Can we have a thread about cooking questions? Specifically our

>>8893430

I use a rice cooker. Or you can put your rice in a pot, measure with your finger to the second knuckle. Then add water so that it comes up to your second knuckle when it's resting on top of the rice. Then put on a lid and cook it.

The rice cooker turns out perfect rice every time. I thought it was a gadget when I bought it like 12 or 15 years ago, but it's really been a great appliance.

>>8893430

In my experience with rice, rinsing it stops the foamy sticky mess.

In my experience with pasta, it's only the cheap shitty brands like Skinner or Great Value that starch up the water badly. Better pasta never has that problem for me.

I haven't tested this, but I'm sure that the water you use would matter as well. Water that was unusually hard or soft would surely effect this.

Cooking time doesn't matter much; I've had unwashed rice foam up during the very beginning of cooking, and I've seen cheap pasta starch up the water within a minute or two of going in. Though overcooking will certainly make an existing problem worse.

>>8893430
>until the water goes clear
only do this for the very high gluten strains
rinse a couple times for anything else, and if it's the great value tier shitty long grain garbage you get at walmart literally don't wash it

not a single time in making rice everyday for at least the past year that i've fucked it up, I don't understand how people can't figure it out

Any tips for getting a good sear/carmalization on meat?

I'm fairly comfortable using the grill or a cast iron pan that is insanely hot. But using nonstick, or the oven or any other cooking method I tend to either get a good browning on one side and a steamed/boiled look on the other, or just a complete disaster.

>>8893464
>don't rinse great value rice

Why anon aren't you supposed to clean it?

>>8893508
you don't have to rinse rice to 'clean' it of anything but startches

great value rice is already such shit quality that it really won't effect the end result at all

truth be told if you're stupid enough to pay the same price for walmart rice when you could drive to any asian grocer and get good quality rice at the same price point I'd be shocked if you could cook an egg

>>8893487

Nonstick is bad for searing, don't use it for that application.

It's tricky to get a good sear in the oven. It's much easier to sear the food using a skillet first, then transfer it into the oven to finish cooking. Or, cook the food normally in the oven, and when it's almost done stick it under the broiler on "high" to brown the surface. Just be careful to monitor it--the broiler can go from "perfect" to "burnt to fuck" very fast. Just watch the food as it cooks and pull it when it's nice and browned.

>>8893430
If you stir and and stuff while it is cooking that may create more starchy mess for you. One of the good things about rice cookers or whatever else is that it stops the human from moving the rice. Don't touch it until it has cooked and steamed. Then just fluff.

>>8893487
Salt it thoroughly to draw out the moisture, and pat dry thoroughly with paper towels when the moisture had been pulled out. If you're going with lower temperatures you can "cheat" with any kind of glaze containing sugars (honey, balsamic, etc) but I don't recommend this for larger cuts of meat or higher temps (best for stuff like duck breast or thinner steaks). Also be careful because a glaze will generally introduce some moisture. The best thing is to glaze first, let it work its way in, then do the salt and dry just before cooking. The only moisture you need to worry about is surface moisture

Ignore the tard saying you can't use nonstick, he's full of shit. Yes, a cast iron (or better still VERY thick aluminum, like those point two five alegacy pans) is better than teflon, but if you can't get a good sear with teflon you suck at life

>>8893487
Pst, use paprika.. Searing paprika creates some serious color. Take a cast iron, get about 3-4mm of duck fat in it, get it ripping hot, and place the steak down. Circle it around the pan, forcing the fat directly under the steak, after flipping baste the fuck out of it and put into the oven to finish

>>8893586

Paprika can give the APPEARANCE of a nice sear, but don't confuse simple coloration via a dye with the real searing process.

>>8893586
>charred paprika is a sear
Lol, stop

>>8893586
I've done this before, but I usually just turn the heat off in the cast iron pan and cover it. Is there any downsides to this compared to moving it to the oven?

>>8893611

Covering the pan works great as long as the food is relatively thin. It wouldn't work very well if you were cooking something large/thick.

>>8893586
It adds some pretty color, and it tastes good, but a sear it is not.

>>8893430
For rice, everything depends on the variety you are using. If the rice is supposed to be sticky, it will be sticky.
If you got trouble with too much water left when the rice is done, try to adjust the water/rice ratio and strictly stick to it. Or, get a rice cooker. They are indeed great and there is a reason every asian houshold owns one.

As for noodles there are some things you can improve.

If you aren't doing it already, start salting the water. This might be broscience, but besides them tasting better, I feel like the salt prevents the noodles from soaking up too much water. It might be a miniscule effect, but even if it is just for the taste, it is worth it.

Stir the noodles as soon as possible. With Spaghetti you will have to wait, but here it is even more important to do it to prevent them from sticking together. Again possible broscience: I feel like once the outer layers of the noodles soaked up water and you added enough movement to prevent them from sticking, the saltwater somehow prevents them from sticking together after that. I invite everyone to call me stupid, but whenever I forgot to salt, the noodles would stick at any point during cooking. When I salt the water I only need to stir for the first minute.

Don't bother washing your pasta before cooking it. The important part is to either wash them after cooking with cold water and then put some oil or butter to them or put them directly into the prepared sauce, like it is actually supposed to be done.
Either way you want to get rid of excess starch on the outer layer and seal everything with oil.

And lastly, if you are cooking, you are cooking. Preparing food requires your attention. Never leave without a alarm set up. Read up on what "Al dente" means and keep in mind, that even noodles that are a bit to al dente will keep on getting softer after you took them out of the water and even moreso if you put them into the sauce.