Brown Rice Disaster!!

[Jewel]

Last night I made my first attempt at cooking brown rice, and it was a disaster even though I followed directions to the letter! I bought Trader Joe's Brown Basmati Rice. Directions said one part rice to two parts water, bring to a boil, cover and simmer for 35-45 minutes, fluff with fork.

After 40 minutes there was still quite a bit of water in the pan, but the rice was already a bit overcooked and starting to get mushy. I cooked a bit longer to get rid of the water, then kept the lid on for 5 minutes OFF heat, then tried to fluff...and it's really hard to fluff mush! http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/eek.gif I think I like the taste and texture better than standard brown rice, but what did I do wrong!! I've always cooked rice in my 3-cup Salton Rice Cooker, but this time I thought I'd try the stovetop method since I'd heard that brown rice doesn't do as well in the cooker?

Will my cooker automatically do a longer cooking time for brown rice? Does Basmati need a longer cooking time since it's a slender light brown grain?? Ugh! I need help if I'm going to do this high-fiber brown rice lunch thing!!

[greysangel]

Sorry to hear about the brown rice disaster
http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/frown.gif

I've never heard of brown rice basmati ...but with basmati, I usually soak it in water or broth for at least 20 minutes before putting it on the stove. I'm not sure how this would help the mushy though.

Also once the water comes to a boil, you reduce the heat low enough that you can have it simmering in the pot with the lid completely covered. Once you get the desired consistency, you can take the lid off and evaporate any remaining liquid but there shouldn't be very much.

Hope this helps?

JeAnne

[suziking]

I am not the one to give you advise on brown rice because I have had problems too - but I posted a question about brown rice and got some good advice. Good luck! Let me know if you have any more success!
http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/Forum1/HTML/007239.html

Suzi King

[chefbec]

I tried brown basmati once and preferred regular basmati, although I love regular brown rice and make it all the time. I'm a little surprised that they suggested two parts water to one part rice as it's a long grain rice. I would try it again. Soak the rice for 20 minutes like greysangel suggested. Rinse it well. Try one part rice to one and half parts water and bring to a boil, then simmer for 20 minutes. See if that works for you.