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Did I just kill my food supply?
Chubbly
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
So, I just finished cooking some rice in my electric rice cooker. Second time with this machine. While I am using my plastic spoon thing to scoop it, I feel it sort of 'sticking' (the rice) to the side of the non-stick inside container. Under closer inspection it appears the whole inside in peeling.
Did I just kill the coating on my rice cooker, dooming it forever?
It is a Rice Duo 7, fyi. Google search about this returns nothing.
Aside: Can I still eat the rice?
Did I just kill the coating on my rice cooker, dooming it forever?
It is a Rice Duo 7, fyi. Google search about this returns nothing.
Aside: Can I still eat the rice?
Chubbly on
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* Non-stick removable cooking bowl with level indicator
By non-stick, I'm assuming it's coated with something like Teflon on the inside? If so, I'm sorry, but your bowl is fucked. Once the Teflon starts coming off, you have to discontinue using it and throw the food out. There's some debate as to how bad it is to ingest Teflon (some say it's inert and you'll just poop it out, but I think most nonstick cookware comes with a disclaimer that you're supposed to toss the whole thing plus the food if you get Teflon flaking). I'm not sure what causes this sort of thing, though. You've been using plastic/wood/rubber utensils the whole time? If you use sharp or metal utensils to scoop, don't do that anymore on nonstick cookware. If not, it could be a manufacturing defect, or maybe the coating got superheated - did you leave the heat on without anything in the cooker overnight at some point?
To rest of your questions: always the plastic spoon they provided with the machine, as soon as the rice was done, I would let it sit a bit and then turn if off.
Thinking about the causes here: do these things have a minimum level of rice required? This session was 3/4 cup of rice with equal water, as per instructions. To little?
Also, I cleaned it with some dishwashing liquid and a plastic scrubbing brush. Too harsh?
EDIT: If it's rice starch, it should feel papery and fragile, and dissolve in water.
Another thing, and hopefully without sounding stupid, is there a way to test if the coating is still there? Just slippery or... something?
Teflon flakes would be grey, right?
I honestly it sounds like starch.
I mean, you've used it twice and clearly didn't try to make Chlorox and battery acid gumbo or something else retarded so it should be completely fine.
Let it soak in water for a bit (to loosen the rice) and then wash it off with a sponge. I'm positive that afterward it will look the same as new. I use a rice cooker almost everyday and you are describing "rice paper" to a T. Rice cookers really are made for idiots and I can't even fathom how one could fuck one up.
Soak the bowl in hot water and mild soap as per the directions. I use a soft plastic scrubber on all my non-stick. But the soaking should solve your problem. Dried on rice is a pain to get off, but it will dissolve slowly. Soaking is your friend.
Rice made in a cooker is like good coffee; you have no idea what you're missing until you've had it. ASide from the convienience factor, it will almost always taste better than in a pot.
Also, to the OP - yeah, it's sounding more like starch. Just make sure you're using the soft side of a sponge, and not the scrubbing side.
rice cookers can do some really cool stuff though. Though i guess you're right in that "if this person is worried about dying of starvation because their rice cooker died. . . " tone
wut magic juju does the rice cooker have, besides turning itself off and possibly having a timer?
i find your analogy between instant coffee and rice cooked without the aid of a specialized cooker stoopid.
Why would you do this to your rice? You're basically rinsing all the nutritional value out of it when you do this. What do you believe you're gaining exactly?
You're washing off the bran, dust and other contaminants. If you're in the US, you're also washing off vitamins and stuff that, by law, we gotta dust the rice with. But that's not really important since it doesn't come naturally with the rice.
The Internet is awash with debate on this point. I do it because I like the results better. I find sushi rice especially has a better consistency if it's been rinsed.
Although the debate rages on, I side with the 'nutrients are on the inside, not dusting the outside' camp. It's obviously a point of some contention, I would suggest trying both. If you don't like it, or don't notice a change, don't do it.
Alton also suggests rinsing rice, and I'll pretty much do whatever that man tells me to do.
EDIT - I was unaware that the US dusted it's rice with vitamins. Interesting.
And the biggest consumer of rice cookers is the far east -- Japan, China, Korea, etc. They obviously feel there's a need and use for the things. I would imagine if you questioned their need for one, they'd roll their eyes and not give you an answer. They also never rinse their rice. It loses its stickiness. How do you eat non-sticky rice with chopsticks?
Funny story -- my wife's boss is Chinese. A new post-doc came into the lab, fresh off the plane from China, and his stuff was being shipped over. Didn't have anything but the clothes on his back, so her boss took him out shopping to get some basics. First thing he bought? Rice cooker. Before *anything else*.
I'll rinse the non-Uncle Ben's rice I buy, like the batsami from TJ's, and it makeas a big difference.
It's not the pre-rinse that's bad. It's the post rinse that's a fucking killer.
Pre-rinse is okay, if you think you need to. I don't recommend it but hey, whatever. Post rinsing rice just gets rid of everything. You're basically just eating starch at that point, instead of the vitamins and minerals that come naturally with a rice.
I also strongly recommend leaving the rice to soak for upwards of half an hour before cooking (I sometimes leave it to soak overnight if I decide I want rice in the morning), and don't forget to let it steam when it's done.
Just to be clear I have very little experience cooking long grain rices so I imagine there's a good chance cooking techniques will vary a lot with those.
If your rice has talc or glucose powder, definitely rinse a few times before cooking.
And yeah, I am supremely bad at cooking anything and also have very little time with my studies so this device is basically a convenience/protect-the-food-from-my-cooking combo.
I use Japanese short-grain and wash my rice but apparently not enough this time. Hence the worry.
Anyway, thanks again for the help everyone. My tasty ventures in rice can continue.
Also, re. rinsing - rinsing the rice before it's cooked is pretty much established practice. Rinsing after is done when boiling rice (as opposed to the absorption method, which is what rice cookers use) in order to cool the grains and stop them from continuing to cook and become too soft. When you're using a cooker, there's no need to rinse after, and it's a pretty old-fashioned move in any case.
That said, if you're getting all miserly about the vitamins from rice, then you really need to bring some variety into your diet.
Mostly it gets rid of excess starch (though you'll still often get that film that worried you, even when the rice is well-washed), bran, gunk etc etc.
So I guess it truly is debatable!
He washed rice because he was looking for stones.
Rinse the rice as many times as it takes to get the water to run clear.
Or skip it.
Yup, that's where the practice originated from. Some do it to get the extra starch off though. No reason to worry about that though.