[morticaixavier]

you can rinse it if you want but it makes the measurments trickier, then you have to use the mount fuji method of putting in the desired amount of rinsed rice, place you hand on top of the rice with so that the knuckes at the base of your fingers look like a mountain top and fill with water until it's even with the knuckles

I never did anything remotely like that and our rice is pretty much perfect every time whether I make it or my wife does.  I really don't understand why rinsing would throw off the measurements in any meaningful way.

what works for you works for you man I didn't mean to upset anyone. In my experience rinsed rice holds onto a fair amount of moisture. Looks like you account for this by only adding water at a 1.75 to 1 ratio. thatt seems to work. My thing works for me. rice cookers are also nice but as euge pointed out, it's just another unitasker. If I ate rice everynight it might be worth it.

as I understand it some folks boil rice like pasta in lots of salted water and then just drain when it's aldente. That probably works well to.

I have also steamed rice in one of those bamboo steamers to decent effect. certainly makes it fluffy and then you for sure want to rinse and soak the rice.

[punatic]

rice cookers are also nice but as euge pointed out, it's just another unitasker. If I ate rice everynight it might be worth it.

A unitasker for sure, but a very utilitarian one.  We make up a pot of rice first thing in the morning just about everyday.  It is by far the predominant starch we eat.  What's left in the rice cooker pot at the end of the day goes into a plastic container in the frig.  What collects in the plastic container is used to make fried rice in the wok.  Fried rice needs rice that's at least day-old to work right.

Two words:
Spam musubi!

BTW the proper pronunciation for fried rice here in Hawaii is "fryrice."  All one word.   

[jeffy]

rice cookers are also nice but as euge pointed out, it's just another unitasker. If I ate rice everynight it might be worth it.

A unitasker for sure, but a very utilitarian one.  We make up a pot of rice first thing in the morning just about everyday.  It is by far the predominant starch we eat.  What's left in the rice cooker pot at the end of the day goes into a plastic container in the frig.  What collects in the plastic container is used to make fried rice in the wok.  Fried rice needs rice that's at least day-old to work right.

Two words:
Spam musubi!

BTW the proper pronunciation for fried rice here in Hawaii is "fryrice."  All one word.   

We have a similar combined food word here: "devilcrab" for deviled crab.

[tschmidlin]

I love a rice cooker - I never heard of them either until I met my wife.  It's sort of a unitasker, but ours does brown and white rice.  Plus the deluxe ones are supposed to cook beans too.

I always hated cooking rice, it never turned out right and half the time it would get too dry and burn.  Now it's great every time.

[bo]

I love a rice cooker - I never heard of them either until I met my wife.  It's sort of a unitasker, but ours does brown and white rice.  Plus the deluxe ones are supposed to cook beans too.

I always hated cooking rice, it never turned out right and half the time it would get too dry and burn.  Now it's great every time.

What does it do that you can't do in a pot on the stove or in the oven?

[morticaixavier]

I love a rice cooker - I never heard of them either until I met my wife.  It's sort of a unitasker, but ours does brown and white rice.  Plus the deluxe ones are supposed to cook beans too.

I always hated cooking rice, it never turned out right and half the time it would get too dry and burn.  Now it's great every time.

What does it do that you can't do in a pot on the stove or in the oven?

like a slow cooker it is a more gentle heat. I beleive they also have convenient little marks inside to tell you how much water, rice etc. and a timer so it won't over cook. Oven is a good method as well. pilaf!

[tschmidlin]

I love a rice cooker - I never heard of them either until I met my wife.  It's sort of a unitasker, but ours does brown and white rice.  Plus the deluxe ones are supposed to cook beans too.

I always hated cooking rice, it never turned out right and half the time it would get too dry and burn.  Now it's great every time.

What does it do that you can't do in a pot on the stove or in the oven?

It lets me walk away and not worry about it.  It also lets me fill it in the morning and set a timer so it is done when I get home, or I can start it when I leave and it will keep it warm until I'm ready.

And yeah, it's got marks on the inside, so you put in however may scoops of rice you want and fill it to the matching line.  I usually do three cups (the cup it came with, not an 8-oz cup) so I fill with liquid to line three and press a button.  Some times I use water, other times I use chicken broth or add spices.  And walk away . . .

[bo]

Does it really take hours with them or do you set a delay timer?

[euge]

Same amount of time.

[punatic]

It takes around 30 minutes once you push the start button.

[corkybstewart]

you can rinse it if you want but it makes the measurments trickier, then you have to use the mount fuji method of putting in the desired amount of rinsed rice, place you hand on top of the rice with so that the knuckes at the base of your fingers look like a mountain top and fill with water until it's even with the knuckles

I never did anything remotely like that and our rice is pretty much perfect every time whether I make it or my wife does.  I really don't understand why rinsing would throw off the measurements in any meaningful way.

what works for you works for you man I didn't mean to upset anyone. In my experience rinsed rice holds onto a fair amount of moisture. Looks like you account for this by only adding water at a 1.75 to 1 ratio. thatt seems to work. My thing works for me. rice cookers are also nice but as euge pointed out, it's just another unitasker. If I ate rice everynight it might be worth it.

as I understand it some folks boil rice like pasta in lots of salted water and then just drain when it's aldente. That probably works well to.

I have also steamed rice in one of those bamboo steamers to decent effect. certainly makes it fluffy and then you for sure want to rinse and soak the rice.

No problem, it just seemed like your method was way more complicated and i was wondering if there was some scientific reason that rinsing made a difference.
I love brown rice, but my wife doesn't so I eat it for breakfast a lot of times before she gets up.  we also love the real Minnesota wild rice, I just bought 25 pounds from the White Lands Recovery Project(nativeharvest.com)  It's so much better than the Reese paddy grown "wild rice" available in the stores, and I could eat it every day.

[bluesman]

I've been cooking rice in a 2 qt saucepan for as long as I can remember, not that I have anything against rice cookers or anything, but I usually take 2 cups of Basmati or other long grain rice and rinse it 2-3 times and drain. Then add 3cups of water into the sauce pan over the rice with a splash of oil or butter and 1tsp salt. Heat the rice to a boil then reduce heat and cover for 20 min. Turn off the heat and remove from the burner. Allow the rice to rest for 5min and serve. Perfect rice...every time without fail.

[punatic]

No problem, it just seemed like your method was way more complicated and i was wondering if there was some scientific reason that rinsing made a difference.

Rice is polished to remove the outer layers on the grains.  Rinsing rice is performed to wash away the talc left over from polishing.  Most rice available today no longer needs to be rinsed, however most Japanese families I know here rinse their rise before cooking.

Standard measuring practice in these same families is to extend an index finger and put the tip of your finger on the bottom of the rice pot.  Fill the pot with rice until it reaches your first knuckle, then fill with water until it reaches your second knuckle.  Put on the pot cover and press the start button.

Quality sake is made from highly polished rice.  The higher the degree of polishing the higher the quality of sake.

[euge]

It's more than just talc.  There's added vitamins in that powder- primarily for those that get most of their calories from rice.

Rinsing also gets rid of bugs such as weevils.  There for a while this year all bagged grains and legumes had weevils and other bugs in them. I can only guess at the reason why.

[tschmidlin]

Does it really take hours with them or do you set a delay timer?

I set a delay timer, it takes more or less the same amount of time although it doesn't seem to heat as fast as on a gas stove so it may take a bit longer.  And the brown rice takes a pretty long time, (like 90 minutes or more) but it does on the stove anyway.