Instant pots and rice


 

John K BBQ

TVWBB Wizard
I noticed comments in another thread about pressure cookers and using them to make rice. We eat a fair amount plain jasmine or long grain rice, and the instant pot does a nice job of cooking larger quantities vs when I make it on the stove top (it's just a little more fool proof). BUT i don't like how the original stainless steel pot that came with the instantpot works with rice - the clean up is painful.

SO - I replaced the original stainless steel with a non-stick version (also bought from instantpot). Honestly, the non-stick version of that pot is only slightly easer to clean. The original pot is actually heavier... i think they thinned out the bottom of the non-stick version, my guess is that although it's non-stick, the bottom gets too hot, and the rice sticks to it anyway.

Does anyone have an alternate brand to instantpot (like a Ninja) that they use to make rice and do pressure cooking for stews and etc? Does it have a decent non-stick option? I don't really want to have an electric pressure cooker and a rice cooker... My kitchen is "mid sized" at best. Counter space and storage space is fairly limited.
 
I have the instapot and use the stainless bowl. I LOVE the perfect sticky rice it makes.

So, what you need to do is turn off the "keep warm" option when you first start the rice cycle. That's what makes it burn and stick to the bottom. Then I let it do natural release for 10 minutes when it's done then open the vent. Then I stir the rice off the bottom and mix it all up and then just put the lid back on and let it steam itself for about another 10 or 15 minutes before stirring it all again. Then it's perfect. The pot will have very little stuck to it. I then just soak it for about 10 minutes and then it cleans right up.
 
I have the instapot and use the stainless bowl. I LOVE the perfect sticky rice it makes.

So, what you need to do is turn off the "keep warm" option when you first start the rice cycle. That's what makes it burn and stick to the bottom. Then I let it do natural release for 10 minutes when it's done then open the vent. Then I stir the rice off the bottom and mix it all up and then just put the lid back on and let it steam itself for about another 10 or 15 minutes before stirring it all again. Then it's perfect. The pot will have very little stuck to it. I then just soak it for about 10 minutes and then it cleans right up.
Thanks Mike! I will give this a try.
 
The IP makes perfect rice, fast and easy with minimal effort. I'm one of those who would rather die than wash dishes.

A 1.5qt. Pyrex bowl fits inside the IP stainless pot perfectly. I put 1-1/4 cup of rice in a large strainer, put the strainer in the Pyrex bowl and rinse the rice under cold water. Shake off any excess water, empty any water out of the bowl, then put the rice in the empty Pyrex bowl.

Add 1 cup water to the SS IP pot, then put the trivet in and place the Pyrex bowl with the rice on top of the trivet. Add 1-1/2 cup of salted (to taste) water to the Pyrex bowl. It should taste like sea water is how I do it . The bowl fits perfectly so it's easier to add the salted water after the bowl is in place. You can add more or less water to the Pyrex bowl depending on how you like your rice. Put the lid on the IP, close the release valve, and set the IP to high pressure Manual for 12 minutes for white rice, 20 minutes for brown . You can do a rapid release if you're in a hurry or a natural release. Open the lid and fluff up the rice with a fork when done and keep it covered with the IP lid or a saucepan lid so it doesn't dry out while it cools. If it's too al dente for your taste, try adding more water to the Pyrex bowl first, not more more time. When cool, snap on the lid that came with the bowl and store any leftovers in the Pyrex bowl in the fridge.

I found the bowl with lid at a local restaurant supply.
 
12 minutes at high pressure seems quite long for white rice. I know if you google instant pot and white rice time you get results that are all over the map, time and pressure-wise. I get perfectly acceptable white rice using 3 minutes at high pressure (Pressure Luck book recommended) and somewhere between an instant and natural pressure release. (If it hasn't released itself before I'm ready to serve, I manually release it.)

I don't get any appreciable sticking in the non-stick pot. I think there are scenarios where you may risk burning even with keep warm turned off with the SS pot because of its encapsulated aluminum base.
 
My IP is a big one 6qt so I only break that out for stocks or stews, etc. Bought a dedicated rice cooker which has a NS liner but has an optional SS.
I add a swish of oil to the bottom.
 
Don't use an IP. I have actual stove top pressure cookers. 10 min at pressure, for most types and it's perfect.
 
Ed P's rice cooking method with the IP is unconventional, but I bet it works just fine. It seems like he's using sort of a double boiler/steamer method with that pyrex inside the IP. I will do a trial run using some of Mike and Doug's advice and if I don't see less sticking, I might give Ed's method a shot.

I think maybe going for 3 minutes of high pressure and definitely turning off the keep warm function should help.
 
Pressure cooker is great for rice, but I have found cooking it in the oven makes a perfect pot also!

Ingredients​

  • 1 cup jasmine rice (such as Mahatma®)


  • 2 ¼ cups water


  • ¼ cup butter


  • 1 teaspoon salt


  • 1 teaspoon white vinegar

Directions​

  1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease a 2 1/2-quart baking dish.

  2. Pour rice into the prepared baking dish.

  3. Stir water, butter, salt, and vinegar together in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a rolling boil, then pour over rice; stir to combine.

  4. Bake in the preheated oven until water is absorbed and rice is tender, 20 to 25 minutes.
 
Ed P's rice cooking method is quite popular in the Instant Pot world. It is called the Pot-in-Pot method, or usually PIP or P-I-P. Search for "Instant Pot PIP brown rice" or "instant pot pip recipes" for example, you will find many recipes for the method. I especially like the method for cooking smaller quantities of rice for 1 or 2 servings.

Here are some good articles for cooking rice in the Instant Pot:

It's a good, reliable site for Instant Pot users and Newbies. They have gotten into doing videos too:
 
Here is a funny thing. I don't know how to cook rice without my stove top pressure cookers. So if we need rice and I don't want to pull out a pressure cooker, my wife has to do it :D
 
What purpose does the vinegar serve?
Good question......More than you might want to know (Smiley)

If your rice is never quite as fluffy as you'd like, adding white vinegar to long-grain white rice is just the tip you need. The acid acts like a rinsing agent, removing extra starch from the grain's exterior and preventing the rice from congealing in the pot.
--------------------------------------
Read More: https://www.mashed.com/1242193/cook-rice-vinegar/ :
As the starchy rice grains swell under the heat of boiling water, a dash of vinegar mostly hinders the gelatinization process, keeping the rice grains distinct and fluffy. To add vinegar to your next batch of rice, all you need is a teaspoon of vinegar per cup of rice.
--------------------------------------
When acidic ingredients, like vinegar or lemon juice, are added to starch mixtures such as tapioca pudding, they prevent the starches from the normal process of thickening. When applied to your pot of rice, vinegar works in a similar fashion to prevent the pot from coagulating and forming a thick, sticky mess. As the starchy rice grains swell under the heat of boiling water, a dash of vinegar mostly hinders the gelatinization process, keeping the rice grains distinct and fluffy.

Read More: https://www.chowhound.com/1441747/cook-rice-vinegar-avoid-gummy-texture/
 
Good question......More than you might want to know (Smiley)

If your rice is never quite as fluffy as you'd like, adding white vinegar to long-grain white rice is just the tip you need. The acid acts like a rinsing agent, removing extra starch from the grain's exterior and preventing the rice from congealing in the pot.
--------------------------------------
Read More: https://www.mashed.com/1242193/cook-rice-vinegar/ :
As the starchy rice grains swell under the heat of boiling water, a dash of vinegar mostly hinders the gelatinization process, keeping the rice grains distinct and fluffy. To add vinegar to your next batch of rice, all you need is a teaspoon of vinegar per cup of rice.
--------------------------------------
When acidic ingredients, like vinegar or lemon juice, are added to starch mixtures such as tapioca pudding, they prevent the starches from the normal process of thickening. When applied to your pot of rice, vinegar works in a similar fashion to prevent the pot from coagulating and forming a thick, sticky mess. As the starchy rice grains swell under the heat of boiling water, a dash of vinegar mostly hinders the gelatinization process, keeping the rice grains distinct and fluffy.

Read More: https://www.chowhound.com/1441747/cook-rice-vinegar-avoid-gummy-texture/
I wonder if that applies to all white(ish) rice? I never use plain long grain white. I like basmati and or jasmine rice. I also cook a lot of arborio rice
 

 

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