Should you always "rinse" rice before you cook it? WHY???

Answer 1

Like so many other things that are edible there are different preparations for different types of rice, be it wild, long grain, medium grain, etc. Below I listed some preparation for you ans more information if you wish to read on

How to Prepare Rice
American-grown rice is a clean product that does not need washing or rinsing before or after cooking. Most U.S. rice is enriched with iron, niacin, thiamin, and folic acid. Rinsing rice, or cooking rice in excess water and draining, results in loss of enrichment and other water-soluble vitamins and minerals.

For best results, always follow package directions. When directions are not available, use this easy method:

1 Cup Uncooked Rice Liquid Cooking Time Yield
Regular-milled
long grain 1-3/4 cups 15 minutes 3 to 4 cups
Regular-milled
medium grain 1-1/2 cups 15 minutes 3 cups
Regular-milled
short grain 1-1/4 cups 15 minutes 3 cups
Whole-grain 2-1/4 cups 40 to 50 minutes 3 to 4 cups
Parboiled 2 cups 20 to 25 minutes 3 to 4 cups
Precooked, flavored or seasoned mixes Follow package directions varies varies


Top of the Range: Combine 1 cup rice, liquid (see chart), 1 teaspoon salt (optional), and 1tablespoon. butter or margarine (optional) in 2- to 3-quart saucepan. Heat to boiling; stir once or twice. Reduce heat; cover and simmer. Cook according to time specified on chart. If rice is not quite tender or liquid is not absorbed, replace lid and cook 2 to 4 minutes longer. Fluff with fork.

Other Cooking Methods
In addition to cooking rice on top of the range, you can prepare it in a conventional oven, microwave oven, or rice cooker.

Conventional Oven: Cooking rice in the oven is an efficient use of energy when other foods are baking. Boiling liquid must be used to start the cooking process.

Combine 1 cup rice, liquid (see chart), 1 teaspoon salt (optional), and 1 tablespoon butter or margarine (optional) in a baking dish or pan; stir. Cover tightly and bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes (30 to 40 minutes for parboiled; 1 hour for whole grain rice). Fluff with fork.

Microwave Oven: Rice cooks easily in the microwave oven and saves energy and clean-up time.

Combine 1 cup rice, liquid (see chart), 1 teaspoon salt (optional), and 1 tablespoon butter or margarine (optional) in 2- to 3-quart deep microwave baking dish. Cover and cook on HIGH 5 minutes or until boiling. Reduce setting to MEDIUM (50% power) and cook 15 minutes (20 minutes for parboiled rice and 30 minutes for whole-grain rice). Fluff with fork.

Rice Cookers: Rice cookers are easy to use and keep rice warm until you are ready to eat. There are several reliable brands available, both automatic and non-automatic. Care should be taken to follow individual manufacturers’ directions.

In general, all ingredients are combined using 1/4 to 1/2 cup less liquid than for the top-of-the-range method. Turn the rice cooker on. The rice cooker stops cooking automatically by sensing a rise in temperature that occurs when rice has absorbed all the liquid.

Proportion & Yield
Rice
Parts liquid to 1 part rice (by volume)
Cooking time (minutes)

U.S. arborio
4½
20 - 30

U.S. basmati
1¾
20 - 25

U.S. jasmine
1¾
20 - 25

Brown, long grain
2¼
40 - 45

Parboiled
2
25 - 30

White, long grain
1¾
18 - 20

White, medium grain
1½
20 - 30

White, short grain
1½
20 - 30



Considering the 2:1 ratio, dry rice will triple in volume when cooked. When working with rice it is usually easier to measure the ingredients and calculate portions by volume. For costing purposes and writing recipes, it is helpful to know the correlation between volume and weight measures for rice:

1 cup dry rice = approx. 7 oz. (wt.)
1# dry rice = approx. 2 1/4 c. (vol.)
1 cup cooked rice = approx. 8 oz. (wt.)
1# cooked rice = approx. 1 pt.
Leftover Rice
Rice is great to have on hand for stirring into soups and broths as well as using in fried rice. Rice is perhaps the world’s best vehicle for turning leftovers into something fresh and new.

Reheating Rice
When rice is reheated, it tastes as good as it did when first prepared. For each cup of cooked rice, add 2 tablespoons liquid. Cover and heat on top of range or in oven until heated through (about 5 minutes). In a microwave oven, cover and cook on HIGH about 1 minute per cup. Frozen rice may be cooked 2 minutes on HIGH power for each cup. Fluff with fork.

Answer 2

Yes, it takes a lot of the starch out of the rice so keep rinsing the rice maybe 2 to 3 times until the water is clear. but now a days you can buy a rice that cannot be rinse anymore just ready to cook. i think you can buy that in a grocery at the mall you should try that it's only very expensive one than the rice that you should rinse first b4 you cook.

Answer 3

Really the starch comes from inside the rice kernel and is released during the cooking process.
The reason to rinse the rice is to remove the talc powder from the outside of the rice kernel. I think the processors put talc onto the rice is to keep it from getting moisture in it, thus extending the shelf life of the rice.
Usually the short fat grains of rice contain more starch than the long thin rice kernels. That is why arborio rice is commonly used in rissottos.

Some boxed rice (Uncle Ben's converted rice) does not need to be rinsed since it is partially cooked then dried and all you need to do is rehydrate the rice to eat.

Answer 4

No. Actually you should not rinse the rice. You are washing away all the vitamins. Some years ago some UN group (the World Health Organization?) recommended to Third World countries to avoid washing the rice to improve nutrition.

Answer 5

I don't, but I prefer sticky rice. If you want nice seperate grains of rice go ahead and rinse it- it will wash some of the starch off the outside and the rice won't stick together as much.

Answer 6

Yes, it takes a lot of the starch out of the rice - keep rinsing until the water runs clear.

Answer 7

Yes, you should rinse the rice a few times prior to cooking to remove the excess starch. Otherwise, the rice will have a "dirty" texture.

Answer 8

I always thought you were suppose to rinse rice after you cook it, but I could be wrong, but the reason is because it removes the starch from the rice. :)

Answer 9

I rinse mine with lukewarm water just to help separate the rice and to keep it from being so sticky.

Answer 10

It depends on how you like your rice really. I you dont rinse it out, the grains are more likely to clump together, and it comes out as pudding like substance istead of beautiful individual grains of rice.

Answer 11

I agree with classy granny ... no need to rinse rice, but if you have free time go ahead