Oster rice steamer/cooker - rice is floating in water - what to do?!


Question: I just got the Oster double rice and food cooker steamer - double levels to cook two items.

The last two nights I've made rice, and it has been floating in water. I followed the book with 1/2 cup rice to 1 cup water and then 1 cup rice to 2 cups water (night one and then two). Cooking time 42 to 45 minutes. Went 42 the first time and 45 the second time.

The rice is floating in water when it's done. It's cook. Tastes OK. But we had to use a sloted spoon to dip the rice out of the water.

I'm sure I need to reduce the amount of water and/or cook longer. I did go longer on the cooking time the second go round - but still wet soupy rice.

I also wondered if perhaps the rice dish (which nests inside oe of the two holders) needed to be covered with tin foil or something.

The rice I'm using is whole grain wheat.

If anyone knows what I'm doing wrong or what adjustments would give me rice that's not floating in water, that would be great.


Answers: I just got the Oster double rice and food cooker steamer - double levels to cook two items.

The last two nights I've made rice, and it has been floating in water. I followed the book with 1/2 cup rice to 1 cup water and then 1 cup rice to 2 cups water (night one and then two). Cooking time 42 to 45 minutes. Went 42 the first time and 45 the second time.

The rice is floating in water when it's done. It's cook. Tastes OK. But we had to use a sloted spoon to dip the rice out of the water.

I'm sure I need to reduce the amount of water and/or cook longer. I did go longer on the cooking time the second go round - but still wet soupy rice.

I also wondered if perhaps the rice dish (which nests inside oe of the two holders) needed to be covered with tin foil or something.

The rice I'm using is whole grain wheat.

If anyone knows what I'm doing wrong or what adjustments would give me rice that's not floating in water, that would be great.

When using whole grain rice reduce the water to 3/4 cup for 1/2 cup rice or 1.5 cups water to 1 cup rice.
Whole grain does not absorb as much water as white rice does

The proportions are generally two to one: two cups of water to one cup of rice.

The basic steps to cooking rice are:

1. Bring the water to a boil

2. Add the rice, ? teaspoon of salt and 1 tablespoon of butter, stir once.

3. Cover the pot and return the water to a boil

4. Immediately turn the stove down to simmer and turn the timer on.

The rule is simple: you can tell its done cooking if all the water is absorbed (assuming you have put in the correct proportions of rice and water.)

White rice usually takes about 15 to 20 minutes to cook. Check the rice about 4 minutes before the timer is due to go off. When you take the cover off, the top of the rice may look like it is totally cooked. However, with a spoon, you need to gently move the rice to see if there is still water to be absorbed at the bottom.

Cooking times can differ just because simmer on one stove may not be the same on all stoves.

Don’t over-stir: if you keep stirring the rice while it is cooking it will get very gummy. (Not good!)

If you leave the rice in the pot once you turn the stove off, it will continue to cook. Be careful it doesn’t dry out too much. If it is too dry you can add a couple of tablespoons more of water.

I have actually seen some people cook rice like they do spaghetti, with lots of water which they drain off at the end. I wouldn’t recommend this way. I think it makes the rice very watery when you are serving it. Plus, you are also pouring off a lot of the nutrients.

They do sell so-called “Instant rice” which cooks instantly. You just add boiling water and within a few minutes all the water is absorbed. It sounds like a good plan. But on most brands the texture of the rice is really strange. I’d recommend avoiding it.

Let me know how your rice turns out!

White Rice Ingredients:

(Makes 3 cups of cooked rice)

1 cup of rice
2 cups of water
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1 tablespoon of butter

Hi, I am a bit unsure as to what type rice steamer/cooker you have but traditional rice cooker usually does not take that long a time to cook.

The problem you have is too much water.

I read that you can try 1 cup rice to 1 1/2 cup water. The water should be completely absorbed by the rice grains when it is cooked and it would be light and fluffy. However I have not use whole grain wheat rice before so I would suggest you experiment with it using the above measurement and let me know how it turns out.

I generally do not use cup measurement but use an old trick that my mum taught me : Place your palm on top of the rice in the rice cooker, The water level should come up right to where your knuckle starts and that would be enough water for the rice to cook. It works for me all the time. If you want to try this trick. You can then measure out the water again to see if it measured up to the 1 cup to 1 1/2 cups water.

If you put too much water in rice, a couple of things happened:
1. it turns into rice porridge
2. wet soupy rice as you have said.

The longer you cook rice, the more mushy it becomes and it will turn into soup or porridge depending on the amount of liquid you have in the pot.

Finally, if you do not have the use of the rice cooker, you can also cook rice the same way you cook pasta i.e. lots of water, once the water boiled, put in the rice grain and leave it to cook until it is fluffy. It takes longer than pasta, you know when it is cooked, when the grain has split and fluff up. Drain the rice like you do with pasta and presto ready to go.

But of course, it would be easier to use the rice cooker once you get the hang of it with the water level as the machine takes over.

Well there you are, hope it worked for you, let me know.

Usually with a rice cooker, it comes with its own measuring cup.
soo, when it says "cup" it might be referring the rice cooker cup that came with it. For my rice cooker, there are lines on the inside that mark where to fill the water to depending on how many "cups" I put in.





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