Help with rice cooker!

[PPT]

I have eight people coming round for dinner tomorrow night. I'm set to cook a curry with rice... and want to use my rice cooker... Is anyone clever with rice cookers?

• How many of the funny rice cooker cups should I use for 8 people?

• I want to use basmati. Last time I used my rice cooker, I used 2 cups, and filled it up to number 2 on the side. But- it went sloppy-ish and had a crust on the bottom. What was I doing wrong? How many cups of water should I use with basmati?

Please help! This is kind of a cooking competition (between friends-- damn competitive bunch!), and suddenly have the fear about my rice!

Thanks!

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I would use 6 cups for 8 adults with normal appetites. Or weigh out 8x75g and see how many cups that is (75g is recommended serving size on packet).

Do you rinse the rice before cooking? I put it in sieve under running water for a few mins then let it sit in water for an hour or so before rinsing again. This has minimised the crusting. Also, I bought a cheap brand in Tesco and it was very 'dirty' and didn't cook well. Now I try to get Tilda rice when on special offer.

I love my rice cooker! Never been able to cook it in a pan without burning/sticking/overcooking so it is a blessing to our family Good luck!

Stir a bit of cooking oil on first.

Two tips for rice cookers: Use the same no. of cups of water as you put rice, plus half a cup. So for e.g. 6 cups of rice and 6 and a half cups of water.

Also, when it's cooked and has pinged from 'cook' onto 'warm', turn it off - if it stays on warm for long it overcooks, and sticks to the bottom.

And yes, definitely wash the rice first.

You'll always get a bit of crusting on the bottom with a rice cooker...i've been using them for 12 years to cook rice and in some cultures the crunchy rice is considered the best bit

I've used many brands of basmati rice and never noticed any being 'dirtier' than others. You may get some cloudier water when rinsing depending on brands but I imagine this is more to do with the variable starch content than anything else.

I always rinse rice well before putting into the rice cooker and use double the amount of water to rice, I can do this by eye but if you want actual measurements it would be 200g rice to 400ml of water

You don't get any crusting unless you have a really old rice cooker I thought. I havent seen it since I was a very youn girl! And I'm in my late 30s now.

I just use 1 cup for 2 rice bowl of rice. I eat one bowl but a big guy will eat 2. Add water to the mark on the side of the inner container. That's it.

I never use the marks on the side and have had my rice cooker for five years now. 1.5 cups of water to 1 cup rice - works every time.

I managed to get it right... But used Tilda Thai jasmine instead. I gave it a good wash and did 6 cups and did use the side lines. No crust this time! I love my rice cooker but it is a bit hit and miss depending on which rice I seem to use! Thanks for all the hints. I used a drop of cooking oil too which definitely seemed to help matters!