How to make nice, FLUFFY rice!!

So to some of you experienced chefs out there, this may seem like a no-brainer.  But to me, it was a revolution.  I started to wonder to myself, "self, why does the rice I make always suck?" At first, I thought that the secret was a rice cooker.  So, since my E-mealz this week had like four meals that used rice, I used the opportunity to buy one.  It ran me $13.88 at wal-mart.  What a deal?  Anyway, the directions didn't say how long it took to actually  cook the rice, I suppose because the idea is that it is automatic.  Still, I wanted to have some idea about at what point I should put the rice in the cooker to have it fresh for dinner.  In googling this, I discovered the following: 20 most worthless pieces of junk: #20 rice cooker  Oh great I thought to myself, I just bought something that was on the list of most worthless pieces of junk!  At least it was number 20 though, so it's the last on the list.  I noticed later that bread makers were also on the list, and I must wholeheartedly disagree with that!  I use my bread maker ALL the time.  Not to make bread though, just dough for rolls and things.  Still, super useful!  Number one on the list is happy meal toys, in case you wondered.

Anyway, the reason that link is important is because NONE of the benefits in the debate about rice cookers stated that they magically make rice fluffier, or more 'steamed'.  Hmm, I thought.  Well, at least I can just put it in the rice cooker and forget about it.  It doesn't take up a ton of room, and when I'm making a main dish and sometimes another side dish besides rice, and often taking care of Josie while I cook, it doesn't seem like a bad purchase.  Oh, if anyone is curious, it takes rice about 20 minutes to cook in a rice cooker.  So, about the same amount of time it takes to cook on the stove.

So, I looked up "How to steam rice".  I've never heard of a rice steamer, and I thought a rice cooker would do it, but apparently it works the same as the stove, so there had to be something else I was missing.  I may as well have googled, "Why does my rice always suck?" because it does.  It comes out smooshy, sticky, and gross.  I wanted to know how to make that panda express, fluffy white rice!  I then found this: Shiok - Chef's notes: how to make perfect steamed rice. AHA!  The secret I've always wanted to know was just a mouse-click away!  I love it when that happens!

Basically, the secret to beautiful, fluffy rice is.... rinse it!
Yes, when you put the rice in a bowl and fill the bowl with water, the water turns completely white and cloudy.  It is apparently the bran, it clings to the outside of the rice (and has all sorts of yummy vitamins and stuff that are good for you, but also deplete the fluffy awesomeness of your rice.)  I put enough water in to cover the rice, stirred it around with my hand, and drained it using a wire strainer.  It took about ten good rinses before the water cleared enough for me to see the rice.  Begone, icky bran!  (I did not soak it for 30 mins as the page suggests, and it still came out great!)

Unfortunately, my story does not have a happy ending.  My $13.88 rice cooker shut off about five minutes after it started cooking!  Completely shut down, and changing outlets did not work.  I apparently bought a defective rice cooker.  So I dumped all the rice and water into a pan and finished cooking it on the stove.  It came out beautiful!

My conclusion is that the rice cooker is not completely necessary, but it will be convenient, so I will be exchanging it and hoping that the next one does not shut down on the first run.  But, it is completely possible to make fluffy, delicious rice on the stove as well!  Just rinse the crap out of it!!