131 new of 205 responses total.
Re #73: That's pretty funny. How many times has he blown the cutout?
I think I will try to borrow my mom's bread machine. I'll bet she cant remember the last time she used it! :) I guess if I break it with my whole wheat flour, I'll buy her a new one.
Jim has, at present, three bread machines. The one into which he is putting rye flour has not 'broken' yet. One of the others arrived with blown cutout, which he replaced. First time he made bread it blew again so he tried a smaller batch or more water. Then his housemate blew the cutout on the third machine. So the answer is three. Some of these machines are really not well designed for non-fluffy type bread. Another friend with another machine also had problems with whole wheat bread - it would start moving and then stop every time until Jim gave him an adjusted recipe. Until then he would always take the unkneaded dough out and bake it (without waiting for it to rise) and eat a hard lump. He does not quite understand how bread is made. Two of the three problem machines are Wellbuilt. The one which always works well is a Regal, so you might try a Regal for heavier breads. We actually paid $20 for it used (at Miller Manor thrift shop). Kiwanis often has bread machines for $10-25. If Slynne's mother's bread machine stops working Jim will be happy to fix it. Ask him for a recipe suggestion for whole wheat bread. He did a lot of experimenting and discovered that it helps to preheat the pan and the water so it will rise faster.
My Panasonic is a tank - I've had it for 7-8 years, and had to replace the drive belt after 7 years. Worth the $160, certainly.
(er, worth the $160 to buy the machine, not to replace the belt. The new belt cost something like $10-15 with shipping)
I definately will ask Jim (and others) for nice whole grain bread recipes!
Note that most bread recipes probably need to be tweaked (adjust yeast, sugar, liquids, etc.) to your machine (which has slightly different times, temps, pan shape, etc. than the recipe-writer's machine).
I see. That just might end up being a challenge for me. I am not the best cook in the world. Oh well, it will be fun anyways.
I'm thinking more about a toaster oven. Cooking for one, there are a fair number of times when turning on the stove's oven just seems silly (making 6 muffins or some such). I don't make toast, so the "can also reheat pizza" bottom-end models are out. I want something that'll do a loaf of banana bread, small casserole, etc. Measuring tape, etc. will tell me if it would fit in & not blow fuses - but how useful are such things? Are good ones really a smaller version of a "real" oven, or just glorified TV dinner heaters? Is "convection" a real feature or a noisy price-hike?
I made my first loaf of bread in my bread machine! It didnt rise as much as I would have liked but it was edible!
Toaster ovens are Great for small batches. I even have a set of baking pans that fit toaster ovens. It includes a jelly roll pan (the cookie pan with 3/8 in sides), a 9 1/4 by 6 1/2 by 2 in baking pan that is a great lasagne size, a 7 1/2 by 3/3/4 by 2 1/4 in loaf pan, three mini pie pans, and four mini loaf pans. Made by Mirro. I don't remember the last time I saw them on sale, but check the (fake) hardware store on Stadium, next to Big George's. [We all know that Stadium Hardware is the REAL hardware store on Stadium}. Over the years I've collected a couple 6-hole muffin pans, a springform pan with both a flat bottom and center-hole insert, 7 inch pie pans, two small round cake pans, and numerous tart pans of various shapes. I make biscuits, muffins, cookies, cornbread, and just about everything else in my toaster oven. The Jiffy mix single layer cake mixes make the cutest little layer cakes. For mixing small batches of cookies, my Cuisinart Little Pro Plus is a whizz. (It also whips egg whites, juices limes, lemons and oranges, and doubles as a salad shooter, with a side-directed, continuous feed shredder or slicer.) That said, I don't bake much, compared to many people here. If I ate baked goods very often, I'd probably go the big oven, big freezer route.
Wow. that does sound like something a single person could use.
I have not used my stove oven for over a year, since we got the bread machine. I have a small round Nesco electric oven (insulated walls) that works for potatoes. Congrats on mastering the bread machine. Whole wheat bread never rises enough in those. I wonder if the Nesco would bake bread.
I really wish I had a toaster oven myself. I don't eat toast as much as I used to, and so I really think a slot toaster alone is somewhat useless. It's hard to cook everything on the stove top and I don't always like waiting for a large oven to heat. resp:85 thanks for the tip, even though I must hunt among my own local stores. hehe
Hmm... We probably should replace our four-slot toaster; one of the handles won't stay down, so only two of the slots are useable. A toaster oven would be easier for some of the larger things, like bagels. Hmm...
We're talking about getting a two-slot toaster that can accept wider items (like bagels). There are several of them out there and they all seem to have a pair of wire grids in the slot that adjust to the thickness of the item and keep it centered between the heating elements. Does anyone have any recommendations on this sort of toaster? Do they work okay for regular bread? Do they wear out quickly? Any particular brand?
I have one like that and it works ok. I think it is Proctor-Silex or soemthing. I bought mine for a dollar at a garage sale 2 years ago.
A few years ago I purchased a Cuisinart toaster much like what kentn described in #90. Works great on both really thin toast and thick english muffins and specialty breads. Plus, it had a line of lights to show the darkness setting. These lights are always on. So it's yet one more thing to glow in the dark come nightime. I love that.
You can get Hello Kitty toasters at Tsai Grocery. They even toast a picture of Hello Kitty on the bread.
Heh, but will they toast a picture of Hello Kitty on an English muffin?
Probably screw up the resolution, but what the hell... ;-)
Oh man. I might have to get that Hello Kitty toaster.
I only saw one more there.
I've got the latest CR report & ratings on toasters & toaster ovens here if anyone's interested...
Sure. I'm interested.
From Consumer Reports (usual disclaimers here, i own none of these):
(Defaults - slot-type toasters take thick stuff, everything has one-
year warranties, and toaster ovens rates at least "good" for baking &
broiling while holding at least 4 large slices of toast.)
4-slot Toasters:
Only 2 of the 15 toasters reviewed were 4-slotters -
Proctor-Silex 2444[5] (similar were Hamilton-Beach 24505, 24507, & 24508)
Toastmaster T2050[W]
CR paid $24 for the P-S & $27 for the Tm. They liked the P-S's overall
performance better & it has a 2-year warranty. The Tm's shade dial is
"mostly unmarked". On specifics, they rated the P-S better for ease of
use and the Tm better for producing a full color range.
At the top (ignoring a $100 Kitchenaid) are Philips HD2533 (Target, $30)
and GE 106641 (106691) (WalMart, $20). Only an average ease of use kept
the P from taking the gold medal, the GE is above average everywhere &
has a 2-year warranty.
Toaster Ovens:
...really ain't built to be toasters (is CR's conclusion). Only 2 of the
10 reviewed are as good at toasting as any of the "slot machines" i listed
above:
Cuisinart TOB-175 (TOB-165, TOB-160) $205
Delonghi XU120 $53
The C is as good a toaster as the $20 GE 2-slotter, but with better ease of
use. It's also a large convection/broiler/oven with digital controls & a
3-year warranty. The D is weak at toasting consistent (color) successive
or full batches, but is a bit easier to use than the ToastMaster.
A notch down at toasting ("very good preformance", but its weakness is
limited color range) is the Sears Kenmore KTES8 at $70.
The GE & Kenmore units got "CR Best Buy" (based mostly on price/performance).
They didn't look at any Cuisinart slot-type toasters.
FWIW, the toaster oven i'm thinking about is the paint-instead-of-cool- polished-metal-outside Cuisinart TOB-165; i'd hope to get it for under $160 at Big Georges (in Ann Arbor). I don't make toast, so that stuff mostly doesn't matter.
Electric appliances I currently use: Microwave oven, toaster oven,drip coffee maker, small electric chopper, and amazingly a new George Forman Grill which is turning out to be extremely handy. small appliances I do not use: bread machine, cuisinart mixer, electric knife, immersion blender. blender (for smoothies.
Do you want to sell your bread machine (I think you are implying that you have one)? Or trade it for a repair of something electrical or mechanical? (Assuming you live within a few miles or us or come this way occasionally).
I have been using my bread machine a lot since I got it. My whole wheat bread keeps coming out funny though. I mean it looks funny but it tastes ok so that is what is important. I have been experimenting with adjusting the recipe. I have found that the 1 lb loaf suits my needs best.
What kind of funny? Does it maybe rise and then fall again, making the top look sort of depressed?
I remember wheat bread as being difficult. No matter what I did it was always a bit dense and gummy. Then I bought some gluten and started adding a teaspoon or two for each loaf. What a difference. I purchased it at Fireside, in Ann Arbor, but they're gone now. Maybe the Ypsi food co-op would carry it?
You can get it at Hiller's, too.
re#105 - Yeah, that is exactly what is happening. The bread *tastes* great except that it is kind of dense. But that is ok. It is very filling which has helped me not eat bad things before lunch since a couple of slices of that for breakfast really keeps me full. I might try adding some gluten though. I mean, it cant hurt. Is it in the baking goods section at Hillers?
Is there some way to set your machine for a longer rise (or for one long rise instead of two short ones)?
Usually not, but it may depend on the machine. Certainly some machines come with various cycles, some of which have longer rise times. Usually the details are not documented. (In fact, due to our Zojirushi's having died after 7 years of heavy use, we opened the Wellbilt which we bought (around 1/2 price, when Best went out of business) to have as a backup. Its documentation of exactly how long each stage is in each possible cycle is very complete; if there are temp differences they don't say, though. The chart is impressive & likely to be useful.)
When did Best go out of business?
The one on Carpenter closed in . . . '92, I think it was. Maybe earlier.
Gluten's also available at By The Pound (S. Main Mkt.), probably People's Food Coop (Kerrytown), and (guess) at most big supermarkets.
There is a food coop in Ypsi, where Slynne lives. I got my first fax machine at Best. It was a come-on special (for only $300, took special half-size rolls that you had to roll yourself, and had no paper feed or cutter) and they tried to talk me into something else. I did not realize I got it so long ago.
The Ann Arbor People's Food Coop doesn't carry gluten, we also got ours at Fireside. Whole Foods sometimes has it in 1/2 - 1 lb packages.
Yeah, the Ypsi food coop is just a few blocks from my house and I am even a member and everything. I'll bet *they* have gluten. My bread machine will not allow for a longer rise. It isnt a big deal. I have found that if I make the 1 lb loaf, it comes out ok but a little over done. The solution might be to make the 1 lb loaf and then just take it out early. That works better for me anyway because the 1 1/2 lb loaf gets stale before I finish it.
I bought a griddle/grill for Julie at Christmas and we seem to use it all the time now. It's one of those metal things that fits over the burners on your stove-- a griddle surface on one side, and a grill surface on the other. It's not as great as an appliance; I have noticed that heating is a little uneven as it comes right from the stove coil burners. Hotter in some places than others, I guess? But we needed to save space and it works reasonably well.
You can get gluten from Buy The Pound on Main Street in Ann Arbor. So I'm back working part time at Williams-Sonoma.....lots of toys there. I want them all.
Are there any new cool gadgets out there these days? There's been a lot of talk in this item about bread machines. Are people still using them?
Jim uses his as an oven, after mixing the bread by hand. The machines don't deal well with sticky rye flour.
My bread machine makes great rye bread, but the recipe uses about half white flour. It makes WONDERFUl whole wheat, with nothing but whole wheat flour. It's an old Toastmaster. Don't think they make them anymore.
And those that have one, what's the difference in rice that is cooked in a rice cooker vs making some on the stove?
When I used a rice cooker I noticed no difference. Except that you didn't have to watch it so it wouldn't get burnt. Apart from that, I didn't notice any difference.
I've never noticed any difference either. The main reason I don't use one is that it is simple to use a saucepan. If you put in any amount of rice, and fill the pan until the water is 1 inch above the surface of the rice, you can make perfect rice that doesn't burn. Bring the rice and water to a hard boil, and boil until the water is reduced to the level of the rice, usually 5 - 7 minutes. Do not stir during this process. When the water is at the top of the rice, you will see small "volcanos" forming. Turn off the electric burner or turn the gas burner down to the lowest possible flame. Put a close fitting lid on the pan. Let the rice steam 15 - 20 minutes or longer. After 15 minutes you can turn off the flame, and the rice will remain hot for another half an hour or so.
Hmm, ok... And thanks for the instructions. I have a SIL [who is Japanese] who, I think] still has a rice cooker. They eat a lot of rice. I did like the rice I had over there awhile back [I think it was the 'sticky' rice with a bit of seasoning added to it.] What's added, does anyone know, to make sticky rice? Though I'm sure I can find out from Kazuko or Mike next time I see them.
Actually, it is more likely to be the type of rice you buy. Sticky rice, brown rice, white rice, sushi rice, these are all varieties of rice that give different dishes. Sushi rice will also have a vinegar dressing on it. BTW, the method above came from my childhood, when the lady from Osaka who lived next door to us in Hawaii taught my mother to make Japanese rice. My mother was a southerner who traditionally put sugar and milk on rice for a breakfast dish.
Rice cookers work by being leaky and losing most of the water as steam. When enough water has left, the temperature rises and they shut off. This wastes a lot of energy as well as steaming up the kitchen. I think you need to put in at least two cups of water per cup of rice. We use a pressure cooker with 1 1/3 cups of water per cup of rice, which heats up quickly to 15 lb pressure, then you turn it off and wait 5-10 minutes for it to finish cooking as it cools down (for brown rice, which would otherwise take 45 minutes). We tried a microwave pressure cooker but that was slower and quite small. There is short, long, and medium grain white and brown rice, and white or brown sticky (glutinous) rice. Sushi used to be fermented rice, now it is imitated with vinegar (like vinegar pickles instead of salt pickles).
My rice cooker does not steam up my kitchen. We like it. Using it means that a burner (and pan, pans seem to be a limited resource for some reason) is not being taken up by the rice and can be used for another dish. It keeps the rice warm longer than the pan method which is useful when we have varied schedules. It means no more burned rice. Damon does most of the cooking since I am either covering or taking evening classes and STeve often doesn't get home until quite late. Damon has a tendancy to game while cooking, hence he often forgets to check on things. If we use the rice cooker and he burns the chicken or pork chops and veggies, we can at least have buttered rice or the above mentioned with milk, sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Our rice cooker can also do slow cooked soups and stews.
How much water goes into your rice cooker per cup of rice? You probably have a relatively leaky house and don't mind some extra steam in it.
Hah, I got you all beat. My rice only takes ONE MINUTE! Which means I have more time to develop my plan for world peace and I can save precious energy resources at the same time.
World Peace! You planning on becoming a beauty contestant?
I use the knuckle medthod of measuring rice and water - rice to the depth of the first knuckle, water to the depth of the second. Works in the rice cooker or in a saucepan.
Actually, mine is the knuckle method as well. However, you can fill the pan with any amount of rice. The only measurement is the 1 knuckle between the top of the rice and the top of the water.
*grins* and here I use measuring cups...
A knuckly method would only work if you use the same pot and cook the same amount of rice every time.
It has worked every time in every pot I have used it. It is basically the same as Colleen's - about 1 inch of water above the level of the rice. The second knuckle on my index finger is close enough to an inch that I use it for measuring while stitching. It is the easiest measuring device for this purpose as it is always available, is easy to wash before using, and doesn't matter if it gets wet. I have made rice for 1 person to 8-10 people using it. I don't know how you came to your conclusion above, especially if you haven't used the method.
Yes, the knuckle method has worked for my mom and me for over 50 years. I have never in my life made rice by measuring either the rice or the water. Many pots, many stoves, infinite amounts of rice. It works the same way for brown rice and white. I probably err on the "more" side of the joint when adding water for brown rice. I just pour rice into a pot until it looks like the right amount for the number of people I'm feeding and how hungry they are. It's worked for 1-8 people, routinely, for dinner, even when 3 of the 8 people were hungry teenaged athletes. I too don't understand how Sindi can tell those of us who use the method that it doesn't work.
I can't believe this would work, unless you put in too much water every time and cook it without a cover and boil it until the water is gone. If you cover the pot, and use the same pot for 1 or 8 cups of rice, either the 1 cup will come out much too wet or the 8 cups will burn.
Do you really think that your belief that it wouldn't work is a more compelling argument than our years of experience feeding people with this method?
Really. I put the lid on EVERY time. When cooking on the stove and not in the rice cooker, it is brought to a boil and either turned off or down to the lowest temp on the burner and left alone for 15-20 minutes for white rice, 35-45 minutes for brown. No boiling until the water is gone. Doesn't matter what pot or how much rice. The magic is in the inch of water above the level of the rice. That is just enough water for the rice to come out light and fluffy every time. It is the instructions for cooking rice that is in all my Chinese, Japanese, Thai, Indian, Persian, and Mid-eastern cookbooks. It is also the instructions I got from Chinese and Indian friends. (I asked just to confirm how they were taught.) Since most of them have rice for almost every meal, and the fact that it has always worked for me, I trust them. Try it and see.
Actually, the water isn't gone. You only boil until the water level reaches the rice level. Any more than that and you get burned rice.
Re 141, that means you are putting in more water than you need, if you boil off some of it. If 1" of water above 8" of rice is enough, then it is too much above 1" of rice, unless you like added heat and humidity in your kitchen. We pressure cook brown rice by just bringing it to 15 lb and turning it off. Some time I will measure how much water is above 2 cups of rice when we add 2.6 cups of water to it.
If I put in less water, I get burned rice.
Your pot is probably losing a lot of water to the air.
Well, it's one of those waterless stainless pots, that has a lid that floats on the steam. I have butter-steamed new potatoes in it without using any water at all. Works just fine with tiny potatoes and butter. Without having an seal that withstands multiple atmospheres of pressure, it's one of the best designed lid and pan sets I've ever seen. It was designed in the 50s, and has a cast iron core in the bottom, sandwiched between layers of stainless steel. It uses very little fuel to cook with, and because of the cast iron core, can finish cooking a dish with the heat turned off. I have a set my mother gave me when I went to college, and have collected all the other pieces over the years. The company went out of business in the 70s, and the pieces are gourmet collectors items because of their fuel efficiency. It self-seals when used correctly, and the lids are precisely weighted to provide waterless cooking of vegetables and other foods that contain a fair amount of natural moisture. It does not create a pressure vessel, but short of a pressure cooker, it does the best job of any professional pans I've ever used.
Those sound cool; I've never heard of them before. too bad they don't make them any more...
They are cool. However, the rice technique works in ANY kind of pan, not just these way cool ones. I've cooked in a lot of kitchens, and clearly other people have used this technique for years without my super cool pans.
Something I'm going to have to pick up when I can is a basic mixer... My old one has disappeared, apparently not having survived my move back to MI. There's been a few times recently where I've wanted to use one.
Back to rice: Do y'all tend to season your rice with anything to keep it from being bland, and if so, what kinds of things do you use? I know one time, my SIL added some kind of seasoning that included sesame seeds and salt that I thought was good. And at a restaurant that included rice, it tasted like it had some herbs of some sort [at a middle eastern place] and maybe some Italian dressing or oil of some sort. And almonds which were good. I also know of that asian stuff [liquid form] that I can't think of the name of right now [I'm not really crazy about that one, it tastes salty to me, and the flavor doesn't do much for me--though I know a lot of other people that do like it].
It depends on what is served with it. I like rice plain, both white and brown, when served with most any spiced dish. The plain rice offsets the spiciness of the other food. I like both white and brown rice with butter, salt and pepper. I like white rice with milk, sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg (really rice pudding without the custard and long cooking). I like it with saffron. I like it curried. I like what Mom calls Glorified Rice - cooked white rice with a can or two of fruit cocktail with its juice and whipped cream mixed in, sort of a cheap ambrosia. Rice is very versitile and able to take almost any type of spicing that you care to throw at it.
Jim eats leftover rice with chopped apples and pomegranate syrup and black walnuts when he feels like cracking them first.
Re 151 That sounds insanely good. Re 149 I tend to like plain rice, because like Glenda said, it's more on what goes with it. With indian food, I'll cook basmati rice with whole cloves and a cinnamon stick in it, maybe a bit of saffron, but nothing else.
Sometimes I cook rice in stock instead of plain water. Plain rice with slivered almonds, green onions, and Clancy's Fancy is pretty good.
I'm boring, I just tend to have brown rice with a little salt and butter.
I always mix rice into a casserole or stew sort of dish. Cooking for one makes it easy to avoid the issue. Whole wheat noodles i sometimes serve plain, then add a bit of olive oil, salt, & pepper, or maybe plain yogurt. Depends mostly on what's on hand and how much time i have.
I got a rice cooker. I'm geeked, in a rice cooker kind of way. ;-)
hahaha. I know people love those, but for me there is no purpose. I don't cook enough rice I guess.
re #157 They're great if rice is a side dish and you tend to forget it's cooking (thus it doesn't burn as easily in a cooker)
Rice cookers are designed to put a lot of steam into the air, which means they waste a lot of energy and also make your room very humid. We cook rice in a tightly fitting pot and it comes to boiling much faster (and if in a pressure cooker, you just turn it off once it reaches pressure, after a few minutes, and it cannot burn).
All that wasted steam must be what's making my kitchen smell delish at the moment. Tonight, at chez Remmers, it's orange beef stir-fry.
Steam is just one more excuse to open my pores.
It is not good for the structure of whatever you are living in to have water condensing in it. Running down the windows. Puddling on the sills. Rotting the wood.
I'm sure it's not.
Hi Sindi. I live in the desert. Trust me, I'm good. The house is fine too.
re #162 They've invented these crazy lil things called exhaust fans. When I cook on the stove, I use it.
Do you have an objection to using less energy to cook with? An exhaust fan also cools the house (or heats it if it is warmer out).
I seriously could count on one hand how many times this year I've used my rice cooker, so it's not too much an issue. We just don't eat that much rice.
re #166 Do you have an objection to using less energy to cook with? You mean do I object to eating only twigs and leaves like a Giraffe? Yes.
Cooked rice does not grow on trees.
Neither do spastic colons.
Do nonspastic colons? Pressure cooked rice gets very thoroughly cooked. With brown rice we add 1.3 cups water per cup of rice. White rice would probably be less. If you cook with more water, the rest of it goes into the air along with wasted heat.
re #171 How long does that take? Do you use a pressure cooker pot on a stove?
Maybe 5 minutes to come to pressure, then 5 to come down? I never timed it. It is does before the rest of the meal. Yes pressure cooker on stove. We also have one large electric pressure cooker which is more efficient but too large (nuisance to clean). We have at least 10 pressure cookers of various sizes and designs, and take a small one bike camping with us. I wonder if we could cook oatmeal in it (dont' let the pressure come up too far).
What the hell kind of rice cooker causes steam to condense on windows, puddle on sills, and rot the house frame???
I dunno, but I do know that in the winter, when the air is very dry in our apartment- a little steam only does good things. We tend to use the 'pot on the stove' method of rice making though- not a specific rice steamer...
Our house is well sealed, and adding steam to the air causes problems. Our highest January heating bill was $60 (electric). DO the rest of you not believe in global warming or just not personally want to do anything about it? Some friends put in a geothermal heating system at great expense but never insulated or weatherstripped and they now pay $180 in January for heat.
WTF Sindi? The occasional use of a rice cooker is going to top the balance?
re #176 My electric bill in Jan was about $60, too. I do my part for low carbon footprint but I also have to do my part for low mildew in rainforest climate. I'm betting the cooking we do at home(rice rarely) is way more efficient time, money, energy than restaurant or frozen microwavable.
I am pointing out that there are multiple reasons to cook efficiently. Seattle does not typically go to -10F in January. Tod, do you cook things in tightly sealed pots? I agree that taking a car to a restaurant wastes far more fuel that even boiling a lot of water off rice into the air.
My electric bill in the winter was about $30. Our gas bill was higher, but that's divided up between all the units in the building. Sindi- some of us also live in apartments that are run by corporations that REALLY frown on tenants making their own changes to the apartments. So we do what we can. And for goodness sake, we're not talking about THAT much steam! It's a rice cooker, not a steam engine.
Um, we got a console model rice cooker that sits on the floor, is about 4 feet high and 3 feet across, and weighs 200 pounds. Whenever we use it, all the windows fog up, the walls get wet, and the neighborhood experiences brownouts from the electricity consumption. If we run it with the windows open, the weather bureau issues a local dense fog warning. None of these wimpy table model rice cookers for us! Oops, almost forgot: :)
John Remmers, kicking it hard core.
re #179 Tod, do you cook things in tightly sealed pots? I haven't entertained the idea of a pressure cooker in my house simply for safety reasons. In the 80's, a friend of mine suffered major burns when the pressure cooker where he worked (Big Boy's on 9mile in St.Clair Shores) exploded. The risk doesn't seem equitable to energy savings. Perhaps the new stovetop pressure cookers are better these days?
One thing I will mention even though it doesnt have much to do with kitchen gizmos is that people should pay attention to their reactions regarding Sindi's comments about how cooking inefficiently is contributing to global warming. That is why expecting people to change any of their habits out of the good ness of their heart is never going to work. You have to make policy that forces them to change their habits. Rice cookers probably dont use enough energy to really come into play here but I'll bet that if it cost 5 cents to cook rice with a pressure cooker and $5 to cook rice with a rice cooker, a lot of people would switch to using pressure cookers.
I'm intrigued simply because my rice cooker works like crap when it cooks brown/basmati rice. If I can do it in the same time as white rice by using a pressure cooker then I'm interested. I would need assurances that a pressure cooker isn't going to harm someone, though.
I love that....I won't make changes out of the goodness of my heart. Just because I use my rice cooker maybe once a month I am somehow condemning the earth. Nevermind my avid recyclying/reusing or other things we have done to our home to make it more energy efficient. Next you'll be telling my not owning a pressure cooker is me buying into a patriarchal conspiracy. I don't use a pressure cooker because A) I don't own one and B) I try to not own a ton of stuff in my kitchen. I hate being cluttered in my kitchen. I have considered getting a pressure cooker simply because I love watching them get used on Iron Chef. But I'm not there yet.
We have been pressure cooking for 30 years or so and never had an accident. We have pressure cookers from the 50s and later. It is the ones from the 40s that were not working right. They are by far the easiest (not just the fastest) way to cook grains and beans (it helps to presoak the beans but it not necessary). Or even potatoes. We use the special weights that show pressure (5 10 15 lb) and potatoes need 5 lb, brown rice and beans 15 lb. Brown rice takes much longer to cook than white rice. Probably the rice steamers assume white rice, you add the amount of water that corresponds to the 20 min it takes to cook rice (it takes 20 min to boil off then the cooker senses that the temperature has gone up and turns of). YOu could try adding twice the water for brown rice. Pressure cookers do not burn things because they cook mainly with steam, not just with bottom heat. My mother used hers for potroasts. We tried a microwave rice cooker which took much longer than pressure cookers.
Where can I find pressure cookers which use weights? Or is it better to use the electronic ones with auto shutoff?
resp:186 That is my point. *everyone* thinks what they are doing is reasonable. I know I sure think that I am doing my part. And no...using a rice cooker is not especially harmful to the environment. And fwiw, I use the stove top method which is probably the least efficient. Anyways, I seriously doubt that even the highest energy taxes in the land would deter someone using a rice cooker since they just dont use that much energy. But think about how you feel when someone suggests to you that you should give up the rice cooker. That is how some folks feel about their SUVs. Guilt will not get them to stop buying them just like no amount of guilt will stop anyone in this conversation from cooking rice in the way that works best for them.
We made a big pot of rice last night in the rice cooker and I was sure to towel off the windows and sills while wearing hipwaders. ;)
http://tinyurl.com/6gr9b3 You want my rice cooker? You're going to have to pry that baby from my cold dead hands.
From my cold dead chubby fingers! Look a nice one with a dial setting (instead of weights) http://tinyurl.com/4qsand
Yeah, you would have to pry my rice cooker from my fingers too! http://www.clearwaterbeachkiku.com/images/ImgLeft_About.jpg
hahahahahah!!!!
Good one, Lynne!
re #193 Why does that guy have my thong on his head?
Dang. I guess I'll have to quit cooking my rice on a pile of burning car tires. I'm really going to miss that special smoky tang.
I got a new gadget - a milk frother for quick and dirty caps at home. Nuke a little milk with or without flavoring. Froth for 20 seconds. Pour coffee through. Enjoy. It works. http://tinyurl.com/5w4evp
You put milk into your dirty capacitors? Does it fix the bulging problem?
Every time. Almost.
Is there some additional ingredient you need to add to them? Hot glue?
resp:199 That looks almost exactly like a gadget a friend of mine used to bring on backpacking trips - to stir koolaid. It is kind of an in joke but we have a mutual friend who is both into backpacking and into gadgets. He always made a point to pack as lightly as possible but would also almost always bring one fancy made for backpacking gadget. My friend with the koolaid stirrer (which may have really been a milk frother) would always try to also bring a gadget on every trip except he would try to make his as useless as possible in order to tease our other friend.
Boy, your friends go for the jugular, eh? ;-)
Yeah. That same friend with the stirrer once went out and bought a $400 tent which made the other friend rather jealous. Once the first friend realized that, he started setting up his tent in his living room and talking about it all of the time to the gadget head friend. The gadget head friend was really excited to see it in action so to speak. Then, when they next went camping together the guy with the nice tent brought his $15 K-Mart pup tent and said that the $400 tent was too nice to use outside ;)
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