Instant Rice vs. Dehydrated

[NYhiker]

In several of my dehydrated recipes I have tried dehydrating rice as part of the meal, but when rehydrated on the trail the rice is rather tough and chewy. To improve the taste and texture of rice, has anyone tried omitting the rice when dehydrating and instead adding instant rice to the pot when on the trail? I know instant rice isn't as compact as dehydrated rice, but it may taste better. Anyone care to comment?

[FarmerChef]

They're technically the same thing or so I thought. When you dehydrate the rice, you cook it first and then dry it. Instant is essentially the same thing. When I do white rice, it dehydrates just fine. How are you rehydrating the rice on trail? Oh and instant rice is pretty tasteless. I much prefer to dehydrate my own, even whole grain brown rice which has a wonderful, nutty flavor.

[NYhiker]

How are you rehydrating the rice on trail? Oh and instant rice is pretty tasteless. I much prefer to dehydrate my own, even whole grain brown rice which has a wonderful, nutty flavor.

To rehydrate a meal, I first put it in the pot with water to soak for 20-30 minutes. Then I boil it. By the way, when dehydrating I use Uncle Ben's "converted" rice. I agree that instant rice doesn't taste as good, but the tough texture of the rehydrated Uncle Bens' is what I am trying to avoid. I haven't tried using instant rice yet; the original message was sent to sound out people about their experience with rice.

[annamagpie]

I haven't dehydrated plain rice yet, white or brown, but I dehydrated and then rehydrated in order to test it, some Mexican rice( brown rice with tomatoes and peppers and spice) and it came out really well. Not chewy or hard at all. Maybe having some tomato in there did the trick?

[FarmerChef]

Try dehydrating regular long grain white rice, not converted rice. See if that works better for you. I've had great results with that but haven't tried converted rice.

[HooKooDooKu]

Given how cheap and easily available instant rice is, why bother trying to dehydrate cooked rice?

[The Cleaner]

I just use the boil in the bag rice. It does take about 10 minutes to cook but you can use the water to wash your pan(s). You gotta have a stove that simmers. It cooks well on my Svea. I cook a bag then take a foil pouch of smoked salmon put in pan with butter and some spices. Add a small can of peas or use freeze dried. Great meal .....

[Rocket Jones]

Given how cheap and easily available instant rice is, why bother trying to dehydrate cooked rice?

Instant rice is pretty tasteless. That might not matter if you use lots of spices and seasonings in your meal, but I like regular rice with just a little butter, salt and diced apple or scallion.

[FarmerChef]

Instant rice is pretty tasteless. That might not matter if you use lots of spices and seasonings in your meal, but I like regular rice with just a little butter, salt and diced apple or scallion.

This. It's not because it's more convenient - it most definitely isn't. But I can choose the kind of rice and flavor I want. With a dehydrator you can make a bunch with not too much effort. Jasmine, Golden, Basmati, Brown, etc. Plus you can cook the rice in seasonings and then dry it. Not better/worse. Just flavor preference.

[HooKooDooKu]

Instant rice is pretty tasteless.
I can't argue with that. One of my common camping meals is instant rice mixed with can chicken... and I wind up putting a ton of salt in the mix just to give it even a little flavor.

[Wise Old Owl]

Instant rice is made by using several methods. The most common method is similar to the home cooking process. The rice is blanched in hot water, steamed, and rinsed. It is then placed in large ovens (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oven) for dehydration until the moisture content reaches approximately twelve percent or less.
The basic principle involves increasing moisture of the milled white rice by using steam or water to form cracks or holes in the kernels. The fast cooking properties come from the fact that, when recooked, water can penetrate into the cracked grain much more quickly.
Advantages The major advantage of instant rice is the rapid cooking time - some brands can be ready in as little as three minutes.
Currently, several companies, Asian as well as American, have developed brands which only require 90 seconds to cook, much like a cup of instant noodles.
Disadvantages

With convenience comes a price: instant rice is more expensive than regular rice.
The "cracking" process can lead to a significant increase in broken grains in a package.
Rice naturally has minerals like phosphorus, magnesium, and potassium. Instant rice has fewer of the calories (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calories), carbohydrates (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbohydrates), and protein (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protein) than regular rice. Companies make up for the loss of nutrients by adding their own nutrients such as the B-vitamins (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B-vitamins), as well as iron (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_iron_metabolism).
Due to its processing, it also loses some of the flavor, but companies compensate by adding herbs (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herbs) and exotic spices and aromas to make it more appetizing.
The quicker cooking method can result in the rice being less firm in texture than regular rice.

[Pedaling Fool]

Regular rice only takes about 20 minutes, not worth the time and labor to cook then dehydrate, not to mention you're probably washing away much of the nutrients in precooking/dehydrating process; never really tried instant rice.

I'd spend the time it takes to dehydrate rice in dehydrating stuff to put in the rice, like tomatoes, jerky, onions......

[Alligator]

In several of my dehydrated recipes I have tried dehydrating rice as part of the meal, but when rehydrated on the trail the rice is rather tough and chewy. To improve the taste and texture of rice, has anyone tried omitting the rice when dehydrating and instead adding instant rice to the pot when on the trail? I know instant rice isn't as compact as dehydrated rice, but it may taste better. Anyone care to comment?I just use instant rice myself. From a dehydrating standpoint, I will sometimes dehydrate items separately if I find that the dehydration process is not uniform for the ingredients. When you dehydrate the ingredients separately, you have the option to cook the items differently which may help to improve the final product. I generally dehydrate pasta separately because the other ingredients may take longer to cook and the pasta would turn to mush. Rice is not as delicate. However, it may help to alter the cook time on the rice, which in effect will be the water content added, in order to get the rice to a better rehydration state and then dehydrate separately. A little more water might soften it some. I don't have a solid suggestion though as I have never dehydrated it, as I'm ok with the instants. Perhaps search for the best method to dehydrate the rice, there might be a variation on the cooking process/dehydrating process that is critical.

[Chef Glenn]

I do both. Instant rice is fine when combined with a flavorful seasoning like curry powder or sauce such as baked beans blended and dried into bean bark. When I cook long grain rice for dehydration, I cook it in beef, chicken or vegetable broth instead of plain salted water. The rice absorbs the flavor which it releases again when you rehydrate it in a meal on the trail. I've never had a problem with it rehydrating well. For rice meals, my usual method is to soak all ingredients in water for five minutes, light the stove and bring to a boil (no rush), turn off the stove and wait ten to fifteen minutes with the lid on.

[HeartFire]

Since my backpacking meals are all vegan, I use a lot of rice - generally brown rice. I don't cook and dehydrate plain rice - I make meals - rice and beans, potatoes and any thing else that is in the pot - I dehydrate and pack in freezer ziplocks. to re-hydrate it I just boil the water, pour into the ziplock, seal it up and put it in a cozy for 15 minutes or so - in the mean time I'm having a cup of soup or tea while the dinner is soaking.

I did discover that things don't rehydrate as quickly at higher altitudes and this summer on the Colorado trail I did have to put some of the meals in the cook pot and boil them for a short amount of time rather than just letting them soak.

[Farr Away]

I dehydrate jasmine rice, and have never had a problem with it rehydrating in a freezer bag.

-FA