Long grain rice - brown or white?

cathy427

Ok so I need to learn how to cook rice properly but thats for another day.

I am buying single serve boil in bag rice (cause I am only one that eats it and if buy the bigger ones will be tempted to have too much)

The only single serve boil in bag I can find is long grain rice. (uncle bens)

I know I should have brown so is this stuff brown or white?

Or is it brutally bad for me/semi healthy/healthy ?

Thanks.

Speedwell

Rice is white unless the packet says it is brown. Boil in bag rice is almost certainly white. You should be fine provided you keep a good balance in the meal and you have no issues with glycemic control. I can't think of having a kitchen without a simple rice cooker.

cathy427

Thanks Speedwell

Away to google simple rice cooker -

Speedwell

cathy427 wrote: »

Thanks Speedwell

Away to google simple rice cooker -

They cost too much in Ireland. I have this one http://direct.asda.com/George-Home-Rice-Cooker/001585400,default,pd.html?cgid=D26M10G10C03 and it works beautifully under high usage (every other day or so). You can have it sent to you via one of the package forwarding services or get one if you go on a shopping trip in the North.

Speedwell

My husband said I should clarify... natural rice that is red, green, purple, or black is also "brown" because it still has the bran layers that give it its color. Wild rice is the seed of a different plant.

cathy427

Thanks again.

Much better than my vision of destroying saucepans trying it on the hob!

Speedwell

Hob? Ha. http://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-make-easy-brown-rice-in-the-oven-227490

cathy427

Any thoughts on this -http://www.argos.ie/static/Product/partNumber/4226309.htm http://www.argos.ie/static/Product/partNumber/4226309.htm

What does a rice cooker do over and above a saucepan? Presumably the answer is the rice cooks and doesn't weld itself to the pan?

Mellor

Uncle Ben's do a boil in the bag brown rice too. If you cook a lot of rice then a ricer cooker makes sense. If it's an occasional thing, then it's a big appliance that doesn't do much else (can some double as a slow cooker, or visa versa?).


As for the white verses brown rice thing. The difference is way over stated, brown is slightly better than rice due to the bran being retained but the difference is tiny. The bran makes up maybe 2-3% of the rice. So brown rice is basically 97% white rice.
The fact people vilify one and promote the other as a health food is bizzare.

Speedwell

Well, I am used to using a rice cooker, so I find it much more versatile than would someone who thinks of it simply as "makes rice". You can make basically any rice or grain in the rice cooker so long as you use the proper amount of water. The water is the timer. When enough water boils off, the pot senses the increased temperature and switches to the "warm" setting, in a controlled "boil dry". If your recipe is not one that you want to wind up being dry, then you need to watch it yourself. So I've made white rice, brown rice, jasmine rice, basmati rice (the standard at my house), pearled barley, whole barley, cut oats for porridge, rice porridge soup (congee), quinoa (once; I happen to hate quinoa), you get the idea. You can use practically any liquid in place of water so long as the ratio is correct. I make rice recipes such as Mexican restaurant rice (white rice cooked with chicken broth, tomato puree, chopped jalapenos from the jar, minced onions, and a dash of cumin), risi e bisi (an informal risotto with peas), more formal risottos, and anything else that can cook in one pot and withstand hard boiling. In a pinch, when the hob was broken, I used it to make soup and boil eggs. Some people fry off the soup ingredients in the rice cooker as well before adding the water, but I think it is too fiddly to do that way.

Students who are allowed rice cookers in dorm rooms in the US have become pretty inventive with the thing. One college girl, a friend of a friend from San Francisco, made a birthday cake in hers. I think that's a stunt born of desperation and would not try it myself at home.

The Argos cooker is "perfectly OK" and does what it says on the tin. All two-setting cookers are essentially the same so long as they have a Cook and a Warm setting and a non-stick bowl; the difference is really just the capacity. The steamer basket on the Argos one is likely to be plastic, if you care about that sort of thing; they are plastic even on high-end Zojirushi fuzzy-logic machines with twenty functions including one for baking bread. Yes, baking bread. I had one in the US; they're a lot cheaper over there. I'll get one here maybe when I win the lottery or Zojirushi want to hire me to be a product evangelist. Hint, hint.

Macy0161

Mellor wrote:

too. If you cook a lot of rice then a ricer cooker makes sense. If it's an occasional thing, then it's a big appliance that doesn't do much else (can some double as a slow cooker, or visa versa?).

The one I have doubles as a steamer, but I haven't used it for that tbh.

We don't cook rice that often - we were given the rice cooker - but if this one breaks we will replace it. It's just measure, turn on and forget about it.

Speedwell

"Doubles as a steamer" is kind of hinky. You cook your rice in water in the pot, and the steamer insert fits over the boiling rice and takes advantage of the steam. In two-setting machines you really don't want to use just liquid in the bottom if there is a danger of it boiling dry; it will of course turn itself off if that happens, but it's not good for the element or the pot. Microcomputer-chip controlled machines are a little more forgiving.

One thing I always want to mention if you use a rice cooker: you need to rinse your rice thoroughly to remove dust and surface starch. Most people who used a rice cooker once and hated it forgot to rinse the rice and it made a mess (bubbled over and turned out gloopy). I always rinse my rice anyway unless I'm making a risotto, and I do Basmati rice regardless.

Mellor

Speedwell wrote: »

Well, I am used to using a rice cooker, so I find it much more versatile than would someone who thinks of it simply as "makes rice". You can make basically any rice or grain in the rice cooker so long as you use the proper amount of water. The water is the timer. When enough water boils off, the pot senses the increased temperature and switches to the "warm" setting, in a controlled "boil dry". If your recipe is not one that you want to wind up being dry, then you need to watch it yourself.

I know how it works, I once had a Japanese housemate who cooked almost only rice (student). If you get the water wrong they'll under/over cook.
I know they can be handy, especially if you are cooking rice for 6 every second night. But I (personally) wouldn't be bothered when cooking rice/grains for two less frequently. For the amount of times I'd use it, I don't think it'd be worth the hassle (cleaning, storing, etc). I live in an smaller apartment, so maybe that's a factor.

If it doubled as a slow cooker, I'd probably go for it. But it's need a serting where it wouldn't boil the water for that.

So I've made white rice, brown rice, jasmine rice, basmati rice (the standard at my house), pearled barley, whole barley, cut oats for porridge, rice porridge soup (congee), quinoa (once; I happen to hate quinoa), you get the idea.

I've one of these. It cooks all those things too. It also does boiled eggs
I'm being a smart arse, but you get the idea.

GingerLily

Rice is not hard to make on the hobb, no need for a rice cooker IMO. For long grain rice you can boil it like you do pasta with extra water and drain, for short grain rice and basmatI use the absorption method, usually one cup rice to two cups water, packet will have the cooking time and additional instructions.

My biggest tip is; cook your rice a little in advance so it has 10/15 minutes after it's finished cooking (and drained if needed) to sit in the pot with the lid on. That'll make all this difference!

I buy boil in the bag uncle bens brown rice too sometimes as it's part cooked and takes a lot less time then other brown rice (from 25-45 minutes usually to 10-12 minutes! )

Speedwell

Mellor wrote: »

I've one of these. It cooks all those things too. It also does boiled eggs
I'm being a smart arse, but you get the idea.

I have plenty of those. They require supervision. The point of using a rice cooker is that it produces consistent results without fussing or burning. But you're right, it's not a slow cooker; I'd never make polenta in it, for example. I don't use a saucepan for things that I make in the slow cooker, either, or in the deep fryer, or in the oven. There is such a thing as the right tool for the job.

We have just two at our house, but we do cook a lot of rice.

Speedwell

GingerLily wrote: »

Rice is not hard to make on the hobb, no need for a rice cooker IMO.

The fact that rice on the hob is a little trickier is what is intimidating the OP, I think. Maybe they had some bad experiences. No need to be all brightly condescending. A rice cooker is used by people who eat a lot of rice because it is practical, safe, and consistent.

GingerLily

Speedwell wrote: »

GingerLily wrote: »

Rice is not hard to make on the hobb, no need for a rice cooker IMO.

The fact that rice on the hob is a little trickier is what is intimidating the OP, I think. Maybe they had some bad experiences. No need to be all brightly condescending. A rice cooker is used by people who eat a lot of rice because it is practical, safe, and consistent.

I don't believe my post was condescending, I just thought it'd bizarre how much your pushing a rice cooker which will more than likely be more hassle for anyone who's currently cooking single portions of rice.

There's no need to be rude to someone trying to give an alternative opinion to your own.

Mellor

Speedwell wrote: »

I have plenty of those. They require supervision. The point of using a rice cooker is that it produces consistent results without fussing or burning.

I don't need to supervise mine. I put in on, go do whatever, and come back after a set amount of time and its ready. It consistently Takes the same time every time.
With the rice cooker, do you have to add different amount of water for white rice, brown rice and barley due to the different cooking times? What happens if you add too little. Genuine question, as I don't have one.

The benefit of a rice cooker for me with a family would be the stay warm feature. So everyone have dish it up warm when it suits them. But I'm usually cooking to serve it up immediate.

I don't use a saucepan for things that I make in the slow cooker, either, or in the deep fryer, or in the oven. There is such a thing as the right tool for the job.

:rolleyes:

Now you are just being silly. Braising, deep frying, roasting are completely different actions. You know that. Nobody is suggesting you cook rice in the oven.
A rice cooker at the end of the day it simply heating water to boiling point. We manged to cook rice for thousands of years without one.

Speedwell

Mellor wrote: »

Nobody is suggesting you cook rice in the oven.

No? If you don't have or want a rice cooker, cooking rice in the oven is the best alternative, especially for brown rice. I linked to a recipe in a post on the first page, and there are lots of recipes online for doing white rice this way, too. I've been doing it for thirty years.

I'm "pushing" the correctly designed, specific, easy tool for the job on someone who has trouble with the less-exact method. I regularly make single (one-cup) portions of rice in my rice cooker. I'm not sure what the objection is.

Mellor

Speedwell wrote: »

No? If you don't have or want a rice cooker, cooking rice in the oven is the best alternative, especially for brown rice. I linked to a recipe in a post on the first page, and there are lots of recipes online for doing white rice this way, too. I've been doing it for thirty years.

I seen that. Bake in foil for 1 hour to let it steam.
I'm sure its perfectly delicious, but if I want rice on he side, I don't want to wait an hour. To each their own.

I'm "pushing" the correctly designed, specific, easy tool for the job on someone who has trouble with the less-exact method. I regularly make single (one-cup) portions of rice in my rice cooker. I'm not sure what the objection is.

I never said the rice cooker doesn't work.

I'm just pointing out that cooking rice is just boiling some water (in a pot or dedicated cooker). It's a slot simpler than most dishes and doesn;t need to be scary. The OP specifically mention wanting to learn.
I'm not sure why you are taking offence to the idea that a pot does the same job.

Macy0161

Nothing wrong with the saucepan (although I've always added more water than the packs suggested ratio's, as I do find those ratio's too low). But the rice cooker is easier. Use the scoop for the required portions, rinse the rice, use the scoop for the water, turn on, and then forget about it. Once it cooks, it clicks into keep warm mode.

I generally batch cook, so any extra portions are frozen anyway (I know it's often not recommended, but I've been eating reheated frozen rice since I was a chap with no ill effects!).