How To Make Rice Cooker Hacks: 12 Tips to Make Your Rice Cooking Life Easier! One of the best parts of having a rice cooker is how easy it makes cooking rice. With a button and a few minutes, we can enjoy perfectly cooked rice. Here are 12 rice-cooker tips every home cook should know.
Table of Content
- 1 Use the rice cooker’s warming function.
- 2 Sticky rice is best steamed.
- 3 Add cold rice to the heated rice-cooker
- 4 Keep warm and cook more in one go.
- 5 Dried lentils cook faster than fresh ones.
- 6 Brown rice takes longer to cook than white rice.
- 7 Don’t overfill your cooker.
- 8 Take out the water first, and then add the uncooked rice.
- 9 Fluff your cooked rice before serving it
- 10 Press the steam button before cooking your grains
- 11
Use the rice cooker’s warming function.
Most rice cookers offer a warming option that saves electricity. For those without a stove or dishwasher. If you have company coming, you can prepare the rice in advance and keep it warm until they come. This saves time, energy, and money when cooking big volumes of rice.
Sticky rice is best steamed.
Traditionally, sticky rice is fermented and steamed. Fermentation gives sticky rice a sticky texture and a distinct smell, giving it a signature sour or tangy flavor. Modern-day malting and milling of rice make it less sour than sticky rice, and it’s best to steam or boil it until it’s not sticky anymore.
Rice is best steamed in a rice cooker or on a stovetop. The best way to steam sticky rice is to put it in a large bowl, cover the rice with a little bit of water, cover the bowl with a lid, and let it sit in a warm place until the water is absorbed and the rice is soft. After it’s done steaming, you can serve it up, use it as a side dish, or you can use it as a base for your next risotto.
Add cold rice to the heated rice-cooker
This is an easy way to add more rice to your already-cooked rice. Add the cold rice to your wild rice, and then let it sit in the rice cooker while it finishes cooking. NOTE: It’s important to add cold rice to your heated rice cooker. Adding cold rice to your rice cooker will not produce rice. Cold rice will produce a mixture of rice and the excess water, creating a sticky mixture that will not cook properly. Since most rice cookers are designed to cook only one type of grain, it can be tricky to figure out how to use your cold rice best. Some of the most common hacks for using a rice cooker are how to use cold rice.
Keep warm and cook more in one go.
This is a great way to reheat leftovers or to make extra rice that can be stored in the refrigerator or freezer until needed. Add a small amount of water to your heated rice cooker, replace the lid, and switch it to “Warm.” Since rice cookers can retain heat, the rice will be cooked again once it’s done. Another great use for this hack is to keep cooked rice warm in the refrigerator. This is great for those on-the-go days when you’re not sure when you’ll get back to your kitchen.
Dried lentils cook faster than fresh ones.
The traditional method of soaking lentils for 8 hours takes roughly 2 hours. Soaking beans before cooking helps develop their flavor, so following package guidelines for soaking and cooking is suggested. You may not know how long to soak lentils if you’ve never done it. Check the packaging directions to see how long to soak.
Brown rice takes longer to cook than white rice.
Rice is often considered a one-size-fits-all ingredient, but this isn’t necessarily the case. While most of the rice on the market is the same white rice used in almost all recipes, plenty of rice is available, each with its unique characteristics. Brown rice, also called “点心米” in Chinese, is where it gets its name. You must take care not to overcook brown rice when preparing it. The cooking time for brown rice should be roughly double that of white rice.
Don’t overfill your cooker.
If your rice cooker is displaying this, it’s not getting hot enough. Fill your rice cooker with water up to the line on the rice cooker’s inside to make sure it works. Boiling water means it’s ready to use. If the water in the rice cooker never boils, it’s probably too hot. Make sure the water is turned off rather than on at the main valve. Ensure the water valve is set to “off,” not “on.” Likewise, don’t over-stir the rice while it’s cooking. Stirring too much while the rice is cooking will result in the rice is undercooked, and it’s best to stir the rice just enough to keep the grains from sticking together.
Take out the water first, and then add the uncooked rice.
If you are using long-grain rice, it will cook better if you drain off the excess water and then replace the water with the uncooked rice. Using medium-grain rice, you can replace the water with uncooked rice. If you are using short-grain rice, you should first drain off the water and then replace the water with uncooked rice. This is because short-grain rice has a lower amylose content, and they need water to expand to its full potential. Contrary to popular belief, brown rice does not require pre-rinsing.
Read More: My 5 Most Important Kitchen Hacks for Cooking
Fluff your cooked rice before serving it
There’s nothing worse than soggy, sticky rice waiting on the table. To make sure your rice is fluffy, not soggy, you must vigorously fluff the rice after it’s been cooked. To fluff the rice, simply use a spoon to scrape the bottom and sides of the pot. This is a necessary but sometimes overlooked measure. In addition to producing fluffy rice, this method prevents the rice from becoming overly soggy by using just the right amount of water. The ideal texture for rice is somewhere between fluffy and soggy.
Rice Cooker Hacks: This maximizes the rice’s flavor. Press the steam button first, then let rice rest for the indicated time. Don’t pressurize your rice cooker if you haven’t added rice. The hot water can damage the rice cooker’s inner workings. Before adding water or uncooked rice, push the steam button to prepare the steamer. This trick works for risotto, too.
