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Rice cookers are a great investment, I have one and its great. You dont necesarily need an expensive one. I have one and its probably about $30 its a Rival rice cooker and it steams veggies too! If your a rice eater it wont just be sitting in your kitchen collecting dust. A tip is to put a little oil in with your rice and water so the rice doesnt stick to the pot once it absorbs the water. Also for brown rice you will need twice the amount of water, it takes brown rice longer to cook than white rice.
I make rice 1-3 times a week, and like several different types. My rice cooker is an Oster and I've had it for 10+ years; it still works perfectly but the ceramic (or whatever...) lid has chipped a bit at the hinge. It's similar to the other brands described and has a non-stick removable cooker part which has only a knick or two, even after ten years of use. So I'm really sold on this brand; don't know why I'd try any other type.
And yeah; I wouldn't have much success at stovetop cooking of rice
Some types of rice will get brown on the bottom, others do not. I'm told the Chinese sometimes purposely brown the rice on the bottom and use only the part not browned for the main dish. Then they scrape out the browned part, sprinkle sugar and drizzle a little cream over it for a little sweetness at the end of the meal.
In my cooker the rice has only ever become slightly browned which wasn't an issue for me.
Location: Montreal -> CT -> MA -> Montreal -> Ottawa
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Could a crockpot replace my rice cooker? And what about oatmeal?
Hiya!
Soooooo, every couple of months I think about getting a crockpot... and then I don't... or I forget.
But I think it would be so nice to be able to assemble the evening's dinner in the morning (when I'm bright-eyed and bushy-tailed), rather than at the end of a long day (when all I want to do is eat and then climb into bed). Also, timing dinner for when my husband will be home is not my strongest skill.
So, yeah, once again, a crockpot is on my mind.
But here are a few questions for which I couldn't find definitive answers via Google:
1. I have a lot of counter space but I don't like a lot of clutter. And if I get this crockpot, I don't want to put it in a cabinet when I'm not using it because that guarantees that I'll never use it. We currently have a rice cooker that's always on the counter. Can we use the crockpot to make rice (JUST rice; ONLY rice; not a crockpot recipe that INCLUDES rice) and get rid of my rice cooker?
2. What about oatmeal? My husband likes steel-cut oatmeal. Sometimes he makes it in the rice cooker. Sometimes he makes it on the stove top. Would he be able to make it in the crockpot? Would it take an obscene amount of time, or would it be the same time as it takes in a rice cooker?
Thanks for your help, advice, and knowledge. (I might soon be poking you for good crockpot recipes.)
After decades of admiring those clean clutter free counters some people have, I finally asked. How do you keep it so clear? The answer is that stuff used every day can stay on the counter. Everything else gets put away and taken out as needed. So now I have the coffee maker and the toaster out. Oh, and the olive oil dispenser.
Location: Montreal -> CT -> MA -> Montreal -> Ottawa
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Quote:
Originally Posted by wilson1010
After decades of admiring those clean clutter free counters some people have, I finally asked. How do you keep it so clear? The answer is that stuff used every day can stay on the counter. Everything else gets put away and taken out as needed. So now I have the coffee maker and the toaster out. Oh, and the olive oil dispenser.
After I redid the kitchen, I vowed that I wouldn't clutter the NEW! BEAUTIFUL! SILESTONE! countertop with "equipment." I have some equipment on the counter -- the rice cooker, coffee grinder, espresso maker, French press, toaster oven, clay pot filled with spatulas and whisks and the like -- and I also have decorative stuff on the counter. But another BIG! MACHINE! will just about kill me.
After I redid the kitchen, I vowed that I wouldn't clutter the NEW! BEAUTIFUL! SILESTONE! countertop with "equipment." I have some equipment on the counter -- the rice cooker, coffee grinder, espresso maker, French press, toaster oven, clay pot filled with spatulas and whisks and the like -- and I also have decorative stuff on the counter. But another BIG! MACHINE! will just about kill me.
Hehe. Maybe a few more feet of counter space. You just can't do rice in a crock pot. Or oatmeal. Unless you are moving at glacial speeds. Sorry.
That's my hangup about getting a breadmaker. Ours died years ago and I'd like to get another, but I already have a food processor and a giant Kitchenaid mixer on the counter. I don't have enough cupboard space to stash all the appliances I'd like.
As for your question, you can make oatmeal in the crock pot, but steel cut oats will probably take all night. I don't think the crocks get hot enough for quick cooking.
Location: Montreal -> CT -> MA -> Montreal -> Ottawa
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Quote:
Originally Posted by wilson1010
Hehe. Maybe a few more feet of counter space. You just can't do rice in a crock pot. Or oatmeal. Unless you are moving at glacial speeds. Sorry.
Quote:
Originally Posted by progmac
Fagor makes a combo rice cooker, crock pot, and pressure cooker.
Crock pot rice would take 2+ hours
Quote:
Originally Posted by JustJulia
That's my hangup about getting a breadmaker. Ours died years ago and I'd like to get another, but I already have a food processor and a giant Kitchenaid mixer on the counter. I don't have enough cupboard space to stash all the appliances I'd like.
As for your question, you can make oatmeal in the crock pot, but steel cut oats will probably take all night. I don't think the crocks get hot enough for quick cooking.
That was exactly my fear -- that rice and oatmeal were both going to be "no go" in a crockpot.
So, I've come to the realization that a crockpot would NOT replace my rice cooker. Fine.
And I've come to the realization that either the crockpot will be on the countertop (GRRRR) or that I'd store it below board and have to remember that I have the darn thing. Fine.
So, now I pose this question:
Will I actually USE this crockpot (regardless of where it's located)? Of course you can't answer this. So here's the question that my husband posed to me, which I couldn't answer:
Does everything you make in a crockpot come out like some version of a STEW?
Apparently that had no appeal to him -- that EVERYTHING would be a kind of stew. Is that the case?
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So I'm really sold on this brand; don't know why I'd try any other type.
Could a crockpot replace my rice cooker? And what about oatmeal?
