How to Use a Rice Cooker for Rice (and More)
I’ve had the same rice cooker since I was in college (and that wasn’t recently). Judge me all you want, but the damn thing cooks rice just as well now as it did back when I lived off rice, ramen, and eggs. It’s a budget brand – no Zojirushi, that’s for sure – but that’s okay. Whether your machine costs $200 with 30 settings or $15 with one switch, all rice cookers are the same. The best part is that they are so easy to use that even the most insecure cook can enjoy their rice. Here’s how to use a rice cooker for rice and many other non-rice foods you can cook in it.
How do rice cookers work?
(Please forgive the appearance of my slab in the photos; let’s just call it “seasoned”, shall we?)
A rice cooker uses heat and water to cook rice. If you’ve ever cooked rice in a pot on the stove, you know that finding heat and water is easy. This is the final step to avoid burning the rice and it is difficult. This is where the rice cooker wins. Unlike a pot sitting on the stove, a rice cooker has a sensor that ensures the grains are cooked to perfect fluffiness and then stops cooking .
The inside of the rice cooker has simple mechanics: a thin metal rice bowl, a heating plate inside with a spring mechanism at the bottom, and a thermostat. When you fill the metal bowl with water and rice and load it into the machine, the heating plate easily passes through the thin metal of the bowl. During cooking, the temperature reaches the boiling point (212°F) because this is the maximum temperature the water reaches before it evaporates.
The steamy air slowly escapes through a hole in the lid or another vent in the rice cooker. This slow ventilation allows the condensation to drain back into the rice, prolonging the cooking time and giving the rice enough time to absorb enough water.
Once cooking is complete, all the water will be absorbed or released as steam. There is no longer a pool of water in the bowl, so the temperature begins to rise above 212°F. This change in temperature causes the thermostat in the appliance to switch from cook to warm, and a spring pushes the bowl upward away from the heating plate. The rice is ready, not a single grain is burnt.
How to use a rice cooker
1. Rinse the rice.
There are many types of rice, but I grew up with Jasmine rice and we always washed it. Rinsing will remove excess starch and will ensure that the finished rice is not runny. To do this, you can put the required amount of rice in a sieve and pass water through it, moving it with your fingertips. I usually pour the rice into a metal pan and then fill it with water. I rub it with my fingers and drain the cloudy water. I usually do this twice.
2. Add cooking water.
Add the water you will cook the rice in. I really like the 1:2 ratio of rice to water. This may change depending on the type of rice you use and what end result you prefer. If you need drier beans, use about a quarter cup less water. If you like your rice wetter, use a little more. If you want very soft rice to turn into congee, you will need even more water. Many rice packages have recommendations on them, so you can check them if you’re not sure.
3. Load the slab
Place the metal bowl in the rice cooker and close the lid. Now comes the cooking stage where you can press the button and go.
Multi-position models
Cooking with a rice cooker should be an enjoyable and simple experience. Even if you have a device with a digital screen and many settings, there should be a “rice” button. Some models have buttons for specific types of rice, such as brown rice, sushi rice, or jasmine rice. If you know the type of rice you have, press the button. This may be enough, or if there is a Start button, click it now.
If you don’t know what kind of rice you have, that’s okay. Just click “rice” or “white rice”. The amount of water you add is actually more important than the clever little button settings they give you. Of course, brown and white rice take different times, but remember what I said about the thermostat? A good machine will be able to adjust the time depending on how much water is left in the tank.
Single position models
If you have a rice cooker like I do, you don’t have many options. Simply load the bowl with rice and water, cover it with a lid, and press the lever to “cook.” When finished, the machine will automatically switch to warm mode.
Highly Rated Rice Cookers:
Use your rice cooker for so much more
Definitely use this handy gadget to cook perfect rice, but you might as well find it permanently on your counter because it can do so much more. Use it for one-pot meals , hands-free hot oatmeal , hard-boiled eggs that peel perfectly, or make-your-own mac and cheese . I could write an entire post about everything you can cook in a rice cooker, but we already have that covered, so just read all about it right here . Have fun exploring and may your rice cooker produce several happy decades of meals for you.