# Can't cook rice anymore...what gives?



## rgm82 (Aug 10, 2016)

Anybody got any tips for making just plain steamed white rice? I just moved and I can't for the live of me make proper rice in this new house and i don't know why...used to cook it all the time at my old place and it always turned out fine. Same cookware, same brand of rice, same water ratio...only variable is the new stove, which is a bit different from my old one - the low setting is a much lower flame whereas on my old range the flame settled kind of high when on simmer. I've tried messing with the burner settings to compensate but it still winds up undercooked...kind of annoying. Anybody have an idea why this is so?


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## Addie (Aug 10, 2016)

rgm82 said:


> Anybody got any tips for making just plain steamed white rice? I just moved and I can't for the live of me make proper rice in this new house and i don't know why...used to cook it all the time at my old place and it always turned out fine. Same cookware, same brand of rice, same water ratio...only variable is the new stove, which is a bit different from my old one - the low setting is a much lower flame whereas on my old range the flame settled kind of high when on simmer. I've tried messing with the burner settings to compensate but it still winds up undercooked...kind of annoying. Anybody have an idea why this is so?



Does altitude have any play in your scenario? Other than that, try adding more water and cooking for a bit longer. Sara Moulton has made no bones about it. She has always claimed that even though she is a trained chef and even worked for Julia Child at one point in her career, is rice impaired. She puts in plenty of water. Even more than a cup sometimes. She just makes sure it is well covered in water. Then when she taste tests it for doneness, she drains the excess water off and allows it to steam dry. If all else fails, you can go that route. Good luck!


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## Andy M. (Aug 10, 2016)

rgm82 said:


> ...only variable is the new stove...





You said it yourself.  Keep trying different settings.


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## Steve Kroll (Aug 10, 2016)

Easy Rule-of-thumb Rice recipe - works for any stove:


Measure out rice into a pot. I like to toss in a couple of pinches of salt for every cup of rice used.
Add 1.5 times amount of water as rice.
Turn heat to high and leave uncovered.
When the water begins to boil, turn the heat down to the lowest setting and cover the pot.
Simmer for 15 minutes, and resist the urge to remove the lid during this time.
After 15 minutes, remove the lid and check for doneness. If the rice is still a little chewy, replace the lid and leave for another 5 minutes.

Note that with some varieties of rice, you can use up to a 1:2 ratio of rice to water.


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## PrincessFiona60 (Aug 10, 2016)

I'm guessing change in humidity, weather or altitude.  If you've moved to a higher altitude or lower altitude you can contact your local Extension office and they can give you some help.


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## tenspeed (Aug 11, 2016)

If you make rice on a regular basis, consider getting a rice cooker.  I used to think that a one purpose appliance was ridiculous.... until I got one.  I wish I would have bought one years ago.  I gave our new mom daughter an Aroma rice cooker ($30 at Amazon) for Christmas, and she shares my opinion that it is indispensable for a working home cook.  I no longer work, but it's a real convenience to dump the ingredients in the rice cooker, press the button, and forget about it until the rice is ready.  The rice comes out perfect every time.


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## Rocklobster (Aug 11, 2016)

At the deli we cook rice like pasta...we use lots of water, drop the rice in the water when it starts to boil, let it simmer on a low boil, stirring occasionally, keep checking it. When it is ready to our liking we strain it in the sink, then put it back in the pot and run cold water on it to stop it from cooking any further. Finally, once it has cooled, we strain it again and let it sit in the strainer for a few minutes until it is well drained... then we can use it how we wish. Microwave it, add some cooked ingredients to it for a pilaf, throw it in soups, fry it with veggies, etc....


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## GotGarlic (Aug 11, 2016)

Unless I'm flavoring it, I make rice in the microwave. It's foolproof. 

1 cup rice 
2 cups liquid (water or broth) 
1 tsp salt 

Combine ingredients in a microwave-safe bowl; cover with a paper towel. Microwave on high for 7 minutes. Stir and microwave on high for 8 more minutes. Done.


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## roadfix (Aug 11, 2016)

Yeah, get a rice cooker!


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## medtran49 (Aug 11, 2016)

My method is from Robert Irvine and I've NEVER had a fail.  If I'm making rice for both of us, I'll wash the rice then drain in a colander to get rid of the extra starch and water.  Just for me, I don't mind the extra starch so I skip that step.  If I've washed, I'll heat about a quarter cup LESS liquid than that particular rice calls for to boiling, add the rice, stir, bring it back to boil, cover, turn burner off and let the pan set until I'm done with rest of meal, at minimum 20 minutes, and it's ALWAYS perfectly done.


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## tenspeed (Aug 12, 2016)

medtran49 said:


> My method is from Robert Irvine and I've NEVER had a fail.  If I'm making rice for both of us, I'll wash the rice then drain in a colander to get rid of the extra starch and water.  Just for me, I don't mind the extra starch so I skip that step.  If I've washed, I'll heat about a quarter cup LESS liquid than that particular rice calls for to boiling, add the rice, stir, bring it back to boil, cover, turn burner off and let the pan set until I'm done with rest of meal, at minimum 20 minutes, and it's ALWAYS perfectly done.


White rice sold in the U.S. is enriched with vitamins and nutrients that were removed in the milling process.  Rinsing washes these away, so if you want to keep them, don't rinse.

Should You Rinse Rice Before Cooking? - Chowhound


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## medtran49 (Aug 12, 2016)

A.  It's not rice packaged in U.S.

B.  If someone you are cooking for prefers it rinsed, you rinse...


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## Smokeydoke (Aug 12, 2016)

I love my Tiger rice cooker. My hubby uses a generic brand cooker, and his rice always comes out burnt. But I've never had problems with  Tiger or Zojirushi cookers. 

I use the 2:1 ratio, 2 cups water to 1 cup rice, or any variation of that. That's for jasmine rice. It comes out a bit wet, but I prefer it that way, I let it warm in the cooker for 2-3 hours and it's perfect.


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## IrinaUrsu (Aug 24, 2016)

Rice is the only think I can do right. 
First of all I leave the rice to rest in cold wather for half hour. Then for the cooking:
1 portion of rice (depends on how many are eating)
3 portions of wather
1 tsp salt
Bring to boil, don't stir too much.


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## Mad Cook (Aug 25, 2016)

rgm82 said:


> Anybody got any tips for making just plain steamed white rice? I just moved and I can't for the live of me make proper rice in this new house and i don't know why...used to cook it all the time at my old place and it always turned out fine. Same cookware, same brand of rice, same water ratio...only variable is the new stove, which is a bit different from my old one - the low setting is a much lower flame whereas on my old range the flame settled kind of high when on simmer. I've tried messing with the burner settings to compensate but it still winds up undercooked...kind of annoying. Anybody have an idea why this is so?


I always had a problem cooking rice until I discovered the cheat's version:-

A mug of rice (rinsed, etc as usual) and two cups of boiling water with salt to taste, placed in a large bowl covered with Clingfilm (plastic wrap) with a small vent. Ten minutes in the microwave, allow to stand for 5 mins, fluff up with a fork and bingo, it works every time. 

(By the way, I use Basmati rice. The extra cost is worth it.)


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## Addie (Aug 25, 2016)

I NEVER think to us the MW for cooking items. Only heating up coffee.


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## Mad Cook (Aug 25, 2016)

Addie said:


> I NEVER think to us the MW for cooking items. Only heating up coffee.


I don't make a habit of it but I do use it for cooking an individual portion of salmon, porridge, and occasionally when I crave a poached egg (which I can't make any other way, sob!) and frozen peas, etc. I also use it to melt butter for a cake, etc.

I don't actually cook anything special in it.


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## Addie (Aug 25, 2016)

I guess for me, old habits are hard to break. I still melt butter on a low burner on the stove. I just don't think of the MW as a shortcut.


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## RPCookin (Aug 25, 2016)

Mad Cook said:


> I always had a problem cooking rice until I discovered the cheat's version:-
> 
> A mug of rice (rinsed, etc as usual) and two cups of boiling water with salt to taste, placed in a large bowl covered with Clingfilm (plastic wrap) with a small vent. Ten minutes in the microwave, allow to stand for 5 mins, fluff up with a fork and bingo, it works every time.
> 
> (By the way, I use Basmati rice. The extra cost is worth it.)



A "mug" isn't any cooking measure that I ever heard of.  I've seen 6 ounce mugs and 16 ounce mugs (I even have a beer mug that's 20 ounces).  If you use cups for the water, why not for the rice too?


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## Roll_Bones (Aug 25, 2016)

Addie said:


> I guess for me, old habits are hard to break. I still melt butter on a low burner on the stove. I just don't think of the MW as a shortcut.



IMO, the microwave is one appliance I could not do without. I should say I would not want to part with the microwave.
And not just for heating coffee.
I find myself using it for many tasks in the kitchen.

Do you still make popcorn on the stove top?


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## Addie (Aug 25, 2016)

Roll_Bones said:


> IMO, the microwave is one appliance I could not do without. I should say I would not want to part with the microwave.
> And not just for heating coffee.
> I find myself using it for many tasks in the kitchen.
> 
> Do you still make popcorn on the stove top?



That set me to thinking. Yes. The last time I made it, I did it on top of the stove.


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## di reston (Aug 25, 2016)

I use Anjum Anand's basmati rice recipe from Indian Food Made Easy. Comes out a treat!



di reston

Enough is never as good as a feast    Oscar Wilde


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## expatgirl (Aug 26, 2016)

It's been my experience that the type of rice does make a difference in cooking times.....I just go to the internet to be sure and have never been disappointed (and not all rices need to be rinsed either)....... and there are rice cookers out there that even have settings for brown rice as it takes longer to cook........


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## Mad Cook (Aug 27, 2016)

RPCookin said:


> A "mug" isn't any cooking measure that I ever heard of.  I've seen 6 ounce mugs and 16 ounce mugs (I even have a beer mug that's 20 ounces).  If you use cups for the water, why not for the rice too?


But it doesn't matter what size your "mug" is. Mine hold a more or less standard 7 ounces.

The point is that you are using twice as much water by volume as rice so it doesn't matter if you use mugs, egg cups or 5 gallon jerry cans.

Anyway, we don't use standard measuring cups for "weighing" ingredients over here. We use scales for dry goods and fats, and measuring jugs for liquids. Makes life so much easier, particularly with baking.


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## Mad Cook (Aug 27, 2016)

expatgirl said:


> It's been my experience that the type of rice does make a difference in cooking times.....I just go to the internet to be sure and have never been disappointed (and not all rices need to be rinsed either)....... and there are rice cookers out there that even have settings for brown rice as it takes longer to cook........


Ahh, yes. The 2:1 water:rice ratio may not work with brown rice but as I don't like it very much I don't cook it.


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## Mad Cook (Aug 27, 2016)

tenspeed said:


> White rice sold in the U.S. is enriched with vitamins and nutrients that were removed in the milling process.  Rinsing washes these away, so if you want to keep them, don't rinse.
> 
> Should You Rinse Rice Before Cooking? - Chowhound


Surely the cooking process must also remove the replaced vitamins and nutrients if rinsing does?

As I have a good varied diet I don't think I need worry bout the loss of nutritional valus in white rice. I don't eat it often enough - once a week if that.

(I do think rinsing it gets rid of some of the dust though and as you don't know where the dust has come from ......)


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## GotGarlic (Aug 27, 2016)

Mad Cook said:


> Surely the cooking process must also remove the replaced vitamins and nutrients if rinsing does?



If you cook rice with the amount of water needed to just cook it through, then no - the water is absorbed into the rice and therefore the nutrients are not washed away.


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## GotGarlic (Aug 27, 2016)

Mad Cook said:


> But it doesn't matter what size your "mug" is. Mine hold a more or less standard 7 ounces.
> 
> The point is that you are using twice as much water by volume as rice so it doesn't matter if you use mugs, egg cups or 5 gallon jerry cans.



Of course it matters. If you're using a 10-ounce mug of rice and two 8-ounce cups of water, the ratio is off and the recipe won't work. Better to describe the ratio than an imprecise measure.


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## PrincessFiona60 (Aug 27, 2016)

Mad Cook appears to use the same mug for the rice as she does the water.


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## Mad Cook (Aug 27, 2016)

PrincessFiona60 said:


> Mad Cook appears to use the same mug for the rice as she does the water.


Thanks, PF. I assumed too much


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## GotGarlic (Aug 27, 2016)

PrincessFiona60 said:


> Mad Cook appears to use the same mug for the rice as she does the water.





Mad Cook said:


> I always had a problem cooking rice until I discovered the cheat's version:-
> 
> A mug of rice (rinsed, etc as usual) and two cups of boiling water with salt to taste, placed in a large bowl covered with Clingfilm (plastic wrap) with a small vent. Ten minutes in the microwave, allow to stand for 5 mins, fluff up with a fork and bingo, it works every time.



I don't see where that idea appears, PF. 

Btw, I don't consider microwaving white rice to be "the cheat's version." I've been doing it that way for at least fifteen years, and suggesting it every time it comes up here. Boils the rice in the water, same as on the stovetop. How is it cheating?


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## Mad Cook (Aug 27, 2016)

GotGarlic said:


> I don't see where that idea appears, PF.
> 
> Btw, I don't consider microwaving white rice to be "the cheat's version." I've been doing it that way for at least fifteen years, and suggesting it every time it comes up here. Boils the rice in the water, same as on the stovetop. How is it cheating?


My fault GG. I didn't notice I'd muddled up cups and mugs.

No, I don't think it's cheating either but I was told off by another poster on either Delia Smith's or Nigella Lawson's website (can't remember which) for posting the mw method..


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## PrincessFiona60 (Aug 27, 2016)

Mad Cook said:


> But it doesn't matter what size your "mug" is. Mine hold a more or less standard 7 ounces.
> 
> The point is that you are using *twice as much water by volume as rice* so it doesn't matter if you use mugs, egg cups or 5 gallon jerry cans.
> 
> Anyway, we don't use standard measuring cups for "weighing" ingredients over here. We use scales for dry goods and fats, and measuring jugs for liquids. Makes life so much easier, particularly with baking.





GotGarlic said:


> I don't see where that idea appears, PF.



Right here...remember, most of us are home cooks and we do what works for us.  MC was giving her technique, she was not offering a recipe.


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## PrincessFiona60 (Aug 27, 2016)

Mad Cook said:


> No, I don't think it's cheating either but I was told off by another poster on either Delia Smith's or Nigella Lawson's website (can't remember which) for posting the mw method..



Ah, an elitist...


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## Mad Cook (Aug 27, 2016)

roadfix said:


> Yeah, get a rice cooker!


Why? Just one more piece of clutter to take up space in the kitchen. (Unless you have a big family and eat rice everyday.)


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## GotGarlic (Aug 27, 2016)

PrincessFiona60 said:


> Right here...remember, most of us are home cooks and we do what works for us.  MC was giving her technique, she was not offering a recipe.



I realize that. I'm just saying the technique won't work unless you use the right ratio, which she did not make clear when first describing the technique. Which is why at least one other person asked for clarification.


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## expatgirl (Aug 27, 2016)

if you know what kind of rice you're using: basmati, brown rice, the mixed reds, white, etc., wild rice (really not rice), short grain, long grain, risotto, etc.........it doesn't hurt to take a few minutes to look it up on the internet for cooking times........as a rule most take 15-20 minutes with brown rice taking longer......

My rule of thumb that works for me, is to bring the water, salt, butter, to a boil and then throw in the rice, stir with a fork, bring back to a boil, put a lid on it, and lower the heat to simmer........then depending on the type of rice.......that's how long you keep it under the lid........no peeping until the time is up........pretty much works for me........traditional rice cookers are for traditional rices......20 minutes........not brown rice unless it has that feature.......and all of you novices..........go for it and if you screw up so what........it's a learning process......if you don't practice you don't succeed........if you're with good friends, roomie, mate, etc., they'll love you for trying........remember Bridgette Jones and her blue rice???


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## expatgirl (Aug 27, 2016)

and I forgot to add, that the internet searches for the different rices have different water amounts and that does make a difference!


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## GotGarlic (Aug 27, 2016)

expatgirl said:


> if you know what kind of rice you're using: basmati, brown rice, the mixed reds, white, etc., wild rice (really not rice), short grain, long grain, risotto, etc.........it doesn't hurt to take a few minutes to look it up on the internet for cooking times........as a rule most take 15-20 minutes with brown rice taking longer......



If I made a variety of rice, I'd make a cheat sheet and tape it to the inside of the kitchen cabinet next to the stove. I do have a cheat sheet like that for doneness of meat.


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## expatgirl (Aug 27, 2016)

Perfecto!!!


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## RPCookin (Aug 27, 2016)

PrincessFiona60 said:


> Mad Cook appears to use the same mug for the rice as she does the water.



The trouble is that the way she wrote it, she mixed mug and cups with no explanation that she was using the same vessel.


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## ricelover (Aug 28, 2016)

A 3-cup rice cooker is small, perfect for a single or a couple.  It's automatic so you don't have to wonder if it's cooked properly or not, and allows you to concentrate on the main course.  Definitely used more often than a crockpot, pressure cooker, oven, blender, or food processor in our household.


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## GotGarlic (Aug 28, 2016)

ricelover said:


> A 3-cup rice cooker is small, perfect for a single or a couple.  It's automatic so you don't have to wonder if it's cooked properly or not, and allows you to concentrate on the main course.  Definitely used more often than a crockpot, pressure cooker, oven, blender, or food processor in our household.



Hi and welcome to Discuss Cooking 

The microwave method is also automatic (mostly - stir once galfw) and doesn't require a separate appliance. It's worked for me for many years.


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## PrincessFiona60 (Aug 28, 2016)

RPCookin said:


> The trouble is that the way she wrote it, she mixed mug and cups with no explanation that she was using the same vessel.



I guess I was the only one who knew what she was talking about without further clarification.  

Hey, Mad Cook..we think alike.


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## Mad Cook (Sep 2, 2016)

PrincessFiona60 said:


> I guess I was the only one who knew what she was talking about without further clarification.
> 
> Hey, Mad Cook..we think alike.


 I don't think my brain was working properly. Sometimes my typing fingers have a mind or my own.


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## erehweslefox (Sep 2, 2016)

I NEVER thought I would use a rice cooker, again, dislike single use appliances, but we got one as a wedding gift, and it has its uses. I mean use, cooking rice. It does, as everyone said make the rice you want without messing about. I also use it to steam veggies sometimes. 

My problem in the apartment is I have four burners and an oven. I also have a limited amount of good pots. And rice cooking to consistency really needs a burner and a good pot with lid, so I have to use the good pots, not my stamped aluminum just used to heat up stuff go to hell pots. So both of those are tied up. It is worth the counter space (also a premium, but fungible, where the need for burners of differing temperatures is dynamic), when I am cooking an 'interesting' meal. (define that as using most of my pots, and all my burners at once, which happens with alarming regularity, need a bigger kitchen). 

Given I have an electric range, and it is a crappy apartment range, so sucks, I generally have two big burners and two small, positioned one back big burner left, one front big burner right and small burners on the diagonal. At any given time if you want access to the pots, and if they have handles, one burner is not accessible. So if I have a large pot going on the back big, a skillet on the front right, and a sauce going on the back right small burner, I just don't have room for a rice pot and to still stir everything etc...

So giving over the rice to a cooker makes sense. 

I do have a six cup cooker. I would find a three cup cooker small, given that I never make less than two cups, and often need four. 

It lives in the appliance well, and comes out when I need rice as a side dish. If I am using rice as a side dish, I am darn well using most of my burners, and need the extra space on the range. 

So when I was a bachelor, and cooking for myself, I always thought a rice cooker was an extravagance, a one ingredient device which I could replicate with a pot. I think you get inconsistent rice if you don't use a good pot with a tight cover, and I have three of those, one two small for more than a cup of rice. 

It doesn't come up in, honey what do you want to eat tonight? dinner, but we had a dinner party recently with eight people, which was four dimensional chess in an apartment kitchen.. I actually plugged the rice cooker in in the bedroom, along with the slow cooker. For god's sake don't tell the landlord.

I think a rice cooker is worthwhile. I have gotten my investment back out of mine. 

TBS


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## PrincessFiona60 (Sep 2, 2016)

If you like oatmeal, you can cook that in the rice cooker...


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## roadfix (Sep 2, 2016)

A rice cooker is like a coffee maker.   If you use it every day it is definitely worth having it.   We use our's almost daily.


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## Kayelle (Sep 2, 2016)

roadfix said:


> A rice cooker is like a coffee maker.   If you use it every day it is definitely worth having it.   We use our's almost daily.



That's the most reasonable analogy I've heard about a rice cooker. In my kitchen, the only two electrical appliances with permanent counter real estate is the coffee maker and the toaster oven. I hate a cluttered kitchen.


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## GotGarlic (Sep 2, 2016)

erehweslefox said:


> I NEVER thought I would use a rice cooker, again, dislike single use appliances, but we got one as a wedding gift, and it has its uses. I mean use, cooking rice. It does, as everyone said make the rice you want without messing about. I also use it to steam veggies sometimes.
> 
> My problem in the apartment is I have four burners and an oven. I also have a limited amount of good pots. And rice cooking to consistency really needs a burner and a good pot with lid, so I have to use the good pots, not my stamped aluminum just used to heat up stuff go to hell pots. So both of those are tied up. It is worth the counter space (also a premium, but fungible, where the need for burners of differing temperatures is dynamic), when I am cooking an 'interesting' meal. (define that as using most of my pots, and all my burners at once, which happens with alarming regularity, need a bigger kitchen)...



Don't know if you saw my response, but cooking rice in the microwave results in perfect rice every single time. It stops cooking by itself and stays hot till you need it  



GotGarlic said:


> Unless I'm flavoring it, I make rice in the microwave. It's foolproof.
> 
> 1 cup rice
> 2 cups liquid (water or broth)
> ...


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## Smokeydoke (Sep 2, 2016)

roadfix said:


> A rice cooker is like a coffee maker.   If you use it every day it is definitely worth having it.   We use our's almost daily.



Me too. It's also nice because the rice keeps for a day without drying out.


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## Addie (Sep 2, 2016)

Mad Cook said:


> I don't think my brain was working properly. Sometimes my typing fingers have a mind or my own.



Sometimes my keyboard does. The keys keep slipping under the wrong fingers.


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## erehweslefox (Sep 3, 2016)

GotGarlic said:


> Don't know if you saw my response, but cooking rice in the microwave results in perfect rice every single time. It stops cooking by itself and stays hot till you need it



Yeah GG I hate my microwave, if you look at a picture of my kitchen it is way up on top of the refrigerator, I make it the most inconvenient piece of cooking gear I use, ever. 

I lived in an apartment where that was the only way to cook, no range, no oven that and a hot plate.

You don't want to know what happened to the hotplate.

I learned to cook in the scouts, direct heat, campfire.

Cooking with a microwave oven, for me, feels like cheating, sketchy dorm room cookery, and those bad years where the apartment didn't actually have a stove. 

I know there are a lot of reasons not to, but I hate my microwave oven. 

TBS


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## GotGarlic (Sep 3, 2016)

erehweslefox said:


> Cooking with a microwave oven, for me, feels like cheating, sketchy dorm room cookery, and those bad years where the apartment didn't actually have a stove.



Well, that's just silly  It's a tool, kind of like, let's see, a rice cooker?  It has its uses. Less water use, less energy use and no heating up the kitchen are a few of its benefits. 

I don't really like the term cheating as applied to food preparation. Every food processing innovation has been embraced by successive generations.


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## Cooking Goddess (Sep 3, 2016)

I'm going to go with the idea that the real thing that is holding *'fox* back from using his microwave is more "sketchy dorm room cookery, and those bad years where the apartment didn't actually have a stove" and less "cheating".


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## erehweslefox (Sep 4, 2016)

Cooking Goddess said:


> I'm going to go with the idea that the real thing that is holding *'fox* back from using his microwave is more "sketchy dorm room cookery, and those bad years where the apartment didn't actually have a stove" and less "cheating".



Yeah got it it one CG. 

There is a great degree to which you can plot on an x and y axis, how convenient a cooking device or method is say x, and how much satisfaction I get from using said device on y.

Microwave is a great tool, and I use it at times, but it rates high on convenience and utility, but very low on satisfaction. And yeah, using the microwave has bad connotations cooking wise for me. 

I mean my ideal kitchen would have a microwave, maybe in a corner, but also a great wood stove with a team I hire just to cut the wood and keep it stoked just right at tall times. That is something I can get when I am rich right?

Also a brigade on call would be rather lovely. 

Barring that we live in a fallen world of compromise and incremental failure. I tolerate the rice cooker, I just dislike the microwave. 

BTW, all new apartment is secured. Minus, still rocking an electric range not a gas. Plus is a bit more counter space, and enough room in the kitchen to put a cabinet in to use as a pantry. I really need a pantry, particularly as I've started messing about with canning. 

We could have gone extra rent for an updated kitchen, which as far as I can see only difference is granite counter tops, newer cabinets and and a built in microwave over the stove. 

I'm cool without any of those three things. Cabinet layout is the same, don't care if they are fashionable in color. My counters normally are a mess, I mean once a week I take everything off and clean them very well, but aside from that they get wiped down and often are dusted with flour, have spills, etc... Plus my appliances are mismatched, and kind of beat up, end up for usual often spread about in various stages of cleaning, use, and dismemberment. Looks a little silly with fancy granite counter tops. Plus my last place in Tulsa had formica counters so old they might as well have been bakelite, they would actually *crack* if you kneaded bread to hard. And yeah, melted like a champ if you put something warmer than a tepid cup of tea on them. 

Very used to using multiple cutting boards to avoid actually touching the counter. And have a motley selection of cutting boards, ranging from 'can use as a serving board at a dinner party' to, 'LORD what is that awful thing, and you cook on it? It should be bagged, tagged and sent to Walter Reed for research, and you as well as you aren't dead from fixing food on it'

So new kitchen. Bigger. Mine is way too small.


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## GotGarlic (Sep 5, 2016)

erehweslefox said:


> Yeah got it it one CG.
> 
> There is a great degree to which you can plot on an x and y axis, how convenient a cooking device or method is say x, and how much satisfaction I get from using said device on y.
> 
> Microwave is a great tool, and I use it at times, but it rates high on convenience and utility, but very low on satisfaction. And yeah, using the microwave has bad connotations cooking wise for me.



Oh, okay. Somehow I had gotten the impression the problem was running out of stove space. I was just trying to help you with that, since presumably you already have a microwave, and, in my experience, cooking plain white rice in the microwave is indistinguishable from cooking it on the stovetop, and I don't have to worry about scorching. 





erehweslefox said:


> My problem in the apartment is I have four burners and an oven. I also have a limited amount of good pots. And rice cooking to consistency really needs a burner and a good pot with lid, so I have to use the good pots, not my stamped aluminum just used to heat up stuff go to hell pots. So both of those are tied up. It is worth the counter space (also a premium, but fungible, where the need for burners of differing temperatures is dynamic), when I am cooking an 'interesting' meal. (define that as using most of my pots, and all my burners at once, which happens with alarming regularity, need a bigger kitchen).


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## Addie (Sep 5, 2016)

The romance of that wood burning stove is just that. A romance. We had one in the summer kitchen and it was kept going for canning almost all summer during the day. And then when we moved into the city. we had a wood burning stove with gas jets at the end for cooking. The wood burning part is what heated the apartment in the winter. Getting up in the middle of the night to keep the fire going was never any fun. There was never anything romantic about it. Just ask someone who lives in a log cabin in the far woods of Alaska.


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## expatgirl (Sep 5, 2016)

Just a suggestion:  In the past when I was short on space or all my burners were engaged, I have used both a bread machine and a rice cooker in another room....we once had a 900sq ft apt and the kitchen was barely big enough to turn around in.....plus it smells nice!


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## expatgirl (Sep 5, 2016)

erehweslefox said:


> Yeah GG I hate my microwave, if you look at a picture of my kitchen it is way up on top of the refrigerator, I make it the most inconvenient piece of cooking gear I use, ever.
> 
> I lived in an apartment where that was the only way to cook, no range, no oven that and a hot plate.
> 
> ...



When we lived in Egypt 23 years ago we had a microwave that was not grounded...(actually quite a few things weren't grounded)..can't tell you the number of times we got shocked until we learned to open it just right......you want to talk about a hate/hate relationship......I don't know how many times I banged it after being "bitten"


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## Cooking Goddess (Sep 5, 2016)

Addie said:


> The romance of that wood burning stove is just that....Getting up in the middle of the night to keep the fire going was never any fun. There was never anything romantic about it. Just ask someone who lives in a log cabin in the far woods of Alaska.


*Addie*, sometimes romance is far more important than comfort. While I greatly admire and respect historical reenactors who go full-steam-ahead with their love of the challenge living, working and eating like their 18th century counterpart, there is no way you could get me to spend a weekend at a Civil War Encampment on a chilly, damp autumn, interacting with people from our century as if we were the oddity. It takes real stamina and determination to do that short of thing and call it "fun". 

Those who work at places like Plimoth Plantation or Williamsburg get to be modern as soon as the clock strikes closing time. Now that's the kind of thing I could do - stir the pot of cider while explaining the process in colonial-speak. That's more like theatre and acting. To me, THAT is fun!

Different strokes for different folks...


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## GotGarlic (Sep 5, 2016)

Cooking Goddess said:


> *Addie*, sometimes romance is far more important than comfort. While I greatly admire and respect historical reenactors who go full-steam-ahead with their love of the challenge living, working and eating like their 18th century counterpart, there is no way you could get me to spend a weekend at a Civil War Encampment on a chilly, damp autumn, interacting with people from our century as if we were the oddity. It takes real stamina and determination to do that short of thing and call it "fun".
> 
> Those who work at places like Plimoth Plantation or Williamsburg get to be modern as soon as the clock strikes closing time. Now that's the kind of thing I could do - stir the pot of cider while explaining the process in colonial-speak. That's more like theatre and acting. To me, THAT is fun!
> 
> Different strokes for different folks...



And I guess she missed the part about his fantasy kitchen having people who cut the wood and stoke the fire for him! 

CG, come on down to Virginia and put on a lovely Colonial-era dress covering you from shoulders to shoes. Stirring the laundry over a boiling cauldron in the summer looks like great fun  I admire them for that dedication, too.


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## Cooking Goddess (Sep 5, 2016)

I would LOVE to live near Williamsburg, *GG*! Not IN it, since I know how restrictive the requirements are for keeping things authentic. Only one thing...you need to figure out how to make the Tidewater region not humid during the summer.


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## GotGarlic (Sep 5, 2016)

Cooking Goddess said:


> I would LOVE to live near Williamsburg, *GG*! Not IN it, since I know how restrictive the requirements are for keeping things authentic. *Only one thing...you need to figure out how to make the Tidewater region not humid during the summer.*



If only I could think of a way...


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## erehweslefox (Sep 8, 2016)

I would love a wood stove, and I would cut the wood and stoke it. I actually do know how much work is involved in that. And yeah GG, I have cooked in an reenactor Civil War Camp, did it with a friend, wife bowed out, she is good camping, but to quote her, 'yes I want our tent, our gore-tex, and our modern sleeping bags'. And she was kind of right on that, I do prefer outdoors when tempered with tech.

There are some Civil War reenactor, cooks that don't understand a dutch oven. Looking at you William and Chet....

TBS


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## GotGarlic (Sep 9, 2016)

Fox, I have a feeling you would like the recipe I've posted for Sheep Stew, from a book about the county where my ancestors lived. I'll see if I can find it...


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## GotGarlic (Sep 9, 2016)

Ah, here it is: http://www.discusscooking.com/forums/f39/dundas-sheep-stew-84900.html


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## erehweslefox (Sep 9, 2016)

GG, needs more sheep. 

It is a medieval approach to a recipe. That is a compliment.

I do love it. I would obviously today use much less sheep. It looks like a festival recipe, which is common in medieval and renaissance cookery. What we have recorded is when someone prepared a serious excess of consumables. It would like to look at our society by looking at MTV's 16 year old parties.


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## Addie (Sep 9, 2016)

Cooking Goddess said:


> *Addie*, sometimes romance is far more important than comfort. While I greatly admire and respect historical reenactors who go full-steam-ahead with their love of the challenge living, working and eating like their 18th century counterpart, there is no way you could get me to spend a weekend at a Civil War Encampment on a chilly, damp autumn, interacting with people from our century as if we were the oddity. It takes real stamina and determination to do that short of thing and call it "fun".
> 
> Those who work at places like Plimoth Plantation or Williamsburg get to be modern as soon as the clock strikes closing time. Now that's the kind of thing I could do - stir the pot of cider while explaining the process in colonial-speak. That's more like theatre and acting. To me, THAT is fun!
> 
> Different strokes for different folks...



That 'romance' dies real fast. After a while you find yourself cutting just enough for the immediate need. All the time you are praying someone comes and takes over the chore for you. There is a huge difference between cutting wood for a reenactment meal, and for keeping a family warm through a cold winter night. 

Today, if you have a log splitter, it can make the chore go so much faster. In just a couple of hours, you can do enough wood to last a family for the whole winter. A lot of families have wood burning stoves to heat their homes today. Only they don't cut it by themselves. They buy it by the cord. Expensive, but so much less work.


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## GotGarlic (Sep 9, 2016)

erehweslefox said:


> GG, needs more sheep.
> 
> It is a medieval approach to a recipe. That is a compliment.
> 
> I do love it. I would obviously today use much less sheep. It looks like a festival recipe, which is common in medieval and renaissance cookery. What we have recorded is when someone prepared a serious excess of consumables. It would like to look at our society by looking at MTV's 16 year old parties.



I believe it originated as a harvest-time shared meal in a close farming community in south-central Virginia. When my mom was growing up there in the '40s and '50s, town people made it every fall and sold pints to the public as a fundraiser for the local fire department.


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## erehweslefox (Sep 9, 2016)

GotGarlic said:


> I believe it originated as a harvest-time shared meal in a close farming community in south-central Virginia. When my mom was growing up there in the '40s and '50s, town people made it every fall and sold pints to the public as a fundraiser for the local fire department.



Can I get that in whole, written down? as best you can, might turn into a book. I'm kind of looking at church book recipes, and particular event recipes, that were oral shared, because they were done every year. Anyway, do you know someone who made this that I can interview? 

I don't want to put you on the spot here, but the idea of selling pints for the local fire company is fading, I am interested in getting some of these written down. 

Most of these kinds of recipes are only existing in church cookbooks, and potluck dinners.

TBS


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