Recipe: Basic Brown Rice

I have been using brown rice for a long time with much trial and error. It is so much healthier than white rice and isn't any harder to make. The World's Healthiest Foods website says "The complete milling and polishing that converts brown rice into white rice destroys 67% of the vitamin B3, 80% of the vitamin B1, 90% of the vitamin B6, half of the manganese, half of the phosphorus, 60% of the iron, and all of the dietary fiber and essential fatty acids. Fully milled and polished white rice is required to be "enriched" with vitamins B1, B3 and iron." One cup of brown rice has 3 1/2 grams of fiber while the same amount of white rice has less than one gram of fiber. We all need from 25 to 38 grams of fiber in our diet everyday.

I buy my brown rice in bulk 25 lbs. at a time. We eat a lot of rice and this will typically last us about 6 months. If you are looking at long term storage of rice, brown rice wouldn't be a good choice. Brown rice has healthy, essential oils that cause it to become rancid quickly. The shelf life is about 6 months. My favorite place to store brown rice is in the freezer which gives you an additional 6 months. But we usually finish it off before then. While it is possible to store it longer in mylar with oxygen absorbers, it may give you up to two years. Keep in mind, you don't know how long that brown rice has been in storage before you get it. Again, white rice would be a much better choice for long term storage. Oh, and putting it in the freezer for a couple days after you buy it also helps keep those little bugs under control.

I have found for me the perfect recipe is 1 cup of uncooked rice to three cups of water/broth. Others recommend anywhere from 2 1/4 to 1 3/4 water/broth. Trial and error, see what works best for you depending on your stove and your cookware. One cup of uncooked brown rice equals about 3 cups of cooked rice. Be sure to rinse your rice good before cooking. Recently I have been soaking my rice overnight, I have found that changes the recipe to 1 cup soaked brown rice to two cups of water/broth. It also changes the flavor some. Oh, and don't stir rice while it cooks, it will become mushy.

Another method I found for preparing brown rice came from the Food Network (I really like Alton Brown's recipes). Instead of boiling the rice, it's baked. I can't wait to try this myself:

1 1/2 cups brown rice, medium or short grain
2 1/2 cups water
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 teaspoon kosher salt

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Place the rice into an 8-inch square glass baking dish.

Bring the water, butter, and salt just to a boil in a kettle or covered saucepan. Once the water boils, pour it over the rice, stir to combine, and cover the dish tightly with heavy-duty aluminum foil. Bake on the middle rack of the oven for 1 hour.

After 1 hour, remove cover and fluff the rice with a fork. Serve immediately.