Brown rice cooking tips?

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  • MeadowSong
    MeadowSong Posts: 171 Member
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    Oooh brown rice is SO worth it--I only eat white in my mother-in-law's Green Rice (which is FAB). I just don't care for white rice; as my father used to say, "It's about like letting the sun shine in your mouth." Get a rice cooker--very easy, and they are cheap. My favorite way to make it is with chicken broth (Swanson's) and a packet of Knorr Vegetable Soup mix, that would be with three cups of uncooked rice. I think it's 7 or 7 1/2 cups broth--look on the rice bag. Put it in the cooker and go away. Put your Chicken Enchiladas in the oven and Presto--Super Dinner! The rice will take about 45 minutes and the cooker turns itself off and keeps warm. You can make it with just water or broth just fine. Don't rinse your rice before cooking.

    If you want to make up a white rice recipe--use cooked brown rice and make adjustments. It just takes so much longer to cook that you cook most other ingredients to death--but I use cooked rice in a lot of recipes.
  • claires89
    claires89 Posts: 10 Member
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    Kayleen - yes, that's what I meant. When soaking the rice all day prior to cooking, most of the expansion happens just from the soaking, especially if you use hot water, so the volume of rice in the bowl will increase significantly. Hence why you need to make sure you soak it in a big enough bowl to accommodate the larger volume of expanded rice! If it's left to soak all day, it doesn't actually expand very much more during the final cooking process. :flowerforyou:
  • AnswerintheSky
    AnswerintheSky Posts: 91
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    1 cup long grain brown rice (not basmati)
    2 cups water
    NO salt (it can be added on your plate)

    Bring to a boil. Cover and simmer until water is absorbed (about 35 minutes).

    You can be getting on with preparing the rest of the meal while the brown rice is cooking!
    Enjoy!
  • Aross83
    Aross83 Posts: 936 Member
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    I gave up trying to cook brown rice along time ago. If I want brown rice trader joe's sells organic brown rice packets in the freezer section. Or someitmes i will run to my local chineese food take out place and get brown rice.
  • TheRoadDog
    TheRoadDog Posts: 11,793 Member
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    Cooking brown rice is just as easy to me as cooking white rice. It only takes longer. I boil 2 1/2 cups of water, pour in 1 cup of brown rice and let it boil for about a minute. I give it one final stir then put a lid on and turn the heat down to low. I set my timer for 45 minutes and wait. After the time is up, I take the pot off the heat and let it sit a few minutes. Then enjoy!
    What she said.
  • tessiebear40
    tessiebear40 Posts: 39 Member
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    I cook brown rice in a large glass dish with fitted lid in the microwave. 1 cup rice, 2 cups water. Microwave for 13 mins and then leave to stand for 20 mins. Perfectly cooked every time.

    For something different, I added cumin seeds and then some frozen peas for the last 4 mins cooking time.
  • climbing_trees
    climbing_trees Posts: 726 Member
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    Use broth instead of water to cook the rice!
    It took me like three years of owning and regularly using my rice cooker to figure this out... >__<
  • haroon_awan
    haroon_awan Posts: 1,208 Member
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    I have never found any brown rice that tastes any where near as good as white rice and doesn't cook as quick.

    Make sure you are soaking the rice in water for at least 20 minutes.
    Rinse it until the water is clear to remove the starch.
    Use the right amount of water and follow the instructions on the pack.
    Leave the lid off as you are cooking the rice.
    When all the water has been absorbed,wrap the lid in a tea towel to protect it from drops of condensation as it steams. I've found this works great for pilau rice as it makes the rice less sticky. This is from
    www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2012/sep/27/how-to-cook-perfect-pilaf

    If you aren't doing this then.
  • tennisdude2004
    tennisdude2004 Posts: 5,609 Member
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    Apart from a slightly higher fibre content in brown rice, white rice is as good or if not slightly more nutritional than brown, so stick with the white stuff (tastes better).
  • priyamvada_k
    priyamvada_k Posts: 27 Member
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    Wash a cup of brown rice, and soak it in 2.5 cups of water for an hour. Then use a rice cooker. Soaking is needed to soften the rice else it comes out stiff.
  • kayduro
    kayduro Posts: 249 Member
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    Some French onion soup mix makes a nice addition!

    Or boullion cubes.
  • bunnypanther
    bunnypanther Posts: 110
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    I actually did it in my slow cooker in the end. Used chicken stock, garlic and ginger, and had a bath! :D

    Was nice but more of a risotto type texture. May have to experiment some more!! Or buy a rice cooker! :D
  • MyChocolateDiet
    MyChocolateDiet Posts: 22,281 Member
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    the bag i buy has directions on it. i follow them. it works.
  • Alatariel75
    Alatariel75 Posts: 17,959 Member
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    I picked up a rice cooker for cheap at Kmart and it's great. bung in the rice, add twice the volume of rice in water, put it on cook and come back when it flicks itself to 'keep warm'.

    I'm a good cook, I love to cook, I get very creative and cook complex things but for the life of me, I couldn't cook rice until I got a rice cooker. Don't use it often but it's worth the cupboard space.

    I like brown rice with things like stir fry or in soup, it seems to soak up more flavour.
  • lacurandera1
    lacurandera1 Posts: 8,083 Member
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    BF has been cooking it in the microwave lately per the instructions on the bag. Here's a link with instructions in case your bag doesn't have any. Turns out pretty good with minimal maintenance. http://www.mahatmarice.com/en-us/products/57/WholeGrainBrownRice.aspx

    Will agree, white is better. :laugh:
  • Iorns78
    Iorns78 Posts: 118 Member
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    I love brown rice and cook it at least twice a week!

    2 cups of water to 1 cup of rice
    Never use oil, I always use a teaspoon of real butter
    When the water is brought to a boil, I dump the butter and rice in, I let it get back to a boil, and then cover and turn the stove down to a simmer. about 40-50 minutes cook time.

    I will make my rice with bouillon as well for a broth, my kids favorite meal is rice, ground beef/turkey or chunked up and cooked chicken breast and steamed broccoli and cauliflower. I do the rice with the bouillon, I always add an addition 1/2 cup of water. After about 35 minutes I toss the COOKED meat in, stir, toss the veggies on top, simmer for 10 more minutes, turn off stove, let sit for about 5-10 minutes and the veggies should be just about right, stir it all up like a big hot dish. I usually do this with three to four cups of rice, really, my kids love this!! We eat it at least once a week. :)
  • catmonteith1
    catmonteith1 Posts: 8 Member
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    Mmmm, love brown rice! I always cook it in the oven...
    Preheat oven to 400 degrees
    measure 1 cup brown rice, put in a pyrex dish ( or whatever oven safe glass dish you have)
    In a pot, bring to boil 2-1/2 cups of water (or broth is really good), pour over rice, stir to combine.
    Cover with a good fitting lid, or just use tin foil.
    Bake for 1 hour.
    Always comes out nice and fluffy, and so good too!
  • htebazil
    htebazil Posts: 9 Member
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    I use this technique and it works like a charm!

    Instructions found here: http://www.saveur.com/article/Recipes/Perfect-Brown-Rice

    MAKES 2 CUPS
    INGREDIENTS
    1 cup short, medium, or long-grain brown rice
    Kosher salt, to taste

    INSTRUCTIONS
    1. Rinse rice in a strainer under cold running water for 30 seconds. Bring 12 cups water to a boil in a large pot with a tight-fitting lid over high heat. Add the rice, stir it once, and boil, uncovered, for 30 minutes. Pour the rice into a strainer over the sink.

    2. Let the rice drain for 10 seconds, then return it to the pot, off the heat. Cover the pot and set it aside to allow the rice to steam for 10 minutes. Uncover the rice, fluff with a fork, and season with salt.

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