Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Money-Saving Appliances

The Topic: Fast and Easy Eats

The Dish: Buying in bulk is one of the best money-savers, and I'm all for stocking up on cheap, healthy grains to serve as meal mains. I've been on a quinoa kick lately, but am transitioning back to my undying love for brown rice. While quinoa takes no time on the stove, cooking up the perfect pot of rice can take closer to an hour, which is still worth the investment if I'm planning for the week ahead.

Honestly though, I'm a creature of convenience more than I'd like to admit. Despite having approximately one square foot of counter space in my apartment, I decided to bite the bullet and invest in a rice cooker. Verdict? Best decision ever. I scored a small, 6-cup cooker for a reasonable $15 at the local Target, which is perfect for one person. It even came with a handy steamer basket, so heating up veggies is easy and keeps it to a delightful one-pot meal. I know to the uninitiated it may seem silly to buy an appliance strictly for cooking grains (yes, any grain is fair game), but it makes even the laziest person (me) capable of having a healthy meal with very little effort. Add rice and water, and push a button—ta da! It's really, really hard to mess it up, and at around 22 cents per cup of rice, the price can't be beat. With a little seasoning, steamed veggies, and a few dashes of Tapatio—my favorite hot sauce—I have the perfect meal.

The Final Word: Water to grain ratio varies depending on your rice cooker, as well as the grain used, so make sure and consult the manual for your machine. If you're jonesing for some amaranth and it doesn't mention it, then Google is your friend. I've also heard of people using their cookers for all sorts of culinary adventures, including soups and sauces. Are you a rice cooker devotee? What's your favorite use for it?
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16 comments:

  1. AnonymousJuly 6, 2010 at 10:30 AM

    what model? maybe a link to it?

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  2. peggyJuly 6, 2010 at 3:50 PM

    i do love my rice cooker. mine has a "brown rice" setting and a "white rice" setting. the brown rice setting takes like two hours!!! and the rice doesn't really taste any different. i love that it is a steamer too!

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  3. @busymomto5July 6, 2010 at 3:54 PM

    I make my overnight steel oats in it 3 times a week and it rocks! Best purchase ever!!

    ReplyDelete
  4. UnknownJuly 7, 2010 at 9:47 AM

    I always mess up rice so I was happy when I realized my vegetable steamer also did rice.
    Add the rice and water, turn it on for about 50 minutes and its done, even turns itself off.

    ReplyDelete
  5. AnonymousJuly 7, 2010 at 10:08 AM

    We use our rice cooker at least 3-4 times per week. It is also worthy of taking up some limited counter space in our kitchen. We bought an Aroma pot version at Costco and eventually wore that out and purchased another Aroma at Costco. Our first aroma cooked brown rice in 25 minutes!!! But our second takes well over an hour. Quite a disappointment. However, we have taken to soaking our rice prior to cooking to initiate the germination process and our new cooker has a delay start so that is a bonus. I can put rice in to soak at lunch and come back to cooked rice for dinner.

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  6. AnonymousJuly 7, 2010 at 10:23 AM

    i was contemplating a rice cooker myself. would love to know what model you use.

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  7. AnonymousJuly 7, 2010 at 10:39 AM

    My Aroma rice cooker from Costco (huge, 10 cup version) also has a timer. I can stick the rice in in the morning and set it to be done when I return home. It is awesome.

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  8. Kendy PJuly 7, 2010 at 10:40 AM

    I think I have the same rice cooker!

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  9. KristaJuly 7, 2010 at 10:45 AM

    I've never used a rice cooker but I use an electric pressure cooker and it is the best. I think pressure cookers are about the same as rice cookers except they can cook beans and stuff.

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  10. AimingFor VeganJuly 7, 2010 at 1:47 PM

    I have a Zojirushi Fuzzy Logic rice cooker. I lvoe that it has a special setting for GABA brown rice, which is the most nutritious way to have rice.

    ReplyDelete
  11. MollyJuly 7, 2010 at 6:54 PM

    I would LOVE to know how to make steel cut oats (what is the ratio of oats/water and time on cooker?)...fabulous idea....other than rice, we have only tried steaming....

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  12. AnonymousJuly 8, 2010 at 4:06 AM

    Most rice cooker metal bowls are either teflon coated or aluminum, and those with concerns about cooking in either substance should be aware of that. There are a few brands out there that have stainless steel bowls.

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  13. AnonymousJuly 8, 2010 at 5:55 AM

    My rice cooker is great except the rice on the bottom always sticks together. It's like it's held together with some brown stuff and I have no idea what it's from! It has done this since I first got it. Does anyone else have this problem?

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  14. SailorPluto247July 8, 2010 at 11:18 AM

    You can reduce that by rinsing your rice and/or adding a but of oil to the water. If you rinse enriched white rice you'll lose some nutrients though.

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  15. coconutJuly 8, 2010 at 4:19 PM

    I love my rice cooker. It's just great to have the rice going without taking space on my stove. Then again, I happily moved into a much larger kitchen last year.

    Roger Ebert wrote possibly the best post ever on rice cookers a couple years back:
    http://blogs.suntimes.com/ebert/2008/11/the_pot_and_how_to_use_it.html

    AND he's coming out with a rice-cooker-cookbook which you can pre-order on Amazon right now:
    http://www.amazon.com/Pot-How-Use-Mystery-Romance/dp/0740791427

    ReplyDelete
  16. Gas range cookersSeptember 29, 2011 at 12:11 AM

    Wow, Fantastic article, it’s so helpful to me, and your blog is very good,
    I’ve learned a lot from your blog here, Keep on going, my friend, I will keep an eye on it,

    ReplyDelete