Has anyone else got this? What is it I wonder, and could it be harmful? I'm also wondering why sometimes I don't get it forming, and other times I do? I mostly try to scoop it off the surface with a spoon.
Are you washing your rice before simmering? Ideally it's a rinse x 3 times situation until the water is relatively clear.
Drink it in, maaaaaaaaaaaan.
Absolutely right. Brown rice absorbs heavy metals like arsenic........well all rice does, but its mostly in the husk, which in white rice is removed.
I always rinse brown rice five or six times
Buy white rice, nutritional value not far apart. Brown rice has 80 percent more inorganic arsenic on average than white rice of the same type.
You are aware that there's a huge inulin spike with that junk?
Christ, I must look into that. You always hear how 'white' is the bad thing... as is the case with bread too. What good can rinsing do if it's absorbed it? If it's just coating it then I can understand how rinsing it will get it off.
White rice higher on GI but it's not a junk. Nutritional profile almost identical to brown rice. If the insulin is an issue, go for wild rice instead.
Given my recent purchase, this thread is not filling me with confidence.
How do you wash yours? I think I might give it a heat up to cause the water to become cloudy, and then drain it before putting in new water to start the cooking. I can't imagine imagine that doing the same with no heat would have as good an effect at getting out any arsenic!
According to this webpage washing should get out 10-28% of the arsenic.
Rinse with cold water. Use hand to agitate the rice for about a minute. Sieve and repeat until you have relatively clear water.
Please do not post food safety advice here.
The Gloomster!
But ultimately it will all be boiled in the end before the final drain, thus killing anything??
Just thinking out loud here... if there's nutrients in the outer part of the rice, then I wonder are you removing those as well as the arsenic? The dirt that comes out isn't exclusively arsenic. It's in the outer layer of the rice... as opposed to coated on the outer layer of the rice.
Not how it works. There’s a point where food will become contaminated beyond cooking it off.
I’m not saying you’ll get sick, I’m saying there’s a risk of it & why take it.
No that doesn’t happen either. Besides there’s very little nutritional value to rice it’s a starch at the end of the day, same as potatoes.
Rice has a better nutrient profile than potatoes. Some slim Asian nations had white rice as a prime food for ages until the 19th of century, introduction of new agri tech and fast foods makes everyone hunger free and happily obese. Stick with white or wild rice and avoid brown rice to reduce long term health problems.
That's a very doubtful claim re: potatoes.
Well I never claimed they had no nutritional value, just they’re classed more of a starch than anything else.
You’re wrong about potatoes also but that’s another matter.
You're removing the starch which causes rice to clump together and gives a cloudy aspect to the water. You're also filtering out any additional bits that may have accummulated during the processing of the rice grains. Nowadays rice doesn't tend to be dirty but it used to be in years gone past. Removing the starch helps the rice to cook evenly and upon cooking every grain will remain separate.
Personally, I'd stick with white for the majority. Brown is far more difficult to digest, plus requires a longer cooking time which is not as energy friendly!
Well however small the nutrient contents to rice, brown rice has more nutrients than white rice. I've also always been under the impression that both rice and potatoes are better than pasta in terms of nutrient contents and not resulting in fatness.
^ That. You wash the rice mainly to remove excess starch which helps against clumping giving nice loose rice grains for example for stir fries or fried rice dishes etc. Sometimes of course you want clumpy rice e.g. rice pudding or sushi (which has a certain type of rice even)
It's nothing on the digestive system in comparison to red meat, so I'm not worried about that. But that's what's good about it... that it takes a long time to digest and as a result there's a smaller insulin spike.
And if you are removing the starch, then what's left? Doesn't that have starch too?
Is it boil in the bag or loose? I cook bagged basmati rice(Uncle Ben's ) every week and never had that issue.
It's loose. I wouldn't boil plastic!!!
I often use brown rice instead of white rice, because it has more fibre and personally I find that good for my digestion.
@Eoineo Personally, I'd stick with white for the majority. Brown is far more difficult to digest...
@woodchuck I often use brown rice instead of white rice, because it has more fibre and personally I find that good for my digestion.
God, the contradictions!
I don't understand the hate for brown rice. I love it but I also love also white rice. The only rice I don't care for is white American long grain rice (Uncle Ben's), for me, it just had no flavour.
Our staple rice is Thai fragrant. We usually also have in store :Thai brown, red cargo, basmati, brown basmati, glutinous rice, sushi rice. Recently bought riceberry rice but haven't tried it yet.
We like rice in our house!
Below is comparison of nutrients between white rice, brown rice and potatoes for your consideration. In my opinion brown rice nothing special + full of arsenic.
That's a comprehensive table, but I'm wondering why you used "cups"? They're not typically used in Ireland and they're very hard to follow. Does it mean a compacted measuring cup of each ingredient, or loosely filled? If it's not a weight for weight comparison, it's fairly meaningless. I'd be really interested in seeing the same values for 100g uncooked of each product for accuracy's sake.
The nutritional values usually approx. figure and vary from one harvest to another. Nutrient loss occurs during the cooking process hence measuring cooked food is better option in my opinion. Identical portions used and nutrients test done at University of Rochester medical center.
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