By Published Oct. 18, 2023.
This is Technique #14 from our 100 Techniques Every Home Cook Can Master.
Each technique is broken into three sections: why it works, key steps, and recipes that use it. Learn these recipe building blocks and you'll be set up for a lifetime of cooking success.
There are as many different ways to cook rice as there are different types of rice. Too often, however, the directions on the back of the bag or box result in either wet and mushy rice or scorched yet undercooked rice.
This has to do in large part with two factors: the heat levels of stovetops and the type of cookware you use.
Most stovetop recipes call for too much heat (which causes the bottom layer of rice to scorch); these recipes attempt to compensate by calling for more water (which causes the rice to swell up into a gelatinous mass). Lightweight cookware also contributes to scorched bottoms and uneven cooking. It’s easier to turn out properly cooked rice with heavyweight, high-end cookware—which works out if you’re lucky enough to own it.
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For a surefire rice-cooking method that works no matter the cook, no matter the equipment, and no matter what type of rice you are cooking, turn to the oven.
By using less water than is typically called for in stovetop recipes and taking advantage of the steady, even heat of the oven, you can turn out perfect rice every time. This is because the oven acts like a rice cooker.
A homemade rice cooker created using a baking dish and aluminum foil approximates the controlled, indirect heat of a real rice cooker by providing even, encircling heat and temperature control that is more precise than the stovetop. Using boiling water instead of water straight from the tap jump-starts the process and reduces the overall baking time.
In a standard baking dish tightly covered with foil, white, brown, and wild rice all cook impressively well. No more fiddling with the heat level of your burner or trying to figure out the right pan to use—and no more scorched, crunchy, or mushy rice. Using this technique, you can serve properly cooked rice anytime.
Here are the key steps to making perfectly fluffy, never burned, hands-off rice.
Rinse and drain rice to remove excess starch, which otherwise would make rice gluey.
Cook aromatics, if using. Bring water or broth to boil in saucepan.
Pour boiling cooking liquid over rice in 8-inch square baking dish and add aromatics.
Cover baking dish tightly with double layer of aluminum foil and bake until liquid is absorbed and rice is tender.
Add any remaining mix-ins, fluff rice with fork, then cover and let sit for a few minutes before serving.
Use your newfound rice-cooking knowledge with any of these recipes.
Ready to learn another technique? Choose from our list of 100 Techniques Every Home Cook Can Master.
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