How to Cook Brown Rice in your Instant Pot. A soaked rice method.

Is brown rice on your table often? It is on ours! Since we eat a lot of long-grain brown rice, I wanted to learn to cook it perfectly in my Instant Pot. After a while, it became simple to do, and so delicious to enjoy with meals. Presenting, How to Cook Brown Rice in your Instant Pot, A soaked rice method! Instructions are included for both long-grain and short-grain brown rice. 

Brown rice was not on my table in the early years of being a wife...

Currently we eat quite a bit of brown rice. Not only good for us but also a good source of fiber and those important B vitamins. As a young wife, I did not even know about brown rice. Rice in my childhood home was always standard white rice. Sadly, I think I threw away a bag of long-grain brown rice that had been given to me, those many years ago. At the time I could not imagine cooking rice for the 45 minutes as stated on the package. It must have taken another 30 years for me to learn about and enjoy eating whole unprocessed food.

Let me just say this right now...

I must confess, that I do not enjoy cooking brown rice on the stove, in a standard saucepan. It really does take 45 minutes give or take a few, and often it turned out gluey, and there is always the chance of scorching or downright burning should the cook get busy and take leave of the timer for a few moments...and yes that can happen to us all! And then one day I owned an electric pressure cooker, which I wore out! And now it's replacement, the Instant Pot. 

And just so you know...

I am not now nor have I ever been an appliance purist. It doesn't matter what brand you have, they all essentially do the same job. I got my first electric pressure cooker (not an Instant Pot) during a clearance sale and made the decision that it was worth the financial investment to learn how to use one, and I have not looked back, since!  When I wore that one out, the only reason I own an Instant Pot is because they had taken over the market and they were on sale!

Of course, this was after I got over my fear of beginning. 

I am not pretty sure I have mentioned my fear of beginnings, you see it is legendary in my small circle and it has been lifelong. So, if you also have a hesitancy to begin a new job, or more to the point learning a new process, or even how to use a new appliance, take heart, you are not alone. And it will all work out. 

It has for me every single time, and it will for you as well! Especially the electric pressure cooker part! I must give credit where credit is owed, my dear husband was the first one to use the first electric pressure cooker, and little by little, I got comfortable with it...and once the comfort sets in, watch out, there is nothing you won't do, and you will have a lot of fun in the process!

Now let's get back to cooking brown rice!

As far as cooking brown rice goes, one day I decided that it made more sense to use the electric pressure cooker to cook it. The only problem was, there were inadequate instructions. Want to know why? 

Well, I am glad you asked! Brown rice like all grain/seed type food is a living plant, and it can (and does!) vary from type to type and crop year to crop year. Hard and fast rules on how to cook the rice may be written, and found on more than once source, but you will find that there is a bit of a learning curve with each new bag, as well as the next year's crop, or even the grain type. Living food is a lot like people, we pretty much look the same, but deep inside there are special traits that are unique to just that one person. In the case of food, to that one crop.

What kind of differences?

Nothing major or impossible to work around. For instance, sometimes the rice would be a bit dry, and other times it would be quite wet, or even undercooked. None of those were anything like what we wanted of course, but always the rice was edible. So we ate it! But as I got more adventurous with experimenting, I also got better at cooking it. Plus by now I had been using the electric pressure cooker so much, this is where I wore it out! 

Enter the Instant Pot! There is only one feature on the Instant Pot that is an improvement over my last electric pressure cooker and that of course is the sauté button! It does save a pan or two when cooking a one dish meal! But for cooking rice, it makes absolutely no difference. It still requires the correct amount of water, rice, and time. Flat out! Oh and you know those buttons on the Instant Pot? They are simply preprogrammed times, for brown rice I program the cooking time needed. 

Do you soak your grains? We do, and there were no soaked rice instructions to be found for the Instant Pot!

Since I also prefer to soak brown rice before cooking it, instructions were nowhere to be found. Well, until now! Soaking will affect the amount of water needed for cooking along with the cooking time. We cook and use two types of brown rice, short grain is added to our yeast bread recipe. And long grain brown rice to go along with our meals. Learning how much water meant some trial and error. Luckily the errors were used in bread, rice pudding, or simply eaten with a mental note about changing up the amount of water in future batches!

Soaking rice is easy! Plus impurities go down the drain. 

How to Soak Rice.

Measure out the amount of rice you wish to cook, 

place in a large enough bowl to cover it with water, 

add 1 teaspoon of apple cider vinegar, 

cover with cool water, adding enough water to cover the rice by one inch.

 

let it sit for at least 8 hours. 

Kitchen tip: We often start the soaking process the night before. 

When Ready to Cook the Rice:

Drain the rice in a wire mesh strainer, rinse well, then let the rice drain until no drips are coming off the bottom of the strainer. To make sure the rice is not holding extra water, lift the strainer up quickly, if water drips off the bottom, let is drain longer or you can lift the strainer up until no more water drips off the bottom. You are now ready to cook the drained rice.

If however, the day got busy and I could not cook the soaked rice as planned, it can be stored (up to 3 days) in a covered container in the refrigerator until cooked.  

Pretty simple, right?

 

Can I cook rice in a stove-top model pressure cooker? 

Why yes you can, and I do when we are traveling in our little 5thwheel. The cooking time will pretty much be the same, depending upon your stove-top model. 

A stove-top model may require a more hands-on approach. Speaking from personal experience, my stove-top does not hold the pressure at tightly as the electric model. Therefore, I am careful at the end of the cooking time to keep a close watch to prevent scorching...

NOTE: feel free to multiply the ingredients per total volume for cooking.

I often cook 4 cups of dry rice, after soaking. The cooking time does not increase, only the time needed to build up the pressure. 

And speaking about building up the pressure, once the pressure is built, the Instant Pot signals that the food is now being cooked under pressure. At that moment, I set a timer for the amount of cooking time, plus the NPR time, so I don't lose track. One trick I taught myself along the way. 

For example, the cooking time is 23 minutes with an NPR standing time of 7 minutes. Setting a separate timer for 30 minutes guarantees I will open the Instant Pot, and gently stir the contents as needed, on time...I like to make this up and divide it into 4-cup containers and freeze it. It is so convenient to pull a carton from the freezer for dinner! Now, let's get cooking!

Ingredients needed for this recipe:

• soaked brown rice
• water
• salt

You will also need the following:

• electric pressure cooker, or stovetop model
• liquid measuring cup
• measuring spoons

Now we are ready to begin!

How to Long Grain Cook Brown Rice in Your Instant Pot.

by the seat of my pants!

UPDATED: 10.20.2023

1 c Long Grain Brown Rice, that has been soaked and completely drained

1 c room temperature water 

1/4 t salt

Place all ingredients in the Instant Pot, attach the lid, and close the vent. 

Set cooking time for 23 minutes. 

When cooking time is up, let sit for an additional 7 minutes NPR. 

After the NPR time is up, carefully open the valve, to release the remaining pressure. 

After opening the vent, gently fluff the rice.  

If not serving right away, re-cover and let sit, until it is time to serve, this will prevent the rice from drying out.

How to Cook Short Grain Brown Rice in Your Instant Pot

by the seat of my pants!

UPDATED: 10.20.2023

1 c Short Grain Brown Rice, that has been soaked and drained completely

1 c plus 2 T room temperature water

1/4 t salt

Place all ingredients in the Instant Pot, attach lid, close vent.

Set cooking time to 25 minutes.

When cooking time is up, let sit for NPR an additional 10 minutes.

Carefully open the vent to release the remaining pressure.

Gently fluff the cooked rice. 

If not serving right away, re-cover and let sit, until it is time to serve, this will prevent the rice from drying out.

Storage options for cooked rice from How to Cook Brown Rice in your Instant Pot. Cooked rice may be kept covered in the refrigerator for two to three days. You may freeze cooked brown rice by placing it into a freezer bag or freezer container with a tight-fitting lid while still warm. Place in the freezer immediately. Let thaw before using, in the refrigerator. 

UPDATE:  For your convenience, a "copy and paste" version of How to Cook Brown Rice in your Instant Pot has been included below. 

You may also enjoy: 

How to Make Coconut Brown Rice. A Soaked Rice Method.

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Printable "copy and paste" version:

How to Long Grain Cook Brown Rice in Your Instant Pot.

by the seat of my pants!

UPDATED: 10.20.2023

1 c Long Grain Brown Rice, that has been soaked and completely drained

1 c room temperature water 

1/4 t salt

Place all ingredients in the Instant Pot, attach the lid, and close the vent. 

Set cooking time for 23 minutes. 

When cooking time is up, let sit for an additional 7 minutes NPR. 

After opening the vent, gently fluff the rice. 

 If not serving right away, re-cover and let sit, until it is time to serve, this will prevent the rice from drying out.

How to Cook Short Grain Brown Rice in Your Instant Pot

by the seat of my pants!

1 c Short Grain Brown Rice, that has been soaked and drained completely

1 c plus 2 T room temperature water

1/4 t salt

Place all ingredients in the Instant Pot, attach lid, close vent.

Set cooking time to 25 minutes.

When cooking time is up, let sit for NPR an additional 10 minutes.

Carefully open the vent to release the remaining pressure.

Gently fluff the cooked rice. 

If not serving right away, re-cover and let sit, until it is time to serve, this will prevent the rice from drying out.

Storage options for cooked rice from How to Cook Brown Rice in your Instant Pot. Cooked rice may be kept covered in the refrigerator for two to three days. You may freeze cooked brown rice by placing it into a freezer bag or freezer container with a tight-fitting lid while still warm. Place in the freezer immediately. Let thaw before using, in the refrigerator.