risotto question for foodies

[unblock]

mrs. unblock prepared a lovely risotto (as gordon ramsey might say) tonight.

she had been loathe to make a risotto because it's difficult to get right and requires constant stirring.

but she recently got a cast iron dutch oven and found a recipe that involves just "baking" the rice and stock for i think she said 40 minutes (closed lid, no stirring), then combining all the other ingredients at the end.

tastes great as far as i'm concerned.


i understand that this is not the "proper" method, so my question is... what's better about the proper method (open pan, constant stirring)?

[PoliticAverse]

1. Delete your post before someone answers....

If someone gives you reasons why the traditional method is better mrs. unblock (or you) may be forever doomed to a life of stirring.

Just say no to stirring risot-to.

Enjoy your dutch oven and the mrs.' cleverness.

[Phoenix61]

2. I have no idea

I made risotto to take to a covered dish dinner. It wasn't difficult although I spent about 20 minutes stirring. Not much different than making cooked pudding. One pot with the risotto going and another with the broth on a very low heat. Add 1/2 cup broth at a time. When the rissoto was done added some saluted portobello mushroom, sweet peppers, and zucchini. Her method sounds much easier.

[Lisa0825]

3. You can also make risotto in a pressure cooker.

I bought an Instant Post a month ago, and was so happy to find this out! I did need to add a bit more liquid to it at the end, but it still beats babysitting it for an hour.

[procon]

4. Do whatever works for you. I use a pressure cooker for 8 minute risotto.

The cooking method is not as important as the end results, so pay no attention to the food purists. Keep in mind that risotto has been around since the time cooks were using wood fired stoves, so constant stirring was a necessity to avoid scorching the rice. There were no ovens, let alone a pressure cooker, so that was the only way to cook the recipe. Times have changed and the recipes keeps getting modified to take advantage of better knowledge and modern cooking methods.

[NRaleighLiberal]

5. Different strokes. I love the stirring - sip wine, listen to tunes, smell the great smells

But put 20 people in a kitchen together and they will all cook something slightly or really differently - and all outcomes will end up delicious.

Food is as much of an art as a science. I love both parts....

With risotto, part if it becomes the kind of pan also - and it can stick without stirring. Also, stirring allows more surface area for evaporation.

[FloridaBlues]

6. I made risotto the same way came out good. I was surprised and much easier

[FBaggins]

7. No need to stir in that case

A wide shallow vessel at a comparatively low temperature will cook it evenly. Constant stirring will rub off more starch (giving a creamier texture) but the most common risotto rice in the US (Arborio) will still be plenty creamy just from the grains’ motion rubbing against each other in the slow boil.

[csziggy]

8. Some think you get a creamier risotto by gradually stirring

In the stock a little at a time.

After all, that is what John Podesta recommends in his top secret email reveald by Wikileaks!

The September 2015 email exchange actually did not involve Clinton, and instead revealed an in-depth conversation about the intricacies of risotto’s texture between John Podesta, the chairman of Clinton’s presidential campaign, and Peter Huffman, a former senior official with the Clinton Foundation stationed in Africa.

Huffman asks: “Question: why do I use a 1/4 or 1/2 cup of stock at a time? Why can’t you just add 1 or 2 cups of stock at a time b/c the arborio rice will eventually absorb it anyway, right?”

Podesta responds: “Yes it with [sic] absorb the liquid, but no that’s not what you want to do. The slower add process and stirring causes the rice to give up it’s starch which gives the risotto it’s creamy consistency. You won’t get that if you dump all that liquid all at once.”
https://www.thedailymeal.com/news/cook/top-secret-risotto-recipe-found-hillary-clinton-s-hacked-emails/101316

I made mushroom risotto a couple of weeks ago. I thought I had a container of Arborio rice in the pantry but it was plain long grain rice. Since I was already committed, I went ahead and used what I had. It turned out creamy and delicious. Next time I will try it with brown rice since I prefer using brown rice for just about every thing.

[unblock]

9. Cool. So I guess its all about the creamy texture.

So if you take a shortcut by not stirring then maybe it’s not quite as creamy, but I’d guess you could make up for that with a little extra butter.

Of course Gordon Ramsey could tell the difference but not me lol

[MLAA]

10. Dear csziggy

I use to prefer brown rice as well until recently when I read in several places that brown rice has more arsenic than white rice. So I’m back to white rice 🙃

[csziggy]

11. We don't eat that much rice any more

So I'm not that worried. Usually I make one of the Lundberg rice blends and stretch it with plain brown rice, but that's only about once a month - which lasts us maybe three or four meals.

Right now I have a bunch of white rice to use up. The wife of a friend of ours died and he unloaded all the stuff on us he will never use since he does not cook at all. One of the containers of white rice was in the same kind of container I last bought Arborio rice in.

I've gotten so I use so little rice I have to store it in the freezer or I get bugs in it. Same with my flour (when I get back to bread making). At this rate I might have to rip out my pantry and put in a second freezer!

[MLAA]

12. 🙂