Crusts with rice cookered grain?

[gerbil]

When you use a rice cooker to cook the grain pre Pressure cook, how do you stop that crust / burn forming at the bottom of the pan?

It wastes a decent amount of grain, plus it's a pain in the arse not being able to mix the lot thoroughly before loading into jars as you get big chunks of thin crust which hold together the bits of grain, which screws with the consistency and probably would lead to a better chance of contam as the mycelium might not colonise it?

I can't see how it's a water issue as for the cook to finish it boils all the water off. As soon as the switch flicks to done (keep warm) I take it off the heat element but it's already there.

Any help would be appreciated, i've been trying to figure this out for a while and it's really bugging me.

It's been occuring both with or without addition of gypsum to the mix pre rice cook.

Thanks

[coin]

can't you just stir it once or twice through the cooking period?

if you have a good nose, you can detect the particular smell as soon as it starts crusting on the bottom

or just check it periodically and stop cooking before the crusting? it should be all done by then anyway.

alternatively just cooking in a pot and use a diffuser on electric or gas stovetop..it will be way overcooked before it starts to crust up if the water ratio is right.

rice can be up to 2-3 years old sometimes, and different batches will need a different ratio of water

[mescalito]

Hey gerbs, I have found the same thing but only when doing small batches ie 4-6 cups but found yesterday that 10 cups does better without burning the bottom layer.(using Rev's recommendations for water added)

One thing that does piss me off though is that no matter how much I wash the rice first it still bubbles gunk out through the steam vent and dribbles everywhere.

In fact I took a jolt yesterday removing the cord at the back as the jizz had run into the socket

[gerbil]

can't you just stir it once or twice through the cooking period?

if you have a good nose, you can detect the particular smell as soon as it starts crusting on the bottom

I could, but it defeats the purpose of the whole concept of flicking the switch and coming back when it's finished.

It's not that i'm being lazy with it, but the whole idea of the rice cooker was not to interrupt the cooking cycle (as per manual). It also occurs every time when cooking rice for meals and on different types of grain.

I'd rather leave it be as i'm usually running around doing a million other jobs and would prefer not to have to monitor it. You are supposed to be able to put it on and come back to the rice ready for eating and it's cooked properly with no sticking. Even when we have done a stir or two during the cook it still happens.

Thanks for the suggestion though.

I was using the saucepan but moved onto the rice cooker for it's benefits over gas stove cooking.

Howdy mesc,

i've got a small cooker atm. It's rated at 5 cups, but just fits 6 of milo without going over the etched set level, and i've tried all amounts in between. I did find similar to you in that larger amounts are better, but still it's odd that it can't do the job properly of which it was designed for.

lol yep that gunk is a pain, the milo i'm working with at the moment isn't too bad with that, but there's some terrible grain out there that really spews it out. Still, it happens alot no matter how much I wash it.

Bummer to hear about it getting into the socket, that's not good at all. Hope it didn't get you too bad!

[AndyAmine.]

It sounds like your cookers arent working properly? mine worked fine at first but now it does the same thing. have you tried taking it back for a new one?

[gerbil]

I hope it's not faulty, it's only relatively new.

I Should mention that this occurs on both rice cookers we have here. One is used for meals and was used a few times for grain, then I picked a smaller one up (all I could afford) specifically for mushroom culture.

So yours is faulty Andy?

Will keep it in mind, thanks mate

[jasemateau]

if there is some space between the element and the container that has the water and rice in it, try to insulate it a tad, i mean if you can fit a thin ceramic plate inbetween the element and the pot this will regulate the elelments power.

these cheap cooking tools from asia can loose sensitivity in the thermistat's, so they are actually getting too hot, perhaps this is burning your stock.

try rice from suriname makes glue free rice after washing

just having a shot at it, i know nothing about mycology

[coin]

hmm

i'm not sure what the advantages are for using a rice cooker vs gas?

i cook mine on gas in a pot with a diffuser underneath, on the lowest possible heat, and it comes out perfectly every time, the grains separate easily.

there is a very thin single layer of grain on the bottom that is dry, but it never burns or cakes, and the moisture content overall is perfect

you don't have to monitor it..just set a kitchen timer. if you use water from a kettle, you only have to wait a minnute or two for the grain and water to come to the boil. if you use the same batch of grain, it only takes maybe 2 lots of cooking to find the correct amount of water to use. if you know how old it is, you can usually get it right first time.

but anyway..how are you using it after cooking?

i just used to soak the grain with the correct amount of water in large jars overnight, then pressure cook, and it always worked well.

[gerbil]

As Rev mentions in his Rice cooker text, it's just time that can be better spent elsewhere no having to worry about turning it off at the crucial point to not overstep the desired plumpness.

When it comes down to it, there's probably not much difference, but it would be nice to be able to get things working properly in a desired path. Maybe it's a mental thing, but I'm still going to stick it out for a while.

I've never screwed a rice cooker run up to the extent that I've done with stove absorbtion, rice cooker was a good option for me in terms of consistency in runs which was a little trickier with stoves. I do realise there are other ways, but I still would like to know how other Rice cooker users overcome this problem, if they do actually have it that is. Sorry if it sounds like i'm being stubborn, but I would prefer if it could be done relatively perfectly in the rice cooker instead of using other methods I do appreciate your input and will play around with the stove method when I get some spare time to experiment.

How am I using it after cooking? In terms of mushrooms? Grain spawn in jars. Is that what you mean?

I also used to do similar to you in the no boil absorbtion. But would soak birdseed in water, covering a few inches about the dry level, then rinse and drain the next morning. This did work well, but was different to boiling , the grain was slightly harder from memory, which isn't actually a bad thing to an extent.

Thanks all for the input

[mescalito]

Rice cookered grain has rearoused my interest in cakes lately especially for small experimental runs, as the consistency is perfect for pint jar cakes and contams are all but non-existent.

[mescalito]

gerbil have you tried adding a little oil to the rice?

[coin]

it's cool ;) i just think it's funny .. doesn't come much easier than rice .. the diffuser makes all the difference (even heat)

you already said you switch it off as soon as the cycle's finished

anyway, the reason i asked - i don't know why you need to precook the rice and then pressure cook it?

i always just rinsed the rice once, soak the rice in the spawn jars with the correct water for 12 hours, then pressure cook it, and it's done.. (i.e. you don't drain off the soak water).

that's all i meant...it's even easier

this method supposedly 'wakes up' any spores/microbes[?] living in the grain that are usually heat resistant in their dormant state. (see TMC - Stamets)

the first couple of batches you probably still need to observe the grains once cooled to check their moisture content, too sticky is obvious..too dry maybe not so obvious. stamets says when purchasing a new batch of grain. to weigh a sample of the grain from the packet then heat it in the oven on low heat for an hour or so [? til totally dry], then weigh again, to calculate the water content. then you can calculate the precise amount of water to use when cooking. this is the amount you place in the jars with grain overnight.

[Rev]

i started using rice cookers for several reasons

1. laziness

the 1 step grain prep suits me fine. cook and load into bags or jars

2. verstalitity

i can make custom mixes pretty easily and its forgiving as the excess water to a degree just steams away on 'warm'

3. effective AND fast

presoaking grain is ok but i get perfecrt water balance with r/c grain and its as effective if not more in killing off those microbes (bacillus spores)

in small jars this mighnt matter but if youve got a bag with a kilo and a half of milo in it then that little bit extra means the difference

i can also put on the grain coe back half hour or whatever later and load the jars, cook tem and be done by dinner on the day i start

versus o/night soak cos you rellay never know what tomorrow brings and once youve started you are committed as you need to p/c within 12 hours of cooking and loading for best results

the ratios are on the website i havnet need to revise them since for my own needs

i cant answer the issues raised as i havent had a good look into it

ive had all these things happen for me but i have just about every model on the market and put it down to brand issues. but its possibly not

ill try and pay attention to detail next batch i do

[gerbil]

Am having better success with millet using less water and stirring it more. It's a bit of a pain but it has decreased the burn quite alot. Still lots of trials to do, though i'm doing pretty much what you said in the first place Cheers coin Hey do you grow mushies??

Thanks mesc, no I haven't added any oil before, might try it once to see what happens. I've never used whole rice, just other grain and occasionally rice flour supplements.

Rev worded it nicely. The last bit about not knowing what tomorrow brings is a good one. It's a real pain having to rush or having to throw out a heap of o'night soak because you don't have the time.

Thanks for all the good responses everyone.

[mescalito]

When doing ryegrass i like to use a slow cooker and add a couple of drops of plain detergent as it helps 'sink' the grains.

Another idea to try with rice cookers could be to put some baking paper in the bottom but I've yet to test this one out.

[Rev]

does everybody here add lime or gypsum to the water?

i find it helps

this would be a good point to add 1/4 B complex or multivitamin pill too and or some urea

all depends what you are trying to grow, for example shiitake needs dietary b vitamins and trace elemnets to thrive.

just add little bits of good stuff and see how it affects the vigour

i think granulated kelp would be a winner actually

also i readtha the addition of phenolic rich extracts to grain spawn improves the ability of the mushroom (shiitake) to compete with harmful microbes. This was in relation to growth on the non traditional straw substrates

to acchieve this they added 10 to 15% peatmoss to the sawdust spawn or with the grain

Alternatively you could use coconut fibre

it also preadapts the mycelim to fibres.

Another trick is to take a bucket of wood chips of the ends species, or chopped straw

and boil it chnaging the water several times and keeping the water fraction.

Then simmer it down a bit and use as the base for agar broths, grain spawn and sawdust spawn moisture fractions

naturally preadaption on the agar will decrease the lag time in the spawn phase

ive tested different fungi using these Teas with both camphor and eucalyptus and nnoted large difference bewteen species and strains that correlate quite well with their ability to consume the sawdust, logs and chips of that species.