Question:Mexican- Rice

[brenn816]

Mexican Rice

Whenever I cook this, it takes the rice SO LONG to cook? Like, hours. What am I doing wrong? Should it be pre-cooked? Should it be minute rice?

I rinse it while it's uncooked. Saute it as directed. Place it in the oven, take it out to stir 15 mins into it and it looks completely uncooked. After 35 minutes it is still SO crunchy. It ends up taking like an hour, covered, in the oven. I always have meat with it and end up microwaving it for like 10 minutes and adding more broth.

Another quesiton: Why does it call for 2 cups of broth but when cooking rice it calls for 2 cups liquid per 1 cup rice?

HELP!

[duonyte]

Over 500 people have made this and while I have not read all the reviews, there are very few negative ones and none said that the rice did not cook in the time given. When you saute the rice, it will not absorb quite as much liquid as will regular raw rice. Also, you are using 4 cups liquid - 2 cups broth and 2 cups of the pureed tomato - admittedly not as liquidy as broth but still pretty liquid. Are you sure that you are measuring all of the ingredients correctly? You could check it half way through and add more broth if it looks dry.

[Chicagoland Chef du Jour]

I have made this rice several times and it has never fail me.
I have even made 1/2 the recipe.

Either you are not suing the full 4 cups of liquid (2 C broth + 2 C tomato mixture) or you oven temperature may be way off. I cannot imagine it take over an hour to bake. Mine is generally done a bit early.

Don't give up, this is FABULOUS!

[Zeldaz]

Get an oven thermometer to see if your oven is out of calibration. They only cost a few bucks and can save a lot of trouble and waste.
Is the lid on your cooking vessel good and tight?
Don't substitute brown rice for white, if that's what you've been trying, as it takes twice as long to cook.
The ideal rice to liquid ratio is actually 1 to 1.75, for most varieties, but I wouldn't recommend changing the ratios in this recipe, as it has been so successful for so many people. As Chicagoland pointed out, the tomato juice is part of he cooking liquid, so you are actually using a 1:2 ratio.
Some say that hard water can slow the softening of foods being cooked in it.

If nothing helps, I'd take Potsie up on his money-back guarantee!

[Chicagoland Chef du Jour]

Zeldaz wrote:
Get an oven thermometer to see if your oven is out of calibration. They only cost a few bucks and can save a lot of trouble and waste.
Is the lid on your cooking vessel good and tight?
Don't substitute brown rice for white, if that's what you've been trying, as it takes twice as long to cook.
The ideal rice to liquid ratio is actually 1 to 1.75, for most varieties, but I wouldn't recommend changing the ratios in this recipe, as it has been so successful for so many people. As Chicagoland pointed out, the tomato juice is part of he cooking liquid, so you are actually using a 1:2 ratio.
Some say that hard water can slow the softening of foods being cooked in it.

If nothing helps, I'd take Potsie up on his money-back guarantee!

Wow, sorry about all the typos....

I recently had my oven repaired. The repair guy told me it can take up to 30 minuted for those inexpensive thermometers to register the correct temp. So wait at least that long.

And yes, make sure your pan/ Dutch oven has a tight fitting lid. If not, cover the pan with foil, and place the lid snuggly, back on the pot.

[brenn816]

Holy cow! Thank you everyone for the replies! And I think I'm doing a little of everything wrong!

duonyte said that rice won't absorb as much after it's sauteed ...Ok. Well, I've been sauteeing mine for probably like double the time called for in the recipe! I was trying to get it "light golden" but am probably over-doing it! Definate issue!

And I am pureeing the right amounts of tomato and onion but could probably puree it longer, it's kinda soupy but with some chunks.

Thank you SO much! Hopefully this won't be such a headache next time!

[Chicagoland Chef du Jour]

brenn816 wrote:
Holy cow! Thank you everyone for the replies! And I think I'm doing a little of everything wrong!

duonyte said that rice won't absorb as much after it's sauteed ...Ok. Well, I've been sauteeing mine for probably like double the time called for in the recipe! I was trying to get it "light golden" but am probably over-doing it! Definate issue!

And I am pureeing the right amounts of tomato and onion but could probably puree it longer, it's kinda soupy but with some chunks.

Thank you SO much! Hopefully this won't be such a headache next time!

Some visible pieces in the tomato sauce mixture, is fine. I puree the heck out of it because my kids don't like chunks of tomato.

If you are browning the rice twice as long as recommended, perhaps the oil is not hot enough when you start.
My rice does turn a light golden brown wit constant stirring. I forget how long but it may brown sooner than suggested, as well.

All the times listed are not always super strict. Sometimes with recipes like this, you will find it will vary, either way.