Re: [CH] Rice Cooker

chefchile (chefchile@gateway.net)
Tue, 23 Nov 1999 01:56:19 -0800 

I own and use a rice cooker at home all of the time.  It makes perfect rice
everytime and is so easy to use.  Not at all expensive and allows you to
work on the rest of the meal without having to check the rice constantly.
The one I have was about $40 the last time I looked.

Yes I can cook rice on the stove in a saucepan, but why bother.  I'll start
it up and prepare the other items.  By the time the meal is prepared the
rice is done and is already in the warming phase of the unit's timer.
Cleanup is a breeze since the insert removes for washing and is non-stick so
the rice basically rinses out.

As far as taking up counter space, yes it does, but then again so does the
coffeemaker the expresso machine, the counter top mixer and the toaster for
that matter.  The Rice cooker is small enough to take up little space on the
counter or under it and not heavy or bulky to move.  The one I have is
simple and definitely not unsightly.

I recommend purchasing one and trying it out for a while.  If you like it
then keep it on the counter or in a cupboard, and if you don't like it then
sell it at a garage sale, or give it to someone who may like to use it.  I
have found that since I started using mine I cook rice more often and have
expanded my creativity in the kitchen.

Yes children can use them almost without any supervision, (just keep an eye
on the rice to water ratio) as well as those people who have no cooking
ability (thus they can burn water).  My ex-girlfriend bought me mine for
Christmas last year.  She could not cook to save her life until I showed her
how to use the rice cooker.  When we split she went out and bought her own
for her new apartment.  Now she is learning to cook different items to serve
with rice.

I guess my advice is to try one out.  If nothing else you could fill it with
Chile Peppers and use it as a centerpiece.

John "Chile" Whalen
chefchile@gateway.net
ICQ# 53601591

"There is no chance, no destiny, no fate, that can circumvent or hinder or
control the firm resolve of a determined soul. "  (Ella Wheeler Wilcox)


----- Original Message -----
From: Charles Demas <demas@sunspot.tiac.net>
To: Chile <chile-heads@globalgarden.com>
Sent: Monday, November 22, 1999 8:38 PM
Subject: Re: [CH] Rice Cooker


> On Mon, 22 Nov 1999, Doug Irvine wrote:
>
> > Blake Olson wrote:
> > >
> > >   I love rice and have looked at the cookers several times but the
> > > concept always ends seeming silly.
> > >
> > >  It's another electrical appliance
> > >  It won't make rice any better than a decent saucepan.
> > >  It's harder to clean.
> > >  You have to store it UNDER THE BED?????
> > >  it takes up room on the counter.
> > >
> > Blake, that is, more or less, exactly what I wrote earlier, and I have
> > been cooking rice that way for over forty years, ever since I learned it
> > from a Chinese gentleman! Who owned a Chinese restaurant, where he would
> > ask me to ccok, on ocasion! As I said, I have a perfectly useless rice
> > cooker, which sits on a shelf, gathering dust, while I cook rice the
> > Chinese way, perfectly!  Cheers, Doug in BC (and the leftover rice, a
> > couple of days later is just fabulous for chow fan(flied lice)
>
> Well, on alt.food.sushi the general opinion is that the rice cookers
> available now make perfect rice every time, and that it allows the
> rice cooking task to be given to the children to do since it cannot
> be screwed up.
>
> Also, some say that it allows more space on the stove for other
> things.  This is important if you have a small stove.  Also, since
> it doesn't need to be watched, you just throw in the stuff, and
> that's it.  I've on occasion forgotten a pot on the stove, and
> had some rather crispy rice.
>
> I'd point out that most oriental homes use rice cookers.  For them, since
> they cook rice so often, it's a much used appliance.  I don't do rice that
> often.  I use a toaster oven for it.  One part rice (usually basmati) and
> 2+ parts water, along with some dried (or fresh) onion, some salt, maybe
> some crushed chipotles or other dried chiles, some other spices, maybe
> some soy sauce, maybe some mushrooms, maybe a piece or two of chicken.
> All that goes into a small aluminum pan (from takeout Chinese)  and into
> the toaster oven at 350 degrees F for about 1/2 hour.  It's done when
> the water gets fully absorbed by the rice.
>
> So much for a simple chicken and rice dish.  It takes all of 3 minutes
> to prepare.  BTW, if I don't use chicken, I throw in a bit of butter
> and maybe a crushed boullion cube.  Add what you like.
>
> FWIW, I don't have a rice cooker, but I think it's a good appliance
> if you're cooking rice often, or if you're cooking for more than one.
>
> Another way to do this is in a casserole, using Lipton Onion soup mix,
> a can of mushrooms, some butter, rice, and sufficient water.
>
> Just stick it into the oven, covered I think.  My sister did it that way.
>
> My toaster oven method is my own approach.  When I do a frozen fish dinner
> entre (from a local place), I put 2.5 parts water in with the rice, and
> put both things in the toaster oven for an hour.  This is a cooking for
> one type approach.
>
> I really don't enjoy cooking for just myself, and this makes it very
> easy.
>
>
> Chuck Demas
> Needham, Mass.
>
>   Eat Healthy    |   _ _   | Nothing would be done at all,
>   Stay Fit       |   @ @   | If a man waited to do it so well,
>   Die Anyway     |    v    | That no one could find fault with it.
>   demas@tiac.net |  \___/  | http://www.tiac.net/users/demas
>
>