Rice Cooker Problem

gooner99

Hi, we were always tired of our rice not turning out well when we cooked it in a pot. used to come out a sticky mess.So got the silvercrest rice cooker in Lidl Yesterday.This evening we decided to try it and followed the instructions.

Put a little oil in the rice pan.
Rinsed the rice well,placed it in a pot and washed the rice 5 times.
Added 2 measure cups of basmatti rice to the rice pan.
Filled the rice pan with water up to the recommended level (2).
Turned it on and waited. The steam was a bit frotty and spat some water out the hole in the lid.
Then it settled and after a while turned to warming and we left it for the recommended 15 minutes before stirring and serving.
But to our horror we still ended up with a sitcky/gooey rice.:eek:

Any idea what we may be doing wrong. Is it our rice choice or are we doing something else wrong. I bought the rice cooker as I heard that they turn out nice fluffy rice.Would love to get nice fluffy rice thats not sticking together.:)

DoneDL

There is a degree of experimentation but when we make rice its 3 cups of rice and then 4 cup water on the measure in the rice cooker but if we want sticky rice then its 5 cup water after adding the 3 cups of rice. hope this helps

gooner99

DoneDL wrote: »

There is a degree of experimentation but when we make rice its 3 cups of rice and then 4 cup water on the measure in the rice cooker but if we want sticky rice then its 5 cup water after adding the 3 cups of rice. hope this helps

Thanks for the reply.So would I be right in thinking that I probably had a little too much water in there?

DoneDL

Probably but once you get the hang of them there great and you can add coconut, chili etc to vary the rice.

ginoginelli

Sounds like too much water. Try putting just a millimetre or two less than the allocated level next time.

Also dont leave it to long when it switches to warming. Some rice cookers keep cooking it and the rice goes all mushy. Experiment. Next time try taking the rice out straight away instead of leaving it.

No need to wash the rice 5 times either. Once or twice is sufficient.

You shouldnt need to put oil in either.

ebbsy

For steaming rice stand your finger straight on top of the rice, tip touching the rice. The water resting on top of the rice should be the same level as the first joint of your finger nearest the rice or a tiny bit more.

I agree with the last poster do not use oil. let it happen naturally.

gooner99

Thanks for the replies. I will try a little less water next time and remove once it's finished cooking.

It was the manual that recommended the oil and also it recommends leaving it on warming for about 15 minutes after cooking.

Is it fair to say that there should be similar results from basmati and long grain rice?

Darkginger

I've never mastered the absorption method of boiling rice - but I have a way that works every time for me. Boil a big pot of water - a couple of litres or more. Throw in your rice (I don't wash mine), and if it's white Basmati it should take about 10-12 mins to cook (taste it and see). Strain the rice through a sieve, then run it under the cold tap until it's cold. Boil a kettle of water, pour it over the rice to warm it up, and pop it into a cool oven for 5-10 mins to dry off. The result is perfect, separate grains of Basmati.

Planet X

We cook rice every second day or so. My wife is Asian, I cook myself also. We use both the rice cooker and a regular saucepan.
We buy rice in bulk, 10kg. at a time in the Asian Market. Basmati or Thai scented rice.
1 CUP OF RICE TO 2 CUPS OF WATER (or slightly less of water).
Pinch of salt.
Saucepan......2 cups of BOILING water. Bring to simmer and simmer for 10 minutes. Turn off and give a stir to fluff up rice after al liquid absorbed.
Rice cooker, the same.
DON'T LEAVE THE RICE COOKER ON FOR LONGER, as the rice WILL stick to the bottom etc etc. Take the pot out of the actual cooker.

It's not a black art.

pprendeville

Planet X wrote: »

We cook rice every second day or so. My wife is Asian, I cook myself also. We use both the rice cooker and a regular saucepan.
We buy rice in bulk, 10kg. at a time in the Asian Market. Basmati or Thai scented rice.
1 CUP OF RICE TO 2 CUPS OF WATER (or slightly less of water).
Pinch of salt.
Saucepan......2 cups of BOILING water. Bring to simmer and simmer for 10 minutes. Turn off and give a stir to fluff up rice after al liquid absorbed.
Rice cooker, the same.
DON'T LEAVE THE RICE COOKER ON FOR LONGER, as the rice WILL stick to the bottom etc etc. Take the pot out of the actual cooker.

It's not a black art.

You're on the cycling forum a lot as well? My wife is Asian (Chinese) too? Do you find they use oil in practically everything? Spent a year in China so kinda knew that in advance. Only recently have I put the foot down as I'm trying to lose a bit of weight to get up those hills quicker.

Personal favourite rice is the Golden Dragon Thai Rice. Have a big 25kg bag in the living room outta the way. Eat a lot of millet porridge also (xiao mi zhou and yu mi zhou).

We don't actually have a rice cooker. My personal method of cooking rice is plenty of water and having it nice and wet and sticky afterwards.Dash of sugar. Must try the coconut milk.

If you fancy a spin to swap recipes sometime let me know.

PS: Do you notice that most Irish people boil rice for about 5-10 minutes and then pour out the water. I can never understand this.

Planet X

Yeah, I've heard some freaky methods of cooking rice as you mention above, pouring out water.
I'm going out tomorrow with Orwell, even though I'm a member of a different club.
Ah, the politics of it all.
Missus frying spring rolls behind me as we speak. X Factor Party. lol

pprendeville

ah the good oul spring rolls. probably one of only 2 chinese appetisers in the minds of most people, the other being spare ribs.

which club are you with. also, what route do orwell go? Dub mts?

Faith

pprendeville wrote: »

which club are you with. also, what route do orwell go? Dub mts?

Take the chat to PM please.

kylith

Before I got my rice cooker I cooked rice thus: 1 cup washed rice to just over 1.5 cups boiling water, bring to the boil then turn the ring off. I found that the residual heat from the ring was enough to cook the rice in about 15 minutes. Of course the fact that I had a solid plate cooker as below meant that the ring took forever to cool down.

Shenshen

gooner99 wrote: »

Hi, we were always tired of our rice not turning out well when we cooked it in a pot. used to come out a sticky mess.So got the silvercrest rice cooker in Lidl Yesterday.This evening we decided to try it and followed the instructions.

Put a little oil in the rice pan.
Rinsed the rice well,placed it in a pot and washed the rice 5 times.
Added 2 measure cups of basmatti rice to the rice pan.
Filled the rice pan with water up to the recommended level (2).
Turned it on and waited. The steam was a bit frotty and spat some water out the hole in the lid.
Then it settled and after a while turned to warming and we left it for the recommended 15 minutes before stirring and serving.
But to our horror we still ended up with a sitcky/gooey rice.:eek:

Any idea what we may be doing wrong. Is it our rice choice or are we doing something else wrong. I bought the rice cooker as I heard that they turn out nice fluffy rice.Would love to get nice fluffy rice thats not sticking together.:)

Well, the rule I go by is 2 cups of rice, and 3 cups of water.
I'm using Lidl's rice cooker as well, and it turns out perfect every time.

gooner99

Shenshen wrote: »

Well, the rule I go by is 2 cups of rice, and 3 cups of water.
I'm using Lidl's rice cooker as well, and it turns out perfect every time.

Can I ask if you leave it for the 15 minutes on warming as the manual suggests or if you remove it straight away. I'd say that filling it up to level 2 could have been more than 3 cups of water (maybe closer to 4,not sure).will try the 3 cups of water to 2 cups of washed rice next time.Do you bother with the oil as recommended in the manual.

Planet X

No, take it off after ten minutes, should be cooked by then. Leaving it on the 'heater/warming" setting will stick it to the base!
You'll know when it's cooked by small holes appearing on top of the rice or you can simply tilt the pot (careful HOT) to one side to see if all the moisture has been absorbed.

curly from cork

i too have bought a lidl rice cooker , but have nt used it yet.. we use brown wholegrain basmati, which takes about 25 mins in a saucepan. has anyone any experience of wholegrain in the rice cooker ?

Shenshen

gooner99 wrote: »

Can I ask if you leave it for the 15 minutes on warming as the manual suggests or if you remove it straight away. I'd say that filling it up to level 2 could have been more than 3 cups of water (maybe closer to 4,not sure).will try the 3 cups of water to 2 cups of washed rice next time.Do you bother with the oil as recommended in the manual.

I don't leave it on warming, at least not for 15 minutes.
I do put a little oil in, but I essentially just pour a little in once I've put the rice and water in. I've never tried without, so I'm not really sure what it does, if it does anything.

Shenshen

curly from cork wrote: »

i too have bought a lidl rice cooker , but have nt used it yet.. we use brown wholegrain basmati, which takes about 25 mins in a saucepan. has anyone any experience of wholegrain in the rice cooker ?

It takes more water, definitely.
I haven't been able to get it turn out nicely yet, the maximum I've tried so far was 4.5 cups per 2 cups of rice.

gooner99

Another go today.washed the basmati rice well.went with 2 cups of rice and 3 cups of water and that came to slightly under the mark "2" on the rice pot.so slightly less water than before.added small bit of oil and stirred it up.switched it on and left it until it switched over to warming.much better result.thanks to all who posted

Shenshen

gooner99 wrote: »

Another go today.washed the basmati rice well.went with 2 cups of rice and 3 cups of water and that came to slightly under the mark "2" on the rice pot.so slightly less water than before.added small bit of oil and stirred it up.switched it on and left it until it switched over to warming.much better result.thanks to all who posted

Glad to hear it

I just remembered a tip I once got from an Iranian friend of mine. After washing the rice, she will put it in a bowl and cover with VERY salty water, the water should be about an inch or two over the rice. She leaves that to stand for a few hours (she usually puts it in before leaving to work in the morning, and then prepares it for dinner), then drains the rice but doesn't wash it out again.
She then cooks it pretty much the same way the rice cooker would.

I sometimes do this when I've got enough time and know in advance what we'll have for dinner... it apparently loosens the starch out of the rice a little, so it's even less sticky.