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'Fluffy' white rice (e.g. Chinese food places)

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rice cooker is nice, but for the once/month I cook rice, I couldn't justify having a dedicated appliance for it in my small kitchen.

stovetop is not as good, but close enough for me. usually cook it in chicken broth instead of water, though, or water plus a dash of olive oil.
 
Train said:
I just don't have the counter space for a rice cooker.

usually start the rice before I start cooking whatever I am going to put with it, chicken, beef, stir fry, whatever. It simmers on the back burner while I do my thing up front. After the meat and veggies are done, drain any excess water on rice and serve.

cleaning a simple non-stick sauce pan is easier than cleaning a rice cooker.
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You do know rice cookers are non-stick now right? I just rinse mine with water, that's it. Takes me less than 30 seconds to wash mine.
 
JulesMaximus said:
If someone wants to buy me an expensive Zhogoshiriu rice cooker I'll be glad to do a side by side comparison to the stove top method I use. 😀

I'll post back with an honest evaluation.
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Okay. Let's start cooking at 5pm, leave the house for several hours and come back with some take out to use with the rice at 8pm and eat right away. Let's do a side by side comparison of how they turned out.
 
Capt Caveman said:
Okay. Let's start cooking at 5pm, leave the house for several hours and come back with some take out to use with the rice at 8pm and eat right away. Let's do a side by side comparison of how they turned out.
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😵 If I eat at 5PM why would I eat again several hours later?
 
Rice cooker is preferable for me. I have the aroma type sold at costco.

I will say though, that mushy rice is still possible. I've found that having a bit less water than what is typically called for usually gives me the results I am after.

I've done the pot and water methods, but nothing ever seemed to give me the texture I was looking for until I bought the rice cooker.
 
mvbighead said:
Rice cooker is preferable for me. I have the aroma type sold at costco.

I will say though, that mushy rice is still possible. I've found that having a bit less water than what is typically called for usually gives me the results I am after.
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yeah that's the difference between a $30 rice cooker and a $200 one.
 
Capt Caveman said:
Okay. Let's start cooking at 5pm, leave the house for several hours and come back with some take out to use with the rice at 8pm and eat right away. Let's do a side by side comparison of how they turned out.
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Yep. If you get take out at a place that doesn't offer rice and you want rice with it and you want to eat it as soon as you get home then a rice cooker wins.

I'm sure this situation comes up but it would have to be someone that loves rice and that person will always have a rice cooker already. For everyone else they will either get rice with take out or it is just food they don't eat with rice.
 
kt said:
You do know rice cookers are non-stick now right? I just rinse mine with water, that's it. Takes me less than 30 seconds to wash mine.
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*Shudders*

That damn non-stick coating always starts stripping off on its own -- we use a plastic spatula -- after a while. We went back to a stainless steel container inside the cooker. Ya, rice sticks, but it isn't too hard to scrape off.
 
CountZero said:
Yep. If you get take out at a place that doesn't offer rice and you want rice with it and you want to eat it as soon as you get home then a rice cooker wins.

I'm sure this situation comes up but it would have to be someone that loves rice and that person will always have a rice cooker already. For everyone else they will either get rice with take out or it is just food they don't eat with rice.
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Restaurant rice sucks. Takeout rice even more so. The only thing takeout rice is good for is making fried rice day or two later after it's been sitting in the fridge.

Good sushi rice is the only exception to restaurant rice.
 
One benefit of having a rice cooker is that you save range space. A typical Chinese family meal is probably at least 3 different dishes AND a soup/broth. Everything is generally best served very hot. Assuming a typical 4 range setup and you dedicate 1 range to rice cooking, you only have 3 stoves to work with - more likely 2 since the wok takes up the space of 2 ranges.

With a rice cooker, you don't have that problem. As a bonus, your rice is guaranteed to be hot when you serve it because of the keep warm feature, while the stovetop cooker has to time it just right for everything to tie together.

When I cook a meal, the first thing I do is to get the rice started in the cooker. Get that out of the way, and then I can then think through the logistical process for getting my dishes all done at about the same time.
 
kt said:
You do know rice cookers are non-stick now right? I just rinse mine with water, that's it. Takes me less than 30 seconds to wash mine.
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That's not the point. I would either have to:
A) Remove the pot from the cooker to clean in.
B) Wash it while still attached to the electrical components.

Neither is better than just taking that sauce pan I just did rice in and dropping it in the sink with the other pans.

Just too much counter space. I'd have to do rice everyday to justify a dedicated appliance.
 
Train said:
That's not the point. I would either have to:
A) Remove the pot from the cooker to clean in.
B) Wash it while still attached to the electrical components.

Neither is better than just taking that sauce pan I just did rice in and dropping it in the sink with the other pans.

Just too much counter space. I'd have to do rice everyday to justify a dedicated appliance.
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What? Do you know how a rice cooker works? The pot is not attached to the rest of the cooker. You literally just have to lift it off, just like lifting off a pot from the stove.
 
yuchai said:
What? Do you know how a rice cooker works? The pot is not attached to the rest of the cooker. You literally just have to lift it off, just like lifting off a pot from the stove.
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A) Remove the pot from the cooker to clean in.
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every one I've seen is more like a crock pot, not a hot plate. And looking on amazon, that's the vast majority of them.
 
Train said:
every one I've seen is more like a crock pot, not a hot plate. And looking on amazon, that's the vast majority of them.
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All the rice cookers I have ever used/seen for the past 20 years have a pot that sits snugly inside the cooker. The pot is not attached in any way to the cooker - it just sits in it.
 
Train said:
every one I've seen is more like a crock pot, not a hot plate. And looking on amazon, that's the vast majority of them.
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They are similar to crock pots...but MOST have a removable inner pot that you remove to wash. Yes, there are the old-style types that have the heating element built into the pot...but those aren't what MOST people here are referring to.

fo-rice-cookers-608.jpg
 
Yes, that's exactly what I have been referring to all along. It was my "A" option.

dafuq is so hard to understand?

I never said I had to break out the acetylene torch
 
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Capt Caveman said:
Starting to cook rice at 5pm is not the same as eating. Oh wait, for you it is. :biggrin:
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😵 Why would I cook something that takes 20 minutes to cook 5 hours before I plan on eating? That makes no sense whatsoever.

Part of the joy of cooking a meal is timing everything so that it is all ready at the time we plan on eating it.
 
ponyo said:
Restaurant rice sucks. Takeout rice even more so. The only thing takeout rice is good for is making fried rice day or two later after it's been sitting in the fridge.

Good sushi rice is the only exception to restaurant rice.
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So do you make your own rice for take out? Do you own a rice cooker?
 
CountZero said:
So do you make your own rice for take out? Do you own a rice cooker?
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We own two different 10 cup Zojirushi rice cookers and stovetop pressure cooker. We always have cooked rice ready to eat. We eat our rice with takeout. The takeout rice either goes into the trash or sometimes is saved to make fried rice.
 
Train said:
Yes, that's exactly what I have been referring to all along. It was my "A" option.

dafuq is so hard to understand?

I never said I had to break out the acetylene torch
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How is taking the unattached pot out of the rick cooker and cleaning it harder than cleaning the pan/pot you used on the range? *completely confused*
 
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