Can You Put Rice in a Slow Cooker?
You absolutely can put rice in a slow cooker! Cooking rice in a slow cooker is not only possible but sometimes even favorable way for some chefs. While a rice cooker is probably an easier way to cook rice, a slow cooker allows you to cook whole meals with rice by adding many other ingredients. Rice cooker cannot do that. In this article we will talk about how to cook rice in a slow cooker the right way.
One reason to cook rice or any other food in a slow cooker is the resulting softness of the whole meal. This result is especially beneficial with grains like rice. The ingredients will exchange juices while heated in a slow cooker and the resulting taste may be interesting and very yummy.
Now, using a slow cooker to cook rice allows even novice chefs to introduce incredible variety to flavors and tastes by adding herbs, spices, vegetables, beans and you name it. I love slow cookers. When I was a student slow cooker was my best friend. Even more of a best friend that microwave oven.
I remember setting a slow cooker late in the evening and waking up to that incredible smell of fresh, soft meal.
One note against using a slow cooker is that it gives out steam which can fill the room for hours. This is not a nice feeling when you live in a very humid geographical location. I recommend setting your slow cooker not close to your bedroom. You will figure it out.
Let us discuss a few tricks and tips about how to cook rice in a slow cooker to make it soft and very tasty.
How to Use Slow Cooker to Cook Rice
Setting Up Your Slow Cooker to Cook Rice
I already mentioned that you better put a slow cooker somewhere in the kitchen away from bedrooms because that steam and smell of cooking rice will fill the area. Do whatever you feel like if you are fine with it.
Some people put their slow cookers outside. I do not recommend it because the smell will attract anything alive that moves, crawls, or flies. Keep it indoors.
It is recommended that you set up your slow cooker somewhere on an even surface in the kitchen. Such as a countertop close to a microwave oven. Like any electrical appliance, I would not put it on a metal surface. Put it on wood, plastic, or anything else that does not conduct electricity to avoid any unlikely shorting of a circuit.
Also, like any electrical appliance put it in a dry place. I would not put it too close to the sink for many reasons, including personal safety. Here is some information from FDA about slow cooker safety which you can find here.
Make sure you clean the slow cooker after any use. If not, you will need to clean it well before cooking rice to avoid any taste surprises. Cleaning slow cooker pot can be done with regular dish soap and water, wash it well and let it dry.
The Size of Slow Cooker for Putting Rice
Slow cookers come in a variety of sizes ranging from 1 quart to about 8 quarts. Here is a table of slow cooker sizes for your understanding.
1-3 quarts | Enough for 1-2 people meal maximum. Frankly, good enough really for heating a serving of an already cooked meal. Not too good enough for cooking meals, in my opinion. |
3-6 quarts | Enough for 2-4 servings of a meal or 2-4 people. Or solid good for one person who is willing to cook often. |
6-8 quarts | A preferred choice for all situations: for reheating and for cooking meal enough for more servings or 4-6 people. Also, a good choice if you want to cook enough food to last for several days. Just put it in the fridge. |
Frankly, I would buy a 6 quart or higher-sized slow cooker because besides rice increasing in size 2-2.5 times, you may also want to add many more ingredients with it: vegetables, other grains, or meat. Roasting meat, for example, is useless in a slow cooker less than 6-quart size because of low efficiency.
It takes a bit of time but in the end, you have only 2-3 servings. Not worth the time unless you are on some kind of extreme makeover diet.
Having a larger slow cooker or crockpot allows you to cook more efficiently. All in one setting, using fewer appliances, less electricity used (compare to cooking different things separately), less time, and less clutter in the kitchen. In economics, it is called “economies of scale.”
You can cook chicken with rice in a large enough slow cooker crockpot. Finally, when I was a student, I would cook a whole chicken with veggies in a slow cooker. Because it was spacious enough. Yes, I am not a vegetarian.
Preparing and Putting Rice in Slow Cooker
Rinse your rice. Depending on the manufacturer, the rice you purchase may contain extra fluff in it which may make the rice stick or have hard spots after cooking. Just put rice in a bowl, fill it with cold water, stir, then pour water and any extra staff into the sink.
Put your rice into the slow cooker pot. One cup is about one serving per person. Therefore, for a family or company of four, this will be 4 cups of rice.
Add at least twice as much water. The usual recommendation is to put 2-2.5 times as much water as you put rice. Some recommend adding 2-3 cups of water for 1 cup of rice. Because rice throughout cooking will absorb plenty of water. Too little water will make rice too dry, too much will make it too mushy.
And because the rice will expand in slow cooker 2-2.5 times its dry size. If you want to cook rice enough for a few people, make sure you have a large enough slow cooker for that.
HINT: Make sure your slow cooker lid is closed tightly to trap heat and moisture inside. Otherwise, you may end up with rice drier than necessary.
Add some fat to the mix to avoid rice sticking together. I usually use olive oil because it works perfectly. I tried to use regular butter, but I did not like the result. Some used cheese. I never tried it.
If you are gourmet and have a passion for some slight alcohol, you can try to experiment and add just a teaspoon or tablespoon of beer or white wine, depending on the slow cooker volume. I am curious what will come out of it besides steamy fumes which will contain the smell of cooking rice and just a little bit of wine and beer in the air.
Well, this is going more toward college party suggestions so I will stop right here.
Some recommend putting the parchment paper on the pot and then close the lid on top of it. Supposedly, it helps to trap moisture and heat inside. I tend to think you can try it but if you take good care of your slow cooker, closing the original lid will be enough.
But I do agree that you should never cover the pot with plastic material because prolonged heating will cause it to release toxins into your rice.
Proper Slow Cooker Settings and Timing to Cook Rice
Set your slow cooker settings on high. High will be enough to cook rice and veggies well over only 2-4 hours. I also used to put the slow cooker on low and cook overnight. This could take 6-8 hours, but the rice would also absorb juices of veggies or other staff I put in. And yes, it was so soft and tasty.
Try both ways and see which way is more suitable for you. If you put something hard to cook with rice, better cook it longer. Seriously, I am getting hungry just writing this. I recall that amazing smell of cooked food, that gentle softness of the cooked staff, and exquisite taste.
Beware, if you are new to all this cooking, then slow cooker is the way to go. But, you may make a few mistakes and have some kind of mush altogether in the end. Still eatable, but kind of funny to eat. Try a few times and you will make it work. If you are new to cooking then a slow cooker makes it easy to learn and is a way to go.
How to Cook Rice in a Slow Cooker Crock Pot
How to cook rice in a crockpot? Well, pretty much like how you would cook rice in a regular slow cooker.
Check your rice in a slow cooker after 2-3 hours of cooking. See if it is soft and tender. If skin pops open. It may be ready. If not, and you see that rice already absorbed water, then add another ½ or 1 cup of water into it. Check after 30-60 minutes again. Eventually, you will figure out how fast your slow cooker cooks certain foods, and you will not need to check it all the time. Set it and forget it.
Do not forget to stir occasionally – this will prevent rice in a slow cooker (in a crockpot) from sticking together.
Example: Cooking Basmati Rice in Slow Cooker (in Crock Pot)
Basmati rice is softer than brown rice, therefore it will take less time to fully cook. Thus, you may need to put less water – 2-2.5 cups of water for 1 cup of basmati rice. Depending on the slow cooker or crockpot, it will take 2-4 hours to cook basmati rice.
Some say that long-grain rice is better suited for a slow cooker. I found that any kind of rice is fine. It is a matter of personal preference. I like long grain rice too.
You can add any vegetables like bell peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, beets, potatoes, salad, spinach, onions you name it. You can add fruits too! Like apples, pineapples, pears, oranges. Fruits are softer so add them not earlier than in the middle of your rice cooking process. Corn, melon, or anything else exotic? I would not add watermelon though. It will not come out too tasty.
And yes, you can curry and other spices or herbs. Lavender leaf, basil, and more. Hey, you can add even ketchup or BBQ sauce! Anything safe to eat for an experiment. I never tried to put vegetable juice – some say this adds flavor.
Example: How to Cook Brown Rice in a Crock Pot Slow Cooker
Brown rice is harder than white rice and takes longer to cook. Therefore, it is recommended to use a ratio of 3 cups of water for 1 cup of brown rice. And it may take 3-5 hours to cook brown rice vs. less time for white rice.
You can add beans to brown rice to make so-called complete vegetarian protein. Soak beans in plenty of water for 6-8 hours before that. And cook rice and beans together.
Some also recommend soaking rice overnight before cooking rice in a slow cooker. This cuts brown rice in slow cooker cooking time in about half the time.
Some grains contain phytic acid which allegedly interferes with our digestion of grains. Therefore, you probably have seen other bloggers in their articles recommending to soak grains with something acidic for 8 hours or more before cooking.
They recommend apple cider vinegar or lemon juice (but I thought that lemon juice is alkaline?). Maybe it is a good idea to do that if you are very health conscious. This applies to rice as well. Change the acidic liquid to water before cooking rice in a slow cooker for better taste.
Now, if you want to do all that, then it makes sense to cook a large amount to last you a few days to make all your efforts worthwhile. See, therefore I do not like small-sized slow cookers or crock pots – they are kind of inefficient. But it is up to you how you do your cooking.
Why is My Rice Not Cooking in the Slow Cooker?
Your rice may not be cooking in the slow cooker or crockpot for various reasons. Too much or too little water added is one of the most common reasons. Too much water can make rice mushy, too little can make it dry and stick to each other. Therefore, you need to try a few times to find an optimal ratio of water to rice for your specific cooker and its size.
The general rule is to add 1 cup of rice to 2-3 cups of white rice, and 1 cup of rice for 3-4 cups of brown rice.
If rice in a slow cooker does not absorb enough water, then you need to cook it longer on a lower setting to allow it to absorb enough water. One other reason could be when consumers buy too small a slow cooker but try to put too much rice in it.
Rice can expand 2-2.5 times by absorbing water. If the slow cooker is too small then it cannot hold enough water for the rice to absorb. Then, you may try cooking a lesser amount of rice in one cooking session.
That is why I recommend buying at least 5-6 quarts slow cooker in the first place to avoid these little inconveniences.
On the other hand, if your rice is undercooked and it already absorbed all the water in a slow cooker, just add more water.
Caution! Do not use a slow cooker without water in it! It may damage some slow cookers or crockpots. Read the manufacturer’s instructions about this.
On the one hand, if rice comes out a little too crunchy, then maybe your slow cooker or crockpot is heating less than required for the amount of time. It could be an indicator of a manufacturing defect. Or, you may simply set it on higher volume to make rice come outright.
On the other hand, if rice becomes too mushy, then maybe you set up a slow cooker too high and need to lower settings.
Also, you should use the correct rice for the recipe you are using to make it. Finally, the type and quality of purchased rice may also make a difference. Try to buy a different brand of rice in another store to see if that works better.
In the unlikely event that no matter what you try rice in the slow cooker comes out bad too often, and you are sure you did everything right, then maybe you need a different slow cooker. But it is a rare occasion. I noticed that in most cases it was my fault that my food did not cook properly in a slow cooker. And using any other appliance, for that matter.
Selecting Your Slow Cooker – Quick Overview
You probably already have read on the internet that some slow cockers are crop pots, while not all crock pots are slow cookers.
Selecting a slow cooker is a topic for a separate article which I will add later. Overall, modern slow cookers are mostly all good, but some are quite better than others. You do not want to go completely cheap. It is better to own less staff, but of better quality. The good slow cooker can serve you for a long time. It will allow cooking very many different dishes. Why save on that?
If you are looking for an easy to cook rice – a slow cooker (or crockpot) is your friend.
This is it for now about how to cook rice in a slow cooker. Enjoy your cooked rice!