Rice in a Pressure Cooker?

[maria lorraine]

Does this method work well? If so, how do you do it? Does the proportion of water to rice change? Either white or brown rice.

Thank you for your help!

[peanuttree]

no - rice and pasta and other grain starches (this doesn't include tubers like potatos and yuca) do not work well in a pressure cooker because they settle to the bottom (since you can't stir) and then harden/burn slightly on the bottom

not to mention that rice will be WAY to bubbly to be safe for the pressure cooker - the valve needs to stay clean

if you read the safety manual of your cooker you will see it warns against cooking pasta/rice/grits etc.

pressure cookers are great for beans and other legumes - just not grains

[alex8alot]

that's strange... I didn't know that. I cook rice in my pressure cooker all the time, white and brown. Perhaps because my p/c is large, the valve issue isn't a problem? I soak the brown rice overnight, but otherwise use the same proportions. I am pretty sure my p/c manual slash recipe book had a recipe for brown rice. I will try to find it.

[maria lorraine]

Thank you, I'd appreciate it.

[oakjoan]

Lorna Sass' wonderful Cooking Under Pressure has several rice recipes, including both white, brown and wild rice. She also has risotto recipes.

[hannaone]

Zojirushi and several other companies are now making pressure rice cookers. I saw one at H-Mart the other day and was wondering about that since I also thought that rice wouldn't work well in a pressure cooker.

[alex8alot]

my friend has it, and truly, it makes the best rice. The texture is just perfect:chewy and fluflly. Apparently they make it especially for brown rice.

[paulj]

PC books and web sites have rice recipes. Foaming can be controlled with the addition of some oil. Time savings are greatest with brown rice. Risottos are supposed to work particularly well in the PC. You can also cook rice in bowl that is set in side the PC.

Looking at the tables in one book by Lorna Sass, the water to rice ratio is a bit lower than with conventional pans, but not drastically. As with conventional cooking, the ratio changes with the overall volume. It may also depend some on the PC. Newer ones let less steam escape than jiggletop ones.

paulj

[Antilope]

I recently cooked a risotto for the first time in a pressure cooker (Rival 4-qt stainless). It came out great. However, when the lid was first removed, the rice needed more liquid and also needed about 5 more minutes of stirring. This was on a gas stove. An electric stove, with its burner right against the pot bottom, may produce different results (scorching, burning, sticking?). You can also use the microwave to make a good risotto.

[paulj]

Mine 1st attempt was on the wet side. When first opened the rice was in a compact layer under the liquid, but a stirring, and few minutes on the stove (plus the addition of some cheese) brought it to uniform, if a bit wet, consistency.

A problem with any dish in a PC is that you can't tweak the moisture level during the pressure phase. So you have learn by trial and error just how much water you need for the dish, or be prepared to adjust things after opening. Same, of course, goes for seasoning.

I haven't tried white rice which I want to have a loose dry consistency. A PC isn't going to save much time or effort.

paulj

[Antilope]

I usually cook any kind of rice in a covered sauce pan. The recipe for pressure cooked risotto sounded interesting in that it saved about 25-minutes of stirring. My rice was also a compact layer under liquid when first opened. I stirred until all of the liquid was absorbed. The rice was still slightly "tough". I added more liquid and continued stirring until it was fully cooked. I usually make risotto in the microwave. It takes about 20-minutes and involves about 15 or 30 seconds of stirring.

[alanbarnes]

The bowl method works great for brown rice (and barley, and wheat berries, and all the other grains that take so long to cook). Put the trivet and a few tablespoons of water in the bottom of the PC, set a heat-proof bowl on the trivet, and put appropriate amounts of grain and water in the bowl. (Make sure the bowl is large enough to hold 2-3 times the volume of cooked grain, or the water will boil over into the bottom of the PC and the grain will be dry and undercooked. Oh, and a few drops of oil help control foaming.) Bring pressure to high for 20 minutes, and voila!

[maria lorraine]

Thank you!

[daily_unadventures]

My friend makes brown rice in her pressure cooker, comes out great and only takes 20 minutes.

Katerina
http://dailyunadventures.blogspot.com

[FelafelBoy]

I have read that using a natural release method for the cooling down step allowing one to remove the lid/cover involves a ratio of 10 minutes for each 4 minutes of cooking time. Does the 20 minutes INCLUDE the cooling down period? Sometimes timing charts just include the cooking time and leave out the cooling down period, so the short time can be misleading when time is needed for the cooling down.

I wonder if other pc users know whether this ratio for resting time/cooking time is accurate. I am not talking about foods such as certain more tender vegetables, such as corn on the cob that after cooking time can be immediately removed by using the cold water release method.

White rice (plain, basmati, jasmine) cooked in a normal sauce pan in boiled water, and then covered takes so little time, I don't see the need to use a pc for this purpose. Brown rice can take 45 to 60 minutes in a conventional way, so there would be some time saved in using a pc.

I have read different approaches - some say to put the rice in a bowl filled with water, others say to just add it directly to the pc. If you are sauteeing other foods to be mixed with the rice, then that method would work better, but if insufficient water is used, the rice would tend to burn more easily.

I wonder if in the case of rice placed in a bowl with water, if anyone has tried covering the bowl with aluminum foil to seal in the contents, sort of like a steamer bowl within another steamer. Some people cook their rice in a covered dish in the oven, this is just using the heat of the steam to do the same thing. If the rice is rinsed beforehand, I don't know why there would be froth.

[paulj]

Lorna Saas recommeds 3 minutes under pressure, 7 cooling for white rice. I tried that and it worked pretty well. However the rice tends to be stickier than if done with a nomal 20 minute simmer, even when using the same long grain (or basmati). It may be possible to fine tune the amount of water to minimize this. But the time are not enough to commend this method.

Resotos are supposed to work well. I don't recall the timings, but I was pleased the one time I tried it.

Brown rice is where the PC shines due to the time savings.

paulj

[monkeyrotica]

I found an old Galloping Gourmet cookbook with a rice recipe in it. I have since thrown out my rice cooker.

1. Boil rice for 10 minutes.
2. Drain rice into a collander, reserving the hot liquid.
3. Place collander with rice over hot liquid and put a lid over the rice.
4. Steam for 10 minutes.
5. Fluff and serve.

This recipe is bulletproof with basmati, japanese, and converted rice. Add a few minutes for brown.

[Antilope]

My bullet proof method for rice (long grain, jasmine, calrose, basmati, etc)

2 cups cold water
1 cup rice
1/4 tsp salt

Bring salted water to a boil in a 2-qt sauce pan.
Add rice, stir once or twice.
Allow pan to come to a roiling boil again.
Stir rice once more to make sure it's not sticking to the pan or clumping together.
Turn down heat to a low simmer (just a few bubbles rising through the water/rice)
Place cover on pan and do not peek.
Simmer for 25-minutes.
Remove from heat.
Remove lid and fluff rice.
If some rice has stuck to the bottom of pan, replace lid for
five minutes (off heat) and the rice will steam itself loose from pan bottom.

[paulj]

The boil, drain, then steam approach to rice is used in some of the fancier Indian rice dishes. In a biryani, for example, the rice in the steaming step is mixed or layered with a rich meat sauce.
paulj

[bitsubeats]

my korean grandmother makes rice in a pressure cooker (that's right...she's probably the only korean in korea without a rice cooker) and it comes out delicious.

My mother also has a new fangled rice cooker that speaks to you in korean and is part pressure cooker. The rice tastes much better than my basic rice that comes out of a rice cooker. I forget the brand of our rice cookers (it's the same), but it's korean and starts with a "c"

hannaone? any guesses?

[alex8alot]

the brand is "cuckoo". crazy, I know. koreans (like my father) swear that it is superior to zojirushi... but they aren't biased or anything ;)

[bitsubeats]

yep cuckoo. It's a really good brand. I have a really cute green cuckoo rice cooker (green is my favorite color) and it is good for someone like me who only cooks rice for one person.

[hannaone]

Alex beat me to it.
Cuckoo is the largest Korean mfg for rice cookers. (and many other small appliances)

[Richard 16]

I always make my brown rice in a pressure cooker. I apprenticed to a Japanese chef and that's how we made the brown rice. Tips:

1) Rinse the rice first
2) Water level: The Mt. Fuji method, which also works with white rice in a cooker or a pot.: Lay your hand flat on the rice and the water will come up just at the top of the knuckle.
3) A flame spreader will help prevent scorching. You can also use a little less time than the recipe if you leave the pot on afterwards so it cools down and the pressure falls more slowly. The bigger the pot of rice and the more heat retentive the burner the longer you can do this for.
4) Darkened rice on the bottom of the pot -- as long as it's not burned -- is a real treat. If it burns it's history...
5) It's better to let the pressure come down slowly, but if you're in a hurry you can run the pot under water until the valve releases.
6) Keep an eye and an ear out for the valve sputtering. If you've used a pressure cooker before you know what I mean...

Try adding maybe 1/3 brown basmati rice -- mmmm.
Try adding amaranth, maybe 1/5th. Amaranth requires more water.
It's not how I was taught but sometimes I add butter and/or EVOO before cooking.

Good luck!

[paulj]

I just cooked some brown basmati in the PC. I first sauteed some shallot and diced bacon. Then added the rinsed rice, some pureed basil, chicken stock and water. About 1 cup of rice and 1 3/4 of liquid. Enough salt so the water tasted about right. 20 minutes under pressure, with a natural drop.

The results were good. Still more of a risotto like consistency, rather than loose and fluffy. The rice was tender with some of the chewiness one expects from brown rice. No sticking or burning. Next time I may try it with a bit less water, since rinsing probably added a 1/4 cup.

paulj

[maria lorraine]

That sounds very good, paulj. I will try that. I like the added touch of the shallots and bacon(!!). Thanks for sharing your method.

[paulj]

I just made a white rice pilaf that turned out pretty well. I followed proportions and timings from a Lorna Sass book. In this case I made just 2 servings in my new 1.5L Hawkins (camping) pressure cooker.

briefly sauté a diced shallot, and part of a bell pepper
add 1/2 c white basmati rice (Trader Joes, unrinsed)
1/4 c cooked garbanzos, 1/4c frozen chopped spinach
3/4 c chicken stock
about 8 thawed raw shrimp

Bring to pressure; cook at pressure for 3 minutes; cool naturally for 7 minutes; release pressure.

The rice was perfectly cooked, moist but not sticky.

I was worried that the shrimp would be tough from over cooking. They were actually a bit on the soft side. I considered adding leftover salmon to the rice, but decided to warm it separately.

So the 1.5: 1 ratio of liquid to rice (plus some liquid from other ingredients), 3 min pressure, 7 min cool, seems to be the right combination for white rice.

paulj

[maria lorraine]

Many thanks, again...

[lesliemarie]

So, someone who makes thai food a lot showed me how to make white rice in a pressure cooker... and it turns out perfect. it's a 1 to 1 ratio of water and rice... put it on the stove and bring it to the point where the little things on top of it rattle. Shut it off. Let sit 20 minutes. Open, serve. I've been experimenting with bouillon and seasonings to create some flavored rice sides lately. Nothing has worked out too well yet... but plain white rice does.