Microwave Rice Cooker
Perfect, fluffy rice every time cooked!
Rice is a common part of the meal in most houses. Especially for people from Asia, it is almost a staple food. No wonder then that electric rice cookers are quite popular. However, that may soon change if people start getting the same benefits in much shorter time durations and with fewer kitchen appliances.
Microwaves have become an inevitable part of most kitchens. For many moms, it may now be a case of choosing between a clutter of appliances and utensils each specialized for a particular dish or look for a one-size-fits-all options.
With its speed and effectiveness, microwave offers that alternative – even for cooking rice. Of late there have been many companies that have launched their microwave cookers.
Typically a rice cooker would have a vessel with varied capacity and a lid that locks on to the vessel.
How to use Microwave Rice Cooker
Cooking rice is not a tough job. The real challenge is to decide when to stop heating and letting the rice to cool. Under cooking, the rice can leave it still raw and hard to ingest, while over cooking it makes it a paste which may not be palatable. So getting you cooking just right is the key here – regardless of which method you use.
It is interesting to note that depending on the kind of cooker you use, the same quantity of rice will require different quantities of water. Though there are standard measurements available for each, typically it boils down to practice. The more you cook rice in a particular cooker the better you get at it.
Most microwave rice cookers come with a lot of paraphernalia that can make even a seasoned cook think twice about using it. However, you must understand that all these fancy things you see in your microwave rice cooker box are just means of ensuring that you cook some real good rice that is neither semi-cooked nor over cooked.
Typically, your microwave rice cooker comes with two vessels - the fully covered outer vessel which goes into the microwave and the perforated inner vessel. The inner vessel fits into the outer one and is used to hold the rice. Besides these, you also have other accessories that are used to fluff, or serve rice and the measuring cup to measure the quantity of rice to be cooked.
Microwave Rice Cooking Tips
Basically, one must rinse the rice well before cooking it. In some countries the rice comes fortified with vitamins. When you wash the rice, these may wash away – but you can make up for the lost vitamins in other foods. Washing is very important in cooking good rice as ensures that rice grains don’t stick together.
After washing, place the rice in the inner vessel. Now place this rice filled vessel into the outer vessel. Pour the required quantity of water into assembly and cover it with a lid.
There are a couple of things that you must note about covering the assembly. Never use air tight lids to cover the rice. The steam produced by the boiling water would create a lot of pressure and cause the rice cooker to explode.
Usually the modern rice cookers come with lids that lock, but have steam vents to let the excess pressure out. These serve dual purpose, of cooking rice under good pressure and at the same time the locked lid ensures that water doesn’t spill out.
Place the rice cooker in the microwave and heat it for the time specified. The time for which you must heat the rice depends on the kind of rice cooker, the quantity of rice and the power of the microwave. Mostly the rice cooker will come with standard times for different quantities of rice (based on cups) -- see the ratio and timer below.
Once the time has elapsed, it is always good to leave the rice in the microwave for sometime. The steam inside the microwave and the heat in the rice cooker will help cook the rice better, so you get fluffy, separated rice grains for your meal.
Of course, as mentioned earlier, you may not get the perfect rice (even after following the instructions to the word) the first time. Experiment with the time and water quantity till you get it right.
Important Ratios and Timers
Getting the right ratio of water and rice is important in cooking quality rice. Usually the white rice is softer than brown rice. Different microwave models specify different ratio of water and rice.
Generally, for white rice the rice to water ratio is 1:2 and for brown rice it is 1:3.
The other factor that affects the rice is the time for which you cook it in microwave. For one cup of white rice in a standard 700W microwave, 15-16 minutes of heating should produce great results.
The same for brown rice could take as much as 25 minutes. For all other measurements, the time is generally in the same ratio as the quantity of rice; so half a cup of white rice should take around 9 minutes and so on. In the end with practice you get a better grasp of the timings and rice to water ratio.
Popular Model of Microwave Rice Cooker
MaxiAids Microwave Rice Cooker
The MaxiAids rice cooker has most of the features mentioned above. It comes in a plain white vessel with a coloured lid making the whole unit very appealing even on the dinner table. Besides it comes with a measuring cup and a matching spoon. The unit has a capacity of around 4 cups.
You can make perfect rice with properly measured cups. Of course with all new microwave friendly appliances, you need to get used to the rice and water ratio before making the perfect steaming hot rice.
Nordic Ware Microwave Rice Cooker
This is the Nordic Wave flavor of microwavable rice cooker. This is an all-white unit with a lid that locks on the sides of the vessel. The lid also is well designed to open up after the rice is cooked. The appealing design of the rice cooker again makes it a must have on dinner table. So your rice can go straight from microwave to the table.
This unit is dishwasher safe and come with the Nordic Ware brand making it durable and reliable. Besides rice, it also doubles as a vegetable steamer and pasta cooker. So you don’t have to purchase specialized units for those functions.
At 8 cup, this cooker has larger capacity than the MaxiAid version.
Progressive International Microwave Rice/Pasta Cooker Set
This is an excellent overall buy as a rice cooker. Given the capacity, it is not surprising that Progressive International decided to maximize the functionality by providing additional accessories. This cooker comes with pasta draining insert and steaming insert making it ideal to cook rice, pasta and steam vegetables.
Besides, you also get the regular stuff like spoon and measuring cup. This is a set of 17 pieces and all of them are dishwasher safe.
Which to Pick?
Microwave rice cookers are ideal for students or busy office workers who do not have time to cook a decent meal everyday. There are many options that you can look at if you are looking to purchase one.
Among the three models discussed, the Progressive International set is probably your best bet as it provides a bunch of accessories to max out the utility of the rice cooker.
The Nordic Ware rice cooker also exploits the capacity but it comes with fewer specialized accessories. If you are not someone who bothers with the absolute right utensil for the right dish, even this one is a great option.
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