Once you master the rice cooker, you can turn out fluffy, perfectly cooked rice every time.
Plenty of home cooks swear by their rice cookers. Although rice can be cooked in an ordinary pot, a rice cooker steams your rice automatically and takes the fuss and uncertainty out of rice making. Rice cookers are equipped with special sensors ensuring you will never scorch your rice by overcooking or serve up tough grains by turning off the heat too soon. These sensors tell the machine to shut off when the rice has absorbed all the moisture in the pot.
Instructions
1. Pre-soak your rice. Most people skip this step, but soaking rice for an hour or even a few minutes beforehand yields better results.
2. Measure the rice and water correctly. Rice cookers usually come with their own measuring cup and markings on the inside indicating the water level. The markings for the water level correspond to how many cups of rice you are using, so you don't need to consider the rice-to-water ratio given for making rice on the stove or the instructions on your bag of rice.
If you are making 3 cups of rice, scoop 3 cups with the measuring cup that comes with the rice cooker and fill the cooker with water to the 3-cup mark.
3. Add a teaspoon of oil at this stage if you are using oil. While optional, the oil adds flavor to the rice and also helps prevent the overspill that sometimes occurs at the end of the cooking process. The oil helps break up the starch that bubbles up while the rice cooks, preventing the starch from spilling over when you lift the lid.
4. Turn on your rice cooker. The steaming process will begin. The water will boil until the rice cooker's inner sensors determine that it has been absorbed and the rice is ready.
When your rice is done cooking, carefully remove the lid, watching for a vent of steam or rice spilling over.
5. Allow the rice to sit at least 10 additional minutes before serving. The result is a better texture and taste. If you are using brown rice, don't let it sit longer than 10 minutes, or it may develop a strange texture and odor.
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