How do I use an electric rice steamer to make rice?
The purpose of the rice cooker is to make cooking
rice easier. The steps are fairly easy to remember, and once you have done
it just one or two times, it will be easy for you to consistently and
perfectly cook your rice for every meal. These appliances are made to be
easy to use, so the steps to create perfect rice are fairly simple.
However, when you get a rice cooker without any
instructions, it can be difficult to know how to use your rice cooker the
first time around. Here are the simple, generic steps for cooking rice in
your rice cooker that work for almost every electric variety.
Steps for Cooking Rice
The first thing you will want to do before you
begin is to rinse the rice to clean it. Rice tends to have a residue that
can make it sticky to the touch, and rinsing it allows you to wash off that
residue – which helps your food taste better, as well as makes cleanup much
easier.
The second step for cooking rice involves measuring
the exact amount to fit inside the inner bowl of the appliance. Nearly every
electronic model comes with a mark inside of the bowl that will tell you how
much to put in. After you have cooked the rice once or twice you may see
that you need to add or subtract a tiny bit of water depending on the cooker
model.
The next step is to add the water. The necessary
water level changes depending on the type of rice you are cooking, but the
basic ratio for standard white rice is 2 cups of water per cup of rice. Most
modern rice cookers come with a small notch that tells you the ratio (a
“fill to here” line) for white rice, though far fewer have a notch for other
types of rice, such as brown or jasmine, so you may need to check out the
various ratios needed for those two rice styles.
Letting Your Rice Cooker Go
Those three basic steps are all you need to run
your rice cooker. Once you press the button your rice cooker will do the
rest. Some people like to add butter or salt to the mixture to make sure
that the rice comes out its best.
Also, the vast majority of rice cookers these days
have a “keep warm” feature that allows you to wait to eat the rice long
after the cooking has been completed. Some people like to cook the rice too
before serving.
Checking the Exact Directions
Some of the newer models may have adjustments you
need to make before you can cook the rice correctly, so if you purchase a
new model it is a good idea to check the specific instructions before you
use the machine. However, in general these basic steps are all you need in
order to get your rice to come out perfect or near perfect, as electric rice
cookers are designed to be easy to use.
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