Food Batching

[fast]

I boiled water one time. Boiled it right on out the pot. Since then, I've been known as the only man alive that can screw up boiling water. I thought it boiled out quite nicely myself. Anyhoots, if you're looking for a pot of completely dry uncooked rice, I'm your guy!

 

[fast]

How to make one serving of hot pot:

You need a stove (with a setting of high).
One medium pot (or any size will do), preferably with a handle.
A scientifically calibrated measuring cup
Precisely one cup of water (not a drop less nor more)
A sleave of fireball (cinnamon whiskey)
A bed.

Drink the whiskey
Put pot on stove and turn to high
Very (very) carefully measure one cup of water making sure to get it exactly right.
Gently pour water into pot.
Take a nap (in the bed)

A few hours later, to the untrained eye, there is nothing, absolutely nothing, but, upon closer examination, you do have something. I call it hot pot. The recipe is forgiving, so if you don't get the water count correct to the exact drop, you should still be okay.

 

[Treedbear]

...
Drink the whiskey
Put pot on stove and turn to high
Very (very) carefully measure one cup of water making sure to get it exactly right.
Gently pour water into pot.
Take a nap (in the bed)
...

I tried cooking with wine but after the third glass I couldn't remember why I was in the kitchen.

 

[rousseau]

The correct way to cook rice is to measure the distance between the rice and the surface of the water, which should be about the length of the first digit of your pinkie.

Microwave rice in prepackaged portions is easiest!

That is by far the quickest and easiest way to have your rice, but it is the most expensive. For large amounts of rice it doesn't make sense.

I remember a time when I found cooking white rice to be a pain. Now we're in the habit of cooking brown calrose on the regular. That's the whole point of batching it, so you only have to cook once.

These days I do three cups of rice at a time which is good for about a full week of lunches for both partner and I, as well as the occasional small meal at home. Cook once, take out of the fridge and re-heat.

 

[TV and credit cards]

The correct way to cook rice is to measure the distance between the rice and the surface of the water, which should be about the length of the first digit of your pinkie.

Ex-wife taught me to use the knuckle method for measuring rice/water ratio. She was hardcore Jasmine rice. We bought it by the twenty pound sack and kept it in a five gallon bucket. I'm now a long grain brown kind of fella so the water amount is higher by half.

Everyone should own a rice cooker. $25 and they last a long time. I replaced my decades old one about five years back. It still worked. It's just my habit to replace things with heating elements every so often whether they're broken or not.

 

[Treedbear]

...
Sure, but the pinkie thing is something I learned from my Japanese mother, and oddly enough, it almost always works, at least with Japanese rice in a Japanese rice cooker. I'm so spoiled by Japanese rice cookers that if you asked me to make rice in a pot on the stove, my brain would probably experience a lockup resulting in a facial expression not unlike a Texas Republican participating in a discussion about Hamiltonian dynamics
...

I found a really good explanation of why there's confusion about rice cooking techniques here. It's in the embedded video by America's Test Kitchen. They tested 15 types of rice by sealing each in a bag with equal rice to water. They found the ideal ratio for every type is 1:1. That's how much water any of them absorbs to give a fluffy texture. The confusion is due to any cooking technique that allows some of the water to evaporate. Brown rice doesn't absorb more water it just takes longer to cook on the stove and so there's more time for water to evaporate. And it turns out that whatever type of pot it's cooked in whether covered or uncovered the same amount of evaporation will occur given the same conditions no matter how much rice. So your mom was right. The water should always be added to a set level above the rice, no matter how much rice you start with. Of course it might still vary by type of rice, altidude and equipment used.

 

[Underseer]

...
Sure, but the pinkie thing is something I learned from my Japanese mother, and oddly enough, it almost always works, at least with Japanese rice in a Japanese rice cooker. I'm so spoiled by Japanese rice cookers that if you asked me to make rice in a pot on the stove, my brain would probably experience a lockup resulting in a facial expression not unlike a Texas Republican participating in a discussion about Hamiltonian dynamics
...

I found a really good explanation of why there's confusion about rice cooking techniques here. It's in the embedded video by America's Test Kitchen. They tested 15 types of rice by sealing each in a bag with equal rice to water. They found the ideal ratio for every type is 1:1. That's how much water any of them absorbs to give a fluffy texture. The confusion is due to any cooking technique that allows some of the water to evaporate. Brown rice doesn't absorb more water it just takes longer to cook on the stove and so there's more time for water to evaporate. And it turns out that whatever type of pot it's cooked in whether covered or uncovered the same amount of evaporation will occur given the same conditions no matter how much rice. So your mom was right. The water should always be added to a set level above the rice, no matter how much rice you start with. Of course it might still vary by type of rice, altidude and equipment used.

Makes sense.

The "1st digit of your pinkie" rule started back when the Japanese cooked rice in big cast iron pots with a wooden lid. Modern Japanese rice cookers will outgas a certain amount of steam during the cooking process.

Plus, when I (and probably many other Japanese) cook rice, I'll let the washed rice sit in the water and soak for a bit before turning the rice cooker on. Goodness knows what happens during that. (If I leave it long enough, the rice seems to absorb all the water before cooking, and then the rice comes out hard.)

 

[steve_bank]

I've been wanting to up my cooking game for a while but finally.. actually have the time to do so. After some deliberation the direction I want to go is less in the vein of 'fine dining' more in the realm of practicality: how to make my partner and I's life easier, better, healthier, and more efficient through what we cook.

And that's where food batching comes in. We already do this to an extent: almost every week we cook many cups of rice, legumes, and a whole chicken to supplement our lunches at work. As expected, this cuts down on the time we need to spend preparing food.

With that said I'm curious what kinds of stuff others do here in the same vein. What kind of practical foods do you make in large batches to keep yourself fed, not necessarily to impress?

That is generally what I do. Just made a batch of beans. Rice later.

Add to that boiled potatoes and boiled eggs. I also make a batch of tomato sauce from tomato p[aste with some seasoning. I use it with rice, beans, and potatoes.

Cook squash, zucchini m carrots, celery, poolers, and onions 5 minutes in the microwave in water. Add tomato sauce and a quick vegetable stew. Add a piece of good bread for some carbs.

Rice, nans, tomato souse and a few pieces of pre cooked sausage for flavor makes a good brown bag lunch.

Potatoes are cheap. 4 minutes in the microwave and a few minute's to steam. Same with yams.

 

[T.G.G. Moogly]

Spare ribs were reasonably priced so I brought home three pounds and enough preservative-free sauerkraut to fill a crock pot. Sliced in some apples and slow cooked overnight. Enough there to enjoy for a few days and freeze for later.