Do you have a rice cooker or do you just boil it?
By nancyrowina
@nancyrowina (3850)
August 21, 2009 6:14am CST
Me and my partner like to eat a lot of dishes like chilli and curry that you'd normally serve with rice. At the moment I still just boil it in a pan, it is hard to get dried rice right I rinse it and try to use the right amount of water but it's easy for the rice to end up too stodgy or burnt on the bottom of the pan.
I've seen a rice cooker available for a reasonable price in a shop near me and have seen my friend who caters for parties in action. You don't have to do anything just put the rice in fill it with water to the line and turn it on. They even have a setting to keep the rice warm, I intend to buy one as soon as I can as it will take the hassle out of cooking rice. The one I'm going to buy is the Ainsley Harriott (famous British TV chef) model, it's small but would hold enough rice for 3 or 4 people I'm sure.
I've seen a rice cooker available for a reasonable price in a shop near me and have seen my friend who caters for parties in action. You don't have to do anything just put the rice in fill it with water to the line and turn it on. They even have a setting to keep the rice warm, I intend to buy one as soon as I can as it will take the hassle out of cooking rice. The one I'm going to buy is the Ainsley Harriott (famous British TV chef) model, it's small but would hold enough rice for 3 or 4 people I'm sure.15 people like this
67 responses
@nancyrowina (3850)
•
22 Aug 09
I like cous cous as an alternative to rice, I find that's easy enough to do in the pan as long as you watch it so it doesn't over cook though. It probably would cook in a rice cooker but it's so fast anyway it might not be worth it.
1 person likes this
@peavey (16936)
• United States
21 Aug 09
I know a lot of people have rice cookers and like them, but they seem like an unnecessary appliance to me. I put rice in cold water, put it on the stove and let it boil for a few minutes, then turn down the heat to a slow simmer and put a lid on the pot. Unless I walk off and forget what I'm doing, it never sticks. It's an easy and cheap way to make rice.
3 people like this
@nancyrowina (3850)
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22 Aug 09
I usually get it right when I cook it on the stove but it's often to wet as it's hard to get exactly the right amount of water.
@peavey (16936)
• United States
22 Aug 09
I think it's more a matter of cooking time than anything else. I watch mine and when it's done, I take it off. If there's too much water left, I cover it and let it set long enough to absorb it. If it's getting too dry, I add a little water to keep it from scorching.
1 person likes this
@joyce959 (1559)
• Philippines
21 Aug 09
Hi... i thought rice is not a common meal there but bread.... Anyway, we have a rice cooker and we cook our rice thru the rice cooker. It is more convenient and the rice is not burnt or undercooked compared with boiling rice in pan. Way back several years ago in our province, we cook rice in boiling pan and its difficult to have a perfect-cooked-rice coz sometimes the rice is burnt in the bottom or sometimes it is not really cooked. So rice cooker is of much help for us, but we get to pay higher electric bills, especially if it has automatic warmer.
3 people like this
@nancyrowina (3850)
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21 Aug 09
We also eat a lot of potatoes as we have to import rice but the ingredients for bread and potatoes can be grown here. I can't wait until I get my rice cooker and can serve rice easily, and I doubt we'll need to use the warmer much unless there's lots of people eating at different times.
1 person likes this
@agv0419 (3022)
• Philippines
21 Aug 09
I know how to cook rice we seldom use rice cooker we prefer to use stove. As a Filipino we can't eat without rice so at the young age my mother teach us how to cook rice. We have many varieties of rice, some needs more water but some are not. If know how to put water to evey variey of rice I think you cook it perfectly. You should also watch out the fire.
3 people like this
@nancyrowina (3850)
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21 Aug 09
I didn't know that different types of rice require different amounts of water, we don't really have a big choice of rice in the normal super market in England though, it's just long grain short grain or basmati and all the different pudding rices.
2 people like this
@corrycrystal (1775)
• Malaysia
21 Aug 09
Yes, we do have a rice cooker because it is very convenient. We will only boil the rice when there is a power failure. I know what you meant about the difficulty in getting the right amount of water because there is no measurement like in the rice cooker. However, you can try to use the old trick. After you rinse the rice, use your index finger to measure the height level of the rice. Then, bring your index finger on top of the rice. The amount of water must be at the same height level of the rice. Oh, I just don't know how to put it in words...
I hope it's not confusing. 
Good luck and hope you will get your rice cooker soon.
I hope it's not confusing. Good luck and hope you will get your rice cooker soon. @nancyrowina (3850)
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21 Aug 09
I think I know what you mean I've seen TV chefs demonstrating it before with their fingers, you just have to remember to only do that with cold water.
1 person likes this
@nenuphar (117)
• France
22 Aug 09
I believe rice cooker is a "must have" appliance in the kitchen for any Chinese/Asian looking people, so I bought it years ago. It wasn't the best buy I must say because we don't eat rice everyday. But for those who eat rice in every meal, it would be a good buy as it saves a lot of time and hassle.
So when we decided to have rice to accompany a dish, I find it easier and faster to simply boil the rice, instead of unwrapping the rice cooker from its storage, use it, clean it and store it away again... too time consuming. However, when I prepared fried rice or fried noodles for friends, I will then use it to keep warm.
3 people like this
@nancyrowina (3850)
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25 Aug 09
The one I'm getting is really small so it should be able to just stand on the surface and I won't have to keep getting it out. It's not something I think I must have it will just make things easier.
@earthsong (589)
• United States
23 Aug 09
We have a rice cooker and its great. I never could get rice to cook properly in a pan, and my sister gave me a rice cooker and we've never had hard rice since. I can't seem to get brown rice to cook properly in it tho, but we don't have that often anyway.
2 people like this
@nancyrowina (3850)
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24 Aug 09
I think brown rice takes a bit longer and requires more water, it's better for us than white rice too.
1 person likes this
@BarBaraPrz (47349)
• St. Catharines, Ontario
21 Aug 09
I bought a small rice cooker a couple years ago but I haven't used it lately (haven't felt like cooking). It does a good job, though. I picked it up at Value Village for $5.
2 people like this
@saigonwarrior (1331)
• United States
21 Aug 09
I NEVER "feel" like cooking..lol. It is my worse dreaded deed, but I have a family, so I really have no choice...lol
On topic: I cook rice 2 or 3 times a week and prepare it on the stove with a pan and water. If you follow the instructions on the package, it normally turns out fine.
In fact I had not heard of a rice cooker until this discussion.
See how much I hate cooking? lol
3 people like this
@nancyrowina (3850)
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21 Aug 09
That's very cheap It would be good to find one that cheap but about £30 is the cheapest I've seen one.
1 person likes this
@BarBaraPrz (47349)
• St. Catharines, Ontario
22 Aug 09
Well, it was "pre-owned" as the car sales people like to say.
1 person likes this
@scarlet_woman (23463)
• United States
22 Aug 09
i actually micro it in a covered bowl.
some things like brown rice it seems to work much better than stove top.
i am tempted to get a little cooker though,i had a friend with one and it came out nice and fluffy.
@nancyrowina (3850)
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23 Aug 09
I haven't tried microwaving rice yet it should be like steaming it though which is pretty much what a rice cooker does.
@babyjesus (277)
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24 Aug 09
Before we use the rice cooker but it consumes more electricity. And since i have helpers at home, i come to realize that my appliances don't last if others uses them. I guess they are not careful because its not theirs. Even if tell them to be careful. There may be psychological effect when it belongs to oneself that the owner become careful but to others its seems they don't care bcoz its not theirs.
2 people like this
@nancyrowina (3850)
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24 Aug 09
It's not very helpful of your helpers to break your appliances, maybe it's time you got new ones.
1 person likes this
@yogambal_64 (1014)
• India
21 Aug 09
I do have a rice cooker, But, I prefer cooking rice by boiling it sometimes, Most of the time I use a pressure cooker, whereby I save time, gas consumption and the nutrients also are not lost.
2 people like this
@nancyrowina (3850)
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21 Aug 09
I've never tried cooking rice in a pressure cooker, the rice I buy only takes 10 minutes to boil anyway so it would be practically instant if I did.
1 person likes this
@sharra1 (6340)
• Australia
23 Aug 09
I have never tried a pressure cooker to cook rice. I used to boil it and now use a rice cooker all the time. I find that the cooker produces perfect rice and the nutrients are not lost as very little steam escapes and all the water is absorbed.
I think rice cookers are a wonderful invention.
@realan (518)
• United States
22 Aug 09
My friend gave me a rice cooker last year for Christmas. I still haven't used it. Probably because I haven't had a chance to learn how to use it. Right now I boil my rice.
@nancyrowina (3850)
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23 Aug 09
It's not hard to use one you just measure the rice and water and switch it on, they are worth using I'd try yours when you get a chance.
@Aylward (198)
• Philippines
21 Aug 09
I used to boil rice when i still don't have a rice cooker. Ive been doing this since i was only 10. I can say im a litlle bit expert at boiling rice. But when i get busy, i bought a rice cooker, because i can just leave it cooking rice while im doing some work without worrying of having it sticking to the pan.
3 people like this
@debssay (7)
• Australia
24 Aug 09
I love our rice cooker we received as a gift at Christmas time. It cooks the rice in about 20-30 minutes, leaves space on our stove for other pots and pans, and best of all keeps the rice warm until you are ready to serve it. You must be careful with putting in the correct quantity of ingredients though, and being sure to leave enough time after the machine has finished cooking for any excess water to be absorbed by the rice.
2 people like this
@nancyrowina (3850)
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21 Aug 09
Yes so much easier than boiling it and risking the burnt on the bottom or too soggy situation.
1 person likes this
@rameshkumaar57 (5908)
• India
21 Aug 09
Why do you want to go in for an expensive electronic rice cooker? You can go in for a pressure cooker, from Hawkins or some other company.
It hardly take 5 to 7 minutes for the raw rice to boil nicely. If this pressure cooker is not available in your English stores, try the many Indian stores,in U.K.I am sure some Indian store will be there in Isle of wight.
2 people like this
@nancyrowina (3850)
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22 Aug 09
I do have a pressure cooker but even using that creates more mess than using rice cooker. It's more about how much easier it is than saving time.
@vingyan06 (2486)
• Malaysia
21 Aug 09
This is a very good question. In my country, every household must have at least 1 rice cooker at home. This is because rice is our main food for everyday use. I never try to cook rice in the pan where it is so hard to do so. I have a rice cooker so cooking rice is as easy as ABC. And my rice cooker is just a simple one, but it has all the necesarry setting like keep the rice warm and can cook porridge as well.
2 people like this
@nancyrowina (3850)
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21 Aug 09
I didn't realise you could use them for so many other things too it must be like a steamer. I can't wait until I've got mine.
1 person likes this
@smartboy826 (553)
• China
21 Aug 09
hello,neancyrowina.i don't have a rice cooker.because i am good at cooking,expecilly of the rice,so i don't have a rice cooker,and i don't like to have a rice cooker,i want to do it in myself
2 people like this
@nancyrowina (3850)
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21 Aug 09
If you can get it right rice is good from a pan, but I just can't do it every time it's often too wet.
1 person likes this
@Cherryd41 (1119)
• United States
22 Aug 09
I don't have a rice cooker anymore although I used to. I must have been doing it wrong or something because when I cook rice in a rice cooker it always turned out sticky. Maybe I was adding to much water but I followed the directions regarding the water to rice ratio for the rice cooker but it still came out sticky. What I do now is just use long grain rice I don't buy instant rice and I only cook brown rice I bring the water to a boil for about 10 minutes then I turn it down to low and let it simmer until its done it comes out just right about 90% of the time.
2 people like this
@nancyrowina (3850)
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23 Aug 09
maybe rinsing the rice before putting it in the cooker is the answer? I normally rinse rice before I cook it to get rid of some of the starch.
@tlawrey (8)
• Canada
21 Aug 09
I definately prefer a rice cooker to cooking it in a pan. I use to use a pan until my mother in law converted me . It's so much easier, no fuss, just measure out your rice add the water then set it to cook. I love that I can just forget about it because mine automatically turns off when the rice is cooked, giving me perfect rice everytime. I could never go back.
2 people like this
@nancyrowina (3850)
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22 Aug 09
We'll eat much more rice around my house when I get one I'm sure as it will be much easier.
