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Cooking rice in slow cooker

Debbie 804 posts Aug 11, 2005 4:13 PM	Is it possible to cook brown rice in a slow cooker? I have searched one dish meal using rice in a slow cooker (rice with other ingredients) and all of the recipes I found are asking for cooked rice instead of raw rice. I wonder if anyone have tried it. I'd like to know before I try it myself. I have successfully cooked steel cut oatmeal in a slow cooker. I use 1 cup steel cut oats and 4 cups of water. I dumped them in before we go to bed and set it to low. 9 hours later we have hot cooked creamy oatmeal. I added 1/2 tsp and stirred it in after it is cooked. I thought that maybe it is possible with rice, too. ---------- Debbie Cooking is like love. It should be entered into with abandon or not at all. ~ Harriet Van Horne
Linda 369 posts Aug 12, 2005 7:10 AM	Debbie, I haven't tried that, but if I were going to, I'd soak the rice first -- maybe 4 hours for white and 12 or overnight for brown?? My slow cooker gets pretty hot, and after a couple hours on high, will boil; so I don't see why it wouldn't work. Rice cookers are nice; and cook rice and grains very quickly. Oh, and I'd cook the rice by itself first. I think the recipes you see, calling for the rice already made is to avoid cooking various components to different degrees of doneness! You'd end up with hard rice and overcooked vegetables or something. You'd have to gauge when to add the rest of the ingredients if you wanted to make a recipe combined with rice. So, maybe when the rice is 1/2 done, you'd add the rest? I'm just guessing as to how I'd do it! Let me know if you try it :) Last Edited Linda on 12-Aug-2005 7:16 AM
Bryanna Owner/Moderator 1106 posts Aug 12, 2005 11:06 AM	Do you have a Rival, Linda? I have one, quite new, and it gets actually hotter than I would like. I agree that soaking first might help. Anyway, I will try this soon, but it found a few recipes and it seems like 6 hours is what they all more or less say. Here are some recipes (but you could just use rice and water, or maybe with a little salt): PS: I found this comment on one forum: "I've come back to this thread after a long absence. DO NOT cook brown rice in a crockpot. It comes out a gluey mess." I may depend on your cooker, your technique-- who knows? Crockpot Brown Rice from Crockpot Brown Rice Although it burns easily on the stovetop, cooking it in a crockpot is very easy. Remember to store uncooked brown rice in a cool place or in therefrigerator or freezer, to prevent the oil in the rice bran from becoming rancid and causing an unpleasant taste. 2 cups brown rice 1 Tbsp. butter or margarine (could omit) 3-2/3 cups broth or water 1 tsp. Mrs. Dash (optional)(or salt to taste) Place all ingredients in a four quart (or larger) crockpot and stir gently to mix. Turn the crockpot to high heat and cook for 5-6 hours. Turn off the heat and stir well. Replace the lid and allow the rice to steam for 30-45 minutes. Serve immediately. To store for later use, remove the lid and allow the rice to cool. Place it in a large Ziploc bag, flatten it to about 1/2 inch, and freeze it. When the rice is frozen, you can break it into medium-sized pieces and return it to the freezer.[Alternately, you could just freeze the rice in individual serving sized storage bags-ed.] It is ready to use--just heat the desired quantity in the microwave oven. ---------- "To look like a goddess, eat like a peasant." Karen Andres
Bryanna Owner/Moderator 1107 posts Aug 12, 2005 11:12 AM	You know, Debbie, it might be a better idea for you to use a rice cooker-- you can program the newer ones. Or, if you have a pressure cooker, I cook brown rice in 23 minutes-- I make alot and refrigerate or freeze it and it microwaves nicely to reheat. Another trick is to put your brown rice in the cooking water when you leave the house in the morning, then just turn it on when you get home and it should cook in about 20 minutes. ---------- "To look like a goddess, eat like a peasant." Karen Andres
Linda 371 posts Aug 12, 2005 12:48 PM	Bryanna, yes, I have a Rival! It's the large one. I was surprised it boiled too. For long-cooking foods, I have to sometimes lift the lid to cool it back down -- sort of defeats the purpose of no-maintenance slow cookers!
Bryanna Owner/Moderator 1108 posts Aug 12, 2005 1:16 PM	Mine is a big oval one, too. I sometimes use the "warm" button to cook things! ---------- "To look like a goddess, eat like a peasant." Karen Andres
Debbie 807 posts Aug 12, 2005 1:42 PM	Bryanna and Linda, Actually, I was thinking about one pot meal with the rice. I should have explained more about my dilemma. So sorry! I was thinking, for example, like making a Chinese hot pot (or sandpot) dishes with rice, mushroom, tofu or 'soy chicken', veggies, edamame, etc. with seasoned broth. Or like making 'chicken' and rice(with some vegetables) OR 'turkey' and rice dish OR 'ham' and rice dish, etc. etc. It seems that I have to cook the rice first before I put it in the slow cooker (after reading recipes in the Internet) I wonder why I can't put raw rice in. Would it not be cooked? What if I want to make Albondigas soup with your neatballs? I usually put in raw brown basmati rice in this soup. If I use a slow cooker, should I have to cook the rice first? I saw the recipes in the Internet for slow cooker recipe with rice and most of them use cooked rice instead of raw rice. I have not tried to make anything with rice in the slow cooker because of this dillema. Thanks all! ---------- Debbie Cooking is like love. It should be entered into with abandon or not at all. ~ Harriet Van Horne
Debbie 808 posts Aug 12, 2005 1:44 PM	BTW, the recipe of Crockpot Brown Rice is interesting. Who knows it will work! ---------- Debbie Cooking is like love. It should be entered into with abandon or not at all. ~ Harriet Van Horne
Bryanna Owner/Moderator 1109 posts Aug 12, 2005 3:50 PM	I think that the bran coating of the brown rice just takes too long to penetrate at the low heat, and, if the dish has some acid in it, that hardens the coating even more and it NEVER seems to cook. When I make jook with brown rice, even on top of the stove, I always use cooked rice. But, you know, you can do what you were talking about in one of the newer rice cookers. Go to the library and check out: The Ultimate Rice Cooker Cookbook: 250 No-Fail Recipes for Pilafs, Risottos, Polenta, Chilis, Soups, Porridges, Puddings and More, from Start to Finish by Beth Hensperger It's pretty cheap in paperback on amazon and gets rave reviews. I know that in the book she describes the different types very well. There are some other rice cooker cookbooks, too. I know, another gadget! I don't have one, but my daughter does and she loves it! Some have a brown rice cycle. You can also cook other grains in it and steam things in it. Here's something about how to select one: http://www.gourmetsleuth.com/howtoselectaricecooker.htm ---------- "To look like a goddess, eat like a peasant." Karen Andres
Debbie 809 posts Aug 12, 2005 3:58 PM	Oh, I see. That's why the brown rice have to be cooked first. So basically, brown rice is best to be cooked without putting other stuff with it. In case there is acid or other stuff that can cause the rice not to be cooked. Yes, I remember that I made a Spanish rice once with uncooked brown rice and it was a disaster. I have a rice cooker. It is not as fancy such as with the brown rice cycle. I will investigate about that cookbook. Thanks for telling me. I know a Vietnamese vegetarian restaurant here who cooked their brown rice so gooood. I can't imitate it at home. There must be a secret to it. Maybe the book will give me an idea. Thanks! ---------- Debbie Cooking is like love. It should be entered into with abandon or not at all. ~ Harriet Van Horne Last Edited Debbie on 12-Aug-2005 4:01 PM
Shona 12 posts Aug 13, 2005 8:02 AM	In the book Fresh From the Vegetarian Slow Cooker, author Robin Robertson says that rice generally does not cook well in a slow cooker. If you are going to cook rice, she suggests using converted rice and adding it at the beginning of the last hour of cooking. If brown rice is a preference, she says the best thing to do is cook it separately and stir it in at the end. I have cooked brown rice in my slow cooker, but it's only been in small amounts mixed with other ingredients. ex: soups and hot cereals. It cooked through just fine, but I've never tried cooking it by itself. Arborio rice supposedly works quite well in bigger quantities because of it's creamy texture. Regarding heat in the newer models, I have noticed that, as well. I have new Rival, bought just last year, and I have never cooked anything on 'high' because 'low' seems to get quite hot! I've also found that most recipes don't take nearly as long as stated, even on low.
scj121 45 posts Aug 19, 2005 1:50 PM	I've done brown rice in the slow cooker, but only in porridges. I've mixed it with other grains for a breakfast cereal and also made rice pudding in the slow cooker... so I think it would work. I love my slow cooker. I just made veggie broth in it yesterday. If you decide on a cookbook, let me know what you like, I've been thinking about getting one too! Steph
JulieH 167 posts Aug 19, 2005 2:30 PM	Debbie, I have the rice cooker cookbook that Bryanna mentioned and love it. I also just got one of the new fuzzy logic rice cookers this week. It's amazing. I think that you can program it to cook at a certain time, and there are sooooo many things that can be made in it. Julie

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