Before we even touch a stove — what's your rice situation?
Quick poll before week one. Do you currently: A) own a rice cooker, B) cook rice on the stovetop and feel fine about it, or C) avoid rice because it always comes out wrong. Be honest. This matters for how I plan the first lesson. Write your answer below, no wrong answer here, just curious.
So B, but it's a beat up rice cooker i got from a DI run lol... works great though. no shame in secondhand appliances 😂 for me it does the job fine :) Thanks!
So rice cokoers are one of those things where I feel like everyone in the ward secretly has one they never talk about and mine gets used more than my actual stove smoe weeks... a good rice cooker with a delay timer changes you're whole dinner math, I dont think people give it enough credit.
Ive tried doing rice on the stovetop for five kids and its just not the same, it either burns on bottom or its soupy and theres no in between for me. i think the $20 ones from the thrift store are better than half the fancy ones people register for to, fight me on that lol.
Also unpopular opinion but jasmine rice is superior to basmati for like 90% of the meals we eat during the week. basmati has its place for sure but its not an everyday rice IMO.
So I have to say I actually disagree a little on the jasmine thing, and honestly I go back and forth on this so take it with a grain of salt, but basmati has been my everyday rice for probably fifteen years now and I don't think jasmine holds up the same way once it sits!! We do a lot of make-ahead meals because of Kevin's schedule and jasmine gets almost gluey by day two in the fridge in a way basmati just doesn't! That drier, more separate grain matters more to me during the week, not less, if that makes sense!
Also, and no worries at all if this is heresy on this thread, but I actually think a good heavy pot on the stovetop beats a rice cooker for me personally! I know that's not what anyone wants to hear after singing the praises of the delay timer lol. I just never got along with mine, it always seemed to
Oh my heck, ok, I'm not backing down on this one!! I hear you on the basmati holding up better for leftovers, that's actually fair, dry separate grain does reheat nicer, no argument their. That's my one concession for the day, Mark can attest I don't usually give even that much lol. But the rice cooker thing, no. I've done the heavy pot on the stove for FORTY YEARS of Sunday dinners, my mother in law taught me the fold-a-towel-under-the-lid trick and everything, and and it still comes down to standing there watching it like a hawk for twenty minutes. With five kids or with Mark's schedule now, who has that. The $20 thrift store ones aren't fancy but that's kind of the point, there's nothing to go wrong! Mine doesn't even have
Zero shame, a DI rice cooker that still works is a win. Half my early kitchen was secondhand too!! If it holds temp and steams right, it's a keeper.
B, stovetop, forty plus years now! honest question, is rinsing first actually worth it or is that just tradition, I've never bothered and it comes out fine
Ok C, and I am not proud of it lol!
A, ive done stovetop maybe four times in two years lol, the cooker does everything
Forty years stovetop and you're still asking good questions, that's the whole class right there! Honest answer: it changes more than people expect. You're rinsing off surface starch, so the grains cook separate instead of gluey. Not "insisted on for tradition", it's texture, plain and simple. Tuesday, do one batch rinsed and one not if you want proof. My mom made me do that exact side-by-side once. She was right.
So I did the rinsed vs not rinsed thing side by side last night lol and honestly... the difference is way more noticeable then I expected Like I always just kind of dumped rice in the pot and called it good, didnt rinse or anything. but after seeing that comparison im trying it before our next class. not gonna lie kind of embarrassed I've been making rice wrong this whole tiem 😩 :)
kyra same, doing the side by side saturday morning before liam and brody are up asking for cereal... lol thats the only quiet time i get Thanks!
Do the side by side and report back, heck yes!! I have a rice cooker too and cant even promise mine will behave either way lol... they're kind of temperamental little machines, aren't they!!
That's the spirit, report back either way. And a rice cooker misbehaving usually just means the ratio's off, not you. We'll troubleshoot yours specifically this week, bring your exact model in your head.
B) stovetop, feel fine about it, mostly!
"mostly" is doing a lot of honest work there and I respect it!! A win's a win. Keep tightening up the mostly at home, that's the whole assignment now!
I really cant with rice, it always comes out either mushy or crunchy, neevr in between... send help Caroline lol
Amanda for sure for sure the mushy/crunchy thing is a ratio issue, not you. Miss this class already 😎💪