Rice cookers are a must-have kitchen appliance that once you have used them, you will wonder how you ever did without. As the name suggests, rice cookers are designed to cook rice, but can they be used for more?
Perhaps your kettle has broken and you were wondering if you can boil water in the rice cooker instead. After all … it boils the rice, doesn’t it? Read on and we will answer the question for you.
Can You Boil Water in a Rice Cooker?
Can it be done?
Cooking rice involves using a lot of water because the dry grains need to rehydrate in order to become soft enough to eat. Rice cookers heat all that water to boiling point.
Therefore, yes, you can boil water in a rice cooker. Provided you follow all our recommendations, you will have boiling water to use for whatever you need.
How To Boil Water Using A Rice Cooker
To boil the water in your rice cooker, you don’t need to do much.
1. First, ensure that the inside of the cooker is perfectly clean with no traces of rice or scum left in it. This will ensure that the water you boil will not have a rice flavor to taint your tea or whatever you want to use it for.
2. Pour in the clean, cold water that you want to boil in your rice cooker being sure not to exceed the “full” level. Most rice cookers have a maximum level marked on them.
The water will not be absorbed by anything as when making rice but will instead produce steam as it heats, so it is vital to leave a place for it. If you overfill the rice cooker, the water will bubble up and spill over the sides, perhaps damaging the heating element beneath.
3. Turn the cooker on normally as you would for rice. Remember that water will not boil as quickly in a rice cooker as in a kettle, so you will have to be patient.
This is because the wattage of the heater element is lower than that of a kettle. It will not boil vigorously as in a kettle either but will simmer gently. If your cooker has a glass lid, you will be able to see small bubbles and some steam.
4. Besides being used as a “kettle,” your rice cooker can be used as a humidifier. The water will boil and the steam will escape, humidifying the room. Tilt the lid to allow for a slow release of the steam.
We do not recommend adding essential oils to the cooker for this purpose as any residues may spoil the flavor of future rice meals. Once the water has all evaporated, the cooker will turn itself off using a safety switch.
Is it safe?
If you are wondering about the safety of this process, it is totally secure if you follow the instructions. This is mainly because the appliance will automatically switch off if it boils dry.
Just don’t put excess water in the rice cooker and leave some room for evaporation.
In Conclusion
We hope we have opened your eyes to how useful your rice cooker can be! Yes, you absolutely can use it to boil water. You can also use it to heat milk or soup, boil an egg, cook pasta, or steam vegetables. More on that another time!