How to Cook Brown Rice

By Ben Mims
For Cooking Newbie, a blog for beginner cooks

There's one technique that I still see novice cooks and professionals struggle over: it's how to cook brown rice. The proportion of water to rice, how long to cook, whether to steam or cook over direct heat…these questions trip cooks up.

The extra layer of bran, which differentiates brown rice from the bran-less white rice, is what stymies cooks because it requires a little longer cooking time. My technique, which hasn't failed me in years and always produces perfectly fluffy grains, is easy to remember: one part rice to two parts water. Most use a 1:1 3/4 ratio, but that's hard to remember and leaves you no wiggle room when it comes to getting the heating right.

Simply combine 1 cup long-grain brown rice with 2 cups cold water in a small or medium saucepan (the size doesn't matter as long as the rice and water aren't spread too thin), and bring to a boil. Once boiling, give it a good stir, reduce the heat to low and cover with a lid. For this amount of rice, it will typically cook in about 25 to 30 minutes. However, just as you should check pasta for doneness before the time is up, do the same here, testing for tender, yet still intact grains after about 20 minutes.

Once it's cooked, I immediately transfer the rice to a bowl to stop it from continuing to cook and toss it with salt, to taste, and a drizzle of oil or melted butter to help keep the grains separate, but also to add flavor. It's an easy technique to master and once you do, you'll never play the guessing game again.

For Sandy’s demo on cooking short-grain white rice, Japanese style, click here.

And try Lori’s Stuffed Peppers recipe using brown rice.

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Comments

[MJ Reiter]

Hi Ben,

What an easy way to cook brown rice which as you said many of us shy away from. Question though, do you rinse the rice like you would white rice?

Thanks,
Mary Jane R