How To Steam Rice In A Rice Cooker

How To use a Rice Cooker

Having a rice cooker is such a blessing as it saves a lot of work and time. People who are super busy with other activities can make perfect steamed rice easily by using a rice cooker. However, knowing how to steam rice in a rice cooker perfectly is crucial.

There are a lot of key things to make flawless steamed rice, chances are you’re here to know the things. Welcome my friend then! We’ve come up with the most relevant information. Once you’re at the end of the article, you’ll no longer have questions in your mind regarding this topic.

So, let’s jump in, shall we?

Choosing the Type of Rice

First and foremost, you need to decide what type of rice you want to steam. The type you’re going to choose has an effect on the proportion of water you have to use. There are numerous types of rice, three main sizes of rice grains are-

Once you’re done choosing the rice type, let’s move onto the next big deals.

How Much Water Should You Use in a Rice Cooker?

The answer to this question depends on what type of rice you are going to steam. However, it’s not a critical calculation.

You will find the graduated marks in your rice cooker which indicates the perfect ratio of rice and water.

Moreover, you may find these instructions on the package of your rice. However, you can follow these alternative suggested amounts below, we have made it depending on the various types of rice.

For each cup of rice, you’ll need these amounts of water:

How to Steam Rice in a Rice Cooker- 8 Easy Steps

Now, you’re going to make steam rice on your own. We can confidently say that the following instructions will help you indeed.

Things You’re Going to Need

Step 1: Measure the Rice

Use the measuring cup you got with your rice cooker to do the measurement appropriately. Most times, rice cookers have a cup that can fit ¾ cup. However, you can use an ordinary measuring cup as well.

And, most of the rice cookers come with a removable bowl or pot. Take your rice in it.

1 cup of uncooked rice can result in 1 ½ cups to 3 cups of cooked rice (dependent on its variety). So, don’t forget to leave enough blank space for this expansion. Otherwise, your rice cooker may spill over which you won’t like.

Step 2: Rinse the Rice

The next step is to rinse the rice properly. It will help to remove any herbicides, pesticides, or any kind of contaminant from your rice. If the rice came from a less modern milling practice, there will be some broken grains that need to be washed off.

Because those broken grains can release excess starch into your rice. If you rinse them off, there’s no chance your rice will clump together. To rinse your rice, pour fresh drinking water into the bowl.

Now, hold the bowl under the faucet and stir while you add water. Keep adding water until the rice is totally submerged. Next, you need to drain the water. In this case, you can either tip that bowl and catch fallen grains or use a sieve.

Step 3: Measure and Add Water to the Rice

As we said before, the amount of water you need to add is dependent on the type of rice you’re cooking. We have already broken down the appropriate amount of water for different amounts of rice.

To get perfectly fluffy rice, you should follow that measurement carefully.

Use the same measuring cup to measure the rice and water, it will keep the rato perfect. And, maximum of the rice cooker instructions suggest using cold water.

Step 4: Let the Rice Soak for 30 Minutes (if Needed)

This step is not a must-follow one but it shortens the cooking time. Also, soaking the rice for a while will make the rice stickier. So, if you think you want it, use that measured water to do the job.

All you have to do is to let the rice soak in the water you measured earlier and keep it at room temperature. And yes, you’re going to use the same water while cooking the rice.

After 30 minutes, you can add flavor to the rice if you want. Many people out there love to add a pinch of salt in order to make the rice more flavourful. You also can add oil or butter, these are another option. However, add the flavors before you start the rice cooker as the rice can absorb them properly during cooking.

Step 5: Check if Your Rice Cooker Has Special Options

Before you are going to check for the special options of your rice cooker, you better push off the rice grains as well as under the water level. Once done, check if your rice cooker simply has an on/off switch or other special settings.

Some rice cookers come in various settings (e.g some are able to take more time to cook until a specified time duration has passed). It’s okay to deal with the basic settings.

However, exploring what each option or button does is a good idea.

Step 6: Turn On the Rice Cooker

Take the rice-cooking bowl that you filled with rice and water and place it into the rice cooker. Then, close the lid of your cooker. Next, plug your cooker in and turn the switch on.

Now what? Nothing, you need to wait until the rice is done. Grab a cup of coffee or do whatever you want. Once the rice is done, you’ll see the switch to click like a toaster. And, another great thing is, your rice will be warmed until you’re unplugging the cooker.

A point to remember, there’s no need to lift the lid for checking the rice, okay? Because here the process is dependent on the condition of steam inside your pot. If you let the steam escape from the lid by opening it, you may have improperly-steamed rice.

Step 7: Let the Rice Rest

Now, wait for 10-15 minutes before you remove the lid and let the rice rest. Good to say, this step is optional but it is recommended in most of the rice poker instructions.

Step 8: Fluff Your Rice and Serve

Your rice is ready to eat when you see there’s no water left in it. Use any utensil like a fork to stir your rice.

It will let the steam release and break the clumps up which ultimately prevents your rice from overcooking.

There you have it! You now know all about how to steam rice in a rice cooker. So, serve it and enjoy it.

Additional Tips

And, here are some additional tips you should know about. You will get some troubleshooting ideas from here as well. So, skip this part at your own risk!

Frequently Asked Questions of How To Steam Rice In A Rice Cooker

Conclusion

This was all we had to say about how to steam rice in a rice cooker. You’ve got some real know-how ideas from the article, haven’t you?

Making steamed rice is not a big deal for you anymore, hopefully. You must be serious and do the measurement stuff very carefully as the ratio of rice and water matters a lot here. Also, stay careful while dealing with the electric appliance remembering that safety first.

So, if you follow every piece of instruction carefully, it’s easy to make world-class rice on your own. Go for it,

Good luck!