rice maker

artful_codger

hi, anyone have one of these or tried them? i make a lot of basmati rice and it's a pain in the hole stirring it, cleaning the pot etc. I had a look at a rice maker recently but it looked like a gimic, basically a pot with a timer and a non stick coating on the inside.

so, do they improve the taste of rice? are they worth fifty quid ?

TJJP

Well worth it... perfect results every time... and easy to clean. They are in everyday use in Japan where you can get quite sophisticated models, not sure why though. The basic Tefal or Kenwood ones with a 'cook' and 'keep warm' setting are fine. Aldi had some own brand ones cheap a few weeks ago and Arnotts sale has a few at the moment too. It shouldn't cost more than €30 for the basic ones and up to €50 for the more complicated versions.

http://www.debenhams.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_10001_10001_65986_696650_-1

The Sweeper

I have one and it's rubbish. Don't get perfect results - get stodgy rice with a crust on the bottom. If I use the 'keep warm' function, that crust gets worse. I don't use mine for anything except as a steamer these days. Didn't buy a cheap one either!

TJJP

Yikes, sounds bad. A trick I use is equal parts water to rice. Rather than use the scale on the rice cooker use the same measuring cup for both rice and water - two cups rice to two cups water. Seems to work better for me that way. You could try the turkish option and add a dash of oil at the start too.

Seaneh

I've a lot of friends from Malaysian and they all swear by them, like, can't function without them, and seeing as they cook rice everyday I'm inclined to believe them when they say that they are a good thing.

the beer revolu

artful_codger wrote: »

hi, anyone have one of these or tried them? i make a lot of basmati rice and it's a pain in the hole stirring it, cleaning the pot etc. I had a look at a rice maker recently but it looked like a gimic, basically a pot with a timer and a non stick coating on the inside.

so, do they improve the taste of rice? are they worth fifty quid ?

You've no business stirring rice more than once when it comes to the boil!:eek:

If you're good with measurements and timing then cooking rice in a pot is really easy but if you're not, then a rice cooker does make it more forgiving.
I have one that makes pretty good rice but it always seems too much trouble to get it out when I can make slightly better rice in a pot without any fuss (or stirring).

The Sweeper

Thought I'd check the brand on mine - it's a Breville. Capacity can cater for rice to feed 8 people. The non-stick pot does work as non-stick - as said before you just get this moveable crust.

As the_beer_revolu says, I can make better rice myself with less attention using a pot of boiling water, a single stir 30 seconds after adding rice, and salt to taste two minutes before it's cooked. I can also keep it warm by allowing some of the draining rice water to re-enter the saucepan, and placing the drained rice colander back on the top of the pot - then cover with a spotlessly clean teacloth. That method will keep the rice warm enough that it doesn't require reheating for up to an hour.

One of my brothers has an ancient little asian rice cooker - no brand. His missus got it from a thai friend. The inner pot is aluminium. It makes enough rice for four people. It does better rice than my breville does!

Seaneh

Minesajackdaniels wrote: »

One of my brothers has an ancient little asian rice cooker - no brand. His missus got it from a thai friend. The inner pot is aluminium. It makes enough rice for four people. It does better rice than my breville does!

Yeah, all the ones my friends from M-asia own are un branded and about enough for 4-5 people.

Laurent

I have used a rice cooker for years. Depending on the rice 1 to 1 rice / water works very well with Basmati. However I allways rinse the rice before hand, 3 to 4 times to get rid of excess starch. Never had a problem. If I think that further cooking is required (if rice is too al dente) I just add less than a half measure more of water. But that is a rarity!

The Sweeper

It's gotta be said, with the Breville I can't "time" cooking time. There are two settings on the switch - cooking, and stay warm. The cooking setting lasts about 12 minutes. Then it switches itself to stay warm. Once it's done cooking, you can't switch it back from stay warm to cooking. You have to wait for a while, or take the pot out and then put it back in, and then you have to watch the time yourself and if you do manage to change it to the cooking setting you have to manually switch it back again from cooking to stay warm at the right moment...

I'll take a saucepan over that any day.

That and the stay warm setting is too hot and that's what forms the crust, which is pointless because it means you just don't get to use it and the rice cools more quickly than it would with pot-teacloth-lid method.

Fringe

But that's the point of the rice maker. You don't have to worry about the cooking times. When the switch flicks, it means it's done. It's made to do that. If you're not getting good rice, maybe you need to change the water ratio.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rice_cooker

Also, the crust shouldn't happen unless you leave it for too long. It's like all food anyway. If you keep something warm in an oven for an hour, it's going to go dry.

MagicMarker

I had dinner at a friends how a while back and she used one of these, I had never heard of or seen one before and I was absolutely amazed tbh. Twas great and the rice was yummy!

rubadub

I have done mine in a pressure cooker using heat proof "autoclave" bags. This means you add the water ratio to the rice and it is raised off the bottom of the pressure cooker, it is just steaming with water in the bottom and the rice & cooking water is held in the bag.

I only bother with brown rice which takes longer to do than white so the pressure cooker is handy since it cooks far quicker.

You can also cook the rice directly in jars with the lids loosely on, if pressure cooked long enough they are sterile and can last at room temp indefinitely.

anigheh

See if you can buy a microwave steamer it is a plastic steamer is ideal for veg and all sorts, it is especially good for pasta and i promise you perfect rice every time. Try keeping an eye in pound shops and the like thats where my mam got mine from.

CJhaughey

I wouldn't bother with one of the non-stick ones.
I have a chinese copy of a Panasonic (Actually National which was the forerunner to Panasonic) with the ubiquitous aluminium bowl.
They really do cook rice perfectly.
BUT all rice is different, even from one batch to the next of the same brand, Tilda is good, as is Natco but they all cook differently and need differing amounts of water.
The rule of thumb is that the water should come up to your first knuckle when you stick your finger on top of the rice, start there and modify according to how your rice comes out.

antoniosicily

try amazon.co.uk, they deliver to ireland now