Can You Cook Rice-A-Roni in a Rice Cooker?

heat123 · Sep 17, 2008

I have never done anything but brown rice in my rice cooker.. has anyone ever done rice a roni it theirs? I am making the micro chix fajitas and wanted to see how fast doing rice would be? The box says for 23 min or so but that was in a glass casserole dish. And on stove top it's only 16min I think!? If anyone has done R-A-R before, in the rice cooker please, any tips or suggestions!

jrstephens · Sep 17, 2008

I did it but it has been a while. I think it took about as long as normal rice did. I cannot remember for sure but I think I had to add a little more water toward the end for it to not dry out.

Sorry I could not be more help.

heat123 · Sep 17, 2008

hm, that's odd, I thought it would be quicker in the cooker?

I guess I will just do it via stove top and show off another piece o cookware!

jrstephens · Sep 17, 2008

heat123 said:
hm, that's odd, I thought it would be quicker in the cooker? I guess I will just do it via stove top and show off another piece o cookware!

i meant it takes about the same as normal rice does in the cooker. but then i cook minute rice in it. i do not remember how long i cooked. i think i started with half the time that was on the box and went from there.

heat123 · Sep 17, 2008

OH, got it... hm, maybe I should do a test batch tonight and see how quick it cooks??

alatour · Sep 17, 2008

I do Rice a Roni in the rice cooker all the time for my own family. You can just follow the microwave directions on the side of the box. It does take about the same amount of time, but I can do other things while it is cooking instead of having to keep track of it, especially when I am baking the rest of dinner. I am really busy at night with my kids so I am all about a shortcut! Usually takes me about 20 minutes.

heat123 · Sep 17, 2008

alatour said:
I do Rice a Roni in the rice cooker all the time for my own family. You can just follow the microwave directions on the side of the box. It does take about the same amount of time, but I can do other things while it is cooking instead of having to keep track of it, especially when I am baking the rest of dinner. I am really busy at night with my kids so I am all about a shortcut! Usually takes me about 20 minutes.

Good to know... but I am suprised it doesn't take a shorter amount of time to cook! I thought that was the point of using it?? Strange? I guess I will stick to the stove top with our nonstick pan I can talk about

.

ChefPaulaB · Sep 17, 2008

Make sure not to do the first step where you're supposed to brown the rice in butter... that'll ruin your rice cooker. I know, I ruined mine! You always have to have water in it. Good luck!

heat123 · Sep 17, 2008

Oops, I already did! Curiousity was killin me so I put in a test batch. It didn't seem to ruin it though, luckily!

alatour · Sep 17, 2008

ChefPaulaB said:
Make sure not to do the first step where you're supposed to brown the rice in butter... that'll ruin your rice cooker. I know, I ruined mine! You always have to have water in it. Good luck!

What happened to it?

heat123 · Sep 17, 2008

It came out, but it did take just as long as it would on stove top

. I will do it on stove top tomorrow and really push cookware since it's HS this month!

ChefPaulaB · Sep 18, 2008

alatour said:
What happened to it?

It ruined the bottom of it, it melted the rice into it and there was no getting it cleaned. I don't know if it would still work after that, since there were little pieces of the rice still melted into it, I really didn't feel comfortable cooking in it again. I sent it back and am waiting for a replacement, we'll see if they come through with it. Wasn't sure if they would, since it does say not to do it in the product care, but we'll see. There was another link on here somewhere where someone did that and it caught on fire... So, when I get my new one, I'll just stick to plain rice! And maybe try the cakes...

aPamperedBride · Sep 18, 2008

heat123 said:
Good to know... but I am suprised it doesn't take a shorter amount of time to cook! I thought that was the point of using it?? Strange? I guess I will stick to the stove top with our nonstick pan I can talk about .

Many people do not know how to cook rice on the stovetop. I know RaR is seasoned and has directions, but when I started selling PC 8 years ago, one of the ways to sell cookware at a show was to intentionally overcook the rice, ask how many people had ever forgotten and seen it like it was in the pan, then show just how easy it was to clean our non-stick cookware (it's truly non-stick!).

So the purpose of the RC+ is three-fold: perfect rice, every time! Frees up one burner on stovetop if needed or to keep small kids from grabbing handle and getting burned, and doesn't heat up the kitchen. We love it so much that my husband insisted on his own so that he can have rice when I have shows! One nice rice variation we do is using 1 1/2 cups water and adding 1 cup salsa to 1 cup rice for spanish rice.

Stephaniecafe · Sep 19, 2008

ChefPaulaB said:
It ruined the bottom of it, it melted the rice into it and there was no getting it cleaned. I don't know if it would still work after that, since there were little pieces of the rice still melted into it, I really didn't feel comfortable cooking in it again. I sent it back and am waiting for a replacement, we'll see if they come through with it. Wasn't sure if they would, since it does say not to do it in the product care, but we'll see. There was another link on here somewhere where someone did that and it caught on fire... So, when I get my new one, I'll just stick to plain rice! And maybe try the cakes...

I cook the rice/noodles on the stove to brown them and let them cool slightly before adding them to cold liquid in the rice cooker. I've even browned them in the micro for 4-5 minutes in a simple additions and then transferred them as above. I've never had a problem. I did see in the use and care to always have liquid in the cooker with rice though... maybe I am insane (don't quote me), but I did make a note of it to myself. Hopefully that doesn't void the warranty.

I make my own rice a roni mix though so mine may be just a little different than the store variety.

ChefPaulaB · Sep 19, 2008

Chef Stephanie Petersen said:
I cook the rice/noodles on the stove to brown them and let them cool slightly before adding them to cold liquid in the rice cooker. I've even browned them in the micro for 4-5 minutes in a simple additions and then transferred them as above. I've never had a problem. I did see in the use and care to always have liquid in the cooker with rice though... maybe I am insane (don't quote me), but I did make a note of it to myself. Hopefully that doesn't void the warranty.

I make my own rice a roni mix though so mine may be just a little different than the store variety.

Yeah, it had been a while since I read the use and care and I forgot to make a note to self, so I ruined mine, I guess you know that I'll make a note to self next time! Thanks for the ideas to make it without scorching it.

dianevill · Sep 19, 2008

Chef Stephanie Petersen said:
I cook the rice/noodles on the stove to brown them and let them cool slightly before adding them to cold liquid in the rice cooker. I've even browned them in the micro for 4-5 minutes in a simple additions and then transferred them as above. I've never had a problem. I did see in the use and care to always have liquid in the cooker with rice though... maybe I am insane (don't quote me), but I did make a note of it to myself. Hopefully that doesn't void the warranty.

I make my own rice a roni mix though so mine may be just a little different than the store variety.

This statement is just begging to be asked: can you please share your recipe?

Can You Cook Rice-A-Roni in a Rice Cooker?

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