooking brown rice in a rice cooker - or by the absorption method in a pan on the stove. For me, both rice cooker and stove-top absorption method produce sensational results with white rice. However, I find I prefer brown rice cooked using the rapid boil method.

This is what I do:

Bring large pot of water to boil. Dump in brown rice. Boil (as opposed to simmer) for 19-25 minutes, depending on variety of brown rice (brown basmati cooks quicker than brown long grain cooks quicker than short grain brown). Dump boiled rice in colander and rinse well.

Brown rice cooked this way has a delicious nutty flavour and slighly chewy texture. However, as brown rice grains cooked this way are total separate - no sticking together - you can't use this rice for sushi.

I've heard of there being specialised "brown rice cookers" available, for around $US250. I've not used one, or seen one, but apparently they're good. (As they would want to be at that price.)

Hope this helps.

Cheers

H

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I've had good luck with brown rice, both long and short grain, in the rice cooker by:

1. Using a 2:1 rice:water ratio.

2. Allowing a 20 minute soak before activating the cooker.

3. Leaving the rice in the cooker for at least 20 minutes after cooking is complete.

I haven't done enough experimenting to say whether each step is iron-clad reliable or even makes a difference; I'm just following instructions I received from some poorly translated pamphlet years ago. I also have a top-of-the-line rice cooker, if that matters.

Steven A. Shaw aka "Fat Guy"
Co-founder, Society for Culinary Arts & Letters, sshaw@egstaff.org
Proud signatory to the eG Ethics code
Director, New Media Studies, International Culinary Center (take my food-blogging course)

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1. Using a 2:1 rice:water ratio

Just to make sure I understand correctly, you use twice as much rice as you do water? I always tend to use a little more water than rice and long grain brown rice seems to come out fine in my gazillion dollar cooker.

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The general ratio I use is 1 cup rice, 1.3 cups of water for a rice cooker.

"I've caught you Richardson, stuffing spit-backs in your vile maw. 'Let tomorrow's omelets go empty,' is that your fucking attitude?" -E. B. Farnum

"Behold, I teach you the ubermunch. The ubermunch is the meaning of the earth. Let your will say: the ubermunch shall be the meaning of the earth!" -Fritzy N.

"It's okay to like celery more than yogurt, but it's not okay to think that batter is yogurt."

Serving fine and fresh gratuitous comments since Oct 5 2001, 09:53 PM

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Heather -- an Italian friend once made white rice for me this way and it was delicious. She cooked it al dente and then drained and tossed with butter. It has a totally different character than steamed rice.

I've been trying to introduce brown rice into our meals so have been using half white, half brown with mixed (excuse the pun :wink: ) results. The ratio of water:rice I use with white rice is 1.5:1 but it seems that the ratio should be higher with brown rice for it to reach the right texture. I'm glad I saw this thread!

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I thought I'd mention that brown rice is slightly healthier than white. But only very slightly. Unless the majority of every meal you eat is rice, the "health" benefits are minimal.

I use different kinds of rice for different textures and flavours in the context of various kinds of meals. In many, brown rice just doesn't work as well as gohan (Japanese short or medium grain white), Thai rice, and so on.

When I do use brown rice I use a short-grain rice from Lundberg farms which comes in an both organic and "evil agribusinness" kinds. Either are delicious with a rich, almost buttery and roasted flavour and a firm but not springy tooth.

Long-grain brown rice is just food for penitents.

"I've caught you Richardson, stuffing spit-backs in your vile maw. 'Let tomorrow's omelets go empty,' is that your fucking attitude?" -E. B. Farnum

"Behold, I teach you the ubermunch. The ubermunch is the meaning of the earth. Let your will say: the ubermunch shall be the meaning of the earth!" -Fritzy N.

"It's okay to like celery more than yogurt, but it's not okay to think that batter is yogurt."

Serving fine and fresh gratuitous comments since Oct 5 2001, 09:53 PM

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I thought I'd mention that brown rice is slightly healthier than white. But only very slightly. Unless the majority of every meal you eat is rice, the "health" benefits are minimal.

I do love it when people post sensible things like that. Thanks :wub::wub:

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I need all the penitence I can get .

I thought brown rice would qualify as more of a whole grain than white rice. As in many things, perception is key. And since I have a finicky teenager who perceives brown rice as being healthier, I can gain some mileage from cooking it more often :biggrin: .

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Sure, bushey. But do give the Lundberg short grain a go, please. It really is delicious. A bit of butter, a twist of pepper, a shot of tabasco in a bowlful will delight. :wink:

"I've caught you Richardson, stuffing spit-backs in your vile maw. 'Let tomorrow's omelets go empty,' is that your fucking attitude?" -E. B. Farnum

"Behold, I teach you the ubermunch. The ubermunch is the meaning of the earth. Let your will say: the ubermunch shall be the meaning of the earth!" -Fritzy N.

"It's okay to like celery more than yogurt, but it's not okay to think that batter is yogurt."

Serving fine and fresh gratuitous comments since Oct 5 2001, 09:53 PM

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southern girl, heh heh heh. :wink:

ediot:

Guess what I couldn't spell and win a bag of spelt.

"I've caught you Richardson, stuffing spit-backs in your vile maw. 'Let tomorrow's omelets go empty,' is that your fucking attitude?" -E. B. Farnum

"Behold, I teach you the ubermunch. The ubermunch is the meaning of the earth. Let your will say: the ubermunch shall be the meaning of the earth!" -Fritzy N.

"It's okay to like celery more than yogurt, but it's not okay to think that batter is yogurt."

Serving fine and fresh gratuitous comments since Oct 5 2001, 09:53 PM

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Brown rice is a whole grain and it is better for you. Eating white rice is eating empty calories (like eating a bowl of sugar). Most people don't rely on rice for nutritional needs. It is the huge portions that are not healthy. I live in Hawaii where a rice portion seems to be about 5 cups! There is a huge amount of diabetes here- lots of carbs and meat. I have met weight lifters that think eating canned tuna on a huge mound of white rice is good for you. People forget that a portion size is supposed to be half of a cup! Mixing brown and white rice will give you more fiber. Hinode rice is marketing a "hapa" blend calrose here now. It is very popular.

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As you can see from this chart, white rice is hardly like eating "empty calories". While much lower in fibre than brown, it also has four times less fat. Ha ha.

Anyway, eating a range of grains (and other starches) is a sensible and delicious way of going about dietary considerations. But 5 cups a serving is just out of balance entirely.

"I've caught you Richardson, stuffing spit-backs in your vile maw. 'Let tomorrow's omelets go empty,' is that your fucking attitude?" -E. B. Farnum

"Behold, I teach you the ubermunch. The ubermunch is the meaning of the earth. Let your will say: the ubermunch shall be the meaning of the earth!" -Fritzy N.

"It's okay to like celery more than yogurt, but it's not okay to think that batter is yogurt."

Serving fine and fresh gratuitous comments since Oct 5 2001, 09:53 PM

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As you can see from this chart, white rice is hardly like eating "empty calories". While much lower in fibre than brown, it also has four times less fat. Ha ha.

Ah, but that extra fat still only brings it up to 1 gram out of a hundred! And brown has lots more nutrients than the white... a lot of the nutrients in the white rice are there because of additives. I'd rather have the nutrients that were in the rice to start with rather than having them taken away and then put back in. Also, those are US government levels of nutrients that are added to the white rice - what about other countries where the government doesn't have minimum levels of nutrient that must be added?

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What about them? What that does that have to do with what rice to cook with what dish? :laugh::laugh: Which is all I'm talking about.

"I've caught you Richardson, stuffing spit-backs in your vile maw. 'Let tomorrow's omelets go empty,' is that your fucking attitude?" -E. B. Farnum

"Behold, I teach you the ubermunch. The ubermunch is the meaning of the earth. Let your will say: the ubermunch shall be the meaning of the earth!" -Fritzy N.

"It's okay to like celery more than yogurt, but it's not okay to think that batter is yogurt."

Serving fine and fresh gratuitous comments since Oct 5 2001, 09:53 PM

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I love brown rice, and we have it quite often. One of our fav ways to eat brown rice that is really simple is this.

Cook 2 cups brown rice - rapid boil method seems to work well so the rice still have a bit of texture to it - drain and cool

Add in around 80 - 100 grams of sliced almonds or toasted pinenuts

1 cup of fresh or canned corn kernels

half a red bell pepper diced

one stick of celery sliced finely

Italian flat leaf parsley to taste

salt/ fresh ground pepper

olive oil and lemon juice to lightly coat rice tossed through

A lovely summer rice salad great with cold meats , instead of the lemon and olive oil you can substitute it with a wonderful garlicky aolii

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