Brown Rice

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Brown Rice; I can't make it well
Tweet Topic Started: May 6 2013, 06:37 AM (483 Views)
Corey94	May 6 2013, 06:37 AM Post #1
Off visiting Candy Cave, be right back. Posts: 1,313 Group: Members Member #428 Joined: January 18, 2007	So, Mr. Corey loves rice, and I've been trying to transition to brown rice. I make it per the directions, into the pot of boiling water, cover, simmer and 50 minutes later it's done... It has a mushy texture, instead of a loose white rice type individual grains look to it. Is this normal? I'm always tempted to invest in a rice cooker, maybe that would help...will it? It doesn't help that it just doesn't taste great, or is that just us?



Twiceshy	May 6 2013, 06:46 AM Post #2
Off visiting Candy Cave, be right back. Posts: 1,149 Group: Members Member #730 Joined: February 5, 2007	I cheat. Every time I make rice of any variety I end up with a sticky mushy mess. I don't think we consume enough rice to warrant a rice cooker, and I really don't need another appliance in my closet. So I purchase the Uncle Ben's brown rice in the orange bags and it's fabulous every time. Have you tried wheat berries? I like those too and those don't turn into the mess that rice does.



Reynard Ridge	May 6 2013, 07:14 AM Post #3
Drivin' The Short Bus Posts: 2,934 Group: Members Member #237 Joined: January 8, 2007	Brown rice is tricky. I make a lot of rice, both white and brown, and use both a rice cooker and stove top. At the end of the day, there are three keys: (1) rinse before you cook, to remove excess starch (2) correct proportion of water and rice, and (3) rice is shy and does not want to be disturbed while cooking; no poking, no stirring, etc. My suggestion, before you buy a rice cooker, would be to do a few more test runs on the stove top. 1. Make rice one night and rinse it before cooking, no stirring, following the water/rice proportions exactly 2. If it's still a bit mushy, then decrease your water by 10%. 3. Still mushy, decrease by 20%. 4. If it's still mushy, throw in the towel and switch to quinoa. Good luck!



Indy	May 6 2013, 07:17 AM Post #4
You're BANNED! Posts: 8,083 Group: Admin Member #326 Joined: January 10, 2007	Corey94 May 6 2013, 06:37 AM I'm always tempted to invest in a rice cooker, maybe that would help...will it? We LOOOOVE our rice maker. Love it. It does amazing things. Brown rice is easy-peasy in it. The only problem is that it takes like twice as long to make brown rice as it does white rice (well over an hour) so it's a pain in the butt during the week. But our rice maker keeps rice warm and wonderful for days so what I do is make it the night before and then it's all ready for dinner the next day. I also use my rice maker for quinoa and oatmeal and it does marvelous things to both. It's my favorite and most often used kitchen gadget.



Corey94	May 6 2013, 07:43 AM Post #5
Off visiting Candy Cave, be right back. Posts: 1,313 Group: Members Member #428 Joined: January 18, 2007	Reynard Ridge May 6 2013, 07:14 AM Brown rice is tricky. I make a lot of rice, both white and brown, and use both a rice cooker and stove top. At the end of the day, there are three keys: (1) rinse before you cook, to remove excess starch (2) correct proportion of water and rice, and (3) rice is shy and does not want to be disturbed while cooking; no poking, no stirring, etc. My suggestion, before you buy a rice cooker, would be to do a few more test runs on the stove top. 1. Make rice one night and rinse it before cooking, no stirring, following the water/rice proportions exactly 2. If it's still a bit mushy, then decrease your water by 10%. 3. Still mushy, decrease by 20%. 4. If it's still mushy, throw in the towel and switch to quinoa. Good luck! Wow, ok, I'm about 3 for 3 on my mistakes then...which is really good news. I surely didn't rinse, I measured, naturally, but made the whole bag, so probably could have been off. And I am always skert that I'm burning rice to the bottom of my pan, so I stirred at least four times.... Indy, I remembered that you are a rice cooker fan. If I were to consider one, is there something particular I should look for? We'd use it probably twice a month, is that often enough? I will take a look around with the proper guidance... Twice, off to see what wheat berries are...can you get them at Harris Teeter? Or is it a whole foods type product? I've never seen them.



Indy	May 6 2013, 08:51 AM Post #6
You're BANNED! Posts: 8,083 Group: Admin Member #326 Joined: January 10, 2007	Corey94 May 6 2013, 07:43 AM Indy, I remembered that you are a rice cooker fan. If I were to consider one, is there something particular I should look for? We'd use it probably twice a month, is that often enough? I will take a look around with the proper guidance... Honestly, if you only would use it a few times a month I don't know that I'd get one - or at least not a fancy one. We use ours probably 3-4 times a week for either rice, quinoa, or oatmeal so it gets a lot of traffic. We have a fairly high tech Zojirushi (it was a wedding gift, otherwise we wouldn't have such a fancy one). It's a great brand, though, and they do make less fancy ones for a lower price point. I saw one at Costco on Saturday for around $80. Ours plays the first bit of "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" when you start it...now that song makes me hungry



Kassandra	May 6 2013, 09:35 AM Post #7
Is the meadow on fire? Posts: 1,940 Group: Members Member #4,960 Joined: April 13, 2010	We have a great rice cooker, it was $1 at a thrift store. We use it several times a week. It's probably 20 years old! My half Asian husband eats a lot of rice, lol



lhunterl	May 6 2013, 09:51 AM Post #8
Is the meadow on fire? Posts: 1,601 Group: Members Member #796 Joined: February 20, 2007	Ever since I read the article about arsenic being found in domestically grown rice, I've given myself a complex about it. We've been eating a lot of quinoa instead LOL.



Twiceshy	May 6 2013, 10:25 AM Post #9
Off visiting Candy Cave, be right back. Posts: 1,149 Group: Members Member #730 Joined: February 5, 2007	Corey94 May 6 2013, 07:43 AM Reynard Ridge May 6 2013, 07:14 AM Brown rice is tricky. I make a lot of rice, both white and brown, and use both a rice cooker and stove top. At the end of the day, there are three keys: (1) rinse before you cook, to remove excess starch (2) correct proportion of water and rice, and (3) rice is shy and does not want to be disturbed while cooking; no poking, no stirring, etc. My suggestion, before you buy a rice cooker, would be to do a few more test runs on the stove top. 1. Make rice one night and rinse it before cooking, no stirring, following the water/rice proportions exactly 2. If it's still a bit mushy, then decrease your water by 10%. 3. Still mushy, decrease by 20%. 4. If it's still mushy, throw in the towel and switch to quinoa. Good luck! Wow, ok, I'm about 3 for 3 on my mistakes then...which is really good news. I surely didn't rinse, I measured, naturally, but made the whole bag, so probably could have been off. And I am always skert that I'm burning rice to the bottom of my pan, so I stirred at least four times.... Indy, I remembered that you are a rice cooker fan. If I were to consider one, is there something particular I should look for? We'd use it probably twice a month, is that often enough? I will take a look around with the proper guidance... Twice, off to see what wheat berries are...can you get them at Harris Teeter? Or is it a whole foods type product? I've never seen them. Our large chain super store in the Boston area is Shaws (I knew Harris Teeter, and you sir, are no Harris Teeter ) and that's where I found wheat berries. Whole Foods might be another option. I like quinoa as well but have a slight preference for the wheat berries.



jn4jenny	May 6 2013, 10:26 AM Post #10
Is the meadow on fire? Posts: 1,777 Group: Admin Member #893 Joined: March 18, 2007	Yeah, definitely get a rice cooker. Well, okay, I'll admit that I'm a hypocrite. I do own a rice cooker, but for brown rice, I strongly prefer my pressure cooker. Brown rice in 22 minutes, and it's delicious and perfect every time. Zojirushi rice cookers are lovely and fabulous (my mom has one!), but they're basically just induction pressure cookers. That said, a good ol' $10 thrift store rice cooker--or a $20 rice cooker at Walmart, if you're feeling spendy--is a BIG step up from trying to do brown rice in a conventional pot. And if you're lazy about waiting for it to finish cooking, make big ol' pots of it and freeze half of it (yes, you can freeze brown rice. Google for more info!) And you can make all sorts of other fun stuff in a rice cooker, too. For example: http://thesecretyumiverse.wonderhowto.com/how-to/7-non-rice-dishes-you-can-cook-rice-cooker-0131341/ As for the taste, here's some ways to get started: --mix it half and half with white rice. Gradually increase the proportion of brown rice until you've gotten used to the brown rice flavor. --experiment with different varieties of brown rice. My husband and I love brown jasmine rice and brown basmati rice, but it's hard to come by. We also like brown Calrose rice from the asian store. Brown long-grain rice from the grocery store is our last choice. --a tiny pinch of salt, or using vegetable or chicken broth in place of water, will give brown rice some extra personality. Edited by jn4jenny, May 6 2013, 10:27 AM.



Twiceshy	May 6 2013, 10:26 AM Post #11
Off visiting Candy Cave, be right back. Posts: 1,149 Group: Members Member #730 Joined: February 5, 2007	Indy May 6 2013, 08:51 AM Corey94 May 6 2013, 07:43 AM Indy, I remembered that you are a rice cooker fan. If I were to consider one, is there something particular I should look for? We'd use it probably twice a month, is that often enough? I will take a look around with the proper guidance... Honestly, if you only would use it a few times a month I don't know that I'd get one - or at least not a fancy one. We use ours probably 3-4 times a week for either rice, quinoa, or oatmeal so it gets a lot of traffic. We have a fairly high tech Zojirushi (it was a wedding gift, otherwise we wouldn't have such a fancy one). It's a great brand, though, and they do make less fancy ones for a lower price point. I saw one at Costco on Saturday for around $80. Ours plays the first bit of "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" when you start it...now that song makes me hungry Okay THIS makes me laugh. Every damn thing in Japan plays music - toilets included. I'm not sure how I separate the music on the rice maker from the music on the toilet. That just oogs mr right out.



Indy	May 6 2013, 10:41 AM Post #12
You're BANNED! Posts: 8,083 Group: Admin Member #326 Joined: January 10, 2007	Twiceshy May 6 2013, 10:26 AM Okay THIS makes me laugh. Every damn thing in Japan plays music - toilets included. I'm not sure how I separate the music on the rice maker from the music on the toilet. That just oogs mr right out. We have a Zoj bread maker too and I have to say how sad I was to discover that it just beeps when it needs attention instead of playing little songs. The rice maker has a much better sense of whimsy.



Ride'emCO	May 6 2013, 11:51 AM Post #13
Off visiting Candy Cave, be right back. Posts: 1,255 Group: Members Member #683 Joined: January 31, 2007	I cheat with brown rice - partially because it takes forever to cook and partially because it's usually just me and maybe one other person eating it. I buy the bags of frozen brown rice that microwave in 3 minutes. Perfect every time.



Corey94	May 6 2013, 01:05 PM Post #14
Off visiting Candy Cave, be right back. Posts: 1,313 Group: Members Member #428 Joined: January 18, 2007	Thanks all. I am now ready and feeling really positive about giving it another go with the boiling method. Jn, thanks, mixing 1/2 and 1/2 white and brown sounds perfectly reasonable. And if store bought plain brown rice is your last choice, I am hoping I can get my hands on the jasmine or basmati style to try. With it being pretty mushy, and not great in flavor, it's a tough sell. I think Mr. Corey wants to pursue the rice maker. I told him about asking you guys, and I mentioned the space issue. He wasn't concerned. I'll keep my eyes open on my next trip to Walmart. (I go there very rarely) It wouldn't be the last kitchen item I buy that may or may not end up just sitting around... He doesn't usually entertain "alternate" foods, you know, like turkey hot dogs/sausage or whole grain tortillas. So I'm getting somewhere if I can transition to some of the healthier options. He's really good about staying away from bread and potatoes, but loves rice. I appreciate the tips!



Kassandra	May 6 2013, 01:58 PM Post #15
Is the meadow on fire? Posts: 1,940 Group: Members Member #4,960 Joined: April 13, 2010	There is nothing wrong with white rice or potatoes in moderation.



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