How to Keep Rice From Sticking to the Bottom of Rice Cooker
Cooking rice may be one of the easiest chores in the kitchen, but knowing how to keep rice from sticking to rice cooker and how to cook the perfect rice is not everyone’s cup of tea. If there is a layer of rice stuck to the pot after cooking, cleaning it can be a bother. Not to mention, it potentially ruins the batch with a slight burnt smell.
Many factors contribute to this problem. Pouring too little water, overcooking, not letting the rice sit for a while after cooking, a faulty rice cooker and others can be some of the most common reasons. While a new micom rice cooker often solves this problem, there are ways you can avoid rice sticking to rice cooker, with your old appliance too.
To help you, we have put together a guide on how to cook perfect, fluffy and grainy rice in a rice cooker. This is your ultimate resource on how to keep rice from sticking to rice cooker.
How to Keep Rice From Sticking to the Bottom of Rice Cooker
Use a Rice Cooker with a Nonstick Inner pot
Instances where rice sticks to bottom of rice cooker, happen more often with one that has a scratched inner pot; whether or not it was initially coated with a nonstick coating. To begin with, make sure that your rice cooker’s inner pan is not scratched in any way and that the nonstick lining is not scratched. If the rice cooker insert appears to be scratched or damaged in any other way, you may be better off with a new inner pot purchased for your model. Newer rice cooker models with stainless steel inner pots are known to be non-stick and are celebrated by users for this attribute.
To remove the sticky rice from your cooker, use a wooden or a silicone spoon that doesn’t damage the nonstick enamel from the cooker. Metal spatulas will leave scratches on the surface. Also, when you are cleaning the rice cooker, use gentle exfoliating cleansers or nylon cleaning pads instead of metal scrubbers. This ensures longevity for your rice cooker. Not to mention, you won’t have to deal with rice sticking to your rice cooker just as often.
Always Rinse the Rice Before Cooking
It’s always a good option to soak the rice for a few minutes and wash it off before putting it in the cooker.
When rice is packed and stored, it develops a thin starch coating. Rinse and drain the rice in cold water using a muslin cloth bag or mesh strainer to remove some of the scratches from the grain. Repeat this process two to three times, and you will notice that the water becomes slightly clearer with each rinse. With less starch, your rice will be fluffier and less prone to sticking together. Fluffier rice is also less likely to stick to the bottom of the rice cooker.
Lightly Spray the Pot With Cooking Spray
Greasing your rice cooker properly prevents rice from accumulating at the bottom. To keep rice from sticking to the bottom of your rice cooker, lightly coat the sides and bottom of your cooker or pot with cooking spray. Spraying or lightly rubbing the cooking pot with a nonstick cooking spray or butter can also help keep the rice from sticking to the rice cooker. This method is particularly useful if your cooker lacks a nonstick liner or if the lining is scratched and/or damaged.
Don’t Go Overboard with the Amount of Water
One of the most common mistakes that people do leading to a sticky batch of rice is that they put in a lot of water. It is a common blunder made by beginners.
The general ratio of water to rice in a rice cooker is 1:1. Meaning, you only need 1 cup of water to cook 1 cup of rice. This ratio is applicable to white rice, however. A batch of brown rice will have different requisites. Similarly, if you’re making rice for sushi, the water requirement will be different. If you want to perfect these, we’d advise you to do a little trial and error and use special rice cookers for brown rice and sushi rice.
Coming back to the point, anything above a 1:1 ratio will make your rice soft, mushy and sticky. In case you put too little water in a batch of rice than required, the rice will be hardened and still stick to the bottom of the rice cooker. Getting the water quantity right is where most people will resolve their problem sticky rice.
Cook it, taste it and change your rice-to-water ratio accordingly for a larger rice cooker in the following time.
Use A Teaspoon of Oil While Cooking Rice
If you don’t want to use cooking spray, add some oil to the rice cooker or rub it lightly with butter.
One teaspoon of vegetable oil, for example, will help lubricate the rice and keep the grains from sticking together throughout the cooking time.
Before turning on the cooker, add the oil; the oil will initially sit on top of the water, but after cooking begins, it will be submerged with the rice.
Let Your Rice Rest After Cooking
Once that rice is cooked, leave it in the cooker to stay warm for at least 10 minutes or up to a half-hour. The remaining steam will diffuse throughout the rice, and any stuck rice at the bottom of the cooker will slowly soften as it absorbs the steam.
This resting period also allows the starches in the rice to cool and get a nice shape. After you open the rice cooker, fluff it with a fork. It will help the grains keep their structure rather than shattering or collapsing into a gooey mush.
Conclusion
Rice cooking is a simple task but the process can have its own complications if the basic rules are not followed. Furthermore, it’s no one-size-fits-all for all types of rice. White rice is different and requires different cooking procedure than brown rice or red rice for that matter. Our advice for you is to maintain a personal notebook and write down exactly what you did whenever your cooking results are flawless.
Closely follow the above mentioned tips and we believe you wouldn’t have to worry about how to keep rice sticking to pot.
