How to get perfect rice in a rice cooker?

March 27, 2016 6:12 PM

I recently bought a rice cooker, but having trouble getting fluffy, non-sticky rice.

I read the cooker's manual and it advises to leave the rice on the "keep warm" setting for longer. This did help a bit, but it was still fairly gummy. Should I be rinsing the rice before cooking? (If so, what's the best strainer?) I'm using regular long-grain white rice, if it matters.

posted by cozenedindigo to Food & Drink (28 answers total)

Yes, you need to rinse the rice at least three times.
posted by jadepearl at 6:15 PM on March 27, 2016 [8 favorites]

Yes, you need to rinse it. Put the rice in the bowl and fill with water. Agitate it with your hand until the water turns milky. Pour off the water. Repeat until the water stays clear. No need to strain it, once the water is clear then just fill to the correct line.
posted by HotToddy at 6:18 PM on March 27, 2016 [1 favorite]

Try toasting the rice on the stove first. It's best with a small amount of butter/olive oil, I probably use 1tsp or so for a cup of rice. It'll taste better and it'll help keep the rice fluffy, the grains won't stick together when they're cooked. You just want to get a little bit of color on the rice, I think I usually have it in the pan around 3 minutes/medium heat? It gets pretty easy to judge by color/smell.

I've had good luck with Carolina rice, usually around 2c water per 1-1/3c rice, and for most meals I'll add a little salt to the water as well.
posted by ethand at 6:32 PM on March 27, 2016

What kind of rice are you using? I've heard that American white rice is sometimes parboiled. Can you describe the brand and variety?

Different kinds of rice need different water ratios. Gumminess probably comes from too much water.

To wash it: Put the rice into the inner pot of the rice cooker, add water, mix it around and drain. Repeat once or twice (but no need to get it completely clear).
posted by just.good.enough at 6:33 PM on March 27, 2016

Oh, and no need to wash the rice if you're toasting it on the stove. The one case where I've found it really important is washing sushi rice for yaki onigiri because there it needs to stick together (and it won't if it's not washed.)
posted by ethand at 6:34 PM on March 27, 2016

Try fluffing the rice the moment the rice cooker is done. (I use a wooden slotted spoon, to avoid dinging up the inside of the cooker).
posted by dws at 6:43 PM on March 27, 2016

Rinsing the rice very well will help. Also play with the water levels, the levels on the packets are usually wrong, & each batch of rice will be different. Also carefully fluffing, if using a paddle or spoon use the narrow side not the flat ie not stirring it & letting it sit with the lid off for a few minutes can help too.

I eat a lot of rice so I spoiled myself & got this to help with rinsing, but to be honest a fine mesh strainer/colander would work too.
posted by wwax at 7:20 PM on March 27, 2016 [1 favorite]

Rinse the hell out of the rice, then after the water runs clear rub the rice underwater with your hands gently. Continue rinsing after buffing the rice.

Next put the rice into the rice cooker, with the amount of water appropriate for it. Cook until rice is done. Then fluff the rice and close again, wait ten minutes. This technique will generally work.
posted by Ferreous at 7:30 PM on March 27, 2016 [1 favorite]

If the rice cooker comes with a measuring cup, make sure you're using that to measure your rice. Japanese cups (200 ml) are smaller than US cups (240 ml).
posted by asphericalcow at 7:39 PM on March 27, 2016 [4 favorites]

Quality of rice matters. For example, I generally use a version of Thai Jasmine rice. Is tell you what brand but I can't read it. It is perfect every time, no rinsing required.
posted by AlexiaSky at 7:45 PM on March 27, 2016

In my experience I solved that problem by using less water. My ex taught me the Filipino method for measuring cooking water for rice, and I swear that made my rice go from being gummy and mushy to pretty much perfect. What you do is put the rice in the pot and even it out until it's mostly an even layer (as opposed to a big pile). Then you measure from the top of the rice layer to the first knuckle of your index finger; that's how high the water should be.

For some reason I'm having trouble writing this out in a clear way, so I hope that makes sense in some way. I admit that it's kind of folk wisdom, but it worked for me, and if my instructions make any sense, maybe it'll work for you too.
posted by teponaztli at 8:03 PM on March 27, 2016 [2 favorites]

An easier way to put is that there should be about 1.5 cm of water above the rice in a round flat bottomed pot.
posted by Ferreous at 8:16 PM on March 27, 2016 [3 favorites]

It does depend on the type of rice, but that is a fairly good rule of thumb.
posted by Ferreous at 8:17 PM on March 27, 2016 [1 favorite]

Buy some pantyhose at the dollar store - you can cut off a leg at about ankle height, add rice, rinse, strain.

I have the best luck with the Filipino method. No idea where I learned that, though.
posted by fluffy battle kitten at 8:24 PM on March 27, 2016

Rice cookers do come from a culture where rice has to be somewhat sticky to be eaten easily with chopsticks.

Try a cookpot?
posted by zadcat at 8:31 PM on March 27, 2016 [5 favorites]

Good advice on rinsing and rice variety. Adding a bit of oil, like a lump of coconut oil or pat of butter, to the water helps too.
posted by Neekee at 9:00 PM on March 27, 2016

An easier way to put is that there should be about 1.5 cm of water above the rice in a round flat bottomed pot.

An easier way to put that is you put your hands on top of the rice and make sure the water covers your fingers is close enough.

(Other things I've learned about rice: rinsing it is a must; never stir it while cooking, and 10-15 minutes resting at the end is a secret).

I use Jasmine or Basmati rice, rather and long grain, so I have no idea if that will change the cooking approach much).

I can also attest to pre-cooking the rice in butter (with mustard seeds!), but it's a step I think just changes the flavour and not adding much to the cooking, and if you are using a rice cooker, why would you?) and it just adds fat,
posted by Mezentian at 9:12 PM on March 27, 2016 [1 favorite]

Yes, definitely rinse the rice. And I would highly recommend something like this to help make that easier to do. (That is the exact one I have and it works so much better than the other methods I've used to rinse rice. I'm not usually a big fan of "single use" kitchen items, but it's totally worth it, especially for $6.)

Also, as already noted, it might help if you could specify a bit more about the type of rice you're using. I find Jasmine rice is usually stickier than other long grain varieties, for example. Maybe try Basmati? And if you're buying cheap grocery store variety, try going one step up. And you probably want to avoid rice that is marketed as Taiwanese/Japanese/Chinese since those varieties of rice are often stickier.

Lastly, I'll second that you may want to cut down on the water a bit to help with this.
posted by litera scripta manet at 9:26 PM on March 27, 2016

Nthing to the rinsing multiple times. I like to swirl it with my (clean) hands between rinses and try to get the water as clear as I can.

Also, trying out different brands might help. My cooker takes well to good ol' Uncle Ben's white rice, but I get icky-sticky rice when I used the Mahatma brand.
posted by mochapickle at 10:02 PM on March 27, 2016

Nthing rinsing the rice.

Also, Japanese rice cups are 180ml, not 200ml (like other Japanese "1 cup" measurements) or 240 ml (1 cup in the US). But since you are not using a Japanese brand rice cooker, it shouldn't really matter...
posted by xmts at 10:26 PM on March 27, 2016

I feel your pain. 3 words will relieve it: Royal Basmati rice. My Zojirushi insisted that ALL rice was destined to be sticky sushi rice until the Royal.
posted by Chitownfats at 10:31 PM on March 27, 2016

Also, Japanese rice cups are 180ml, not 200ml (like other Japanese "1 cup" measurements) or 240 ml (1 cup in the US). But since you are not using a Japanese brand rice cooker, it shouldn't really matter...

Isn't there a ratio of rice: water (I'm thinking 1 cup rice to 1.5 cups water?).
posted by Mezentian at 11:52 PM on March 27, 2016

Nthing the need to rinse. Then, soak it for about an hour - not longer - and switch it on.

A lady in Japan once told me to put just as much water into the bowl that it covers the rice and your flat hand if you put it inside the bowl. (Might not work if you have giant hands.) Now, when we make rice in our rice cooker, my Japanese boyfriend usually asks me to measure the water for him because it comes out nicer when I do it. Heh.
posted by LoonyLovegood at 12:17 AM on March 28, 2016

Isn't there a ratio of rice: water (I'm thinking 1 cup rice to 1.5 cups water?).

Yep! The reason people are mentioning the size of the Japanese cup though is that Japanese-brand (and, in my experience, many American-brand) rice cookers have markings on the cooking bowl to indicate the quantity of water per cup. This only works if you use a Japanese gō measurement which as mentioned is about 180 ml; on fancier cookers there will be separate markings for brown rice, porridge, white rice, etc.

But I don't think that's the issue here because if anything, using a 240 ml American cup with rice cooker markings should end up with too-dry rice (because there's insufficient water for the quantity of rice.)

In my experience (5+ years using a rice cooker in my own kitchen, and then 18 years before that growing up in a rice-cooker-using household) gummy/sticky rice is primarily a function of too much water and secondarily insufficient rinsing of rice. It is true that Japanese-style rice is sticky, but well-cooked Japanese rice isn't supposed to be mushy/gummy either -- try using slightly less water and seeing what happens.
posted by andrewesque at 4:53 AM on March 28, 2016

I always had this problem until I was advised to start following the instructions from the rice cooker manual instead of the directions on the package of rice. This made a world of difference - the cup that comes with the rice cooker is much smaller than a standard measuring cup and the water is measured on the inside of the cooker, not using the cup. I think this results in a higher rice:water ratio, which = less water and less "gummy" rice.
posted by onecircleaday at 12:32 PM on March 28, 2016

Response by poster: I'm using store brand long-grain white rice, so I should probably get a higher quality brand. Will try the suggestions here, thanks everyone! Will report back :)
posted by cozenedindigo at 3:47 PM on March 28, 2016

I came back to add: depending on the age of the rice, it might require different amounts of water.
I buy big bags of basmatti rice. I always forget when I open a new bag that that rice requires less water than the rice in the previous bag, which had been open for a few months. IDK if that applies to other varies, but it could.
posted by Neekee at 7:36 PM on April 5, 2016

Response by poster: Update: bought better quality rice, started rinsing and voila! Perfect rice. Thanks for the suggestions folks!
posted by cozenedindigo at 3:59 PM on April 15, 2016