Thank you, David. Great advice for our readers!

We appreciate you taking the time to reach out…

Beryl

“Cover and reduce heat to low #3.”

My mother was very explicit here, she said that first one has to make sure that the water level is just at the surface of the rice…with bubbles appearing.

Then she says you reduce it to such a temperature that the rice will continue to steam up under the cover…. “low #3” means nothing depending on the type of range you are using and how it is graduated in it’s flame intensity (or even if it’s convention then what?)

So the real test is one has to get it low enough that the remaining water will steam sufficiently through the rice grains that in about 20 to 30 minutes all will be cooked.

This is not easy and must be learned for your particular range! So giving a universal instruction as above will cause rice to be either undercooked for some people and over cooked for others.

So I’d change that line to:

“Boil down the water until the water is just at the surface of the rice just when it is bubbling from the surface, then turn down the heat and cover the rice. Let it steam to such a point that a minute or two later you visibly see condensation falling from the inner lid (use a glass lid best for this) or if you are using a metal lid when you lift it and notice ample steam escapes from the rice. Getting this right is very important as it determines how quickly the rice will cook *through* to all the grains. If you turn the heat too hit …you might get burned rice in 20 minutes if you turn the heat too low you won’t get enough heat pressure and won’t cook the grains through…in any case being cautious is better than being over zealous so it’s better to over heat than under heat…under heated rice can simply be turned up and then covered again after adding a little more water until it cooks to the level of done ness desired…over estimated rice will burn.”

wm matheny
houston tx

Hi Jim,

Thank you for posting!

Have had a lot going on recently, working out of the country while building a new home and writing another book, along with all of the other stuff life brings you. We hope to be around a little more consistently now.

We appreciate you!

Beryl