Ok, are you ready for this? The key to perfectly cooked rice in the pressure cooker is…
..to carefully measure the liquid and grain before you put it in the pressure cooker. That’s it!
That’s because the pressure cooker has very little evaporation, so it’s not like an open pot where if there is too much it can just evaporate away. No, in the pressure cooker it just stays there. Whatever liquid the rice itself has not absorbed will just stay in the pressure cooker and give you soggy rice.
I’ve tested and developed my very own pressure cooking time for just about every kind of rice there is out there. So just look at the cooking chart on this website to find out how many cups of liquid per how many cups of rice you need to put in your recipe.
See Also: Pressure Cooker Rice Cooking Times and Liquid Ratios
We’re talking about ratios here, so when I say “cups” this could be a measuring cup, a glass, even a mug. The important part is to use the same container to measure both the rice and the liquid – this maintains the tested ratio for rice to liquid.
See Also: Perfect Pressure Cooker Rice – two ways!
For example, one cup rice to 1 1/2 cups liquid. And, of course, this liquid can be water, stock or leftover cooking liquid from another recipe.
To review, if your pressure cooker’s rice program isn’t giving you satisfactory results:
- Forget the rice program – punch-in the cooking time I’ve tested for you using the manual or custom mode.
- Carefully measure rice and liquid – don’t wing it. Usea a measuring cup, or glass, or any container to carefully measure how much rice and how much liquid are going into the pressure cooker.
- Use the recommended opening method – that’s the 10-minute Natural Release. Which just means, when cooking time is up wait 10 minutes before opening the lid. This lets the rice continue cooking without any additional heat. I’m going to show you how it works at the end of the next recipe.
Let’s get started!
Thank you for the video.
If I boil the water before adding it to the pressure cooker, so that it gets to pressure faster, would that affect the pressure cooking time?
Yes it will. The rice is cooking while it comes to pressure. so if you start with boiling water you will need to add some time to the recipe.
one of the regulars, David, goes into this in some detail here somewhere, butI cannot find it right now.
Yes. It will shorten the time the cooker needs to reach pressure – throwing off the recipe’s cooking time which accounts for 10 minutes that the pressure cooker usually needs to reach pressure.
Ciao,
L
I like to soak my rice and other whole grains the night before then drain and add fresh water. For a cup of brown rice I soak in 2 cups water and had 3/4 cup left when I drained it. How much water should I use to cook the rice. BTW, I have cooked brown rice per your instructions (non-presoaked) and the rice came out perfect.
Karen, thanks for sharing your method and measurements with us. BTW, what brown rice variety was it? It sounds like it absorbed the exact amount we usually use for pressure cooking. Except, now we need a way for your pressure cooker to reach pressure.
If you’re up for an adventure and want to experiment, I propose pressure cooking this brown rice bain-marie (http://www.hippressurecooking.com/easy-pressure-cooker-steamed-rice/) for 5 minutes with Natural Release. Let us know how it went!
As I replied to an earlier comment at the intro of this series. If I see large interest in soaked and rinsed brown rice I will do experiments myself and post official cooking times and ratios.
Ciao,
L
P.S. An easier solution would be to follow Wardee’s rice method…
http://gnowfglins.com/2016/03/23/perfect-soaked-rice-instantpot-or-any-pressure-cooker/
The very best way to cook rice. So many one pot dishes that can be made too. Pilaf/pilau, normally a time consuming dinner for special occasions, becomes a make anytime dinner. I can’t imagine cooking brown rice or wild rice in a regular pan. 45 minutes, no thank you.
Oops, almost forgot risotto.
I would love some advice. My stove is induction and my pc is a Fagor stovetop (not dual). I’ve read the Laura’s great piece on cooking with induction, and I normally add 2-5 minutes on to cook times to compensate for fast starting. But I’m flummoxed when recipes call for “natural release,” since I don’t have residual heat from gas or electric burner. The pressure goes down immediately when I turn off the stove. Should I turn the burner down to a low setting for the 10-minute natural release? Should I just add a few more minutes to the cooktime?
Sara, if the pressure goes down immediately it means that the pressure cooker has not fully reached pressure. Even when using induction, one would expect the cooker to maintain pressure for at least 5 minutes (in which case you would still leave the lid closed for the full 10).
Remember to bring your cooker to pressure on medium, not high heat, and to only turn it down after some steam has come out of the valve and the indicator is firm – it should not feel springy or have any give with a light touch.
Ciao,
L
My quinoa and brown rice are perfect every time. But white rice? Can’t get the hang of it. Could use some help with the following questions:
1. Many say use a 1:1 ratio for white rice. Help!
2. If I am cooking white rice PIP, uncovered, and put water in the liner, does it affect how much water to use in the pot with the rice? Does it affect cooking time? Should I cover the PIP when making white rice?
3. How can one cook rice while cooking, say chicken, in the IP? So many pictures of how it comes out perfectly, but how if the cooking times don’t match – or must they match?
I’ve been wanting to ask these questions. TIA!
I do not recommend a 1:1 ratio – each rice variety absorbs different amounts of liquid based on the grain size and its starch content. I have tested every rice variety in the chart to get the best results in the least amount of time. Try my ratios and times. I don’t just test them and stop there- I pressure cook rice regularly, more so now that my daughter is intolerant to wheat.
To get perfectly cooked rice AND chicken, pressure cook them sequentially, and the measure the cooking liquid according to my ratios. Here’s how I do it:
http://www.hippressurecooking.com/pressure-cooker-chicken-and-rice-one-pot-meal/
Ciao,
L
I need to pressure cook WILD RICE.
How to do it please? I have power pressure cooker xl.
Thank you for all for these tips and recipes. I received a pc for a gift over a year ago. I tried it once and it was a failure. After spending some time on your site, I’m ready to try again.
That’s great to hear Suzie.
A PC takes a little getting used to but once you master it you will never look back.
Start with some of the basic lessons – Links in the right column – and work up from there.
As silly as it sounds, the best place to start is cooking water. It will give you a real feel for what your PC does. And will show up any problems early without having to toss a meal out.
Yaaay, Susie! So glad to read you’re going to give it another shot.
Ciao,
L
I eat 50:50 jasmine: brown rice to be a little healthier. Do you have recommendations for the liquid and cooking time in electric pressure cooker? thanks!
How do you prepare them, now? Because even with conventional cooking they have vastly different cooking times!
Ciao,
L
I rinse and soak the brown rice for an hour. Rinse white rice. Add water and cook on stovetop. Cover and boil for 10 mins. Then reduce and simmer for 30mins. turn off heat and let stand for 20 mins.
Kelly, you can always try a small batch this using the “white rice” pressure cooking times and ratios (for the brown rice since it’s soaked only do 1:1). Let us know how it works!
Ciao,
L
My rice is always scorched on the bottom. What am I doing wrong?
That’s a bit hard to say without knowing what you ARE doing.
However, “Scorched on the bottom” points to:
1. overheating
2. not enough liquid
3. cooking too long
Are you following Laura’s method above, or doing something else?
Are you measuring both rice and liquid accurately using the same cup?
Is your pressure cooker a weight controlled model. e.g. a Presto? If so, they tend to lose more water as steam than a spring loaded or electric model. You will need extra liquid to compensate.
As Greg mentioned, we need more information. Please tell us if you’re following this method and what is your pressure cooker brand and model – if stovetop, please also note the heating source.
Thanks,
L
Thanks to you and Greg for the quick response. I have a stove top pressure cooker and I think it is a spring loaded version. I have an electric stove. I do follow your method, but, as I said, I’m not sure what I’m doing wrong. I’ve tried cooking a variety of rice, and every time the bottom layer is burnt. maybe when I bring it up to pressure the heat is too high? Thanks for your help!
It may be the electric stove. They tend to be slower to respond when you turn the heat down. The general advice I have seen to have a second element already on low and move it across when pressure is reached. Others have reported success sliding the pot over so it is only partly on the element.
Another idea would be to anticipate when pressure will be reached and turn the stove down early.
Keep in mind for me all these are theoretical as I have a gas stove.
Thanks for the advice. This isn’t the only recipe that gets scorched on the bottom, so hopefully I will try this from now on and see if it helps.
Stacey, there is a popular method going around saying that you can cook rice with a 1:1 ratio to water no matter the kind of rice and just change the cooking time. Just in case that’s the advice you were following, I don’t recommend it.
Each rice type is its own size, starch content and density so the only way to address all of these needs is to carefully measure the liquid and cooking time. The 10-minure Natural Release is also essential in that it keeps cooking the rice without any additional heat (which could encourage scorching). Since I’ve tested and used each one of the ratios in just about every kind of pressure cooker, I can confidently guarantee that you WILL get perfect rice using my method. ; )
Ciao,
L
Laura,
What’s the general rule for cooking time? I usually make 3 cups of Jasmine rice and cook for 4 mins. And 10 min. Natural release. If I double or triple the amount of rice, how many additional minutes should I add to the cooking time?
Leave the cooking time the same, or even reduce it.
See http://www.hippressurecooking.com/halve-or-double-pcs/
Freeman,
Before we even get to how to do it, let’s address the safety issue. Unless your pressure cooker is 9L or larger, you cannot pressure cook 6 cups of dry rice in it and still stay under the “Max 1/2 Full” limit for rice. For more information see the”Pressure Cooker Max Fill by Ingredient” chart on this page:
http://www.hippressurecooking.com/pressure-cooker-capacity-faq-if-it-fits-cook-it/
Although the rule of thumb for most foods is to not increase the cooking time with an increase in quantity. In some small cases where the quantity is large and the food’s cooking time is already short, you would actually have to REDUCE the pressure cooking time. That’s because with more liquid the cooker will take more time to reach pressure and the rice is already cooking during this time.
Personally, I don’t even know how you’re going to do this as I don’t know the size of your pressure cooker and my recommended pressure cooking time for Jasmine Rice is already 1 minute!
Ciao,
L
Not really about rice but last two times I cooked pearl barley, my Kuhn Rikon Duromatic managed to burn it? Not enough liquid (i followed cooking times from hippressurecooking) or need a new pressure cooker or gasket?
Paul, were you using an induction burner? What makes you suspect you need a new gasket?
Try doing a water test to see if the cooker reaches and maintains pressure without steam spraying out of anywhere.
Burned grains usually means that the cooker was probably operated at too high of a flame/heat (or with a faulty gasket ; ) and it vented and evaporated the liquid away before the cooking time was up or the liquid/grain measures were not measured properly.
Ciao,
L
I just got the 6qt kuhn rikon pressure cooker and made the spumante risotto for our first dish. I used your cookbook recipe with high pressure and added mushrooms. It was fabulous. My wife said I could make it everynight. Here’s my question, the kuhn manual says to NEVER cook rice at high pressure. Could you explain why?
Thanks
That’s fantastic news – so glad to hear that it was well received and made you look like a pressure cooking hero. ; )
I’ve actually haven’t seen that note on the KR manual – let me see if I can download a recent copy. Generally, in terms of rice you should NEVER fill the pressure cooker more than half-way but I’ve never seen NEVER applied to pressure.
There is an on-going trend (not sure if it was started by Instant Pot, or not) to cook rice at low pressure to keep it from looking “gray.” Studies have shown that rice will get little holes in the structure under pressure and which then create little shadows that keep the rice from looking as bright white as it would be cooked without pressure.
With risotto, this cosmetic change is not an issue since you want the rice to absorb the broth anyway and don’t have any expectations that it would still look bright-white after cooking.
Let me see what I can find out and, meanwhile, please post a photo of the page with that warning. I wonder if the surrounding info might provide a clue as to KR’s reasoning.
Ciao,
L
The first time I cooked this specific rice it worked out perfectly. The second time I doubled the recipe and read somewhere to use 3 cups of water. So I also doubled the water. Huge mistake. It took forever to cook and came out mushy, tasteless and still had a lot of water in it. (Stove top instructions say 2 cups rice 3 1/2 cups water cook for 45 minutes.) I used the instant pot. I don’t think I ever need to cook 2 cups of rice. It was way too much. Any tips on how to properly cook this rice? Thanks.
Lisa, how did you cook it the first time that it came out perfectly?
Ciao,
L
I think I had 1 cup rice, 1 cup water, but then I don’t remember if I hit the multigrain or the rice button. The second time I doubled the rice and tripled the water. Again, I don’t remember what I did for time.
I can help you figure it out. Did you adjust the time, or just push the “program” button and went with it?
Ciao,
L
I’m sorry. I didn’t write it down and I have no idea what I did.
But I do have other questions.
A lot of recipes on the Internet call for chicken (or beef) broth, canned tomatoe paste, or pasta sauce. Sometimes I don’t have those items on hand. (Especially the tomatoe paste. It seems so wasteful to use 2 tbsp and not use the rest in time. I know I can feeeze it but I never remember it again after that. It’s lost in the black hole of the freezer. )
Do I have to use a broth or can I use water?
Do I have to use tomatoe paste? Can I omit it completely or use something else?
Is there a substitute for pasta sauce?
Thanks.
Lisa, buy the tomato paste in a tube – it lasts almost indefinitely in your refrigerator shelf. I also keep back-ups in the pantry. Also for the borths you can skip those and just use water, but for emergencies I have the bullion powder (get the best quality available) which is another item that can last indefinitely in the pantry.
I would substitute jarred pasta sauce with tomato puree and a teaspoon of garlic powder. ; )
Ciao,
L
Please, please. please turn off the background music.
Have really enjoyed your site and have learned a lot. Thanks for doing this.