Brown Rice To Water Ratio

Rice: it looks easy until you end up with hard, gummy, or soupy rice. Thankfully, with the age of rice cookers, and having a better idea of the brown rice to water ratio, cooking rice had been a little less daunting. 

However, different kinds of rice have different rice-to-water ratios and cook time. For example, white rice can take about 20 minutes to cook and brown rice or black rice can take double that cook time. 

The water to rice ratio can be half the puzzle – especially if you’re making flavored, fancy rice, like Puerto Rican yellow rice with pigeon peas, or if you’re making a stir-fry. But, we’ll stick to the basics here. 

Okay, let’s get to why you came here. 

Brown Rice To Water Ratio: 

You’re typically looking at a 1:2 ratio. For example, one cup of brown rice to 2 cups of water.  

For long-grain brown rice →  1 ¾ cups of water to 1 cup to brown rice 

For short-grain brown rice → 2 cups of water to 1 cup of brown rice 

Other Rice Cooking Tips: 

1- When the rice is in the rice cooker, allow the machine to do its job. If you’re mixing the rice while it’s still wet, you’ll likely be left with “gummy” or mushy rice. Leave. The. Rice. Cooker. Alone. Only mix the rice (if need be) at the very beginning before it’s even starting to simmer/cook. Or, at the very end with all of the water has been absorbed by the rice. 

2 – Do: fluff the rice once it has finished cooking.  

3 – Depending on your rice preference, you can slightly tweak the rice-to-water ratio. For example, I like my brown rice a little more firm and separated. Basmati rice (long grain)  is perfect for this. Additionally, I’ll typically use 1 cup of rice and 1 ¾ cup of water for the more firmer rice. 

4 – If your brown rice is crunchy and seemingly under-cooked, add a couple of tablespoons of water, cover, and allow it to cook for another few minutes until tender. 

5 – The cook time for rice may vary. You can typically find cooking instructions outlined on the package of the rice. If not, a quick Google search should help. 

6 – Be sure to rinse your rice a few times until the water has run clear. This will help remove the starch from the rice. Which in turn, helps ensure your rice isn’t mushy or slimy when cooked. But it’s totally up to you, how you like your rice and your starch preference. 

7 – To perfectly reheat rice in a microwave, place the rice in a microwave-safe dish, then cover the rice with a damp paper towel. Microwave for a minute or so. Fluff and serve.

To Conclude:

Remember the rice ratios, tweak when necessary, and use a rice cooker to make this whole rice cooking thing SO much easier. Water, rice, set it and forget it.