# How much salt to add to rice?



## crankin (Jan 13, 2013)

If I am making 4 portions of rice (1 cup uncooked) and using water (I have no broth), about how much salt should I add with the rice when cooking to season it?


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## Andy M. (Jan 13, 2013)

Enough to make it taste good.


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## taxlady (Jan 13, 2013)

For one or two cups of uncooked rice, I use 1/4 tsp of salt. I use it because if I don't, the rice gets a bit sticky.

Salt for flavour can be added by each person.


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## BoracayB (Jan 14, 2013)

I have watched my wife make rice twice a day every day for 6 years and she has never put salt in the water to cook rice. 
 But I guess it might make a difference if the rice is not new.


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## pacanis (Jan 14, 2013)

Salt in rice? 
I've never salted my rice either. Not that I see anything wrong with that.


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## menumaker (Jan 14, 2013)

I add about 1/2 teaspoon per pt of liquid. Sometimes after draining it's nice to add a knob of salted butter as well but that's a matter of taste


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## msmofet (Jan 14, 2013)

I add 1/4 tsp salt to my rice. I usually make 4 servings.


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## MrsLMB (Jan 14, 2013)

I've never put salt in my rice when cooking .. each person can season to taste when it's done.  I've never had a problem with it cooking, being too sticky or dry due to no salt.


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## puffin3 (Jan 14, 2013)

I've used my little Black and Decker rice cooker two or three times a week for the last few years. I've never added any salt. Never had a batch that was anything but perfectly cooked.


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## taxlady (Jan 14, 2013)

BoracayB said:


> I have watched my wife make rice twice a day every day for 6 years and she has never put salt in the water to cook rice.
> But I guess it might make a difference if the rice is not new.



That might be it. I almost always cook brown basmati rice. Basmati is usually aged.


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## Snip 13 (Jan 14, 2013)

I always add salt to my water. 1 tsp of sea salt for 2 cups of raw rice. I always fill the water till it's half a thumb lenght above the rice. Bring to a boil and boil for 5 mins. Cover with the lid and switch the stove off. Then it steams till it's done. Perfect rice every time! The way my grandmother taught me.
I rinse my rice well before cooking too.


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## msmofet (Jan 14, 2013)

Snip 13 said:


> I always add salt to my water. 1 tsp of sea salt for 2 cups of raw rice. I always fill the water till it's half a thumb lenght above the rice. Bring to a boil and boil for 5 mins. Cover with the lid and switch the stove off. Then it steams till it's done. Perfect rice every time! The way my grandmother taught me.
> I rinse my rice well before cooking too.


 My mom made rice that way except she never rinced the rice.


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## Snip 13 (Jan 14, 2013)

msmofet said:


> My mom made rice that way except she never rinced the rice.


 
Sometimes the old fashioned way is best! 
I always stir fudge in the figure 8 too  A lot of my Gran's ways stuck.


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## roadfix (Jan 14, 2013)

I never add salt, regardless of whether short or long grain.  
But my wife, OTOH, sometimes sneaks a pinch of salt into the cooker when I'm not looking.  Doesn't seem to make much difference, at least to me, one way or other.


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## GotGarlic (Jan 14, 2013)

I would guess I use a half teaspoon or so per cup of raw rice - a couple of pinches. I don't think it has any effect on cooking, but it seasons the rice itself, like salting pasta water, which tastes different than surface seasoning.


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## msmofet (Jan 14, 2013)

GotGarlic said:


> I would guess I use a half teaspoon or so per cup of raw rice - a couple of pinches. I don't think it has any effect on cooking, but it seasons the rice itself, like salting pasta water, which tastes different than surface seasoning.


 YUP!! Gotta salt rice, pasta and potatoes while cooking THEN adjust and correct after if needed. Just salting after just doesn't taste the same.


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## Sir_Loin_of_Beef (Jan 14, 2013)

The correct answer is none. If you want it salty after it's cooked, hit it with a shot of soy sauce, or a little Nước Mắm.


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## salt and pepper (Jan 14, 2013)

Skip the salt and use chicken or beef stock. If you must use salt, 1/2 tsp per cup will be fine if using 2 cups just use 3/4 tsp. I would not double it.


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## BoracayB (Jan 15, 2013)

taxlady said:


> That might be it. I almost always cook brown basmati rice. Basmati is usually aged.




 I love basmati rice. Especially the smell while it's cooking. yum


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## puffin3 (Jan 15, 2013)

msmofet said:


> YUP!! Gotta salt rice, pasta and potatoes while cooking THEN adjust and correct after if needed. Just salting after just doesn't taste the same.



Salt was added to pasta water a long long time ago when the pasta was always fresh made. The salt helped keep the pasta firm rather than falling apart in the boiling water. Back then people where paid wages in salt so it was used very sparingly I imagine. That pasta water was used somehow later I think.
There are as many opinion about what salt does and doesn't do when cooking rice as there are rice eaters. It would seem logical that salt added to rice when cooking would add some salty flavor to the rice but that could be accomplished by the person just before eating it. Anyway. I don't add it to the rice cooker.


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## no mayonnaise (Jan 15, 2013)

I always add a sprinkle of kosher after the rice goes in, so that the salt settles onto the rice and not the bottom of the cooker to avoid pitting.
I'm of the opinion that if seasoning needs to be added by the person at the table, then the food isn't properly seasoned.  Same if I go to a restaurant, it's a big mark against the food if I gotta add salt and pepper to it at the table.  Just my opinion.


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## GotGarlic (Jan 15, 2013)

no mayonnaise said:


> I always add a sprinkle of kosher after the rice goes in, so that the salt settles onto the rice and not the bottom of the cooker to avoid pitting.
> I'm of the opinion that if seasoning needs to be added by the person at the table, then the food isn't properly seasoned.  Same if I go to a restaurant, it's a big mark against the food if I gotta add salt and pepper to it at the table.  Just my opinion.



+1


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## CharlieD (Jan 15, 2013)

We saw Safety Not Guaranteed Saturday night, I don't even know what to say, it was seriously bizarre


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## Claire (Jan 15, 2013)

I'm among those who don't add salt to water when cooking rice or pasta.  I season it when doing something else with it, and season the sauce.  No one seems to miss the salt in the water (and, yes, I entertain quite a bit), and I love spicy food, so the sauces tend to have enough.  I'm a salt-a-holic, so I purposefully under-salt everything for my taste since most of my friends have blood pressure issues.


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## taxlady (Jan 15, 2013)

no mayonnaise said:


> I always add a sprinkle of kosher after the rice goes in, so that the salt settles onto the rice and not the bottom of the cooker to avoid pitting.
> I'm of the opinion that if seasoning needs to be added by the person at the table, then the food isn't properly seasoned.  Same if I go to a restaurant, it's a big mark against the food if I gotta add salt and pepper to it at the table.  Just my opinion.


Not me. How can the chef possibly know how salty I want my food.

I really like the taste of salt and often if it is added to the dish, I won't taste it as much. In my opinion some food is better with the salt added during cooking and other food is better lightly salted or not salted while cooking and salted to taste when served. How much salt I want on my food depends on my mood and how much salt I have already eaten that day.


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## GotGarlic (Jan 15, 2013)

So, in other words, crankin, anywhere between none and 1/2 tsp. per cup lol


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## GotGarlic (Jan 15, 2013)

taxlady said:


> Not me. How can the chef possibly know how salty I want my food.



The chef knows the flavor profile s/he wants to achieve and seasons accordingly. That isn't "salty" per se, but rather well-seasoned.


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## Andy M. (Jan 15, 2013)

This isn't an all or nothing situation.

You CAN cook rice without salt.  You CAN season it at the table.  It may not be the best way.

It has been shown that food cooked with salt tastes better than food that is salted only after cooking.

I season the cooking liquid for rice so it cooks salted and I season it at the table because I recognize that everyone's taste for salt is different.  I use more than my SO.

I don't make rigid rules about seasoning food at the table.  A chef in a restaurant has to walk a fine line.  He has to make tasty food so he adds salt in the kitchen but he may not add as much as he thinks is needed because he knows there are customers that would complain.  It has often been said you can add more salt but you can't subtract salt (even with a potato).


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## taxlady (Jan 15, 2013)

Andy M. said:


> This isn't an all or nothing situation.
> 
> You CAN cook rice without salt.  You CAN season it at the table.  It may not be the best way.
> 
> ...


Well said.


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## roadfix (Jan 15, 2013)

I crave for more salt on hot, sweaty days.


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## Andy M. (Jan 15, 2013)

roadfix said:


> I crave for more salt on hot, sweaty days.



Are the days hot and sweaty or are you?


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## roadfix (Jan 15, 2013)

Andy M. said:


> Are the days hot and sweaty or are you?


Humid days and one sweaty body.


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## Gravy Queen (Jan 15, 2013)

I never add salt when cooking rice . I am usually cooking it to accompany something that's full of flavour like a curry so the rice doesn't need salt. It cooks fine. I also always use brown rice, such a nice nutty texture .


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## roadfix (Jan 15, 2013)

Gravy Queen said:


> I never add salt when cooking rice . I am usually cooking it to accompany something that's full of flavour like a curry so the rice doesn't need salt. It cooks fine.


This.


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## taxlady (Jan 15, 2013)

A friend who has high blood pressure was staying with us, so I decided to leave out the salt when cooking brown basmati rice. I did this several times before I realized that was probably the reason the rice was slightly sticky. I had been scratching my head, trying to figure out why. I have been cooking brown rice in the same pot for 35 years and this had never happened before. Eventually I figured out it might be the fact that I wasn't adding salt. I tried with salt again and no more slight stickiness. That was true even with only 1/4 tsp of salt for 2 cups of dry rice.


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## justplainbill (Jan 15, 2013)

We often make rice in advance of the dish which it accompanies.  Last night we toasted / fried some basmati in a little peanut oil for some 3 minutes (no salt added), added some meat stock, brought to a simmer, cooked covered for 9.5 minutes, removed from heat source and let it sit  covered for 10 minutes while the stir fry which it was to accompany was cooked.  The resulting rice was neither  pasty nor gummy.  The grains of rice were fully cooked but retained their individual identity, which is the way I like rice unless I'm trying to pick it up (and shovel it in) with chop sticks or eat it in a tomato sauce baked dish.


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## no mayonnaise (Jan 15, 2013)

Andy M. said:


> This isn't an all or nothing situation.
> 
> You CAN cook rice without salt.  You CAN season it at the table.  It may not be the best way.
> 
> ...



I figure the food is properly seasoned when there's just enough salt to where it enhances the food, but you can't overtly taste the salt.  It's no coincidence that the places where I don't feel the food needs any more seasoning are typically $40+ per plate.


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## Gravy Queen (Jan 16, 2013)

Maybe as I live somewhere where getting hot and sweaty rarely happens (steady now) so I don't need extra salt . 

Flippin brass monkeys here today .


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## Claire (Jan 16, 2013)

I'm one of those who has several kinds of rice on hand.  Basmati, Jasmine, Calrose, in the summer converted (it is great for rice salads),  When I first moved here you couldn't buy the kind of rice you need to make risotto, so I learned to make it with Calrose, and it works fine.  Calrose was the rice just about everyone used in their daily rice cookers when I lived in Hawaii.  I never had a rice cooker, but more or less learned to cook rice with it and it is my general purpose rice.  In Hawaii they sold it in 20 lb bags!  Jasmine for Thai and other southeast Asian dishes.  Basmati, of course, for Indian.  The latter two are very frangrant, it is a joy just to smell them cooking.


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