Method: Cooking Rice

One cooking skill I have never mastered is cooking rice on the stove.  I have tried many times and always end up burning the rice to some degree.

Someone gave me a rice cooker a while back.  It was nice but I didn't like having another appliance to clean and the non-stick coating was always a concern.  No matter how many times I told my boy to only use the plastic or wooden utensils in the rice crock, I would invariably come around the corner to find him using a metal fork.

I decided that if the rice could be cooked in a rice-cooker, it could probably cook well in the oven.  After a short amount of experimentation, I found that oven-cooking the rice is less hassle than the other methods (largely because I can put the dishes in the dishwasher).

You can use any baking dish and modify the amount put in according to the size of the pan.  I typically use a bread pan and do not exceed 2 c dry rice.


Oven-cooked Rice

1 part rice
2 parts water

Cover the pan but allow a steam escape.  If I have a pan with a loose-fitting lid, I make sure that the lid is set such that there is a small opening.  If no lid or a lid does not allow a steam escape hatch, I use aluminum foil.  After stretching the foil across the pan, I roll one corner back to allow a small steam escape at the corner of the pan.

Bake at 350 F for 75-90 minutes.