Why's my rice not cooking?

[WoodlandWoman]

My rice comes out fine and I cook a lot of it. I just follow the instructions.

There's a reason I'm mentioning that. I'm not just saying that to make people hate me!

My husband has made rice a couple of times in the last year, due to my health problems. His has never come out right. It's never cooked in the middle and he cooks it for a lot longer than I do.

He commented on it and wondered why it turned out that way, so we talked about it. What I figured out is that he doesn't get the temperature of the liquid up to boiling in the beginning. He likes to cook it at a really low temperature and just cooks it for much longer.

My suggestion is to try bringing it up to a boil and when you turn the temperature down, don't turn it too low. For the OP, I think the person that thought adding the frozen vegetables to it caused the water temperature to be too low had a good thought there.

Pasta can have problems, too, if you don't get the water hot enough in the beginning or keep it hot enough. It can end up not cooked enough in the middle and be pasty on the outside.

 

[mandelyn]

I've never used a rice cooker, always a skillet or even a pot if I want to make a lot of it. Trick is, boil water first, add rice, give it 10 minutes, reduce heat, simmer until done. Keep a lid on it at all times. Up until it is done.. if you added too much liquid, then remove the lid and let the excess liquid cook off. Some times it takes longer than other times because I don't measure anything... but my end result is still the same.

I only use "raw" rice... not any of the packets.

 

[Imp]

Quote:
This is exactly how I do it.

maple,

You said you covered with foil later. The recipe calls for covering from the start. As the liquid cooked off, there would not be enough to cook the rice fully. Sometimes covering with foil is not enough. If it is loose the steam can still escape.

When I was a tween. I was in the boyscouts. On one campout, each campground got a box of ingredients to cook over a fire for dinner. It was a goulash type thing with rice. The instructions did not say to precook the rice so all us scouts had crunchy goulash for dinner that night.

Nearly half the scouts exploded during the night from eating raw rice.

Imp- OK I am kidding about the last part.

 

[canesisters]

I have a tensey little crockpot that I cook rice in. I get home around 4:00, toss in some rice, some water, some butter and maybe some other seasoning - and turn it on high. Then I go out to putter around the yard a while and when I come back in to start dinner (somewhere around 5 or so) it's PERFECT! I turn it off and sit the top crooked to let a little of the steam out. Since I like sticky rice, it's just right by the time the rest of dinner is ready.
The little crock cost about $15 at Dollar General.

 

[BrattishTaz]

Quote:
This is the way you do it.

There is a rumor running through my house saying that I will break the arms of anyone who takes the lid off of my rice.

 

[maple]

Quote:
This is exactly how I do it.

maple,

You said you covered with foil later. The recipe calls for covering from the start. As the liquid cooked off, there would not be enough to cook the rice fully. Sometimes covering with foil is not enough. If it is loose the steam can still escape.

When I was a tween. I was in the boyscouts. On one campout, each campground got a box of ingredients to cook over a fire for dinner. It was a goulash type thing with rice. The instructions did not say to precook the rice so all us scouts had crunchy goulash for dinner that night.

Nearly half the scouts exploded during the night from eating raw rice.

Imp- OK I am kidding about the last part.

Damn...so it does.

I may have missed that.

Soooo....I guess I need a baking dish with a lid for Christmas too.

I have one but it would have been too small. oh well...we live and learn and eat mushy chicken rice dishes. ...and I'm glad I didn't "splode."

 

[Egghead_Jr]

Quote:
Exactly. It's just like boiling beans before making chili. Does not matter how long you simmer your chili; all day long and the beans will barely cook anymore than they were after the boil.

The pot doesn't matter as long as it can boil liquids

 

[redhen]

When you guys say put rice on lowest setting.. you mean.."low" on the stove dial? or just so the rice is simmering??
Cause mine goes veeery low, like keep warm..or something. I also have one of those awful glass cook tops that take an hour to boil water...

So, i'm not sure that low would work for me...but i am going to try it that way.
My thing is to NOT touch the lid..i keep opening it to stir it and taste test it...

 

[maple]

I was using a baking pan with high sides...no top for that.

And darn those crunchy bits.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Quote:
I have a rice steamer and the rice is ALWAYS soaking wet. It is much easier for me to cook it in a saucepan, regardless of what type of rice I use.

Too much high, dry heat makes for hard rice, even if you add water later.