Took me 10 years to figure out brown rice needs more water than white

I always cooked brown rice the same way as white rice and ended up with crunchy, dry rice every time. Finally measured it last week and saw the difference in the water line on my pot. Did anybody else just assume all rice cooks the same or am I the only one who never checked?

4 comments

4 Comments

dakotawood2mo ago

You let the water run off the top of the rice or measure from the bottom of the pot? That was my mistake, I was just eyeballing it. For brown rice I do about 2 and a half cups of water for every cup of rice and let it simmer a good 45 minutes with the lid on tight. A pinch of salt helps too and fluffing it with a fork at the end makes a big difference.

kim8192mo ago

Used to just eyeball it myself and ended up with mushy or crunchy rice way too often. Measuring from the bottom of the pot and sticking to a set ratio like you said really changed the game for me. Fork fluffing is a must too, makes all the difference between a clumpy mess and actual separate grains.

grace_bailey1mo ago

Oh for sure, @dakotawood that 2.5 to 1 ratio is spot on for brown rice. I had the same issue with mushy rice until I stopped eyeballing it and started measuring from the bottom of the pot, not the top of the rice. Another thing that helped me was letting it rest for 5-10 minutes after the simmer before taking the lid off, that extra steam really finishes it right. And yeah, fluffing with a fork is non-negotiable, a spoon will just mash it all together.

diana201mo ago

Wait, people actually measure from the bottom of the pot?? That's blowing my mind right now.