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On rinsing rice

I have rinsed rice and rinsed and rinsed and rinsed and rinsed and the rice STILL makes the water cloudy. I live in the desert- I hate wasting water, but I don't want to mess up the rice, either. When I've backed off on the rinsing I've not noticed much diffrence, although I admit I still rinse it a lot, just not until the water runs clear, because for God's sake, I want to eat tonight.

Opinions, wisdom, truisms?

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  1. I never rinse it, just bung it into the rice cooker and it comes out great.

    1 Reply
    1. re: sal_acid

      I soak and rinse my rice for Sushi, but for other uses, I follow sal_acid's measures. As old as I am, I don't think a bit of elemental arsenic is going to do too much damage.

    2. Rinsing rice only pulls out more starch in the end....the more you rinse, the less time and water it will take to finish. Depending on how you like your rice, you may throw off the 2:1 ratio. I like to include stock for my rice, so I generally just soak the rice for up to 30 minutes, drain with a quick rinse and straight into the rice cooker

      1. There is a problem with arsenic in rice. Rinsing reduces the amount you end up consuming.

        4 Replies
        1. re: law_doc89

          That sounds important, do you have a reference?

          1. re: law_doc89

            Yea I was wondering the same thing.

            I was always taught to be on the lookout for bugs in the rice but never rinsed my rice. Just cooked at a 1.5/1 water/rice ratio and add some evoo and salt to it before cooking.

              1. re: law_doc89

                Here's another link with a little more data. Looks like the amount is low and within drinking water safety limits.

                I haven't been able to find data showing that rinsing accomplishes much to remove arsenic.

                Clearly more facts are needed, but I think I'll keep eating rice.


          2. Different rice require different amount of water for rinsing (until water turn clear). I usually only rinse about 1-2 times with healthy amount of water, at most 3 times. If the water is cloudly, so be it.

            1. I usually rinse three times and call it rinsed even if water isn't totally clear (it never is). This is for absorption cooking methods. If I cook rice pasta-style in a lot of boiling water, I don't usually bother to rinse bc I'm dumping the cooking water anyway.