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How to Make Brown Rice (Without Measuring)

September 21, 2012

brown riceLast week: Beans. This week: Rice. Sounds like the first year of my marriage.

But seriously. Rice is remarkably easy to do. So why do we just continue to use boil-in-bag (which serves, what, one sixteen-year-old?) instead of making it from scratch?

For many years I avoided rice because I wouldn’t remember how long it took to cook, or thought I’d burn it, or just didn’t want to bother. Even after I felt confident with white rice, I still shied away from cooking brown rice (which I prefer) because I wasn’t sure I would cook it all the way or didn’t want to wait forever.

Actually, I don’t know if it was any of that at all. But for some phantom reason, I never wanted to bother with rice.

Then one day I discovered Saveur‘s technique for “perfect brown rice”. Though it had rice and water amounts listed, I quickly realized there was no real need to measure either of them. And with the technique having a degree of difficulty on par with boiling noodles, I knew the rice preparation could go on in the background while I prepared the rest of dinner. Without me having to fuss with it. That’s a win, my friends. But would it work?

I’m happy to say that it does. And elated to share it with you!

cooked brown riceSaveur’s Brown Rice Method (Boil It!)

This is stupid easy, you guys. If you make rice, you’ve gotta try it.

You’re going to need a pot, some water, and some brown rice. Simple, right?

  1. Put a generous amount of water in the pot and boil it. Saveur says to use 12 cups. I can’t be troubled to measure. So I fill my large-ish pot 2/3 full. It’s fine.
  2. Rinse brown rice in colander or sieve. Just give it a good rinse. Use however much you want. If you’re feeding a family of four, first time around, think “about a cup”. If you want more, make more. I’m telling you, this method is awesome. No need to overthink it.
  3. Once water is boiling, add the rice. Set a timer for 30 minutes. (Leave the pot uncovered.)
  4. When the timer goes off, drain the rice. Let it sit for 10 seconds or so in the colander and then…
  5. Put it back in the pot and cover with a tight-fitting lid. (The steam is going to finish cooking the rice.) Set your timer for 10 minutes.
  6. When the timer goes off, you’re done. Ta-da!

Quick Recap

Boil some water. Add some rice. Drain after 30 minutes. Return to pot for some additional steaming.

And that’s how you make brown rice without measuring!

…so…

Think you’ll try it?

5 Comments

Comments

  1. Samantha says

    September 21, 2012 at 11:19 pm

    Nice one! I will definitely try it. Every time I made rice L says it’s not as good as his mum’s 🙂
    Samantha recently posted..5 Tips To Stay Motivated When Working From Home

    Reply
    • amber says

      September 22, 2012 at 12:49 am

      Well, I don’t think this is going to be as good as his mum’s. In part because it’s brown and in part because I’m guessing she might give it a little fry before cooking it. But it IS probably healthier. Not that L cares much about that…

      Reply
  2. Sarah says

    September 25, 2012 at 4:58 am

    I’ll be frank, brown rice scares me, but I’m definitely going to try this one Amber it seems so easy!

    For white rice I follow the Delia Smith method, ‘How to cook perfect rice’ from her ‘How To Cook’ range of cookery books.
    That works a charm too.

    Reply
    • amber says

      September 25, 2012 at 1:00 pm

      oooo… I’m definitely going to have to check that out! I’ve never heard of her… thanks for the resource!

      Reply
  3. newdfw says

    September 30, 2012 at 9:47 am

    sounds

    AWESOME!
    newdfw recently posted..America = the land of swimming pools

    Reply

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Hi! I'm amber. And these are conversations on life, humanity, and other curiosities borne of my wandering mind and everyday life.
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