How to Cook Brown Rice in the Microwave

How to cook brown rice in the microwave .

Hi , this is Jaden from steamy kitchen dot com since I posted how to cook white rice in the microwave , which shaves off nearly half the time of cooking on the stovetop and takes the guess work out of cooking rice .

I've been asked repeatedly to show you how to cook brown rice in the microwave .

Yes , it can be done , but it does take a lot longer 30 minutes in the microwave .

However , that's still a time savings because it takes about 40 to 50 minutes on the stove top .

And of course , it's easier in the microwave than watching it over at the stove .

We tested many , many different batches of brown rice until we found the perfect combination of time and power .

30 minutes in the microwave .

Seems like a long time .

And to be honest with you , I'm not a big fan of using my microwave for that long .

Um But hey , if it gets you to eat more brown rice then great for our test .

We're using brown basmati rice because it is the thinnest rice .

There's also brown um jasmine rice , there's brown regular rice , there's brown California rice and there's brown short grain rice , the fatter the rice , the longer it takes to cook .

So we decided to use basmati just to keep the time down .

Ok ?

Here's your ratio , one cup of brown rice and three cups of water .

Make sure you're using a microwave safe pot .

And unlike white rice in the microwave , which you do cover , you are gonna leave this uncovered 10 minutes on high .

And then after that 20 minutes at 50% this is by far the best method that we've found and the most efficient no waiting for water to boil , no draining of extra water .

Um It's produced fluffy brown rice that's cooked perfectly throughout the grain from our testing wet research and a quick phone call to some rice experts .

Here's what we learned .

Rice arrives at the mill with an outer hole or husk .

The mill removes a tough husk to make brown rice , the brand and germ ie the good stuff like vitamins , fiber and minerals are still intact .

When you remove the brand and germ , you get starchy endosperm or white rice to cook brown rice .

You need to take the layers of brand and germ .

In consideration , the 1st 10 minutes of cooking on high will bring the water to boil and soften the bran and germ .

The following 20 minutes on medium will gently cook the rice at a steady rate .

Will cooking on high heat throughout the whole cooking time .

Make it cook faster .

No , it actually does the opposite .

The outer part of the rice will overcook making a tough chewy rice .

Why do you cook uncovered ?

This allows the excess steam to escape , preventing the outer layer of the rice from over cooking before the inner part of the rice has a chance to cook fully .

So 10 minutes on high , then 20 minutes on 50% seems to be the right ratio to bring the be able to bring the water to boil , being able to cook and penetrate through the outer layers of brand and germ and gently and steadily cook the entire kernel so that you've got some nice not chewy brown rice .

I also found some quick cooking brown rice at Trader Joe's .

Click on this link to watch the video of the comparison between the two for the full recipe including exact measurements .

Head over to steamy kitchen dot com slash 1 62 .