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Undercooked rice is a common issue when using an electric rice cooker. It can result from malfunctioning internal parts or insufficient water, causing the rice to be stiff and clumpy, impacting the overall dish quality. If your home rice cooker faces this problem, read the article below for effective troubleshooting methods.
1. Reboil Undercooked Rice with Additional Water
To achieve fragrant and delicious sticky rice, it's crucial for the grains to absorb the necessary amount of water for proper softening and expansion. If you've used too little water, causing the rice to be stiff, consider implementing the following remedies:
Add boiling water to reboil the rice
This is a commonly effective method to fix sticky rice cooked with an electric rice cooker. It helps minimize temperature fluctuations in the cooker, ensuring that the rice grains are evenly cooked and not undercooked. If you use cold water to cook the rice, it will make the grains struggle to expand, resulting in sticky and undercooked rice. Follow the steps below:
Step 1: Place the pot on the stove and pour 250ml of water, then heat it until it boils.
Step 2: Next, slowly pour boiling water into the rice pot until the water submerges the rice, remembering to gently stir in the pot for even distribution.
Step 3: Plug in the electric rice cooker and press the cook button again.
Step 4: Wait for approximately 20 to 30 minutes until the pot switches to the warm mode, then open the pot to check if the sticky rice is cooked.
2. Use a Steamer to Reheat Sticky Rice
In case you have a steamer at home, follow these steps:
Step 1: First, stir the sticky rice in the pot evenly to ensure that the firm and undercooked parts are thoroughly mixed.
Step 2: Place the sticky rice in a steaming basket, spreading it evenly to ensure every rice grain can come into contact with the steam.
Step 3: Pour water into the pot to about one-third of its height.
Step 4: Adjust the heat to medium and steam the sticky rice for about 15 minutes. In case you're using an infrared stove or an induction cooker, wait until the water boils, then adjust the power to around 500 to 800W.
3. Inspect the Components of the Cooker
Power source and electrical cables
Cause: Instability in the power supply to the electric rice cooker, experiencing interruptions, is a major factor leading to the issue of cooking with the electric rice cooker resulting in undercooked rice. Therefore, if the indicator light on the electric rice cooker is not lit, the rice cooker and the power cord may be facing issues.
Remedy: Check the condition of the power cord and power source, whether it is plugged into the rice cooker or not. If the plug is loose or not plugged in, plug it in securely.
4. Heating Plate and Pot Bottom
Cause: The limited contact area between the heating plate and the pot bottom, insufficient temperature, leads to the electric rice cooker cooking rice unevenly. This issue occurs with traditional electric rice cookers. With electronic rice cookers, you won't encounter this problem as they use heat distribution technology to ensure even cooking.
Remedy: Firstly, unplug the power cord from the source for safety before lifting the pot core out of the rice cooker. Check the heating plate and pot bottom for any objects or rice grains causing obstruction, hindering the contact between the pot bottom and the heating plate.
5. Thermal Relay
Cause: A malfunctioning thermal relay causes the electric rice cooker to switch to the warm mode before the rice is fully cooked. This is the reason why rice cooked with an electric rice cooker turns out uneven and undercooked. You can identify this issue through the automatic popping of the rice cooker button when the rice cooking process is incomplete.
Remedy: Contact repair services for timely inspection, detection, and repair.
Here is a guide on how to address the issue of cooking undercooked rice with an electric rice cooker that you need to know. Save it for reference and application. Don't forget to follow Mytour for quick updates on the most useful information.
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