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Having received a rice cooker as a wedding present 8 years ago and recently moved to a 220v country (all my kitchen appliances in storage, sniff!) I might fall into the category. I always end up finishing it in the microwave because everything else is done and the rice is still soggy...

I miraculously had it down on the first try-- good ole finger trick with sushi rice :)

I can think of four reasons that rice would be ruined:
1. Too much water.
2. Not enough water.
3. Cooking for too long (thus possibly burning the rice).
4. Not cooking long enough.

Follow the correct ratio and watch the time. This is all you need to know in order to not screw up rice.

I had trouble cooking rice until I started ignoring it. Seemed the "trick" was in not opening the pot until it was done and time to serve. My rice has been reliably fine ever since. And an extra few minutes in the pot with the heat off doesn't hurt. It seems to prevent gumminess.

On rice cookers--I have a fuzzy logic model and frankly, I don't see the advantage. It take 3 times longer to cook rice than it does on the stove top and the rice turns out no better. I can cook white rice in 15 minutes, brown in 45. The cooker takes almost 90 minutes! to cook brown rice.

Rice 101:

Read the directions and follow them! Once liquid boils, cover and simmer. Use a timer. If you can tell it's cooking too fast, turn down the heat - it should not be still boiling hard. Be patient and wait for the timer unless there is no more steam escaping from the pot - check it, because it's probably done. A non-stick pot wil help prevent rice sticking if you let it go a little too long. If you smell burning, remove from heat and start over. If it burned and you didn't use a non-stick pot, you might want to toss pot and all. Open all the windows and turn on the fans. Go outdoors or shopping for awhile, because burned rice stinks. End of tutorial. ;-)

I am EXTREMELY picky about my rice texture (I'm Japanese, duh!). My bread machine hasn't been utilized as bread machine or jam maker in over 10 years, but it's reliably made excellent rice daily for 13 years.

Coming from someone who burns pots while boiling water -- I have a tendency to walk away and forget I'm cooking -- even *I* can cook rice on the stovetop. My ex-bf taught me how. I'll occasionally cook rice on the stovetop for the hell of it.

I agree with what's been said about screwing up rice, like incorrect amount of water for the rice type, type of range, as well as altitude, humidity, etc.

I think some people are incapable of successfully cooking rice regardless of their effort. I can't bake cookies to save my life. It still tastes good and has the right consistency, but it always ends up as one giant sheet. *shrug*

I always found stovetop rice cooking a little esoteric, even though my family is Chinese and does it all the time.
Then my mom revealed her secret to me. Rice in a pot, add enough water to submerge your palm in (actually put your hand in the water to check).

Otherwise eyeball it to about a 1/2 an inch of water.

That's it. It seems simple, and she doesn't seem to change the ratio much even for different kinds of rice.

She throws it on the stove, lets the water boil off until the top no longer looks swampy, lowers the flame and claps a lid on it until the rice is fluffy.

And in this family, the slightly burned crust that sticks to the pot is desireable! My dad and my sister enjoy eating crispy, crunchy, toasty guo ba or fan jiu!

of course... with a rice cooker.

Cooking rice in a rice cooker is probably the first "cooking" most chinese kids are train to do to "help out" in preparing for dinner. And the first piece of cooking equipment you get when you leave for college is a good (no skimping on cheap models) simple "bachelor size" rice cooker.

I never ate much rice, but it's a fact my parents ignore. When they visit are horrified to see the state of that rice cooker (cover in dust in my cabinet), and the fact I have less than 5 lb of rice in my home! I swear they made me buy another bag of rice because they deemed my supply insufficient for their visit, and I didn't want to argue. They didn't finish the rice I had left!

On the rare occassion I eat rice, I have a tiny small clay pot that I use on the stove stop. Makes just the right amount (no leftovers), I have yet to make a bad batch. I only use the rice cooker if I have to make more than one serving. My mom also now makes rice on the stove top (since it's just her & dad back home now). Her rice is weirdly perfect...she never stirs it and when it's done the rice grains are "standing" up on the top. My cousin and I were both puzzle by it, but mom really didn't know why it does that.

I am the one that couldn't cook rice. It took 7 years and a husband who loves rice for me. I would start the rice, then work on everything else when i realized the water was boiling it had boiled down quite a bit. Then i would put the rice in and the rice was always hard. Now I have it, but, really it was always a timing issue. And no you don't have to be stupid not to get rice. You just have to be inexperienced or have a limited attention span.

I can't cook rice. I've tried everything- boiling, simmering, baking in the oven, microwaving...you name it. The rice just never comes out right regardless of the type or method. And the "problem" is always something different. Soupy, crunchy, gummy, etc.

I have a rice cooker. I run water over the rice and agitate three times, then rinse with clear water three times. Add water to my first knuckle and cook. This comes out edible, but not as good as I'd like.

It's a huge mental block that I just can't get past. I love to cook, and do so daily. Most everything comes out the way I intend. 'Cept the rice.

It took a bit before I discovered the secret mysteries to cooking your average pot of tasty rice.

-Read the bag/container! Even when you buy plain rice in bulk, there are instructions for cooking. Typically 1 part rice to two parts water.
-Add rice, add water, add a splash of evoo, sea salt, pepper.
-Bring to boil, cover and simmer.
-Let stand with heat off, covered, once all liquid is absorbed!

The last step is so key. I used to make the mistake of overcooking rice (adding more water sometimes, yech) if it was too undercooked once the water was absorbed. If this is the case, simply cut the heat while covered - the steam will do the trick.

Is this a trick question?

You mean there are others? I'm the only one I know who is rice impaired.

I was scared to even try as I'd heard the stories and everyone I knew, including my own mother (an otherwise brilliant cook), used either minute rice or boil in bag. Then I had real Jasmine rice and knew I could never eat "easy" rice again.

It came out perfect the first time and I couldn't understand how anyone could mess it up. I mourned the years I lost when I could have been eating real rice. I even took back a rice cooker I'd been given for a gift from my brother as I couldn't understand why I needed a special big appliance to clutter up my kitchen for something so utterly simple.

Then I spent a summer with my friend from Guyana who is a wonderful, amazing and confident cook. I made some rice one evening as part of a meal I made to give her a night off and she opened the pot and nearly went down on her knees, treating me as a deity. I was really embarrassed. She begged me to teach her how to make rice like it comes in Chinese restaurants. Seems she'd been taught to boil the rice in a bunch of water and then drain it. Hers had been fine too but I can see how that would be annoying prep work and why it didn't shine.

The water up to the first knuckle over the rice really seems to work no matter how much rice or which pot used (I'm still pondering over why). I usually measure and then check with the knuckle sort of as a back up. I now like brown basmati best which takes double time but the same trick works with it and it's great.

The only time I messed it up was when I added a bunch of other ingredients and became confused in the counting and left out half the moisture but didn't notice because of all the other stuff in the pot. I'd chosen to bake it because it wasn't just rice. Baking takes twice as long -- however, it keeps the ingredients from separating and getting brown on the bottom but it does require stirring halfway through; thank goodness. It was soooo dry (hard too) and as I thought back and realized the liquid deficit I added the rest and hoped for the best. And that's what it ended up being; the absolute best ever. Maybe it is divine...

I do like the 1.5 to 1 ratio best for most rice over the 2:1.

However, it was only recently I was able to get over my fear of dry beans. :)

Is the Pope Catholic?

The incredulity of rice-pros and rice-disabled is very funny. It reminds me of a quote from Agatha Christie, who said that there is no gulf in the world so wide as that between the seasick and the good sailor. I'm also reminded of my own confusion when I read women's magazine covers in the middle 70's and discovered that it was very, very difficult to have an orgasm. Huh?

Anyway, I have my best success with the Rice Select rices. They are hideously expensive and, while they do taste good, I wish I could buy 10-pound bags of "real" rice. But I can't, because, no matter how carefully I follow the directions, I get nothing edible. But Rice Selects always work out, be they Jasmati, Sushi or Risotto. I respect the directions and try to be there on the dot when the timer goes off. So I guess you could say I respond well to direction but have no talent for improvisation. Sigh.

I'm printing this whole thread to keep in my recipe binder in the kitchen. Whenever I print recipes from my computer, I keep them corraled in the binder.

My brother is the rice expert in my family - his is always perfect. His description is simple but I could never get it to work for me. "Two to one, water to rice and add some salt. Bring it to a boil, then lower it to a match. Cover it and don't peek! Simmer 20 minutes. Fluff with a fork."

Yet, I can make risotto!! I guess that's supposed to turn out like joint compund. (Sigh.)

For me, it depends on the type of rice. For a long time, the "regular" rice I used (Mahatma Extra Long Grain Enriched Rice) just wouldn't turn out right. It was always a horrible sludgy glop of tasteless gloppy sludge. So I tried basmati rice, and it comes out perfect every time!

So I realized my error, and came up with Rule One For Cooking Rice Well: Do NOT follow the instructions on the bag! Especially if it is Mahatma.

I tried cooking the Mahatma rice using the method that works for basmati, and it comes out fine! One cup of rice in the cold pot. Cover with one and a half cups of water. Add salt and butter or oil. Bring to a boil. Reduce until water level is just below the top of the rice. Then reduce heat to low, cover, and wait twenty minutes. Then turn off the heat and let it sit for a few minutes. Fluff with a fork, and serve.

Okay, Minstrel -- game on. I've just followed your instructions for Mahatma, and it just went to low. Does "just below the top of the rice" mean that I could swoosh the back of a spoon over the rice and feeling more resistance than liquid. . .and does it look like deep bubble pockets on top? Thx.

You're welcome, tmj529! Glad it worked for you.

I love calrose rice. I use it 90% of the time. My method is rinse it, boil the water, throw in tablespoon of olive oil into the water and then throw in the rice. Cook on high for 5 mins (LID ON) then turn off and walk away. Don't touch the lid for 20 mins, then and only then fluff and put the lid back on for 5. I have a rice cooker I use it maybe twice a year. You too can cook rice!!