Preparing Rice

When rinsing rice, what is that white stuff that comes out with the water? Why is it there? Curious cook needs to know.

Glowpun said:

When rinsing rice, what is that white stuff that comes out with the water? Why is it there? Curious cook needs to know.

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Dust.



When it's dry, it's very explosive.

Beaudreaux said:

Dust.

When it's dry, it's very explosive.

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I find myself wondering how this applies to the various varieties of rice out there, like long grain, for example.
I'm assuming they are just husked.

The Mark said:

I find myself wondering how this applies to the various varieties of rice out there, like long grain, for example.
I'm assuming they are just husked.

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I've pretty much exhausted my knowledge of rice at this point in the thread. I knew the answer from the OP because of experience with rice dust in Arkansas - long story, don't ask.

Beaudreaux said:

I've pretty much exhausted my knowledge of rice at this point in the thread. I knew the answer from the OP because of experience with rice dust in Arkansas - long story, don't ask.

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Many types of fine dust can rapidly deflagerate when dispersed into a fine cloud, silo fires come to mind, technically I don't think it is an explosion, at least not a detonation.

Glowpun said:

When rinsing rice, what is that white stuff that comes out with the water? Why is it there? Curious cook needs to know.

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If its fortified rice then its probably all the minerals and vitamins that were added. Which if that is the case it should tel you on the bag to not rinse it.


https://www.chowhound.com/food-news/148823/nagging-question-should-you-rinse-rice-before-cooking/

When white rice is milled, the outer husk and bran layers are removed to produce translucent grains, but this also removes some vitamins and nutrients. To make milled white rice healthier, the United States requires processors to enrich it with vitamins and other nutrients, which appear as a dusty layer on the individual grains. If you want to also preserve those nutrients, washing is a no-no.
There was a time when all white rice was processed with talc, a mineral composed of hydrated magnesium silicate (sounds tasty, right?) to give it a whiter, cleaner appearance. Back then, rice needed a rinse to remove this talc. Most white rice grown in the U.S. is no longer milled that way, but some imported rices have been processed with talc, powdered glucose, or rice powder (all safe to eat, but still). Because of this, Beth Hensperger and Julie Kaufmann, authors of The Ultimate Rice Cooker Book, suggest leaving domestic rice as is, but rinsing imported rice (like jasmine and basmati) to improve the flavor and avoid the rice turning gluey. Most other recipes for Asian rice don’t call for rinsing, since a certain amount of stickiness is a good thing. Rather, they have you soak the rice before cooking.

Glowpun said:

When rinsing rice, what is that white stuff that comes out with the water? Why is it there? Curious cook needs to know.

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It's starch, the stuff that will make rice sticky if you don't rinse it off before cooking. Rinse it in cold water -- the easiest way is to measure your rice into a small strainer and run cold water over it.

Glowpun said:

When rinsing rice, what is that white stuff that comes out with the water? Why is it there? Curious cook needs to know.

Click to expand...

If you're only talking about white rice, the rinse removes excess starch that will make the rice very sticky and clumpy if not removed.

Glowpun said:

When rinsing rice, what is that white stuff that comes out with the water? Why is it there? Curious cook needs to know.

Click to expand...

Starch. No need to rinse rice now days (at least in Europe). In the olden days and before regulations, then you needed to rinse rice because of the "dust" and dirt. Rice today should be pre-rinsed.