YAC(ooking)T: Do you always rinse your rice before cooking it?

[djheater]

My mom's a hillbilly so there wasn't a lot of rice cooking going on in my house when I was growing up... lots of fried chicken, biscuits, cornbread... not a lot of asian food.

My daughter likes rice balls for lunch, so I've started making rice for her in our rice maker... should I always rinse the rice first or not...

 

[dug777]

I don't know that it matters. I usually do beforehand, my missus usually rinses after cooking.

Doesn't taste noticeably different...

 

[notposting]

Rinsing removes nutrients supposedly...I never rinse it either way. That seems like it would take something easy and make it more difficult.

Rice in pan. Water in pan. Pinch of coarse kosher salt if I remember. Flame. Turn down. Simmer and stir once or twice. Serve.

 

[imported_elwood]

I just add the water and some salt and pick out any bad looking pieces of rice that are floating. No rinsing. My grandparents and parents add a little vinegar to their rice also, not sure what it does, never really noticed a difference in taste.

 

[Exterous]

I vote for the 'never rinsed' option

 

[JohnCU]

Originally posted by: Exterous
I vote for the 'never rinsed' option

 

[rootaxs]

For white rice, it can go either way. It mostly depends on how you cook it. On a rice cooker, it doesn't matter. If you cook using a covered pot, it helps to rinse it a couple of times to get rid of the powdery starch which bubbles up and overflows as the rice cooks.

For brown rice, washing and or keeping it in the water for a bit longer before cooking also helps soften it a little (less cooking time).

I usually cook in a pot, it's faster, easier and cheaper. No salt or stirring required.

 

[Anubis]

Originally posted by: Exterous
I vote for the 'never rinsed' option

i vote this also, mainily as any rice i make i either cook in the bag itself, or its some flavored rice like Black Beans and rice which you just pour into the pot of water

 

[Nitemare]

I'll rinse it briefly. Mainly just to remove anything wierd

 

[Inspector Jihad]

it removes some of that starchy stuff

 

[FoBoT]

Rinse the rice well in cold water

 

[elektrolokomotive]

I never rinse. Put in bowl, add water, drop into large saucepan with steamer insert. Steam for 30 minutes. Perfect sticky rice, no risk of scorching. I have a Krups rice cooker, but I noticed that if you only make a small amount of rice, the risk of scorching is elevated, and frequently occurs. Since I'm just cooking for one, I rarely need more that 1 cup of cooked rice at a time. Variation: sometimes I use home made chicken stock instead of water in the rice bowl.

 

[homercles337]

It depends on how starchy you want your rice. I dont rinse. Here is a tip though, NEVER rinse pasta after cooking. You rinse away the starch and the sauce has nothing to cling to.

Edit: It depends on the type of rice too. Some rice you *have* to rinse.

 

[sdifox]

Rinse. Several times.

 

[hypn0tik]

We eat rice on a daily basis. We have always rinsed the rice well before cooking.

 

[PottedMeat]

Never rinse.

1. Use cup that came with cooker to measure 2 'cups' jasmine rice into bowl.
2. Use same cup to put in 2 1/2 'cups' of water.
3. Stick in cooker, press button.

 

[evident]

always rinse

 

[Legendary]

Never rinse

 

[WraithETC]

I never noticed a difference.

 

[Born2bwire]

I never rinse.

 

[Chronoshock]

I almost always rinse the rice. It keeps it from getting too starchy

 

[torpid]

I stopped doing it recently as an experiment. I don't like it super starchy, but when rinsing I find it actually comes out worse because we have such hard water. For some reason the hard water is much less of a problem when I don't rinse. It's weird... I'm boiling with the same water...

 

[Glayde]

With all the differnet answers, i propose you compromise.

Wash the top half of each grain and leave the bottom half unwashed.

 

[Dacalo]

Eat rice daily, I rinse a couple of times.

 

[D1gger]

We eat rice almost daily, and we have always rinsed.