patsylabrador Posted November 13, 2012 Share Posted November 13, 2012 I can't cook it well. I like seperate firm rice grains which I can do with white rice but brown always comes out bit of a mushy, tasteless gloop. I fancy the benefits of brown rice. Does anyone have any good methods or tasty hints I could try? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lillybettybabs Posted November 13, 2012 Share Posted November 13, 2012 I can't cook basmati rice, it turns into a mass of white gloop but i and fab with long grain brown rice by cooking it in the oven rather than on the hob. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chucky Mama Posted November 13, 2012 Share Posted November 13, 2012 I use a microwave rice cooker for every type of rice, they are brilliant Click Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
superkitty Posted November 13, 2012 Share Posted November 13, 2012 We have the Tilda brown basmati, it comes out lovely! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chickencam Posted November 13, 2012 Share Posted November 13, 2012 I always cook rice by the absorption method, for basmati rice I use just over one and a half the volume of water to rice. use a heavy based pan and add about a teaspoon of oil coat the grains over a medium heat then add boiling water put on a lid and leave to either simmer very gently until all of the water has been absorbed or put into an oven and cook until all water has gone. Then remove from heat and leave with lid on for 5-10 minutes which makes the rice steam and seperate leaving you will a pan of lovely fluffy rice. You would probably need double volume of water to rice for brown rice, I have cooked this in the same way. I never pre rinse my rice either. A friend of ours taught us this method many years ago and it has never failed, you can do it without the oil but you have to keep an eye on it for sticking a little more. Rice usually takes about 15 -20 minutes to cook enough for a family of 4-5 this way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eggasperated Posted November 13, 2012 Share Posted November 13, 2012 I always used to cook rice the same way as chickencam and never had any trouble. However, just recently I've started cooking it in the steamer without the oil and that turns out really well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluekarin Posted November 13, 2012 Share Posted November 13, 2012 I haven't tried cooking brown rice for years, but I cook basmati by pouring into a good amount of salted boiling water. Boil for 8 minutes, drain in a large colander (the Ikea one is brill) put over the pan with a bit of butter, sometimes add coriander leaf, cover with a lid/kitchen roll or cling and leave to steam for at least 10 mins. Always perfect, non sticky rice Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sadietoo Posted November 13, 2012 Share Posted November 13, 2012 I just bung mine in a seive before running under the cold tap for several minutes, then plopping it into a big saucepan of salted boiling water. Bring back to the boil and turn down until bubbling nicely. For white rice I take no notice of the timings on the packet...I find White Basmati is cooked at 8 minutes generally, whereas most packets say 11 or 12 minutes. Drain and serve. Fluffy happy rice every time! Brown rice takes longer and I tend to start checking it after about 20 minutes, but again, I don't have any trouble with stodge using this method,whereas I am hopeless with the absorption method that everyone else swears by! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HarrisonFamily Posted November 13, 2012 Share Posted November 13, 2012 Not sure why but organic rice always seems to cook better .... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Purplemaniacs Posted November 13, 2012 Share Posted November 13, 2012 I use a microwave rice cooker for every type of rice, they are brilliant Click Are microwave rice cookers good? My DD can not cook rice in any form, I wondered about getting her one. The lakeland one says it is unavailable any other good ones? Chrissie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ms Marple Posted November 13, 2012 Share Posted November 13, 2012 I cook brown and white in a way sort of similar to Chicken cam. It always works for me but then I have practised for years! I wash the rice first in several changes of cold water leaving it to soak on the last one. Then put it in a heavy-based pan and cover it with about 1.5cm depth of water (above the rice). I bring it to the boil and then turn of the heat and leave it to steam/absorb the water. Needs good fitting lid on pan (sometimes helps if you cover pan with tinfoil before putting the lid on). If on the very rare occasion I do not add enough water it is easy to add a little more, return to boil then leave to absorb again. Whereas too much water to start with is a catastrophe. It always works and we get rice that fluffs up really well. No good if you want/ like sticky rice. I always use basmati rice too- brown/white. I learnt this watching a Madhur Jaffrey cooking series when I was a student back in the eighties. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chucky Mama Posted November 14, 2012 Share Posted November 14, 2012 I use a microwave rice cooker for every type of rice, they are brilliant Click Are microwave rice cookers good? My DD can not cook rice in any form, I wondered about getting her one. The lakeland one says it is unavailable any other good ones? Chrissie They do them on Amazon and eBay too, the design looks a little different to my old ones but I am sure the concept is the same. They are brilliant, I have used one for about 10+ years now and never made bad rice. For normal white rice you put in the rice, boiling water and salt. 10-12 (depending how you like your rice, sometimes I like mine to be a bit sticker) minutes later and it is cooked to perfection. For brown rice it takes 20-25 minutes depending on whether it is brown basmati or straight brown rice. You do need to put in a measured amount but I now just gauge it by eye and it never goes wrong. I would highly recommend them. We take ours on holiday with us when we self cater (having said that we also take our breadmaker ) and wouldn't go back to making rice any other way. I gave ES one for Uni too. You can also do veg in them but I don't. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Purplemaniacs Posted November 15, 2012 Share Posted November 15, 2012 Thank you CM I will add one to my Christmas shopping list for DD. She is a pretty good cook but for some reason has a thing about rice and if she comes over for dinner she is happy if I have cooked something and rice Chrissie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lavenders_Blue Posted November 15, 2012 Share Posted November 15, 2012 I think this could be the next Omlet must have I use the absorption method for cooking rice - a bit of oil to stop it sticking and 2x volume of water to rice, but it seems very hit and miss. Sometimes I find rice welded to the bottom of the pan and other times it's swimming about in water. Occasionally it comes out just right! I think I may have to give one of these microwave rice pans a whirl. I don't do brown rice - I find it very chewy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted November 15, 2012 Share Posted November 15, 2012 I might have to get one... we love rice too and I usually cook either brown rice on its own, or combined with wild rice as we like the chewier texture. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patsylabrador Posted November 17, 2012 Author Share Posted November 17, 2012 Excellent. I've been cooking rice like crazy this week, trying out different methods and have been really pleased with the results. Even basmati which I had totally given up with, came out perfectly. Thank you for responding, it's been very interesting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowy Posted November 17, 2012 Share Posted November 17, 2012 I always use the Delia method for rice - it never fails to turn out perfectly every time. The only difference between brown and white rice is the timings - 15 minutes for white and 40 for brown. Measure your rice by volume, I use half a pint for 3 of us, 12 fl oz for 4 and 15 fl oz for 5. Whatever volume you use, you will need double the volume of boiling water, so put the kettle on. Heat a splash of oil in a heavy based saucepan, toss in the rice and stir it up to get it well coated. Measure out the correct volume of water, add any seasonings (I usually add a Kallo chicken stock cube) then add to the rice in the pan. Stir once making sure no rice is stuck to the bottom of the pan. Bring to the boil then turn the heat down to minimum, add a close fitting lid and leave it alone for 15/40 minutes, no longer. Whatever you do, do NOT be tempted to stir the rice again until the time is up. Turn off the heat, remove lid, fluff up with a fork and leave uncovered for a couple of minutes prior to serving. I use this method every time and it is always perfect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saronne Posted November 17, 2012 Share Posted November 17, 2012 I use the same method as Snowy and I agree it comes out pretty good every time. Saronne Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Space Chick Posted November 24, 2012 Share Posted November 24, 2012 I have had a microwave rice cooker for years In fact it's the only thing we use the microwave for Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patsylabrador Posted November 25, 2012 Author Share Posted November 25, 2012 Inspired. So I treated myself to a Tefal 8 in 1 gadget. ES told me that in Japan they have rice steamers that are on all day and part of their wages was that they could help themselves to bowls of rice. With his info and your info in mind I thought this gadget. It seemed like a good plan and it is great. Rice is perfect, it's clean and easy to wash up. I've only used it for rice and steaming veg so far but I like slow cooking so will use it for that option too. Lots of experimenting to do with it still but I can say it's a good piece of kit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
