Instant pot brown rice cooking time confusion
January 27, 2020 6:42 PM Subscribe
My brown rice package says it takes 25 minutes to cook conventionally, but most brown rice is supposed to take 40-60 minutes. I'm cooking it in an instant pot. I'm concerned about overcooking it, and wonder if I should reduce the cook time.
The internet mostly says to cook brown rice in the instant pot for 20-22 minutes (some sites say 15 minutes, but the majority are in the 20 minute range). Is it fair to assume that the instant pot cook times I'm finding are based on rice that takes 40-60 minutes to cook conventionally?
How long should I cook my brown rice, which specifies 25 minutes to cook conventionally, in an instant pot?
This is "Australian Brown Medium Grain Rice" that has not been par-boiled. I'm pretty close to sea level. I'm planning on starting with 2 cups of dry rice.
I'm new to the instant pot and so far I've only done two batches of chickpeas, both of which were really overcooked despite being cooked on the low end of the cook time range I found on various sites.
It won't be the worst thing in the world if my rice is overdone or underdone, but I want to maximize my chances for success.
The internet mostly says to cook brown rice in the instant pot for 20-22 minutes (some sites say 15 minutes, but the majority are in the 20 minute range). Is it fair to assume that the instant pot cook times I'm finding are based on rice that takes 40-60 minutes to cook conventionally?
How long should I cook my brown rice, which specifies 25 minutes to cook conventionally, in an instant pot?
This is "Australian Brown Medium Grain Rice" that has not been par-boiled. I'm pretty close to sea level. I'm planning on starting with 2 cups of dry rice.
I'm new to the instant pot and so far I've only done two batches of chickpeas, both of which were really overcooked despite being cooked on the low end of the cook time range I found on various sites.
It won't be the worst thing in the world if my rice is overdone or underdone, but I want to maximize my chances for success.
Response by poster: To be precise, the package doesn't say anything about it being parboiled, and it doesn't look parboiled to my admittedly untrained eye.
posted by under_petticoat_rule at 6:49 PM on January 27, 2020
posted by under_petticoat_rule at 6:49 PM on January 27, 2020
Best answer: Yes, I think you can assume that the cooking time of 20-22 minutes is based on rice that takes 40-60 minutes to cook conventionally.
I have short grain brown rice that I cook conventionally for 45 minutes and in an instant pot I cook it for about 22 minutes. On page 10 of my Instant Pot instruction book is a recipe for "Perfect Brown Rice." It says to use the manual setting and select 22 minutes pressure cooking time, followed by 10 minutes of letting the pressure come down.
I see why you're in a quandary since your package says 25 minutes to cook conventionally which is a short amount of time for brown rice, so maybe there's something different about this rice? Not sure what to say about that, you might want to pick a time on the lower end, maybe 15-20 minutes, and see how that goes.
posted by daikon at 7:03 PM on January 27, 2020 [1 favorite]
I have short grain brown rice that I cook conventionally for 45 minutes and in an instant pot I cook it for about 22 minutes. On page 10 of my Instant Pot instruction book is a recipe for "Perfect Brown Rice." It says to use the manual setting and select 22 minutes pressure cooking time, followed by 10 minutes of letting the pressure come down.
I see why you're in a quandary since your package says 25 minutes to cook conventionally which is a short amount of time for brown rice, so maybe there's something different about this rice? Not sure what to say about that, you might want to pick a time on the lower end, maybe 15-20 minutes, and see how that goes.
posted by daikon at 7:03 PM on January 27, 2020 [1 favorite]
I've cooked a lot of Australian brown rice in an electric pressure cooker, and always use 22 minutes. It's been pretty fail proof for me. It a Philips, but the times for instant pots seem the same for me so far.
If I can't find an official time for something, I generally start with about a third of the suggested conventional simmer time. So you could start with 8 minutes, open it up and see how it looks, and then put it back on for longer if it's not done yet. I do this with quinoa fairly often, because I misremember that 2 minutes is not enough, and then have to repeat it. You will lose some water as steam, so adding a bit more water before the next go might be necessary.
posted by kjs4 at 7:04 PM on January 27, 2020
If I can't find an official time for something, I generally start with about a third of the suggested conventional simmer time. So you could start with 8 minutes, open it up and see how it looks, and then put it back on for longer if it's not done yet. I do this with quinoa fairly often, because I misremember that 2 minutes is not enough, and then have to repeat it. You will lose some water as steam, so adding a bit more water before the next go might be necessary.
posted by kjs4 at 7:04 PM on January 27, 2020
I do 22 minutes for brown rice in my instantpot as well (plus depressure time), but my manual says to use the "multigrain" setting. Turns out perfectly fine.
posted by LionIndex at 7:30 PM on January 27, 2020
posted by LionIndex at 7:30 PM on January 27, 2020
Response by poster: I did it for 15 minutes with 10 minutes natural release, and it was done to a finished but chewy texture.
To cover my bases I also did a batch on the stove exactly according to the package instructions, and it was nowhere near done at 25 minutes - it took an additional 15 minutes to finish.
posted by under_petticoat_rule at 2:25 AM on January 28, 2020 [2 favorites]
To cover my bases I also did a batch on the stove exactly according to the package instructions, and it was nowhere near done at 25 minutes - it took an additional 15 minutes to finish.
posted by under_petticoat_rule at 2:25 AM on January 28, 2020 [2 favorites]
Yay! OK, so since you've got this down (for anecdata purposes, I use 22 mins as well), let me tell you the best thing ever.
Cook a BUNCH of brown rice (like 4 cups dry). Then while it's still warm, spoon it into ziploc baggies. Don't fill them super full, only enough that you can flatten them out and still zip them. Put in fridge to cool, then stack them flat in the freezer.
When you want brown rice, take a frozen bag out of the freezer, put it in a vessel with about 1 Tbsp of water, cover, and microwave it for 1 min, stir, and 1 min. Practically instant brown rice with almost no loss of quality. Seriously, it tastes fresh, and it's ready in 2 minutes.
posted by fiercecupcake at 7:10 AM on January 28, 2020 [1 favorite]
Cook a BUNCH of brown rice (like 4 cups dry). Then while it's still warm, spoon it into ziploc baggies. Don't fill them super full, only enough that you can flatten them out and still zip them. Put in fridge to cool, then stack them flat in the freezer.
When you want brown rice, take a frozen bag out of the freezer, put it in a vessel with about 1 Tbsp of water, cover, and microwave it for 1 min, stir, and 1 min. Practically instant brown rice with almost no loss of quality. Seriously, it tastes fresh, and it's ready in 2 minutes.
posted by fiercecupcake at 7:10 AM on January 28, 2020 [1 favorite]
I'm glad you've figured out how to get brown rice to work. But my Instant Pot looks like R2-D2, so I still win!
I've only used mine for white rice, but given that the instructions say to let it vent steam naturally rather than trip the release valve, it didn't really save me any time. Sounds like your brown rice was done quicker than it would have been otherwise?
posted by Naberius at 10:44 AM on January 28, 2020
I've only used mine for white rice, but given that the instructions say to let it vent steam naturally rather than trip the release valve, it didn't really save me any time. Sounds like your brown rice was done quicker than it would have been otherwise?
posted by Naberius at 10:44 AM on January 28, 2020
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posted by barnoley at 6:49 PM on January 27, 2020