Comments on: How To Cook Perfect Rice Without A Rice Cooker (and store it for months)

By: Rosemary

Rosemary — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 00:19:09 +0000

I think that is a wonderful idea for storing rice in the freezer to wrap it in little pillows. I already use this method to cook rice after learning about it from Mary Mcdougal on the John Mcdougal MD site. There are so many different varieties of rice now that I was getting frustrated with the inconsistent results so I started cooking it in boiling salted water like pasta and now we eat tons of rice. I do drain it though in a shallow steamer pan section that has very tiny holes in it right in the sink from the stove. I do nothing but fluff it some a few times as it cools with a big spoon because I use plenty of water so there is not a lot of starch left in it. I always put the leftovers in the fridge and they are eaten within a few days. This works well for any kind of rice and once you get the time down for the specific kind and brand it only needs to be timed from then on.

By: Darya Pino

Darya Pino — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 21:12:50 +0000

w00t! Glad to be of service

By: Rob

Rob — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 19:55:48 +0000

This works perfectly. My brown rice is usually horribly soggy, so I just tried this and it’s delicious. Thanks!

By: Lainie

Lainie — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 00:55:45 +0000

Gee whiz, people! Have you never heard, If you don’t have something nice to say, don’t say anything?

Darya,

You’re in good company. I learned this method from one of Julia Child’s cookbooks. Thanks for reminding me of it.

By: Battygirl

Battygirl — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 08:20:47 +0000

I’m a big fan of cooking a large quantity and freezing single portions for later. I freeze rice but not in plastic wrap. One way is to buy a set of shallow plastic food containers with lids. I have a set that hold, I think 12 oz. each. Another is to put rice portions into 1 qt freezer bags and press them out to flatten the bags and press as much air out as you can before sealing the bags. In both cases, I think the rice has better moisture content and texture if you pack them for storage when the rice is cooled down to lukewarm, but has not lost all its heat. I really like the freezer bag method because (a) you can stack the flattened bags in the freezer and take up minimal space, and (b) this keeps your rigid food storage containers available for everyday short-term uses. Thaw the flattened portions of rice just until you can break them up into smaller chunks that will fit into a microwave-safe bowl, then microwave, covered, for about a minute per portion. You can use the bags repeatedly, even without washing them. After taking just slightly thawed rice out of a bag, there should be very little or no “rice residue” in the bag, so I just roll the bag up and stick it in a corner of the freezer until the next time I freeze a batch of rice.

By: Darya Pino

Darya Pino — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 04:16:30 +0000

Don’t add more water, but turn the stove as low as it will go, cover 5 min and let steam. Then turn the burner off and let steam another 5 min.

By: Vladimir

Vladimir — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 09:38:47 +0000

Next drain off the remaining water. A mesh strainer or splatter guard works nicely for this (hold it over the pot and simply dump the water into the sink), but you can also carefully pour the water off and use a fork to keep loose kernels from falling out (but seriously be careful!).
<-At this point between straining and putting back on the stovetop, do you add water or just put the pot with the rice on the stove? Doesn't it burn or stick to the pot? I'd love to try this, as I've been looking for such a recipe for a long time.
Place the pot with rice back on the burner

By: Bookman

Bookman — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 19:23:50 +0000

Think I’ll just have a bowl of cereal.

By: Bookman

Bookman — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 19:22:20 +0000

I’m tired.

By: Peter James

Peter James — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 18:49:34 +0000

The comment about 1/2 inch of water above the level of rice makes a large difference depending on two things the volume of rice and the shape of the pot. a lot of rice in a tall narrow saucepan may be too dry and a small amount of rice in a shallow wide pan may be too wet.